Headfirst ““It’s Getting Better”” (Self-Released) Finally an indy band with some real fucking potential. Headfirst are heavy on the rock and they do it with conviction. “It’s Getting Better” sounds good and the songs are well written with some great…
Giving Chase “Nothing Ever Changes” (Jump Start) Merging hardcore and punk rock has become more and more common over the recent years, the only problem is that there are only a handful of bands that do it well. Giving Chase…
Goatwhore “Funeral Dirge for the Rotting Sun” (Rotten Records) How much metal is too much metal? Is there even such a thing? Not being a big connoisseur of the genre, I’m often at a disadvantage when it comes to the…
From Ashes Rise “Nightmares” (Jade Tree) These guys rip. Hardcore the way it was meant to be played, full of searing passion and imagery without all of the macho bullshit that often goes along with it. Pop this thing into…
From Zero ““My So Called Life”” (Arista) Wow, Was I ever wrong about From Zero! I had them pegged them as a total nu-metal band that was pretty one-sided. You know what I’m talking about; I figured the songs would…
Frontline Assembly “Civilization” (Metropolis) Stark, beat driven electronic arrangements that still general retain a sense of ‘song’. A more somber Thrill Kill Kult comes to mind (but I’ve been listening to a lot of that lately, so I hear their…
Divide By Zero “Mirrors” (Sinister Label) With a growl reminiscent of Russ Rankin from Good Riddance and the throbbing, full bodied guitars of Bad Religion, Divide By Zero’s five-track EP is a tragically too-short EP that will surely leave you…
Dub Narcotic Sound System “Degenerate Introduction” (K Records) It seems that not even a massive car accident can stop the machine that is the Dub Narcotic Sound System! After being involved in a major car crash while on tour last…
Electronic Barnacle Island “Deeply Faulted Area Resembling an Upright Deck of Cards” (KiraKira Disc Records) Aaron Noel entirely composed and performed the music of Deeply Faulted Area Resembling an Upright Deck of Cards. The instrumental electronic music is an interesting…
Enslaved “Below the Light” (The End) If a band has ever played what might be classifiable as melancholy black metal, then it is Enslaved who are that band. The vocals have the snarling Tasmanian Devil black-metal quality fans of the…