Mark E. Smith might be considered the “father figure” of several punk rock generations. Or the stepfather figure. 😀 Figure it out for yourself. Formed back in 76, what Mark E. Smith said, still stands: “If it’s me and your granny on bongos, then it’s the Fall”. Not at all surprisingly, the 29th studio album by The Fall sounds fresh and it’s kicking, scratching and biting as always. And at age 54, Mark E. Smith proves to be much more alive than most of the nowadays kids with stupid hair cuts, sneakers, iPads and lack of personalities and perspectives. If I tell you that “Ersatz G.B.” it’s the best The Fall album, probably you will not believe me, but it’s actually their best album. Still, don’t know who plays the bongos and the other instruments around Mark E. Smith this time, but they all did a great job! 😀 Read more The Fall – Ersatz G.B. (2011) ›

I stumbled into their second album “Ressentiment” last year and it was (another) love at first listening. Matt Lupo – guitar and vocals, Kevin Conway – guitar and vocals, Chris Alfano – guitar and vocals, Brett Bamberger – bass guitar and vocals, and Seth Rheam – drums find their own special way to merge death metal intensity with hardcore rawness adding progressive and sometimes jazz elements into their complex, but breathing compositions. They use the name East of the Wall since 2007, although actually they have roots back till 1996 when they formed The Postman Syndrome, change their name into Day Without Dawn in 2006 and they are also involved in two other projects: Dangerous Cowboy and El Drugstore.
While “Ressentiment” reminded me of the contorted universe of Voivod from their “Nothingface” era, “The Apologist” seems to be more settled and balanced, but still heavy and kicking.
Cynic back in the 80’s open the path with their brilliant “Focus” and now a whole new generation grew up and delivering extremely intense and creative materials. The Dillinger Escape Plan, Between The Buried And Me, Rolo Tomassi, Called To Arms, The Black Dahlia Murder , Chiodos, Gladiator, Converge, Haste the Day, Every Time I Die, Bleeding Through, Chiodos, Asleigh Stake, Just Like Vinyl and not at least East of the Wall are few of these new voices coming through and claiming their place. And the crown belongs to them. Read more East of the Wall – The Apologist (2011) ›

I admit it right from the beginning: I never was a fan of this Metallica diluted into mainstream rock kind of shit, Nickelback never meant something for me. Sorry folks! So, I listen “Here And Now” absolutely detached, I didn’t expect anything. And well, this is almost a correct rock album. With few exceptions. For instance the 80’s disco and Sandra-like “When We Stand Together” is absolutely senseless or quite out of my sense of humor anyway. Unfortunately they choose it to be the lead single of the album. The opening “This Means War” sounds more driven, more appropriate, but probably too heavy for most of the radio listener housewives… After all these years, Nickelback still don’t realize that it is not possible to satisfy everybody and actually, it’s not even necessary. But I understand, the pressure is high after their previous multi-platinum selling “Dark Horse” in 2008. But once again: a real rock band is not about multi-selling. Or it shouldn’t be. Although, I’ve got nothing against being famous, popular and rich by selling lot of records and being rock star. But not with all and any cost. Read more Nickelback – Here And Now (2011) ›

Post rock merging together progressive explorations and kind of abstract trippings and polished, melancholic indie rock resonances. Sounds pretty American, but also have some clear, tasty European aromas, roots. It’s a pretty unique mixture of traditional (progressive) rock with contemporary shoegaze, psychedelic experiences and space rock after-tastes merged into post-rock driven indie vibes, but also including some of the gloomy, post-emo bitterness.
Formed on 31st December 2005 by Antony Lourdel, Alexis Medina and Anthony Wailly, the French Eepocampe delivered their second album on the 5th of October 2011 and they are looking at the world to conquer it. Read more Eepocampe – When Things Get Abstract (2011) ›

Progressive, technical death metal from Istanbul, Turkey of a young, talented band formed only one year ago by guitarists Ahmet Saraçoğlu and Batuhan Bekmen. Enver Yılmaz filled in as vocalist and bassist Onur Altınay and drummer Bahadır Sarp finally complete the line-up.
They planned to record an EP including three songs: “Ravenous Sun”, “Seized by Obscurity” and “Laceration”, but they actually wrote almost an hour of music, so they delivered directly a debut album. This is quite a brilliant release and well, you can download it for free from the band’s web site. Read more Thrown to the Sun – Of Oceans and Raindrops (2011) free download! ›

“Blackjazz” was my favorite album of 2010 and it was only “beaten” by very short in the very last lap by Zorn’s “Ipsissimus” ( 10 best albums of 2010 ). The Norwegian band find an extremely unique path between jazz, black and industrial metal and forged screaming saxophones with cutting edge riffs and pounding drums, howling, brutal vocals with schizophrenic melodies, grinding noises with killer rhythms. Jørgen Munkeby definitively it’s a maniac and with his band mates – Torstein Lofthus, Tor Egil Kreken, Massive Skills – Shining gets stronger and better every day. Delivering a live version of their songs reveals the true dimension of their power, rawness and merciless vitality. 9 tracks, not exclusively the tracklist of their murderous “Blackjazz”, but including also older compositions as well, “Live Blackjazz” is the promise that Shining will deliver more and more excitement in the following decades. Read more Shining – Live Blackjazz (2011) ›

Rammstein are definitively responsible for the so-called “Neue Deutsche Härte” (“new German hardness”), term to defined their industrial metal sub-genre invented by the German music press after the release of their 1995’s debut album “Herzeleid”.
As of 2009, they have sold over 15 million records worldwide and while their songs are usually in German, they have also performed songs entirely or partially in other languages such as English, Spanish, French and Russian.
On November 5, 2009 their sixth and up to date latest studio album, “Liebe ist für alle da” was placed on the Index of the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien or BPjM (Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons), making it illegal in Germany to make the album accessible to minors or display it where it can be seen by people underage, effectively banning it from stores. According to the official statement of the BPjM, the depiction of lead guitarist Richard Kruspe holding a chubby woman wearing only a mask over his knee and lifting his hand to strike her behind has given cause for offense, as well as the lyrics to “Ich tu dir weh” which supposedly assist to spread dangerous BDSM techniques. Furthermore, the advisory board has taken into consideration the alleged promotion of unprotected sexual intercourse in the lyrics to “Pussy”. As of May 31, 2010, the administrative court in Cologne has decided to waive the suspensive effect of the inclusion into the Index (case 22 L 1899/09) and the German department deleted the record from the Index on June 1. Read more Rammstein – Mein Land – single and video! (2011) ›

11/11/1963 – 08/11/2011.
Read more RIP – Dan “Mao” Barbu – 11.08.2011 ›

I wrote about the French band April and their 2009’s debut album “Ten Stones” not so long time ago – find the review HERE. “Ten Stones” sounded like a collision between Roxette, The Smashing Pumpkins and Dead Can Dance, a mixture of gloomy rock and smooth pop with nice and subtle classic ambiance.
“Sunderlands” definitively it’s a step further, the duo from Bordeaux find their own path and developed a quite unique blending of gothic gloom and gentle sensitivity, a mixture of dark rock tones and catchy pop themes, all nicely laying on the spacy textures of strings and discrete electronics. Read more April – Sunderlands (2011) ›

Some bands have better B-sides than others A-sides or albums. Disturbed guaranteed one of them. “The Lost Children” features all of Disturbed’s B-side tracks that were recorded during a time period of 11 years with the exception of the song “Glass Shatters”, while the only song on the album not previously available is “Mine”. We’ve got 16 pumping and pounding tracks, and while Disturbed are going on an indefinite hiatus for awhile, hopefully this is not also a waving good-bye act, the swan song of the band.
Regarding the album title, it comes from the band calling their songs “their children” and they can’t pick a favorite. Read more Disturbed – The Lost Children (2011) ›