Punk ain’t dead. Even more, the present it’s intense and murderous and definitively there are more then simple hopes for a future. And this is genuine Punk, I mean, not that soap-box/bubble-gum, Californian sun-burnt and Pop flavored “Punk” which the media and the multinationals selling for decades now. “Descending Light” explode like a grenade and the whole “Future Ruins” it’s a killer spiral of energy and aggression. With roots back to Black Flag, Minor Threat and Dead Kennedys, but related to contemporary challengers such as Gallows and Converge merging brutality and intensity, Hardcore energy and Post-Metal rawness, History of the Hawk delivered a truly unique and own flavored, pounding and crushing Punk album. It’s fresh, it’s furious, it’s colorful and re-inventing the heritage of the past to send it right into the future. Read more History of the Hawk – Future Ruins (2012)
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Green Day – Dos (2012)
If “¡Uno!” was not so convincing, “¡Dos!” it’s even worst. Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt in an interview stated that “¡Dos!” was going to have a “more garage rock — a little dirtier, like you’re in the middle of the party” sound. Well, honestly, this is pretty bubble-gum and Beatles flavored teenager-punk. Party maybe, garage and rawness definitively not. Nowadays Green Day are on urge to cashing-in, but their songs are less inspired then the most cheesy Beatles song ever, while “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” sounds like a Grindcore butchery versus “Fuck Time” for instance. This is (over) washed, perfumed, radio and media friendly prepared and packed, harmless, boring American subterfuge culture product like the cheeseburger, the Coke and president Obama. Very nice, but completely tasteless, fake and forgettable.
“Rubber Soul”, “Revolver”, and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, the Beatles albums from the mid 60’s were more Punk then this. Read more Green Day – Dos (2012)
Soundgarden – King Animal (2012)
Between fears and hopes, I have a kind of strange, mixed emotions regarding this reunion. Smells more like fishing for “cookies” (cashing-in), rather then fueled by creative impulses. Don’t get me wrong, I was, and still I an a huge “Badmotorfinger” era Soundgarden fan, but “that” Soundgarden it’s long gone and dead. The following two albums, “Superunknown”, respectively their last release of 1996, “Down on the Upside” were less and less impressive, they chosen to go on a more soft, radio/media friendly path and lost their tooth, their… grunge. While drummer Matt Cameron, bass player Ben Shepherd and guitarist Kim Thayil were quite off the radar since their break-up, singer Chris Cornell was hipper active. After a Beatles flavored solo album entitled “Euphoria Morning” and released in 1999, Cornell joint forces with Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk, then-former members of Rage Against the Machine and formed Audioslave.
After three albums, “Audioslave” (2002), “Out of Exile” (2005), and “Revelations” (2006), Cornell left Audioslave in early 2007, resulting in the band’s break-up. He released his second solo album, “Carry On” in June 2007 and the third, entitled “Scream”, produced by Timbaland, was released in 2009. Both to mixed commercial and critical success, but “Scream” stir up lot of discussions and controversy, gathering mainly reproaches from his previous and Soundgarden fans. Read more Soundgarden – King Animal (2012)
Jah Wobble and Keith Levene – Yin and Yang (2012)
It’s something in the air, and I don’t mean love, this must be the year of P.I.L. (Public Image Ltd). First John Lydon teamed up again with former (and future) PiL members Lu Edmonds, Scott Firth and Bruce Smith and recorded and release the first new PiL album, “This is PiL” after two decades. Then founder PiL members, bassist Jah Wobble and guitarist Keith Levene revisited this year the PiL’s groundbreaking 1980’s album “Metal Box” – which they were the driving forces behind – with several highly-acclaimed shows performing “Metal Box in Dub live”. Now they make a step even further and they decide it record some new material which became “Yin and Yang”, a 10 track journey in the outer limits of Dub and Post-Punk/Modern Rock. Read more Jah Wobble and Keith Levene – Yin and Yang (2012)
Tweaker – Call The Time Eternity (2012)
Tweaker it’s the side project of drummer/programmer Chris Vrenna started after his departure from Nine Inch Nails in 1996. The album, The Attraction to All Things Uncertain, was Vrenna’s “solo” debut in 2001. The following “2 A.M. Wakeup Call” in 2004 also made the debut of guitarist/programmer Clint Walsh as a permanent fixture to the band and featuring a quite famous line-up of guest vocalists including David Sylvian, Will Oldham, Robert Smith, Burton C. Bell, Craig Wedren, Hamilton Leithauser, Buzz Osborne, Jonathan Bates and Johnny Marr.
Tweaker toured select North American dates with Skinny Puppy in 2004 and the live band line-up was consisting of Chris Vrenna (drums, percussion and keyboard), Clint Walsh (guitar and keyboard), Paul Ill (bass guitar and keyboards) and Nick Young (vocals).
There was rumors that Tweaker would release a new album in 2008, although no material surfaced, and in that period Vrenna worked with Marilyn Manson on his 2009 album “The High End of Low”. Read more Tweaker – Call The Time Eternity (2012)
ASIDEFROMADAY – Chasing Shadows (2012)
This is the third album for the French Post-Metal/Sludge band and they deliver a disturbing and noisy mixture of heaviness and gloominess. With roots back both to Sepultura/Soulfly and Kyuss/Monster Magnet, but emerging a Post-Rock/Post-Metal edge and exploring the darkest corners of soul and contorted music, ASIDEFROMADAY merged the vibe of Depressive (Black) Metal with the energy, noisiness and strength of Modern Metal while the seven epic tracks of “Chasing Shadows” it’s a fearful voyage colored with complexity, flavored with raw aggression and twisted ambiance.
This is definitively not an easy-listening, but darkness has its own beauty and ASIDEFROMADAY explore and reveals those aspects step by step. Read more ASIDEFROMADAY – Chasing Shadows (2012)
Slut Machine – From Blind to Blue, EP (2012)
With traces back to Kyuss, Monster Magnet and Corrosion Of Conformity, gathering inspiration through Queens Of the Stone Age from Kyuss and related to Soundgarden and Down, Slut Machine blends perfectly Stoner Rock and Sludge Metal.
“From Blind to Blue” it’s the band third EP and we’ve got four heavy weight Stoner/Sludge hurricanes. Released on 14 April 2012, the EP it’s available for FREE DOWNLOAD.
“Collapse”, the opener track, it’s powerful and pounding, will grind you into the ground with it’s strong riffs and thundering drums. “Cosmic Monster” have some strong Soundgarden resonances and roots back to Heavy Metal. Once you hear it, it’s hard to get rid of it. “(Ain’t) No Way Out” have more heaviness, it roots lead us back to Black Sabbath. The closing “Tornado” it’s a Mississippi flavoured, slow grinding epic. Heavy as the elephant shit, a classic monster build upon bone cutter riffs and pounding drums and an intense, gloomy vibe. Read more Slut Machine – From Blind to Blue, EP (2012)
Brushvox – Lovageddon Suicide, remixes (2012)
Featuring 13 remixes of some well-known artists such as Blood On The Dance Floor, Chester French, Dynasty Electric, Chrystian, Ca$hin’ Out, Matisyahu, Byzant At Sunset, Daniel Bedingfield, Civil Twilight, Serj Tankian and Cypress Hill, “Lovageddon Suicide” it’s the new collection of completely re-shaped and own-flavored remixes by Brushvox.
This time in the first half are featuring the more dance/club oriented tracks, but this is still quite an underground taste-like, self-labeled Doomstep, and not that fancy, trend-rider Dubstep which is so-pushed by the media lately.
The second half, including 3 Civil Twilight, and one of each, Serj Tankian, respectively Cypress Hill remixes are even further experimental and dark takes on the originals.
Actually, most of these so-called remixes have very little to do (amd share) with the originals and are mainly completely different re-interpretations of the originals using mostly exclusively the vocal track from them.
Free Download – Enjoy! Read more Brushvox – Lovageddon Suicide, remixes (2012)
VS – Just a sigh (Part 1), EP (2012)
Formed in 2004, VS it’s a French band playing a mixture of atmospheric and electro fueled Post-Rock. It’s hard not to compare it to Sigur Rós, but simultaneously, VS it’s quite different from the leading band of Iceland and their foggy, still soulful music.
“One” kicks in like a modern electro Rock anthem, it’s more related to Filter then to the nowadays fancy Shoegazer obscurity. VS manage to mix smartly electronic layers with acoustic instruments and the result it’s a very gentle, but groovy, pulsing music rooted back to very different genres.
Surprisingly, “Industrial”, the second track is a much quieter, mood and not groove oriented track. It’s a dark, but gentle track nicely coloured with strings and samplers.
The following “Exp” have a strong late Smashing Pumpkins taste and vibe, even Billy Corgan would be proud of it. Read more VS – Just a sigh (Part 1), EP (2012)
Rolo Tomassi – Astrea (2012)
To be brutally honest, at the first two or three listening, I wasn’t quite impressed by this third installment of this tumultuous, but brilliant, experimental, whatever-core band from Sheffield, England. While their debut, 2008’s “Hysterics” shake my world and blew me away, the following, 2010’s “Cosmology” was a fair, but less shocking follow-up.
After the 2011’s departure of two of their founding members, bassist Joseph Thorpe and guitarist Joe Nicholson, Rolo Tomassi bring two new spirits into the band, guitarist Chris Cayford (current vocalist/former guitarist of No Coast) and bassist Nathan Fairweather (who plays in Brontide); and band leader James Spence stating that the new members “breathed new life” in the band, while the music was already 70% complete when they had come.
Ethereal, chill and large spaces are nicely interlaced with the bands disturbing and brutal grindings – and this seems to be the key to decoding “Astrea”. Very groovy, extremely smartly build-up and throughout tensioned, the 10 tracks of “Astrea” will keep you focused and connected. Read more Rolo Tomassi – Astrea (2012)
