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)
rock
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)
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)
Time and Energy – Strange Kind of Focus (2012)
It’s not strange kind of focus, but rather out of focus. Time and Energy delivering a strange mixture of Afro-beats, Blues/Country/Folk roots and Beck flavored Indie vibes with some Rufus Wainwright taste-like vivid whatever. “Loop Rock”? Eventually. But pretty hard to chew being not under influence and the taste is questionable. And well, I’m quite trained to listening anything, even considering the construction site next to my building a musical revolution. When the 7th track, “Sitting On a Scale” started almost as a classic The Beatles song, it was a release. Up till then, “Strange Kind of Focus” sounded like a mixtape on acid. The very next “O’Molly” have that raw wickedness of some early The White Stripes tracks, it’s that kind of perfect menage of Blues and Indie/Garage Rock – and it’s probably the best moment of the album. And the following “Think it Through” it’s not that bad too, or simply I get used with their layered and sometimes antagonist sound. The closing “Acid Jam” it’s build upon a Latino foundation, but just as its title suggest, it’s an Acid Jam, after a few pleasant seconds the whole thing get out of control and became quite dangerous.
This is an experiment and I do respect that. The result? Well, not really sure of. “Name your price” for the digital download it’s a fair approach and listen first at your own risk. I would start with track 7 or 8. Read more Time and Energy – Strange Kind of Focus (2012)
Laibach – An Introduction To… Reproduction Prohibited (2012)
Although my affection for Industrial music started in the beginning of the 90s with several American bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Ministry and Malhavoc, I can trace the roots of my affection and affiliation back to bands such as Einstürzende Neubauten and Laibach. Even further, in my humble opinion the whole Neue Deutsche Härte (“New German Hardness”) movement it’s build upon not a German, but on the edge cutter and envelop pusher work of a Slovenian avant-garde music group formed on June 1, 1980 in Trbovlje, Slovenia, at the time SFR Yugoslavia: Laibach (the German name for Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana).
After the breath taker “Monumental Retro-Avant-Garde, Live at Tate Modern”, Laibach now are back with another history lesson, a retrospective of the band’s history, the compilation released by Mute on September 3rd. Back then (July 21st) I wrote a quite exhaustive history of the band.
The rumors were that the band re-recorded these songs for the compilation, now that thing was not mentioned and the songs sound exactly as the original releases, so at most, they were re-mastered. Still, Laibach sounds massive and irresistible. Read more Laibach – An Introduction To… Reproduction Prohibited (2012)
The Locomotive Sound Corporation – We Surely End Somewhere (rough session, 2012)
As the title pointed out pretty clearly, this is a rough session of Summer 2012, five song recorded – as they say “with a donkey, an old man and a church as a neighborhood.” Available now on Noomiz and Bandcamp, The Locomotive Sound Corporation, one of my favorite bands and albums of 2011 are back with this tasty release, and even further, the “name your price” approach is very fan-friendly.
The Locomotive Sound Corporation is the French answer for the American “new Blues”, they are soul related to bands such as The White Stripes, PJ Harvey, 12 Rounds, The Dead Weather, PJ Harvey, The Raconteurs, Sonic Youth, and The Black Keys, have that raw power and healthy garage taste which brings new life in this mainstreamly-boring and burnt-out Indie/Alternative genre. This Parisian band proves once again, there are still spaces and sounds to explore, feelings to express in this area and this 5 new tracks are also a great promise for their largely expected new album. Read more The Locomotive Sound Corporation – We Surely End Somewhere (rough session, 2012)
Byzant At Sunset – No Reason To Remix This, EP (2012)
Although, officially this is considered only an EP, featuring two originals and 13 plus one bonus remixes of “No Reson”, a total of 16 tracks is still a considerable quantity of music to go through. But this is a FREE RELEASE, so, this is one more reason to get “No Reason”! – the official debut of Byzant At Sunset.
“No Reason” have a strong The Clash kind of vibe, but the sound it’s smoothly adjusted to the nowadays expectations, wobbling basses, ska fueled guitars and the tasty saxophone gives a genuine Byzant At Sunset taste to the song. This is a manifest, a statement against modern days consumerism: “No reason is a reason good enough” express both anger and disappointment.
“Wildfire” is more like an improvisation, an eruption, a race through the fire of inspiration and creation. Although Byzant At Sunset it’s exclusively an on-line, world wide collaboration creative collective, some of their members not sharing not the same room, but not even the same continent in their lives, “Wildfire” have the nerve, vibe and wilderness of a genuine rehearsal recording. It’s like someone light up a cigarette but that unleash an unstoppable… wildfire.
And then we have 14 remixes from 13 outstanding producers from the Indaba community: ALBM, @ssic@, Bluetrax, Brushvox, Carda, DaveDaG, JohnnySix, Manu, mSelv, Richard Walker, Richinmusic, The ?uestion Mark, and, last but not least, Ultraglow featuring with two tracks. Read more Byzant At Sunset – No Reason To Remix This, EP (2012)
Kiss – Monster (2012)
If I say this is the best Kiss album in decades, nobody will believe me, but folks, this is the naked, monstrous, true. And what it’s even more monstrous it’s the fact that Kiss are still more ferocious then 99.9% of the self proclaimed Metal-whatever, mainly “core”, bands nowadays. And dudes, we’re talking about a band active since 1973 and this is their 20th studio album so far. And honestly, their previous “Sonic Boom”, released 3 years ago, was also an absolutely fair and classy Kiss material, an ass-kicker mixture of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. “Monster” sounds even better, sounds as a perfect mix between two of their classic albums, the 1976’s “Destroyer”, respectively the 1992’s “Revenge”.
Sebastian Bach’s – former Skid Row vocalist – reaction regarding one of the new Kiss songs, “The Devil Is Me”, saying “it kicks TOTAL ASS!!” it’s not surprising and not exaggerated. Kiss gonna kick your ass off, or eat your heart out if you’re a girl. 😀 Read more Kiss – Monster (2012)
Byzant At Sunset – Wildfire [Original Mix, B Side]
New track and upcoming remix EP (actually a hell of an LP!!) – coming up on 9th October 2012, featuring outstanding contributions from: ALBM, @ssic@, Bluetrax, Carda, DaveDaG, JohnnySix, Manu, mSelv, Richard Walker, The ?uestion Mark, and Ultraglow.
Read more Byzant At Sunset – Wildfire [Original Mix, B Side]
Enslaved – RIITIIR (2012)
The twelve studio album by Enslaved was declared both by most of the fans and critics “a classic” and a “masterpiece” even before some of them had the chance to listen it. It’s kind of comfortable and alarming simultaneously, on the other hand, yes, Enslaved is one of those bands you always can relay on, they are constantly there “to pushing the envelope” and “cutting the edge”, breaking down walls and wider the horizon. And yes, “RIITIIR” picking up from where they left off with “Axioma Ethica Odini” in 2010 and pushing things further. Some things are stay the same, this is Enslaved 100%, as well as they are still capable to generate new ideas and explore new possibilities, but staying in their own backyard, giving their fans the comfort of the modern Enslaved sounds and trademarks.
Between ferocious growls, deadly screams and cleanly sung choruses Grutle Kjellson find the perfect proportions and balance; Black and Death metal fueled riffs are switched to smooth acoustic moments; Enslaved seems to be still on a perpetual journey and not getting yet to destination and this make this journey exciting, fresh and surprising. Read more Enslaved – RIITIIR (2012)
