Music
▼ National Reviews
Review: Wumpscut – Blondi
Wumpscut Blondi Metropolis Blondi was the name of Hitler’s German Shepherd. Coincidence or not, Blondi is the name of Rudy’s latest bitch. Not even a year since Bone Peeler, this six-track single, with two original tracks, previews for the latest, Evoke. It starts with military camp sirens for “Rush,” a catchy, danceable, 4/4, monotonous,
Review: The Dead Science – Bird Bones in the Bughouse
The Dead Science Bird Bones in the Bughouse Absolutely Kosher The drummer plays in a jerky, attacking motion that reminds me of Tori Amos. The vocals are hushed, falsetto and reaching for a dramatic beauty that falls between the dissonance of the guitars and stand-up bass. It’s mutant jazz on downers twitching along in
Review: Ffa Coffi Pawb – Am Byth
Ffa Coffi Pawb Am Byth Empyrean Before Gruff Rhys was mesmerizing the world with Super Furry Animals, he and a cast of characters who would go on to play in Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Mogwai and Cornelius were kicking around Wales as Ffa Coffi Pawb. Am Byth is a compilation pulled from their three albums and
Review: Billy Idol – Devil’s Playground
Billy Idol Devil’s Playground Sanctuary Having placed himself in a self-imposed exile, the majority of the last decade was decidedly Idol-less. Billy was off losing himself in cyberpunk culture (rather prophetic, considering The Matrix was far from view) and the excesses that defined him as one of the 80s most reckless superstars. Then there was
Review: Erasure – Nightbird
Erasure Nightbird Mute On Erasure’s last release, Other People’s Songs, Vince Clark and Andy Bell sounded tired. Their bag of tricks had been spent, reducing them to an album of poorly constructed cover songs, and even though it pushed the duo back onto the radar in America, it was quite easily their worst effort
Review: Rosetta Stone – Adrenaline Deluxe
Rosetta Stone Adrenaline Deluxe Cleopatra In the late 80s, goth had become a bombastic beast that for better or worse was bent on imploding. It had grown from the small seedy clubs of London into the ugly stepchild the UK press tried to edit out of the family photos. No surprise then, that by the
Review: Lost Soul – Chaostream
Lost Soul Chaostream Earache Records By the horns of Satan, I had to listen to this album twice just to make sure it was as insanely kick ass as I first thought it was! INDEED it was! When you hear Lost Soul, you will KNOW that you have been brutalized and punished to the
Review: Bloodbath – Nightmares Made Flesh
Bloodbath Nightmares Made Flesh Century Media Records Sweden is home to a lot of totally shitty bands these days. Bloodbath is not one of them. This band has actually existed for almost six years now. Don’t let the founding members’ more accessible full-time gigs (Edge of Sanity, Opeth) fool you—Bloodbath is a serious nod
Review: Impaled – Death After Life
Impaled Death After Life Century Media Records As I scraped shredded meat off of the scalpels and saws on my block, I noticed the pus oozing from the new Impaled disc. Pathological waste in the form of oozing riffage at once encrusted my eardrums. It was at this point that I deduced the flesh-shredding
Review: Winterkälte – Disturbance
Winterkälte Disturbance Hands Production Winterkälte is one of the original rhythm noise acts that is still producing the finest in grating beats. Scratchy distortion and static screeching runs rampant on the 10 tracks of the German duo’s third full-length release. “Solar Peace,” “Eco Lateral Damage” and “Ban Depleted Uranium Weapons” indicate an environmentally charged political