Review: South American audiences have a reputation for being some of the most voracious in the world, and couple that with one of the most notoriously filthy, dirty and loud rock 'n' roll bands the universe ever created, and you're in for quite the treat. This selection from a 1994 set shows the band mixing a handful of classics from their 70s and 80s heyday - from opener 'Ace of Spades' and the sturdy 'Metropolis', to the closing salvo of 'Overkill' - mixed in with more contemporary moments, like raucous 12 bar workout 'Going To Brazil'. A rare cover of Ted Nugent's iconic anthem 'Cat Scratch Fever' is up there among many highlights too.
Review: Alice In Chains' 2009 release, Black Gives Way to Blue, marks a significant moment for the bandia poignant farewell to the late Layne Staley and the beginning of a new chapter with vocalist William Duvall. The album opens with 'All Secrets Known,' a track that signals a fresh start, with lyrics like 'Hope. A new beginning,' underscoring the band's evolution. Jerry Cantrell's guitar work remains as powerful as ever, driving the album with emotional intensity, particularly in tracks like 'Your Decision,' where the raw honesty in the lyrics is striking. Duvall's contributions shine, especially on 'Last of My Kind,' where he brings a new energy to the group without attempting to replicate Staley's iconic voice. The title track, 'Black Gives Way to Blue,' is a heart-wrenching tribute to Staley, featuring a sparse yet haunting arrangement with piano by Elton John. The song's quiet fade-out leaves a lasting impact, a fitting close to an album that balances grief with renewal. Black Gives Way to Blue not only honours Alice In Chains' legacy but also sets a strong foundation for their future, proving that the band's creative spirit remains unbroken.
Review: For new rockists keen to be clued in, this fresh reissue of the first ever LP by Danzig should make for a good start. Formed in 1987 as the eponymous brainchild of infamous rockstar Glenn Danzig, the heavy metal band quickly picked up steam for their unique command of atmosphere and doomy themes, as well as other, more controversial motifs. On Danzig, one can make out the earliest vestiges of industrial metal, the very same sound which would pave the way for Nine Inch Nails' success; though make no mistake, this is a project with its spirit firmly rooted in the heavy metal sound of New Jersey, notwithstanding its production tricks. The likes of 'Cantspeak' and 'Sadistikal' are variously hateful paeans to the hellish netherworlds below, and once you realise that this was a huge proliferation point for satanic and occult imagery in metal, it's clear a deeply sinister aura envelops this album.
Weird Tales: Electric Frost/Golgotha/Altar Of Melektaus
Barbarian
I, The Witchfinder
The Hills Have Eyes
We Hate You
Dopethrone
Mind Transferral
Review: Electric Wizard are one of those bands that a lot of people might not be particularly aware of. But those that know, really do know. Often cited as the most influential UK sludge-stoner-doom outfit - a group that took on a staunchly southern USA sound and made it in their own, unusual, Devonshire image - two albums preceded 2000's Dopethrone, and both were fantastic. First we had Electric Wizard, then the exceptional Come My Fanatics... According to founding father Jus Oborn, that pair and Dopethrone complete "a trilogy of terror", and it's hard to argue that Act III isn't the crowning glory. Rhythms so thick you feel like your sinking into the quagmire, refined lead guitar work like instrumental poetry, and this overwhelming atmosphere of sticky, swampy heat. A landmark you need.
Review: For people of a certain age, their teenage years were defined by the edgy grunge, alt and punk rock sounds of bands like Alice in Chains. Three decades later their seminal sophomore effort, Dirt sounds as good as it ever did and gets an anniversary reissue to mark the occasion. It comes with plenty of powerful drums and big-ass basslines as well as yelping vocals and fuzzy textures that take in a range of emotions and even bigger riffs. This issue features a special insert and comes across four sides of vinyl so it's nice and loud, just as intended.
South Of Heaven/Raining Blood/Alter Of Sacrifice/Jesus Saves (10:38)
Born Of Fire (4:50)
Mandatory Suicide (4:12)
Angel Of Death (4:48)
War Ensemble (4:54)
Die By The Sword (3:46)
Dead Skin Mask (5:30)
Review: Thrash metal pioneers Slayer have a ferocious reputation in the studio, but their live shows are where the unbridled energy, rage, passion and power really reach next level. Landing on the appropriately-named Cult Legends label, this recording of a 1991 show from Paris is exactly what we're talking about. Like pressing play on a juggernaut and watching hell break loose. References to the underworld abound here, of course, from 'Angel of Death' to the epic intro medley, 'Hell Awaits/Antichrist' i if indeed "medley" is an appropriate word to use for a band like Slayer. Pedantry aside, if you're looking for a record that truly speaks to the might and rabid majesty of metal in one of its most intense forms, then you've got it right here.
Review: While his era/moment has well and truly passed, there was a time in the mid-nineties when Marilyn Manson lived up to all of the methamphetamine Alice Cooper shock rock bravado with unending controversy and button pushing. Following the release of his industrial masterwork Antichrist Superstar, the Dead To The World Tour would commence with a debauched run steeped in hard drug abuse, excess of every kind and shows that featured Manson atop a podium in fascistic garb tearing pages from a whiskey-soaked bible. With extracted and remastered audio ripped right from the original tour VHS of the same name (with the exception of 'Dried Up, Tied & Dead To The World' which was taken from the Remix & Repent EP), feast your ears on a feral display of the deepest cuts and biggest hits from the seminal sophomore album including 'The Beautiful People' and 'Irresponsible Hate Anthem', while older singles such as the sickly grunge banger 'Lunchbox' from 1994's debut Portrait Of An American Family as well as the iconic reimagining of Eurythmics' 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)' also make appearances. Pressed to grey marbled vinyl and packaged in a sleek artbook-sleeve containing documented snapshots of the ever-present chaos Manson and his cohorts were utterly steeped in at the time.
Amen (feat Lil Uzi Vert & Daryl Palumbo Of Glassjaw) (3:27)
[ost] Puss-e (3:24)
Die4u (2:51)
Dig It (6:34)
Review: Bring Me The Horizon were once known as Nottingham's emo-fringed MySpace deathcore scene kids, but the near two decades since have seen them balloon into the latest gateway mainstream metal outfit, taking the reins from the likes of 30 Seconds To Mars and Linkin Park before them. Returning with the highly anticipated sequel to their 2020 nu-metal-centric 'Post Human: Survival Horror' EP, their seventh album (and first proper full-length since 2018's Amo) Post Human: Nex Gen does its utmost to level up on every front just like a true sequel should. Condensing practically every sonic well the group have previously toe-dipped into one noxious bucket of hallucinogenic fluidity, the material here might make numerous nods to their metalcore and post-hardcore beginnings, but that's only to calm the trip with familiarity before being utterly doused in swathes of everything from pop-punk to trap, hyperpop, nightcore and even Anime music. Best described as "ADHD maximalism", the band and project make no qualms over its self-professed over-stuffed, chaotic, messy, obnoxious, overwhelming nature, though it's nearly impossible not to be impressed by the effortless fusions on display at every sonic turn. Their final work with longtime keyboardist/programmer/producer Jordan Fish, while offering a bevvy of dichotomous features from the likes of Aurora, Lil Uzi Vert, Underoath and Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw and Head Automatica, the Post Human saga continues to rage through the mainstream and underground metal and punk circles like a coked-up unicorn, simply too farcical to be fucked with. Where the trip takes us on Part 3 is, for now, anyone's absurd guess.
Review: Who are the great metal heavyweights? Certainly you'd want to include Iron Maiden, Guns N Roses, Black Sabbath, Slayer, and Judas Priest. But it's hard to imagine any band taking poll position in the list, other than the mighty Metallica. Alongside the likes of Anthrax, they pumped speed into the veins of an already breakneck genre and unleashed an amphetamine-fed beast unto the world, which has never been the same since. It's the combination of innovative musicality and unfettered, teeth-clenched rawness that really sets Metallica aside though i a band that are technically streets ahead of most peers but also louder and harder and heavier and far less compromising. Here, the outfit play The Hits Live, tracks recorded at two separate performances during their ascendancy to rock god status, one in 1989 the other in 1994. We are not worthy.
Review: Arriving in 2008, a half-decade on from their controversial eighth full-length St. Anger, thrash metal heavyweights Metallica would dig deep on LP number nine to produce what many avid fans consider to be one of the band's best post-1980's records (with the obvious exception of 1991's The Black Album). Restoring the face-melting shredfests completely absent from their preceding effort, while looking inward to gauge how much of the Metallica formula should be modernised without losing sight of why they originally resonated with so many a headbanger in the first place, Death Magnetic struck the ideal balance between the epic thrash spectacle of old, with cuts like 'Cyanide' harking back to the anthemic theatrics of 'Creeping Death', while 'The Day That Never Comes' offers up a slow burning metallic ballad that would've fit right in during their 80s/90s transitional period, yet embellished by frontman James Hetfield's more seasoned bravado and demeanour. Switching out producer Bob Rock (who many had felt was well beyond outstaying his welcome) for bearded guru Rick Rubin, the results speak for themselves as Death Magnetic can likely be attributed to Metallica's continuing reign as the ultimate thrash giants, while each subsequent project since has followed the album's retro-revitalised blueprint.
Amen (feat Lil Uzi Vert & Daryl Palumbo Of Glassjaw)
[ost] Puss-e
Die4u
Dig It
Review: While there was once a time Nottingham's Bring Me The Horizon were known as the knife-edged fringe sporting MySpace era deathcore easy target, it's highly unlikely anyone ever had it on their bingo cards that within the span of a decade the band would become the torch bearers for mainstream metal, following in the footsteps of Linkin Park and 30 Seconds To Mars. Serving as the long-awaited sequel to 2020's nu-metal indebted Post Human: Survival Horror EP, their seventh full-length (and first since 2018's Amo) Post Human: Nex Gen doesn't simply follow suit, but creatively clusters essentially every sonic guise the group have adorned throughout their tenure into one singular sonic headfuck. Touching on everything from metalcore, post-hardcore, pop-punk, hyperpop, trap, nightcore and Anime music; the album is a testament to ADHD maximalism, and while it may come off as messy, obnoxious or utterly overwhelming, it's nigh impossible to not be impressed by the sleek effortlessness in which they appropriate vastly differing soundscapes like they were always theirs to begin. Marking their final effort with longtime keyboardist/programmer/producer Jordan Fish and boasting equally dichotomous features from the likes of Aurora, Lil Uzi Vert, Underoath and Daryl Palumbo (Glassjaw, Head Automatica), the second instalment of the Post Human saga simultaneously serves as the end of one era for Bring Me The Horizon, and the dawn of an equally promising new age. Report back for Post Human 3 in due course.
Review: Recorded in Montreal, Quebec in 1981 whilst touring his sophomore solo endeavour Diary Of A Madman, this live LP from the former/current/former (?) Black Sabbath frontman serves up an iconic slice of very-much-in-his-prime metallic rock mayhem. Featuring timeless staples such as 'I Don't Know', 'Crazy Train', 'Mr. Crowley', and even finishing with an electrifying cover of 'Paranoid' (greatly embellished by Ozzy's secret weapon throughout the 80s - guitar virtuoso Randy Rhodes), this LP serves as a high watermark live collection from the Prince of Darkness.
Review: Ville Valo and the HIM crew made a triumphant return with, Love Metal in 2003. This album, anticipated as the pinnacle of gothic rock for that year, has certainly lived up to its high expectations looking back. The production quality is impeccable, with every note sharp and pristine. The band had clearly invested a significant amount of effort into this album, evident in the intricate overdubs, synth patterns, and layered samples. HIM has never sounded better. This album strikes a balance between being radio-friendly and staying true to its metal roots. Tracks like 'Circle of Fear' evoke the style of The Sisters of Mercy, while 'Endless Dark' features a catchy melody that makes it perfect for radio play. Despite its accessibility, the album retains a haunting quality, with sounds that linger and resonate. 'Buried Alive by Love' is the standout track, delivering a powerful metal riff that will satisfy hardcore fans. 'The Sacrament' begins with a beautiful piano intro, transitioning into an acoustic guitar duet, showing the band's versatility. 'Beyond Redemption' and 'Soul on Fire' maintain a strong metal presence with faster tempos and guitar-driven riffs, proving that HIM can still rock with the best. 'The Funeral of Hearts' is a nod to HIM's earlier sound and it's no surprise that it's currently a top track in Finland. The mood of Love Metal is notably more upbeat than previous albums, offering a refreshing contrast to the typical Finnish melancholy. Fans of the genre will appreciate this evolution. Now reissued on clear vinyl, Love Metal is ready for a new generation to enjoy.
Review: Rockpalast (which translates as Rock Palace) is a German music television show that broadcasts live on German television station Westdeutscher Rundfunk. In 1997 it welcomed Primus to play their own festival and Broadcast Live At Rockpalast Open Air Festival 1997 is a recrding of what went down from the prog rock greats. The American outfit comprised of, oringally, Les Claypool, guitarist Todd Huth and and drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander, dropepd their first album in 1990. Frizzle Fry was critically well received and saw some great underground success which led to interest from major record labels. Plenty of their early tunes appear on this great live recording.
Review: A chance to catch the 1989 iteration of Black Sabbath in action in Japan on their Headless Cross, in support of their 14th fourteenth studio album (of the same name), the second with Tony Martin on vocals. This nine track selection from the show is fairly evenly spread across their already almost two decade long career, with that album's title track nestling alongside older triumphs such as 'Iron Man', 'Paranoid' and 'Black Sabbath' and Ronnie James Dio-period faves like 'Mob Rules' and 'Heaven & Hell'. The recent addition of the legendary Cozy Powell on drums just makes it an even tastier prospect.
Review: Gone Dark, the sophomore album from Human Impact, pushes the boundaries of noise-rock with a fiercer, more streamlined approach. The band, composed of Unsane's Chris Spencer, Cop Shoot Cop's Jim Coleman, Made Out of Babies' Eric Cooper, and Daughters' Jon Syverson, delivers a potent blend of taut grooves, jagged guitar riffs, and raw vocal intensity. This release is not merely a cry from the void but a powerful declaration of defiance against a world teetering on the brink. Following their self-titled debut, Gone Dark represents a significant evolution, capturing the visceral energy of their live performances. Spencer emphasises the band's intent to create something rawer and more aggressive, which is evident throughout the album's tightly interwoven tracks and interstitial pieces, mirroring the flow of a live show. Recorded with co-producer Andrew Schneider at Austin's Cedar Creek Studio, the album benefits from the newly solidified rhythm section, with Cooper and Syverson's contributions adding heft and precision. The result is a cohesive, relentless sonic assault that showcases the band's full understanding of their identity. Gone Dark is a potent, focused statement from a group that continues to refine its craft, delivering an album that is enduring, resilience and aggressive.
Review: Certified 8xPlatinum and ranked at number eight in the highest selling albums of the 21st century, 2003's Meteora saw nu-metal legends Linkin Park attempt (and very much succeed) to make lightning strike in the same place twice with their now iconic follow up to their 2000 12xPlatinum selling debut Hybrid Theory. Launching the "Because Sound Matters One-Step" series with new high-fidelity remasters of their first three albums, these audiophile reissues arrive in newly designed slipcases, complete with elaborate details of the audio processing stages. Pressed to 180-gram standard black vinyl with all 3000 copies numbered, rediscover a genre-staple with some of the band's biggest hits remastered to their fullest sonic potential yet, including 'Numb', 'Faint', 'Breaking The Habit', and, 'Somewhere I Belong'. Never has the veteran production of Terry Date and his seamless ability to fuse the band's warring metallic and hip-hop centric identities, felt so prominent and clear, while the passing of frontman Chester Bennington in 2017 shrouds his lyrical honesty and vulnerable cadence in harrowing retrospectivity.
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