After delaying the release of this, their sophomore album, Prior To The Fire, several times, supposedly due to the typical record industry bullshit, it’s finally here. And, to my pleasant surprise, pretty good.

Having been a fan of their 2006 debut, Hello Master, I made it out to see Priestess…

Artfully crafted Danish toybox rock (and/or classical) flows from Efterklang, this time with the Danish National Chamber Orchestra culled from their recent tour. The main quartet of the band (with their normal cadre of extra live performers helping) teamed with a chamber orchestra as well to create a large, warm…

Having heard rumblings of Cormorant’s coolness, I was eagerly anticipating hearing Metazoa in its entirety and learning what the San Francisco-based progressive metal group could do. What I found was one of the best bands underground metal has to offer and one of the most worthwhile albums of the year.…

Punk would not be without BYO Records and Youth Brigade. Well, it would, but it might be much different. Books and films have been written and filmed on the scene, but to hear it from the mouths of those who lived it and in many ways fostered it, that’s the…

New Jersey’s the Doughboys serve up another warm platter of rock ‘n’ roll following up 2008’s Is It Now? with Act Your Rage. The history of the band, which traces back to the mid-‘60s, forms the play on words for the album’s title, though it’s only their second. Best known…

While I’m going to call this S/T, I’m not quite sure that’s the official title. Maybe it’s Harvey Milk. With the sleeve I have from Hydra Head, I can’t be sure. There hasn’t been much official about this release—it’s what should have been Harvey Milk’s debut (instead of My Love…

If my body responds positively to an album as my mind rattles off a list of better bands, is the effect neutralizing? Locksley’s, Be in Love, a combination of upbeat ‘90s alternative and dance pop bands like OK Go and Hot Hot Heat, caused my feet to jangle to its…

Black metal is at its best when it embraces the inherent lunacy of its genre. Fenriz (known as the drummer and lyricist of Darkthrone) as “Fenriz’ Red Planet” teamed up with Nattefrost (solo man also of Carpathian Forest) for Engagsgrill, a split that’s meant to bring a smile to corpsepainted…

30 Seconds To Mars found fame with their upbeat tracks and dirty pop vocals and I fell in love with them for that exact reason. “Escape” was a perfect title choice for the opener off their third album, This Is War, because the noise the band creates clears the listener’s…

I hate that anyone who is an okay musician can get a record deal if the contract is right and they wear goofy clothing.  Then again, I idolize all the New Romantic Blitz Kids of the ‘80s and most of them ended up with a record deal even if they…