PALEHORSE - Amongst the Flock CD (Bridge Nine) Waaaaaaay metal. And for Bridge Nine, dare I say, too metal? Maybe not, as the hardcore groove floats throughout this new release. Palehorse seems a new, and quite dark, challenger to Integrity's rule in the holy terror style of early metalcore. This quartet plays fast metal-tinged hardcore with groovy, stomping breakdowns. While I make the claim that the music is far closer to Those Who Fear Tomorrow than even Integrity's own Closer is, Longobardi's drum work is far, far better. Admittedly, while the vocals are barks of raspy, guttural violence and indeed do the songs justice, Palehorse has no Dwid (Integrity's coup de grace). Even so, Amongst the Flock is a must for anyone who misses that old slice of Clevocore.

PANIC - Strength In Solitude CD (Bridge Nine) This Boston foursome played some catchy hardcore in the style of Slapshot and (early) Youth of Today. A brigade of hardcore heroes with members of Give Up the Ghost, In My Eyes and The Explosion, playing lightning fast the likes of SS Decontrol and Open Wound, all the while spitting out highly poetic lyrics with a Choke-type delivery in that o'so familiar sandpaper-y bark. Sadly, Panic is no more, but this is a fine document. This disc is a collection of the 2001 demo, that year's Dying for It EP, the self-titled EP from 2002 as well as computer enhanced video of the band live in Cambridge, and Worcester, MA.. They may have gone, but they went out (and are being remembered) in style.

PANTHEON I - The Wanderer and His Shadow CD (Candlelight) Good stuff here. Dark and threatening, yet very melodic with harmony. This Oslo, Norway five-piece forged in 2002, and holds ex-1349 guitarist, Andrè Kvebek. They quickly released the four song, promo-only demo, Demo MMIII. After that got them a bit of press, they finally gave some music to the public through a self-released 7" single with two brand new tracks. In 2004 Japanese label World Chaos Productions released their first album, Atrocity Divine, and that caught the ear of Candlelight Records. This newest work is a masterwork. It has all the elements of a good black metal record, but also adds new sounds to an unsuspecting ear. Brutal, fast, melancholic, complete with speed picking, dissonant dueling guitars, and harsh vocals. It also has very jazzy interludes that one doesn't often hear in black metal. Also, a whole lot of melody (check out "Coming To An End" - track four). Yeah, black metal is often melodic, but here it's equal to the punishing riffs and blastbeats. While it should appeal to many a black metal fan, I can't pinpoint any band they sound very similar too. Yes, there are moments of Gorgoroth, or 1349, but there is a whole lot of technical mayhem and discordant harmonics to differ from either as well. I can see this being just as big with the Neurosis and Isis crowd, as with fans of Wolves In The Throne Room.

THE PAPER CHAMPIONS - s/t CD (The Paper Champions) This is a good band for you emo-lovers to hunt down. An EP from this Atlanta, Georgia four piece I first heard on Deep Elm's The Emo Diaries series with their song "Ask Emma". Starting out with "Words and Inaction", which is fairly quiet for the first two minutes. It lulls you in, and then explodes with indie-rock cunning and blasting guitars. "Burning Quiet" was my favorite track on here. The verses' riff really pulled me in. "Dieseling Days" has a nice use of keyboards, before the song bursts - only for the disc to end too soon. This EP may remind most of Thursday (without the screaming vocals, but musically), or some of Hot Water Music's more melodious or calmer moments. The vocals are a young mix between Jawbox and Jets to Brazil. Also, these three songs are beautifully packaged in a thick cardboard, digipack style (folds out with pockets holding lyric sheet and disc). I'd like to see what happens with this band, and - more importantly for them - who produces them. With the wrong guy (or girl) their sound could fall on deaf ears by being to... um cookie cutter. They need someone who has no Mtv. Better yet, no TV. They have the energy, and the song writing skills. Stick with the raw emotion and thick sound. Remember: polish is for cars.

PAPERMOONS - s/t 7" EP (Team Science) With all the metal, power electronics and hardcore I review, it's good to get away from it for a bit. This 7" sure did the trick. Four (five) songs of lulling tunes, built for a lazy Sunday evening as one watches the sun sink behind hills. Papermoons consists of a Houston, Texas duo, Matt Clark and Daniel Hawkins, and these two gents play a mix of Americana and alt-country with a modern twist. Harmonica, steel and acoustic guitar, soft drumming mixed with samples, twisted noises and a touch of rock vibe. The vocals are a mix of sung, spoken and almost whispered, all adding to the quiet feeling. There are only 500 of the 7"es made (and they're on blue and orange wax), so if this sounds interesting, hurry your ass up. You can relax once you place it on your turntable. Actually, there's a CD version (which includes a bonus track) for those that just aren't into vinyl anymore.

PARABELLUM - Stainless CD (New South Metal) I'll be honest - I giggled when I got the CD. The cover is a poor Photoshop job, the band photo made me think they would sound like a terrible Hatebreed rip-off. I was dead wrong, and I'm pretty glad as the music is the best thing I've heard from the northern part of this state since Dove. The music ranges from doom and stoner metal to hardcore and metalcore (there's even a ballad, "Locust Dreams in Potters Field"). The vocals (Shane Reneeaux ex-Defience and Blount) are pretty good too, as they morph from raspy growls to sandpaper shouting, from guttural barks to melodic singing. This band has been around since 1995 (self-releasing a four song disc Ammo in '99), but it's taken ten years for their 'swamp metal' sound to drip on down to my ears. Miami is the south too fellas - don't let the beach, with it's neon lights, big city air and men holding hands, scare ya.

PARASITES - Retro-Pop Remasters CD (Go Kart) If you don't know Parasites, you never cracked open an MRR or Flipside fanzine any time during the 1990s. Parasites are as much of a staple in the book of pop punk as are Screeching Weasel, The Queers or even Green Day. Releasing over five LPs (Punch Lines, More Bounce To the Ounce, Compost, etc), on labels which helped define the pop punk sound, such as Lookout!, Shredder and Go-Kart. Retro-Pop Remasters is their newest release and is a remastering of fourteen tracks (a sort of 'best of') of their favorite numbers off of all their albums. If you are into jumping around (and holding on to your heart while singing) to bands like Mr. T Experience, Weston, All or even later Descendants, you can start here and find out if you'd like to hunt down some of the Parasites' harder to track material.

PELICAN - Australasia CD (Hydra Head) The best driving music (or writing music) I have heard in a long time. Well, that wasn't ambient-electro music anyway. Six instrumentals in the vein of Hawkwind meets Cult of Luna. No singer or vocalist? Yep. The album's opener - 'album' as six songs make an LP if it's close to an hour in length - "Night End Day" kicks it off well enough, but would have many call this - upon first listen - a 'stoner rock' record. "Drought" sets aside common notions that 'jam outs' all consist of whawha pedals, stolen Sabbath riffs and Phish bridges. It mixed the doom and sludge schools of the stoner genre, with a hint of Scandinavian metal. As usual (per the HH gang) the quietest (usually acoustic) track is numbered but left blank - without a title. The album's title track is an explosive back and forth of a lyricless Sea of Green meets Neurosis. Someone was sleeping at Chicago label Victory to let this Illinois outfit pass them by right under their noses. Hydra Head? They get another notch on their belts, of course. Well, musically at least. That's because while the cover has great artwork, especially the use of color - I don't care for the paper packaging. It's also slightly shorter than a regular jewel case. I'm freaky about my stuff being symmetrical.

PERMANENT - Sink / Swim CD (6131) With the cover art and look of this release I expected a bit of alternative mush or maybe some challenging college rock. Being as old as I am, you'd think I'd stop assuming what inside by what's on the outside, but I'm guilty. Well, not just guilty... but wrong. Permanent are a quartet from Richmond, Virginia and they feature ex-members of Bracewar, Hold Me Back, High Stakes and Out For Justice. In '04 they began jamming and self-released a demo, which got them the notice, all the way across this country, of California's 6131 Records for the Sink / Swim LP, not to mention Rise and Fall Records who also released an EP on CD and 7" titled Sleeping. Oh, and mushy alternative nor college rock do they play, but instead they're a hearty mix of hardcore fury along with indie-rock hooks. The opening track ("Void of Course") breaks this release open and keeps the pace high. "Sidestepping" had some of the best reggae licks from white-boys I've heard in a while. "My Efforts Toward Disaster" slow things down in a heavy, yet melancholy way, and "Virtue of Vices" closes things off powerfully. Altogether, it's a good mix from four young dudes delivering metallic hardcore, with a touch of rock-n-roll, and a little bit of melody. For you vinyl freaks and collector nerds 6131 put out a few 12" on clear wax (600 copies) and another few are colored (400), so you can start that hunt now.

PERTH EXPRESS - s/t CD (Teenage Disco Bloodbath) I won't lie to you. I never knew who Perth Express was. With that said... thanks Teenage Disco Bloodbath Records. Thanks for enlightening me. Perth Express' music is a smattering of grinding metal meets stoner rock mayhem - not far off from the likes of Mastodon. This German outfit has been around since 2003, and if you have missed out on them until now (like I have), this just might be the place to start. This self-titled release is a discography of the band. You get all four tracks from their demo, two from a split 7", a bunch from their self-titled 10" and even more from their self-titled 12". Altogether equaling twenty-three tracks coming out to a near hour of riff after riff. The layout is pretty nifty too. It's done on a black foldout recycled sleeve with hand printed silk-screened artwork, along with a folded poster insert. Very minimalist, yet very striking. I find it odd that the band doesn't title their releases, but who cares when the songs are this metallically memorable.

PIG DESTROYER - Painter of Dead Girls CD (Robotic Empire) If you are trying to enter yourselves into the world that is Pig Destroyer, this isn't the best gateway. You can check out 38 Counts of Battery (also a collection of material) and Prowler in the Yard (both on Relapse Records) and you will not be sorry. Mind you, this is a good release for fans. Actually it's an excellent release for fans, as I like this record a lot. It added to my collection, but it's nowhere to begin if you're just starting out with Pig Destroyer. Tracks 1 - 7 were recorded on an afternoon in early 2000 and there are no lyrics (or decent production). Now, I guess with PD's brand of math-rock grindcore, lyrics aren't necessary - just growl and scream along with the disc and you can probably be passed off as a fan anytime. Tracks 8 - 15 where recorded in 1999 (have lyrics) and sound better than the previous tracks. They also do a cover of The Stooges "Down In the Streets" and Helmet's "In the Meantime", which made me pull out all my old Helmet records (way before the re-release of Dope, Guns and Fucking did!). You can also put it in your computer for some video clips. Three short videos of songs taped at CBGB's in 2000, including one where the mic breaks and vocalist J.R. Hayes has to yell... and you can still hear him perfectly. Also, the cover artwork by Chris Taylor helps add to the creepy feel that Pig Destroyer can so easily bring about.

PHOBIA - Serenity Through Pain CD (Death Vomit) Grind-fucking-core. Altough a bigger fan of their music released on Slap-a-ham or Pessimiser, the newer stuff by Phobia is a thrash and grindcore fiesta with crust, hardcore and power-violence thrown in for good measure. While most bands who release one grind record soon follow a path to more intricate, yet often boring gloom or sludge metal with fake-orchestrations, Phobia have kept to their roots simple enough. Creating an LP with 22 originals - and one awesome Final Conflict cover - spanning into 45 minutes of full on heavy breaks, riffs and of course... enough "blasts" for any Carcass fan. Although packaged like a death metal release - if your not into death metal per say - you shouldn't let that stop you from checking out what is inside, as it should even give fans of hardcore punk, crust and power thrash an earful.

PLANET 13 - Third From the Right CD (Planet 13) I find it hard to believe this is a duo, and more so that it's a local act. Planet 13 is south Florida's Lance Benedict on guitars and drums, and Ray Zarate on vocals and keyboards. These two fellows do an epic mix of Rush and Black Sabbath. Epic, as in the first song is fifteen minutes, which sets the pace of the rest of this beast, as the six tracks clock in at over an hour. Third From the Right is their third release (the previous two being self-released as well, Planet 13 and One Way Ticket), and it's equal parts stoner-rock riff ala Kyuss and Mammoth Volume, while other times it progmetals itself into a twisted-sounding Queensryche complete with dazzling keyboards and frets set blaze by fingers-a-pickin'. I admit to never wanting to hear the cover of "Superstar" again (track three), but its follow-up ("The Quest") is a solid rock number, plus its predecessor ("Eyes of Deception") is such well-structured progressive metal meets acid-rock bounce that I can happily forget what's in between. This CD is, for me, the biggest and best surprise to come out of the Miami scene lately.

PLAN 9 - Manmade Monster CD (Nickel and Dime) In 1997 a group of fiends... I mean friends, decided to do a Misfits tribute band, and things went so well that they kept the idea going and added originals. Their shows sold out, and even drew members of big named bands just to watch. 2004 saw the release of their limited, red vinyled debut 8 Hits From Hell, and got them even more notice. On this new LP, when the intro hit, I thought it was going to be a Metallica-ish outfit that played a creepy dress-up, but I couldn't be more wrong. It's straight-up Danzig-era Misfits-esque songs with heavier guitars (check out the track "Blood" for pure proof). Now, Aaron Fuller is no Glenn Danzig, but he pulls the vocals off well enough. Ten originals, two Misfits covers (three if you count the hidden lounge version of "I Want Your Skull"), and two Samhain covers. If you'd like to check them out first - by all means - go see them live, or search out the video for "Undead" on You Tube. Like me, you'll be hooked.

PLAN OF ATTACK - The Working Dead CD (Organized Crime) Another in Victory's backyard of Chicago, Illinois. These guys and one gal, bring us eighteen tracks and it's all way under a half an hour... so, you know this is going to be fast, furious and fun. All the tracks are packed with early 80's hardcore hooks and speed. "So Sick" was made for a mosh pit and catchy as hell, and followed by "Cut Him Off" a punky State of Alert (Henry Rollins' first band) sounding number. "28 Year Build Up" was another favorite that had my head bobbing and fingers tapping on my desk as I type this. "Always An Outcast" was under one minute and I'm wishing it was way longer. Interesting song choice for a cover, as they picked the Washington D.C. area's Red C, whose only known material - the songs "Jimi 45" and "Pressure's On" [PoA do the later] - can be found on the classic Flex Your Head compilation. They end things on two infectious originals, "Clock In" and "Clock Out", seemingly about work and death. Two things I'm sure I will never be free from. Taxes? Fuck that, I don't play that game.

POMEGRANATES - Two Eyes CD EP (Pomegranates) This Cincinnati quartet are an impressive bunch, who just may be the next big indie chart toppers, so catch 'em while they're still fresh. A touch of Pinback and a little Broken Social Scene. Maybe some Kings of Leon, and a smattering of Arcade Fire. All in all, it's a nineteen minute ride of happy-go-lucky college rock mixed with moments of reflective alt-pop. Melodic, yet catchy. Quiet, yet explosive. Lush, yet minimalist. Songs you'll hum to yourself, and others you'll find yourself singing aloud to. They now have a full LP on Lujo Records, so if you can't get enough - and trust me, you just can't with these five tracks - check out their other new five inch slice of plastic.

PSEUDO HEROES - Prison of Small Perception CD (Go Kart) Sam, a 'schizophrenic release'? You said a mouthful. This Florida trio - with main songwriter Sam Williams of Down by Law (plus bass by Kevin Coss of Florida legends Pink Lincolns) - play a creative blend of poppy punk that can be very 'movie-friendly' (ie - background music for credit rolling) to pure and true hardcore and even some straight-up rock-n-roll. Yes, this is all over the map, but still holds together well. Plus, everybody is on this record... the punk ditty "Bad Show" features John Stabb of Government Issue, the hard-rock "Get Out of My Life" features Dave Smalley (of Dag Nasty and Down by Law), old school hardcore anthem "Too Scared To Care" has Blaine Cook of The Accused. Other songs have Chris Barrows also from the defunct Florida outfit Pink Lincolns, Lee Dorrian of Napalm Death, Jerry A. of Poison Idea and Kam Lee of Massacre. Heroes from punk, hardcore, emo, thrash and deathmetal - now that's complete. I found the original tracks where Sam sings to actually be some of the better numbers. It should have ended with the sped-up cover of Blue Oyster Cult's "Burnin' for You", as I felt "A Million Miles of Missteps" totally didn't fit this record - no matter how schizo it is.

PUBLIC ENEMY - It Takes A Nation of Millions: The First London Invasion Tour 1987 DVD (Music Video Distributors) Public Enemy was the first rap band I ever bought whose album contained openly black-nationalist - and often supremacist - views and ideals (I didn't notice it on Eric B & Rakim's debut). I actually went to the local music store on the day It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back was released. Anyhow, it really opened me up to some great hip-hop - anti-whitey or not. This release is a double-disc set. The first disc is a DVD live set, of which samples were peppered throughout their second LP, filmed November 1 - 3 in 1987 London - Thatcher country. A few extras are thrown in: photo gallery and audio commentary by PE frontman Chuck D. The second disc is a CD of the entire live set, but the extras are great! Nine bonus tracks: five remixes, an instrumental, a classic, another live track and a sneak peak track of their new, upcoming material. Yo, fight the power, yo.

PULSE EMITTER - Planetary Torture CD-R (Housepig) It was so cool just to open up the packaging and have my olfactory receptors totally engulfed by the smell of paint. I can't think of any other thing that tells you 'D.I.Y.' more than that. Let me first get to the band and sounds, and I'll have more on this in a sec. Pulse Emitter is the musical moniker of soloist Daryl Groetsch from Portland, Oregon. Daryl has been tinkering with natural sonance (like vocals) and electrical happenstance (like static and feedback), cranking them through hand-built modular synthesizers and creating mental breakdowns and sonic earaches in unsuspecting crowds and fans alike since 2002. He's released noise for such infamous labels as Blossoming Noise and RRR, and now Houspig gets to rumble your grey matter with P.E. / D.G.'s newest rash of chaos, Planetary Torture. The music is fluctuating waves of deep bass hum, rhythmic strokes of throbbing electro-babble all with an ebb-n-flow of oscillating drones that makes Pulse Emitter quite a fitting name. The slip cover that houses the disc as well as the accompanying single-page insert are adorned with a linoleum print by Seattle artist Nic Schmidt (hence the wonderful smell of paint). This release is limited to only 100 copies, so fans of power-electronics and harsh-noise addicts better start looking now, and looking fast.

PSYCHIC TV - Time's Up Live DVD (Music Video Distributors) I have been listening to Psychic TV almost as long as punk music. I had first heard of PTV through a friend who let me borrow one of their many limited live releases, released in the late 80s, Live in Tokyo, I believe. What made them even more interesting, for me, was the fact that in 1991, singer Genesis P-Orridge was exiled from his native home of England for Psychic TV videos and Temple of Psychic Youth material. Later came their acid-house and trance stuff, around '91 through '94, of which I still found to be interesting, and slightly ahead of most in that genre, but by 1995 I had lost interest in most of P-Orridge's projects. This concert was recorded at Royal Festival Hall in 1999, the and is first Psychic TV show in London for over ten years and the return of Genesis to his homeland of England. This DVD has no filler, as everything is worth watching. The entire event is captured on video, a lot of video and presented as the Time's Up documentary portion, which is well produced, and gave those who are unfamiliar with any of the 'goings on' to recognize what is going on, as well as let those out of touch - like myself - to do some catch-up on Psychic TV history. Also, giving a brief history of other musicians - who elsewhere on this disc we get a live number from each - which include psycho-punk Billy Childish and his band, Thee Headcoats, all original line-up of ? and the Mysterians - who we are later treated to a live version of the band's mega classic, "96 Tears", once cell phone pirate, now ambient-trance mix artist Scanner, Master Musicians of Jajouka - who are a 4000 year old musical tradition from Morocco. After the documentary check out the live performances, first I'd run through the openers, each gets a previously mentioned live number, sadly I wish there was more, and then a sampling of what P-Orridge is doing lately with a few numbers from Thee Majesty - a spoken word / musical montage and lastly an 8 song set from Psychic TV, this time around with an organic (guitar/bass/keyboard/drum) band line-up - rather than their 10+ tape loop machines. Also included are two old Psychic TV videos for "Godstar" and "Scared to Live" as well as a brief back and forth between Genesis P-Orridge and British actor-writer, Quentin Crisp, who did the introduction - via video - for the entire concert, and sadly died shortly after the filming.

PSYCHIC TV - Black Joy DVD (Music Video Distributors) I'm a big Ptv fan. I have collected one of each of the twenty three live albums (released one a month for 23 months in the late 80s). I was one of the first of a handful to work with the U. S. branch of TOPY - years before Genesis disowned Thee Psychic Youth. My relationship with Ptv's music is very strange because as they progressed in sound, my taste would parallel, though I had lost touch with their crowd. When Psychic TV formed from the ashes of Throbbing Gristle, they did noise and what most call 'early ambient'. I dug that and started working with TOPY members on my own noise project Dääb-Soul Destruction. When Ptv got into acid-house, I was coincidentally living with ravers in Los Angeles - I helped a friend deejay and I spun their twelves. Their records keep finding me... and I don't really mind. Love War Riot, the Jack the Tab stuff, loved it all. What can I say? LSD does weird things to a man. Now, this DVD is actually two separate videos that made their way past me (while vinyl finds me, video tapes were not only hard-to-find, but what little I did get I somehow lost). The first segment here is Black, and it captured Genesis playing dancey material with a live band and deejay at London's Subterrania in 1992 (their anniversary year). The second vid is Joy, and I find this the highlight. Here Psychic TV play a rare version of "Candy Says", you get a video of "R U Experienced" as sung by Gensis' daughter, live footage, art footage, collage, montage and just plain weirdness while the acid blares. You also get the video for "IC Water" from the late Wax Trax! days. I must for lovers of the P-Orridge works. So, MVD, when's the Throbbing Gristle DVD coming out?

PSYOPUS - Ideas of Reference CD (Black Market Activities) I think this is the first time I can review a record with only one word, 'fuck!' Yep, that sums it up pretty well. Hailing from Rochester, NY, ex-members of Kalibas grind and stomp their way onto your eardrums and into your head with a technical metalcore not that far off of Burnt By the Sun, or maybe even Dillinger Escape Plan, but they'd have to be hooked on ice or crank to get the right balance of haste and psychosis that Psyopus drip from ever pore. "The White Light" had the most annoying guitar dissonance, but it works so well in the song that you can't help but to ask for more of this torture. "The Long Road to the 4th Dimension" was somewhat hypnotic, then slapping me back to reality with it's insanely chugging breakdown of an ending. How the hell do these freaks know when one song is ending and another must begin? They can go from from crustcore to jazz interludes and back again ("Anomaly") like no one's business. The drums are either in an almost nonstop blast beat, or doing lightning quick fills. Greg Herman must be their pet name for a drum machine, right? The LP's closer "Bones to Dust" did just that, pulverized me. Psyopus really push the limits of musical development, as well as the boundaries of fatigue, as by the end of the 45 minutes of this album I was tired. I wanted sleep. I was bruised and banged-up good. Do I need a break, or need to hear this again? I'll go for 'again'. I can be such a masochist sometimes.

QUELL - One Man's Struggle With the English Language (Goodfellow) In August of 2001 exmembers of A Kiss Before Dying and Andrea's Truth bashed together some instruments and called it Quell. Well, there is method - and melody - to this madness. A sort of emotional chaoticore of Psyopus or Curl Up and Die learning how to get in touch with their inner child thanks to acts like Poison the Well. A key difference is that the vocals keep the growls throughout, rather than lightening up when the music gets melodic. Actually it's refreshing - it makes for a powerful combination. Some of the guitar work on here is mad riffing, while other times it's the impish, jazzy, solo-like spasms chaoticore is known for. It's all over in a flash, yet a bit longer than most of this genre. The music will grab your ears, while the digipack layout, as well as the artwork are quite eye-catching in themselves.

THE QUEERS - The Queers Are Here DVD (Grata / MVD) Yeah, I know it reads in the review policy that I ask people not to send in pop punk material, but some bands are grandfathered in. Screeching Weasel, Mr T Experience, Jawbreaker, Parasites, Weston, and yes, The Queers. Well, they didn't start off as a pop punk band anyhow, they were just fast-paced punk rock. It wasn't until mid-90s records like Move Back Home and Don't Back Down (both on Lookout! Records) that they started adding the choruses of 'oohs' and 'la la las'. Many of the FHF fans couldn't care less about poppy, catchy, singalong punk, but I'm gonna try to make 'em. This DVD disc is just a hair over an hour, with close to thirty live tracks and video releases. It opens with a live show playing "I Spent the Rent" where the song almost ends in a fist-fight between Joe Queer and a crowd member who fucked with their roadie, and continues with other live shows from all over the U.S. and Europe, including a stream of old numbers belted out by Wimpy (instead of the usual Joe) in Florence, Italy. You also get music vids of "Don't Back Down", "Tamara Is A Punk", an unreleased animated version of "I Can't Get Over You" and my favorite Queers ditty, "Punk Rock Girls" (yummy, yummy!). In between most tracks are interview clips with Joe Queer giving you the history of the band, the music, touring and his take on other bands like The Dwarves, Greenday (both he loves), Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance (both he hates). A fun watch that will quell those that haven't seen them live, as well as those who want to see much more.

QUESTIONS - Strength! CD EP (Questions) Straight up hardcore from Brazil, with three songs and one PC video. The title track sounds reminiscent to Judge with better vocals, until they get to their chorus - where Slayeriffic chords come into it all - made to send any mosh-pit into a fury. "Union/Respect" is quick, but killer. The third song, "Questions", is off their 2000 demo (We Shall Overcome), and very Biohazard influenced. More hardcore and not as much metal as their first two tracks, but the hardcore power remains well enough to send kids rushing off to scrape S.P.H.C. on their fists. I barely made out what they say in the intro to the QuickTime Video for "Real Enemy", as I speak Spanish, but my Portuguese is rusty as all. Either way, the video is great. The production is top notch and it's filmed well with intersecting live and studio shots. Limited edition of only 1000, so get a move on it if you want to see what the scene is like below the equator.

THE QUINTESSENTIALS - Legends from the Grave CD (The Quintessentials) I really liked The Quintessentials first release The Horror Never Ends. I found it to be damn good pop-punk in a world full of thick vocal effects packaged with an Mtv guitar sound. This time around they still have a poppy flavor ("Dead Head", "Specimen 32", "Whiplust") , while many of these songs pull on stronger rock elements ("Black Bramford", "In My Dark World"), and others have a straight-up punk sound ("Bloodlust", "Ginger Snaps"). This Hawaiian trio will really twist the minds of fans of Screeching Weasel, The Queers or even early Mr. T Experience, with their lyrical content covering vampirism, zombies, masochism, nercophilia, and hailing the Dark Lord within. The only ritual you need to take part in is with some yeah-yeah-yeah's during the choruses on this record. Get with it, and swing that 'sing of the horns' around.

THE QUINTESSENTIALS - The Horror Never Ends CD (The Quintessentials) Well Happy Halloween to me! This came in a day or two before All Hallows Eve, so it qualifies. Let me do some introductions first. Reader meet Les Hernadez, a Church of Satan's Grotto Master for Hawaii, and his band The Quintessentials. "Church of Satan?", you may wonder. Or assert, "It must be heavy metal." Ah, but never make assumptions. You couldn't have guessed it I'm sure, but this is pop-punk for the Dark Lord. Yes, that right, with shades of Jawbreaker, Screeching Weasel (I hear this one the most), Ramones and classic Misfits, all tuned together to appease the homodeus-with-a-mowhawk. I think it's just too awesome to hear words like "Rege Satanas!" followed by "oh-oh, oh-oh!" in the classic pop-punk sing-a-long style. This is the perfect record for those who take themselves too seriously. That's why you'll need songs titled "That Girl" next to ones titled "Satanic Revolution". Yes, life can be filled with strife, darkness and sometimes you need to evoke Satan to smash your enemies, but you also need time to crack open a beer, pick up a honey, throw on some (un)righteous tunes and slam dance. 18 songs and about 10 minutes short of an hour's worth of punk rock inferno. What else can I say, but... Hail Satan!

R - Reflection, Refraction, Retraction CD-R (RRR) R (not to be confused with RRR Records, who released this - oh, and happy 20th Anniversary RRR!) is Jon Whitney of Massachusetts. R (or J.W.) produces noise music via guitar feedback and pedals. This EP is captured live at The Milky Way (you can even hear pool games going on as the tones begin), and when the tones are low I'm almost as interested in trying to make out the conversations as I am about the noise itself. All three tracks ("Reflection", "Refraction" and "Retraction" - together running thirty minutes) are nice tones, hums and feedback. Nothing ear piercing, but not necessarily chillout music either. Each track starts quietly until it begins to build up. The tones get higher and lower pitched, while the droning sways back and forth, as switches are flicked and knobs are twisted. "Refraction" sounds like an audio-story of crickets and dragonflies, complete with death and an afterlife. No joke. "Retraction" has a few NASA countdown and transmission samples over deep hums and goes on into IDM territory similar to Bank of Gaia or 777. Good shit for K Holes... or so I hear.

RABIES CASTE - s/t CD (Dada Drumming) This is the last that many fans of Rabies Caste can look forward to. Well, besides live bootlegs. Having already released two LPs (1999's For the Vomiting Tractor Drivers [on Infernal Racket Records] and Let the Soul Out and Cut the Vein on Earache Records [2001]), this Israeli doomcore trio disbanded in 2003, so their third outing is a collection of older material. The self-titled CD collects RC's 7" single "Timeless" (on a split with Sourvein, once on Dada Drumming), plus two tracks from that session, two live tracks (recorded in Jerusalem), and two tracks from a previously unreleased '97 EP titled, Children Can Fall Into Bucket and Drown. A good addition to your Rabies Caste collection, and a must for completeists.

RACEBANNON - Satan's Kickin' yr Dick In CD EP (Secretly Canadian) Have you ever been found face down in the gutter? Mumbling, stuttering, wiping puke off your chin and blood from your asshole? Yeah, me neither, but I'm sure members of Racebannon are responsible for that very same fate falling upon many poor saps. I really thought they were headed the wrong way with the In the Grips of Light 7 inches, but this disc turned it around for me. The CD inlay tells the tale of a boy and his meeting with the Devil that reads like mini-trashy novel, and winds up with the birth of Rhonda Delight. It's all set to a heavy metal, slugfest meets fusion-hardcore noise opera - a more hardcore-metal version of Ultraviolence's Psychodrama, with a different storyline. The sometimes sample heavy insanity matches up death metal blasts with doom-inspired low-end drone. There are parts that remind me of everything from Dead Kennedys, to Tricky, to Sleep and Carcass. Tracks six and seven are the standouts, with their raw blending of math rock, punk vibes and showing no fears by throwing in a little funk. If you can handle the first 5 minutes of this half-hour EP you are in for a hell of a ride, and you won't regret it the next day, even with the bleeding anus. Will there be further adventures of Ms. Delight? If the fuck fright shines on us, it shall be so.

RAGE - 20 Years of Punk Rock - West Coast Style DVD (Music Video Distributors) Where do I begin? Interviews with some of my favorite punk "legends", but they don't go the way I'd like to. Keith Morris, who once saved my life in 1987. 7 Seconds and Circle Jerks played The Button in Hollywood (which didn't allow stage diving). So, while stage diving I was placed in a chokehold by a bouncer and yanked into an alley. My skinny ass little arm found it's way into the bouncer's face soon after my untimely exit - and I totally understand his delema here - picked his flashlight over my his head for a serious punk skull crushin'. I hear Circle Jerks still playing in the background and belive I'm done for, when Kieth comes out and says, "If you hit my cousin, I'm outta here." Morris waved me to come back in and we go on stage, arm in arm. The crowd roared. I'm saved! Here though, he wears a wacky (and some might find racist) pair of Asian glasses, accessorized with a grey fright wig - funny for about 2 seconds, but it's worn throughout the film. The truth is that everyone here has an item to hawk... Jello with Alternative Tenticles, others with their new bands or re-forming old bands. Sure, I agree with their statements how punk was the last - at that time - musical expression to be highly independent of major label ties, and they were the godfathers (and mothers) of a new generation of music, but face it - you're not in it for the same reasons. Jack Grisham of TSOL comes of apologetic over things all us 'bored suburban punks' did. Yet, injuring his shoulder via patting himself on the back a little too hard. Yes, you were punk, you left - I remember Tender Fury... GLAM! - now you're punk again. What if the money was in Glam Rock? If it were which would you be? Punk or Glam? Gitane Demone seems to go off on a tamdem (that's a bicycle built for two) about Greenday type bands. Don Bolles, a very weird looking gentleman (like an overly excited Tristan Tzara with a fu-manchu mustache), probably wouldn't even be on here if they could get anyone else from the Germs. I did enjoy what Jello had to say, as well as Kieth Morris, but it could have been all put together better.

RAGING SPEEDHORN - Before the Sea Was Built CD (SPV) Raging Speedhorn is a sextet from Northamptonshire, England, beginning in 1998 from the ashes of Soulcellar and Box. They actually made it into the UK singles chart with their single "The Gush" in 2001 off of their self-titled debut LP (on ZTT Records). They then released a few more albums, We Will Be Dead Tomorrow (2002, also on ZTT), a two-disc album of live material and rare demos in 2004, and How the Great Have Fallen (2005, on their current label SPV Records). With a new singer and a new bassist one wouldn't think their sound has changed all that much from previous efforts, but it has. Though the band is a dual-vocal beast, the new and main vocalist (Bloody Kev, who once fronted Hard to Swallow) brings a very different style than the previous singer, which is now more manic, brutal and in-your-face. Musically they've moved away from the sludgecore sound of their early releases, and are now opting for a more ethereal and intricate sound on Before the Sea Was Built, which wouldn't be far off of Isis or Neurosis. The songs aren't as long or epic as the previously mentioned outfits (the entire ten song album is under an half hour) , but they're in the same sonic tones, as well as structure. It's a good listen for those that are into the postcore sound, but are over the ten-minute stretch of the usual prog-metal tunes.

RAMALLAH - But A Whimper CD EP (Bridge 9) From the 3" disc packaged like a 5" and the slick CD layout by Converge's Jake Bannon to the eight tracks of old-school hardcore influenced mayhem, there is nothing Ramallah does that I am not just drooling all over. "White Trash" Rob of Blood for Blood (Sinners and Saints as well) has given mosh fans more trouble than they need. Giving the drum tracks to "The Brute", Rob plays all else on this release (guitars, bass, keyboards) to show he is no scene-lightweight. The track "Ramallah" is a punk/hardcore/metal hybrid that opens the record reminding us that it's pretty much all over for mankind. "Al Shifa" is a tumultuous punch-and-kick fest, with its spare-no-one breakdown. "Who Am I?" lyrically points out why I, as well as many in music and art scenes, do the shit (bands, fanzines, websites) they do. There are also moments of melody ("Someday") but they are in no way touting the emo-line or attempting to be Mtv darlings, as the track drops it all for more riffs and a pummeling 4/4 300bpm hardcore insanity. "True Crime" is an acoustic number that reminds everyone just because he's your Dad doesn't mean he can't be a scumbag. The backing vocals by J. Bannon on three of the record's tracks added a well placed eerie-ness to the songs. Another item to note is that this was produced by Kurt Ballou (also of Converge), and he does a much better job than the Eden Maine release.

RAMMING SPEED - Brainwreck CD (Teenage Disco Bloodbath) Like the Cross Examination debut last year, this CD couldn't have come by at a better time. Lately, I've spun to death all my D.R.I. and Cryptic Slaughter albums, so this has been one of my current faves. Late 80s thrash ala M.O.D. / S.O.D., Cryptic Slaughter, or Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, with a touch of grindcore and crustcore thrown in for total mayhem. This Boston madhouse feature ex-members of Backstabbers Inc, Inheritance and Cyanide Breed, formed in 2006, released a 7" EP (Full Speed Ahead also on Teenage Disco Bloodbath Records), and have toured the US leaving behind many a strange tale to tell (arrests for suspected kidnapping!), besides leveling unsuspecting mosh pits. At times Brainwreck sounds off like an awesome throwback to early American thrash, other times they remind me of a more frantic Napalm Death. The lyrics are a blast, and while the standard fare is here (dickhead ex-friends, politics, etc), there are plenty of weird ones involving zombies, great guitarists and Thor's hammer - though not all in the same song. The disc is presented in its deserving manner, as a stylish foldout digipack whose color scheme will catch the eye almost as quick as the band catches the ear. If this five-piece doesn't get your ear, trust me... they'll rip it off your pretty little head.

THE REASON - Ravenna CD (Small Man) From the remnants of several Canadian bands, that none of us have probably ever heard of, comes a band that most of us will hear about soon enough. Releasing their first EP earlier this year (Problems Associated with Running), which combined with a lip-spliting live show, quickly got them picked up for a full LP. Morphing a now popular emotional metalcore, with arena rock elements, all the while applying the call-and-response hooks of bands like Hot Water Music and Small Brown Bike. At times the songs are forceful and powerful emo-rock numbers, yet maintaining a poppy, catchy anthemic quality. Other times the sound blends hardcore tunes, and its gruff, sandpaper vocals and fitful riffs, with indie-rock stylings. "The Joke & the Gentleman" brought to mind early Gameface - I dug the lyrics too. "Red Sky at Dawn" was a huge shard of From Autumn to Ashes being jammed into The Police's back - and another with biting lyrics. "Tortoise" ends this disc with huge riffs crashing into an almost street punk, sing-a-long chorus with metalcore vocals, and then back on into the big riffs and emotive croons. I have to say that the layout and cover work do not do this release justice. That's going to burn you with those Hot Topics types.

REGRET - Misery Brigade CD EP (Organized Crime) You can hear record label OC's progression of musical maturity in each release. From old school hardcore, hardcore-metal, and currently, to progressive metalcore. This current release is still hardcore, but dropping hints of several styles of metal, as well as musical prowess and ability. Only forming last year from the remains of Holding On (from Minneapolis), these five cats now known as Regret belt out something a bit different. Parts of songs are in a straightforward metalcore sound of the early 90s (think Strife, Backlash, or very early Hatebreed), yet there are moments of emotion, blending of genre, not to mention true talent. The title track had a Word As Law-era Neurosis feel, which also brought to mind Life. Love. Regret-era Unbroken. Regret might make it big with fans of Give Up the Ghost or A Life Once Lost. If you dig this, and want more, you can also check out the 7" of their 2005 demo, or wait a bit till their LP drops.

RED SPAROWES - At the Soundless Dawn CD (Neurot) Red Sparowes is actually members B. C. Meyer of Isis on guitar, Josh Graham (Neurosis visual and video director) on guitar, and Greg Burns (of sextet Halifax Pier) on bass and steel pedal, with this recording featuring Jeff Caxide on bass and guitar (of Isis ), as well as Dana Berkowitz on drums (of once-Converge side project The Cignal). Imagine if The Cure (Disintegration era) met up with the Neurosis / Isis school of doomcore. Seven songs of instrumental mayhem that are thick with psychedelic rock crushing against walls of dark guitar work. Their bio says they may incorporate vocals into their sound someday... why ruin a good thing? But then again their bio says they're influenced by the esoteric, melodic guitar-surrealists of the mid-80s, Blast First and Too Pure, over Neurosis and Isis - when they sound more like Neurosis and Isis, and nothing like Blast First or Too Pure. Still an amazing piece of work, as I wouldn't change a note.

REDTOPS - Left for Dead CD (Universal Warning) I have to admit, this isn't something I would have expected from UW Records, though there absolutely nothing wrong with it. With the Killing Time, BOLD, Uppercut reunions this should move off the shelf in a firestorm of nostalgia to drown the weak in an Earth Crisis and Strife-like wave of destruction. Take a mix of late 80s NY LES sounds and a bit of the early 90s metal-influenced Victory acts, with a sprinkle of punk hooks and rhythms - and you may get a band like RedTops. Musically the band flows from each of heavy, hardcore styles and back - coming off sounding like Suicidal Tendencies one moment (Today I Die"), followed by Sick Of It All ("Stand By Us"), to D.R.I. ("Nailed" / "Left for Dead") and Judge ("Against the Grain") the next to Anthrax ("Blood and Greed) after that. The vocals are similar to Strife, where they're gruff and burly, followed by chorus chants. All in all - good call Universal Warning... any scopes on black metal bands?

REQUIEM AETERNAM - Philosopher CD (I Corp) Finally! I get some decent stuff from the southern hemisphere. Requiem Aeternam started in Uruguay, 1995, with José Romero of Inner Sanctum, as well as members of Ammon Amarth and Opeth, and releasing their first EP, Eternally Dying, in 1998. Romero now resides in NYC, while publishing written works (Escritos Prohibidos) in south America, but as the only original member he's still got that passion for heavy metal. The first song alone, "Rectitude", is a bad ass blend of power metal and death metal, though mostly leaning towards death. "Wisdom" started almost grind, but taken over by acoustic guitars and actual singing. "Antichrist" is a hardcore-metal breed with hooky rock elements. The last - untitled - track was a blast beat, gothic metal epic. An interesting note to Philosopher is that the lyrics are all based on the works of Heraclitus, Nietzsche, Seneca, Lao Tzu and others, but I must admit I wish he sang more in his native tongue of Spanish (like in "Desperation" - ¡Asi me gusta!). I think too many people mistake singing in English with commercial success. Still, with that as my biggest complaint, you know this is no let down.

THE RESIDENTS - Icky Flix DVD (Music Video Distributors) This is a great DVD! I remember back in my high school days, I would come home drunk and flip on Night Flight to catch some killer underground videos, film and live material - at least "underground" by Miami's terms. Admittedly, when I first heard The Residents I didn't care for them and their Barnes & Barnes-esque absurdity-as-synthpunk. While catching episodes of said late-night program, I caught "One Minute Movies" and suddenly "got it". Yes, drunk off my ass, but I became a fan. All their classic works are here (man do I love "The Third Reich 'N' Roll"), plus a few newer videos (when I say new I mean their 90's catalog), video versions of their CD-Roms, and four newly created videos. All of it closing out in a restored edit of "Vileness Fats" (The Residents first experiment with film). It all clocks in at 100 minutes, and if you like you can play it over again... with a brand new Residents soundtrack created just for this release. I love it Mr. Death, relax.

RETCHING RED - Get Your Red Wings CD (Retching Red) A new female-fronted, hardcore-punk band making its way from Oakland, California and they've only been around for less than a year. One of the few things that holds them apart is an all-veteran cast featuring Cinder Block of Tilt on vocals, plus Cyco Loco of Oppressed Logic, Joe Fucko of Strychnine and Crash Diaz of Trouble Maker. A bit of the record reminds me much of Naked Aggression, Allergic to Bullshit or even (South America) Colombia's, I. R. A., as it's fast paced hardcore, with a punkcore edge and pissed as all femme vocals, which are not sung, but not barked either - they're perfect actually. "Plentiful" can clear a room, except for all bassists who'll want to stick around and watch fire emit from fingertips. The cover, with artwork of a punk chick with a monster pussy bleeding out the bands name in red, might be a bit much for some, but it fits the snotty (or bloody) feel of this disc.

RETCHING RED - Scarlet Whore of War CD (Rodent Popsicle) Retching Red are a female-fronted, hardcore-punk band that hail from Oakland, California, which feature Cinder Block from Tilt (on vocals) and Oppressed Logic's Cyco Loco (who also ha s a cool radio show). For their second release (the first being 2004's self-released album Get Your Red Wings), the metallic edge is a lot stronger, but the punk spirit is still huge. A lot of this brings to mind Allergic to Bullshit, Naked Aggression or even (South America) Colombia's, I. R. A. (at least when Monica sings), as it's hardcore, fast and in your face with touches of punkcore and pissed-off femme vocals. This LP is also way more political than the first. The lyrics are well written, and often witty, which always makes for a good read. Fourteen tracks of intelligent, inyaface politipunk for the fist and the mind. Smash it up!

RICHARD KERN - Extra Action (and Extra Hardcore) DVD (Music Video Distributors) I have to say that I looked forward to this DVD release for two reasons. First, as a collector of underground cinema and short films Extra Action (and Extra Hardcore) contains previously unreleased works by Richard Kern. Secondly, my girlfriend was a Kern model and I thought she might be on this disc somewhere. Well, I didn't have to say that, but I was proud to. The 'Extra Action' segment is an hour of photographer / filmmaker Richard Kern videotaping sixty amateur beauties and gorgeous girls, all placed to music by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore. Though I do love tits and ass, my pick of the two would be the 'Extra Hardcore' segment, which contains six of the Kern films that weren't available on the Hardcore disc (available from Music Video Distributors), including The King of Sex, Catholic, Nazi and Scooter and Jinx. Whether you're a fan of the Cinema of Transgression or you just want to sexually relieve your aggression, this is the one disc you must own. Oh, and by the way, my chick isn't on this release. I get her all to myself, so good for me / bad for you. Actually, with all the other flesh on here, I'm sure you couldn't care.

RIGOR SARDONICOUS - Apocalypsis Damnare CD (Paragon) This is some of the strangest, yet slowest doom, I've heard in sometime. Admittedly, it's not new, as this is a repress of their 1999 album. The music is a doom-y, funeral drone. A slow, heavy riffage in the vein of Warhorse, or Cause of Death-era Obituary (though slowed to 17 rpm). One of the highlights is the warped vocals, they are awesome. Manipulated (or not, as they argue) into a deep, low-end growl - sounding straight out of a Hellraiser film. My biggest peeve is that this sounds as if it's been taken straight off the original vinyl. Much of the bass sound is gone, replaced with high treble and low-fi static. It kinda adds to the effect of it all, but at the same time, doom is meant to be bass-heavy -- felt as much as heard.

RINGWORM - The Promise CD (Deathwish Inc.) I really can't say enough good things about this record. I found it at a time when power-violence was getting a bit stale (especially Spazz), and they blended the right amounts of thrash, grindcore and hardcore. I originally ordered this 12" LP back in 1993 simply because the review in Maximum Rock-n-Roll said they sounded like Integrity. They were so wrong, but shit the bed if I didn't love this album. One of the first bands to emerge from the heavy Cleveland hardcore sound of the early 90s and show the broad spectrum and different styles of what was to be soon called 'metalcore'. Definitely one of the first hardcore bands of that era to speed-pick. Okay, I have every version of this LP (the original, second press, Lost & Found CD)... and I still loved getting this. It's the entire Promise LP, but it comes with all the songs off their demos (remastered!) and an extra cover (of KISS' "Deuce", which I had never heard before). The instrumental "Numb" going into "Blind to Faith" is still insane hardcore grind meets holy terror metal that's ready to take on any of today's pretenders-to-the-throne. "Likeness of Vanity", "Consumed", "Sideshow" and "Necropolis" are just a few of the thrash highlights on this album, but the demo material really challenges the LP for the highlight status. Their originals smoked, but their choice of covers actually always bored me. I found them too cute. Now the "Deuce" cover shredded. I can't talk up this record enough. It's a classic. If you like heavy, here's you're chance to get an often talked about, but long out-of-print disc. The thrill of the hunt may be gone, but you'll bang your head good enough.

RINGWORM - Justice Replaced By Revenge CD (Victory) When on tour and going through Ohio, Ringworm's HF bought me and my crew a round of beers and proved to be a generally nice chap. Don't let the utter brutality of some music disguise the fact that many a hardcore kid and metalhead are decent human beings. Putting biases aside, I still have to say: A big thumbs up! Mind you, this is no The Promise, but it comes so close, while blowing Birth Is Pain out of the water. The Human Furnace sounds as pissed as ever, the music has regained much of the early thrash sound I loved in early Ringworm. A lot of the old school Clevo Style is recaptured on this new album. This LP is a new must for fans of late 80s thrash (Cryptic Slaughter, Crumbsuckers), San Diego power violence (Spazz, Dropdead), the Holy Terror sound (Integrity), or anyone wanting to get away from the "screamo" sound so popular in heavy music lately.

THE RITES - Wish You Never Knew CD (Coalition) Members of Tear It Up, Cut the Shit and Down In Flames get together play some in-your-face Jersey hardcore, with a huge West Coast vibe. "Theme for A Jackass" is all spins and kicks, you know - dancefloor stuff. And I see what they say when they mention being influenced by Poison Idea. They don't fool around with that reference, but they still kick in much of their own NYHC edge. "Pissing On Your Grave" isn't as threatening as it sounds, but is wicked catchy and a killer way to end things on. My biggest complaint is that at eleven minutes, eight songs this may be a little thin to most, but it stands well enough on its own. Oh, and if there is a hardcore purist in you, there is also a vinyl version. Get both.

ROSE FUNERAL - Crucify Kill Rot CD (Candlelight) Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio (the city that gave us Ass Ponys, but slapped us with 98 Degrees) comes its new saving grace, Rose Funeral. RF is a monster capturing pain, torture and gore on plastic, and they deliver it all to you like a stab to the gut. A charnel house where moshing is not only allowed, but encouraged. The vocals are a mix of witch-y black metal-esque main vocals, and a lower growling back-up vocalist - yet with both, you can still make out the lyrical content. The music is a flurry of blast beats, heavy guitars and a bit of melody. Crucify Kill Rot begins with the title track (which is, to me, a decent track, but their weakest - so it's good to get it out of the way early), and quickly becomes a blend of double bass drum, crunching metal riffs and speed-picking. All of which does not stop until the album's end. They use melody, but ballads you will not find. No wussy crybaby shit to try and soften your heart... instead Rose Funeral try to yank it out of your chest cavity forcefully. This is a must if you're a fan of bands such as The Red Chord, Black Dahlia Murder, Unearth, Dead to Fall, or most Swedish or Florida-inspired death metal. I think it blows much of the newer death metalcore out of the chum-filled water.

ROSETTA - The Galilean Satellites DOUBLE CD (Translation Loss) I've used this word to describe three previous bands, and now I make it four: epic. This time, it's so epic it deserved two discs (five tracks each), clocking in at a minute short of two hours. Many will make comparisons to Isis and Neurosis (hell, I just did), but many of these tracks sound as if Explosions In The Sky weren't afraid to play with vocals and electronics. The first disc is a haunting mix of heaviness and Cure-esque guitar play, to metalcore vocals and sometimes quieting to ambient and electro-babble. The second disc is almost all soundscapes, with a touch of shoegazer, ethereal instrumentation. Some songs will crush you ("Departe", "Absent"), while others will just crush your heart ("Beta Aquilae", "Sol"). The words, 'recorded by the drummer, at his house, and mixed by the guitarist' would usually make any fan of music cringe, but the recording and mix are excellent. Beautiful limited-edition (to 1000), gatefold-digipack design by Aaron Turner (of Isis), adds to the look and feel of the record(s). Now, these songs may just be about a spaceman, but, damn it, I want the lyrics.

ROSETTA - Wake / Lift CD (Translation Loss) Rosetta tags themselves as 'metal for astronauts'. Well, I've previously tagged this band as 'epic' (their last LP, The Galilean Satellites [also on Translation Loss Records], was a two-hour, double disc set), and I'll use that word to describe them again. I compared their earlier work to Neurosis or Isis (whom they admit are influences - so no harm there), and while some of that still holds true, they have really created a sound all for themselves here. Some of the music sounds as if Explosions In The Sky were not afraid to mess around with vocals and a bit of electronics. The songs are also a haunting mix of heaviness, lush Cure-esque guitar play, a touch of shoegazer, and ethereal instrumentation, blending metalcore vocals, adding a sometimes quiet ambient to booming electro-babble. It took the foursome from Philadelphia, PA two years to create this new masterpiece, and it was well worth the wait. Seven songs (coming in at over an hour) of swirling guitars, heavy riffs, multi-textured metal, and experimentally emotive song writing. If you can't get enough try and find their recently released split with Balboa, titled Project Mercury, on Level Plane Records.

THE ROUTE 66 KILLERS - Murder On Beaver Street CD (Gravewax) The band bio / onesheet says it all, and pretty well on the nose too. Not many other ways to describe this other than dark, instrumental surf inspired by the likes of The Ventures, Dick Dale and other instrosurf bands of the late 1960s. I do have to say that The Route 66 Killers add a little to the sound via horror movie soundtrack elements and even touch of country music and Spanish flamenco. With the new wave of greased-back hair and rolled up sleeves this will win big, maybe even with the vintage car rallies or surf movie conventions. They kind of have a built-in market, but I think much of this is well enough to stand on its own outside of a specific fad of the times. The album title has got to go. "Slit Street", or "T & A Avenue" would have even sounded more mature.

ROTTEN SOUND - Murderworks CD (Death Vomit) The artwork is slick, though some-what plain, but awfully nice - the bloody butcher, open it up and the band members, all red and wrapped up in cellophane, look raw as all. When I first heard this I thought - "drum machine" - I was wrong, drummer Kai Hahto is just insane that's all - and never gets tired aparently. Crystal meth? Relentless and unforgiving, almost non-stop grindcore with much influence from the California power-violence scene. RS features members of And Oceands...,an old favorite, so I expected a certain sound, again I was wrong. Rotten Sound keeps tripping me up, but I go on listening. Vocally they are better than most bands of this ilk, lyrically as well. But the music... it doesn't stop. It just keeps playing and playing, bludgeoning, stomping and hurting. It does not let up, so don't look for any breaks - except the spaces between tracks that are but a brief second of silence... silence before it comes back to pound, thrash and destroy. Fourteen tracks in all, played in just under a half an hour - three more tracks (with videos!) in CD-ROM - and then it's right back in my stereo's disc tray to replay all fourteen tracks and endure another half an hour of pain... why do I do this to myself ?! Masochist? No, just a lover of harsh sounds.

RUE - s/t CD (Shifty) You know an album is good when you come home from work, pop it in and by song three you have to take it out because you're seconds away from going back to work and kicking your boss in the teeth. You have to be careful with music, especially powerful music. It can absorb you, involve you -- control you. Ex-members of Hate Theory and Sofa King Killer converge with current members of Fistula to form serious headbanging hardcore. Yep, four guys from three killer bands form a new outfit delivering a touch of doom, a handful stoner metal, fistloads of hardcore and hearts filled with anger. Well, that's powerful for me. Still need more to go on? To my ears they bring to mind a combination of 16, Goatwhore and Lamb of God - or maybe Integrity, Church of Misery and High on Fire. "Born with Frostbite" is all riffs, licks and whiskey drinks. "70mg" closes the record by slowing things down a bit, while taking away none of the album's bombastic urgency. Lyrically intelligent, but you may want to rethink song titles like "Stonersaurus" (just my opinion, and I'm a smogger to boot). I only wish this disc was longer. For now though, I have to go see my boss. I'll be back in a bit, 6 to 9 months with good behavior.

RUINER - Prepare To Be Let Down CD (Bridge Nine) First off, I love self-depreciating humor. With a name like Ruiner, an album title like Prepare To Be Let Down, and their previous EP, What Could Possibly Go Right... how could I not like this? Seriously though, let down I was not. Ruiner is a Baltimore, MD quintet that formed in summer of 2004 - with ex-members of Farewell Hope - and have been righteously throwing down their 300 bpms full force since. They self-released a demo (Still Smiling), in 2005 they released the previously mentioned EP (with 7" wax on Grave Mistake Records / Firestater Records and compact disc on 1917 Records), and later came the split release with Day of the Dead (on Vendetta Records). While the sound is highly comparable to old school acts like Gorilla Biscuits, they also throw in some slower moments, similar to Integrity (Systems Overload era). There's a bit of emotional hardcore thrown in and it fully adds to the music, over making it sappy or anything like that, as this twenty-minute slice of vicious hardcore still had me jumping in my seat. Ruiner can bring to mind hardcore / postcore bands like The Exploder, Torches of Rome, Final Fight or Life Long Tragedy, while still making you think of old school NYHC. Some of the more notable tracks include the punky "The Lives We Fear", "40 Miles North" which was one of the more somber tracks, and the blasting "Repetition". These twelve tracks go by quickly, but they'll stay in your head a bit after it's all over.

THE RUINS OF BEVERAST - Unlock the Shrine CD (Battle Kommand) / VAN) A few of the fellows from the ashes of German black metal outfit Nagelfar were getting a bit tired of the standard blastbeat scene. Forming The Ruins of Beverast, they opted for a black metal backbone, but switched up all else. Some songs keep a machinelike pace, burying fuzzy guitars deep in layers of keyboards and synthesizers ("Between Bronze Walls"), yet there are tracks that keep up the blast beats, speed-picking and outright mania most commonly found in extreme metal ("Skeleton Closet", "Summer Decapitation Ritual"), and others still have a beautiful funeral dirge and slow doom of operatic metal ("The Clockhand's Groaning Circles", "Unlock the Shrine"). Almost all of the tracks are intro-ed by a two to three minute industrial / ambient piece, plus a few pieces on their own ("God Sent No Sign", "Procession of Paws"). Something a little different from the norm, while still being hardcore black.

THE RUINS OF BEVERAST - Rain Upon the Impure CD (Ván) Talk about black metal... I had to go outside just to read the insert. The black letters on glossy black paper give me a preview of the CD's dark and bleak music enveloped by an almost as dark layout. The Ruins of Beverast is a German act that consists of one man, ex-Nagelfar drummer Alexander Von Meilenwald. Beginning with the 2003 demo, The Furious Waves of Damnation and on to the CD / double LP, Unlock the Shrine (2004, originally released by Ván Records, and now re-released by Battle Kommand Records), this newest slab is possibly the lengthiest recording I own (at a few seconds under 80 minutes). The music is as black as Satan's soul, with moments of blastbeat-mania and others with crawling doom. Whether slow as sludge or kicking in your head with mad beats-per-minutes, the music is covered in feedback, and at times flows with an operatic feel, complete with pagan-esque horns and Gregorian chanting. I hear early Mayhem and Burzum, as well as later Blut Aus Nord, Lurker of Chalice and Nihil Nocturne, in a sort of Nordic metal blending with shoegazer talents, or if pagan metal absorbed even more Gothic elements. The vocals flow from growling and grunts to an almost wolf-like howl singing (which admittedly I've never heard before and works really well) and on to an echo-ladened Gothic speak-sing found in bands like My Dying Bride. Vocals and music together on this release can inspire trances or riots, meditation and mayhem. A true highlight in the black metal scene, and possibly this year's best release in this genre thus far.

RUNE - The End of Nothing CD (Willowtip) Beautiful nihilism! A black metal masterpiece! Sorta. The grindcore parts are fucking raw, but they're very well balanced with some heavy ass doom. If one were unfamiliar with Rune, upon first listen to this CD they may think Rune were a sludge outfit, because "An Affinity" pretty much starts out that way. Slow killer riffs and deep punishing bass. Only mid-tune does it kick into gear. The next two tracks are almost pure death metal. The drumming is sick! The guitars keep the same riff for minutes on end, while the drummer, Jimmy Magnusun, goes from a 4/4, drum fills to 300 bpm, back to 4/4 and of to an almost drum solo tantrum. "This Sorrow" is a slow mash of swirling electronics, sandpaper vocals and sludge riffs. From here on the record slows down considerably, but those blast beats can still be found throughout most songs. "Leaving Form" was as if old Neurosis met new Neurosis, and went to a bar for drinks and snorts of crank. Leading off to the last track, "Ethereal Bleeding" a killer noise track, where a swirl of guitars, feedback and tapeloops - ending in a spoken word sample. I'll admit I would have loved to have traded it for another grind number. Seriously, the only thing I'm pissed about is that my server gets the 403 when I try to visit their site. Though if I didn't scam my online services for free, I'd probably be more upset.

RWAKE - If You Walk Before You Crawl You Crawl Before You Die CD (At A Loss) Still in the vein of Hell Is A Door To the Sun (on Retribute Records), but growing by leaps. "Dying Spiral Galaxies" opens this new LP off to a real good start - with the raspy screams of a raped banshee, hypnotic drum fills and heavy breakdowns with churning guitar madness in the background. "Forge" was a slow sludgy number with a bit of NWoBHM thrown in (that solo kicks) to change things up a bit and perk the ears. "Sleep and Forget Forever" gives equal footing to the band's soft side, as well as to the murderous demons that hide within them. Track seven is an acoustic track that gives way to the album's title track and closer; a near ten minute freakout that brought to mind Jane Doe-era Converge until the last several minutes to drone and feedback. I hear influences from jam bands to Eyehategod, Buzzoven, and sometimes Neurosis will come to mind. Sanford Parker of Chicago's Buried at Sea recorded and mixed this well. Everything sounds great and equally up front. He gives every one room to breath... and you can hear everything crisp, while distortion still abounds. One of the better outings from the many hardcore progmetal bastard sons of Neurosis.

SAABABANKS - s/t CD (Wooden Man) Saababanks is a three-piece outfit from Indiana, featuring members of Brazil and The Ottoman Society. Their self-titled, debut disc is one of the better releases to come my way in some time. A hook-filled, start-stop hardcore rock, similar to the early 90's San Diego screamo sound made popular by labels like Gravity Records. Or - more currently - if anyone knows of highly-underated Naples, Florida three-piece The Anchorite Four, you're pretty close. Yes, many will think Fugazi, but it goes deeper - sometimes harder, or even quitter. The Jesus Lizard? Eh, close. Listen, my biggest complaint is the font used for the band name on the cover... big deal, right? So what are you waiting for then? Hunt this sucker down. Good luck, as it's a label I've never heard of, but that's what the link above is for, isn't it?

SADAHARU - Punishment In Hi-Fi CD EP (Universal Warning) This is actually a reissue (originally released in 2001), this time around with new art work, and adding some Quicktime video clips. I'm glad to see this saw the light of day again, because I never got to hear Sadaharu the first time. This four-piece churn out a sound not far from where the Vermiform camp was headed back in the mid-90s, but with a harder edge and modern sound. A beefed-up Universal Order of Armageddon or Gravity Record's Heroin. The vocals remind me of a better pitched Sam McPheeters of Born Against. The lyrics are an amalgam of iconoclastic ideals, utopian metaphors and personal neurosis. While "This Modern Disaster" is one hell of a song musically, I found it that much more interesting when Jeff screams, "I am Richard Corey", a character in an Edwin A. Robinson poem who on a Summer night goes home and puts "a bullet through his head". "It's Not Every Day You Sell Your Soul" was a hardcore mix of southern rock riffs, disco-like beats and off-time emocore. The closing track sounded like three well-mixed songs in under five minutes. It all helps to be well schooled in crushing music, and well read in the fine arts of trouble making. As usual with EPs, I'm left wanting to hear more.

SAILOR WINTERS - Owe CD-R (Sailor Winters) This is the second release for Georgia's (that's U.S., not Ukraine) Sailor Winter and it's a decent blend of Aphex Twin-like early ambient (as in the opening track "War Blanket", "My Sword Has Nine Blades"), Xiu Xiu-ish playful weirdness ("Bitch is My Illness", "Fourteen"), creepy Merzbow-y noise ("In My Hands", "Sodom Burns"), DJ Spooky-esque illbient ("Yellow Dots"), and swirling loops and locked grooves ala NON ("Aghata"). An exciting mishmash in the subgenera many simply label as 'noise'. I wish I knew more of Mr. Winters, but not much info came my way - though I did dig the tunes that dropped by.

SAILOR WINTERS - Red at Morn CD (Stickfigure) I became familiar with the state of Georgia's new noise-tinker Sailor Winter's work via his second release, Owe. While I do enjoy this release, I find it less accessible than his previous work, but accessible is a word most noisicians don't care for anyhow. Still experimenting with constructive-deconstructivist elements the likes of Paul D Miller, or even Xiu Xiu (minus the vocals), this release sees (hears) more in the harsh noise or power electronic fields, though there really are many ambient moments throughout. There's still a lot of playfulness to his compositions, but they seem more vicious now. He's smiling, but showing more teeth than a friendly animal would show. There's something wrong here, something scary... and that's good. If music is making you feel uneasy - at least it's making you feel.

SAILOR WINTERS - Monolith 7" SINGLE (Tsunami) Sailor Winters is a ambient noise-tinker from where the peaches grow: Georgia. This single is one song, continued from side A to B, and it displays what I think SW would sound like as a live show. Though I wouldn't know without actually seeing it... except in my own crazy mind, of course. Still, the track has an 'Aphex Twin plays live instruments' feel, with an older, retarded Frenchman rapping at intervals. Humorous, yet dark, and almost danceable. The layout is a simple neo-Primitivist hand-screen of artwork by Nate Lang, and the disc itself is blue vinyl, and - I'm sure - limited.

SAILOR WINTERS - Red At Morn: The Movie DVD (Sailor Winters) If you're unfamiliar with Sailor Winters, he is actually one man, Ryan Cox of the state of Georgia. He plays noise / ambient music, and plays it well. His music is sometimes harsh and powerful in the vein of Merzbow, The Grey Wolves or NON, while other times playful and rather upbeat in the vein of Aphex Twin, DJ Spooky or Xiu Xiu. This release is basically his entire third disc, Red at Morn, with accompanying music video and experimental film - we have the marching beat of "Ashe", the fuzzy "Olodumare" (whose video at times reminded me of Boyd Rice's short film Black Sun), the tribal, yet droning "Orisha", the quiet and ethereal "Egun", the menacing "Dahomean", followed by the impish "baKONGa", the distressing, though often lush "Yoruban", next is "Maxim Xul" a track that starts loopy and restrained, which almost turns into black metal halfway through, then the rumbling and rumoring "Murmur", the subdued and tasteful "Orre" and ending things off on the punishing and abrasive "Black Noise". All of it extremely well dome for what was probably put together on a home computer. Best of all, this is completely self-produced (from the music videos to the disc packaging), and you can get this for five bucks! No, that's no typo. You can buy this directly from his website for $5. So order up, sit back, smoke a fat one and be prepared for an over fifty-minute, trance-inducing ride. Just make sure your DVD player can play burned discs.

SAILOR WINTERS - Parker Volume 1 & 2 DOUBLE CD-R (Witch House) Sailor Winters is the sometimes sinister / sometimes darling work of Ryan Cox from the state of Georgia. He's released a 7" (Monolith on Tsunami Records), an LP (Red At Morn on Stickfigure Records), as well as many CD-Rs on his own label, Black Noise (including his sophomore effort, Owe). His music varies in style, but is always cohesive. There are times when his playful numbers bring to mind Aphex Twin, Necropolis-era DJ Spooky or very early Xiu Xiu. There are other times when his raging sounds will remind me of The Grey Wolves, Merzbow or Bastard Noise. I'm going to have to say that while I've really enjoyed previous SW works (especially the Red At Morn: The Movie DVD), this is by far his best work. The first disc is forty-five minutes (nine tracks), the second forty minutes (also nine tracks), and both are excellent experimental ditties, ranging from menacingly quiet ambient to pleasantly punishing drone, tribal-like tunes to bass heavy hypnotics, some peppered with vicious vocals here and there. Witch House Records presents 'em in a DVD case with minimalist artwork and liner notes, which leaves way more for the ears, but you won't be sorry... unless you miss out.

SALT THE WOUND - Carnal Repercussions CD (Rotten) This is one impressive metal quintet. I mean 'metal' in the best sense when it comes to describing it: punishing riffs, nefarious (dual) vocals, and drums that speed and trail over you like a semitruck. Plus, it scared the crap out of my girlfriend. This Cleveland, OH based outfit formed in 2001, and they play a metalcore that's better than most bands copying the stuff. While this is thick in a metalcore sound in the vein of All Shall Perish and The Black Dahlia Murder, it brings more to my mind European-influenced, American metalcore bands like Abigail Williams and Dead to Fall (with way better vocals) especially with the two opening tracks, "The Beginning", and "Better Than This". Speaking of the vocals, one is a deep growl that darks harsh words at you, while the other is a screeching banshee that often makes me think a woman is being attacked (but it's a freakin' dude!). I think this twelve song, thirty-five minute disc is their debut, but I can find much information out there. Now, if I could only find where my girlfriend is hiding. Hell with it, I'll just keep blasting this.

SASQUATCH - II CD (Small Stone) This Los Angeles trio began to turn up their amps a few years back, forming in 2001 and their love of metal still runs from the member's old hometowns (City of Steel, Philly and Motor City, Detroit) through their veins. In '04 Small Stone released their self-titled debut of fuzzed-out jams and 70's inspired hard rock, and second time around is just as powerful of a match. Their newest LP is a fifty minute, near dozen, hook-laden, riff rockers the likes of stoner rock bands Atomic Bitchwax or Colour Haze, with possibly the biggest comparison most will throw around will be to Kyuss or Unida. Sasquatch bring a bit more to the table as they also have an old-school Soundgarden feel to their tunes - SST Records-era Soundgarden that is (Ultramega OK, etc). Dollars to dope if Keith Gibbs doesn't sound kinda like Chris Cornell. They also have a great guitar sound that reminds me of In Search of... or The Action is Go Fu Manchu - deep with crunch, a little dirty and distorted... just right for rock-n-roll. Sometimes the music is steamrollin' hard rock ("Seven Years to Saturn" and "Off the Rails"), while there are also slower moments of groove and guitar wizardry ("The Judge" and "What Have You Done"), and even a few lusher numbers ("Nikki" and "Catalina"). They say third time's the charm, so with two rockin' albums to their credit, number three should be exploding heads clean off shoulders.

SAXON - The Inner Sanctum CD / DVD (SPV) Yes, this is the band from the late 70s! 1977 to be exact, and from Yorkshire, England. It sounds like time has served them well, as the music is powerful and the vocals are superb. Saxon, for those that don't know shit, were (and still are) a big part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that washed upon the U.S. shores in early 1980, along with the likes of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Their newest release is an amazing amalgam of power metal, speed metal and NWOBHM. Double bass drum beats, dueling guitars with excellent solos (Paul Quinn is still here, baby!), and very well-sung vocals by original lead Biff Byford that never misses the mark. While hauling their old sound into maximum overdrive, they've beefed it up with contemporary crunch and speed, probably thanks to new drummer Nigel Glockler. Though there is one ballad number on this LP ("Red Star Falling"), the rest of the tracks are usually high paced and pretty powerful. Along with the new album CD disc, this release comes in a limited edition version featuring a second disc, which is a DVD an plays for your eyes and ears live tracks, music videos, outtakes, as well as interview footage, and film of the vocalist's house on fire (which canceled their first tour in 1980). While that second disc is a sweet addition, this new release stands well enough on its own without the extras of visuals. Nice to hear folks aging with grace, yet remaining as vicious as when they were only lads.

THE SCREAMERS - Live 1978 in San Francisco DVD (Music Video Distributors) Those folks at MVD made the right alliances when they hooked up with Target Video. Target was video documenting the punk scene since the late 1970s. They captured bands playing live that otherwise went unrecorded, one such band was Screamers. I remember in the early 90s I had bought a Screamers two-track bootleg on 7", both songs ("122 Hours of Fear" and "Vertigo" ) were off Target recordings. They were a catchy, hook-filled '77 sound of early punk rock... with keyboards. They were legend, as you can clearly hear where Dead Kennedys got their punk-circus sound, and Jello snatched much of his image from the stage antics of Screamers vocalist Tomata du Plenty. Not to mention their Screaming Tomata logo has been one of the most ripped-off, and uncredited icons in punk rock history. Seven songs captured at Mabuhay Gardens, which have a pretty good sound for a bar show in 1978. I find it an even better experience when I realize I am one of only several thousand - soon to be much, much more - to witness this little slice of punk history. Seriously though, stick around for the music videos. Those are great! Five videos for four Screamers classics (this is where my 7" got the songs from!) that have a better sound, that'll all really make you wish you could get a full LP of well recorded Screamers material. Well, that isn't a shitty live bootleg of demos, or covers compilation. Hey, MVD, I know you have the hook-ups... Ever think of becoming a record label?

SCUMDRUNK - Delirium Tremens CD EP (Akhenation) The next time someone says they have the 'DTs', and they tell you it stands for 'de-tox', smack 'em one for me, as they're not bright enough to know what Delirium Tremens is. Today, it's about Scumdrunk though. A bit different song structures from these Philadelphia drunkards since their CD EP demo debuted. Not as stoner / doom intensive this time around. Still playing the slowed down, downtuned hardcore, but adding much more of a punk element - and seemingly less metal. Very reminiscent of Pain of Mind-era Neurosis - when they were still hardcore / early thrash, and before they went all progressive. One song less on Delirium Tremens than the last effort, but much better recording and sound quality. "Detach" is were the vocalist (Nash) beginnings to shine with his sandpaper throat. I love the 50's Paps Blue Ribbon commercial, but why placed so strangely after close to a minute of silence when the second song ends? The doomier material I know Scumdrunk for comes in during "Stabbing Then Flames", but that's about it for the sludge. "Domelight" is the last of the five and it lets us go on our way hobbled. Hey, where's the lyrics? Oh, there's that Paps commercial again.

SEIZURE CRYPT - Hello My Name Is... Madness CD (316 Productions) This Queens, New York five-piece is a musical blast. They are mad with energy, and the music is an infectious, metallic hardcore feral attack, but the vocals are what really do it for me here. Seizure Crypt began in 2004 and released their first album, City Of New York, on their own in 2005. The songs are in the vein of late 80s crossover like S.O.D. / M.O.D., Crumbsuckers, and Cryptic Slaughter, with a touch less metal, and a little more straight-up hardcore. It's got speed, a few breakdowns, and it holds groove, as the bass is thick and a good part of the song structures. What I like most are the tradeoff of vocals. I dig dual vocalists, especially when they sound different and sing over one another, whether it's in a gang chant unison, or they're singing two different phrases against one another. That's where Seizure Crypt shine. One vocalist is a growler, the other is a screaming madman, and at times they sing in chorus, and other times they fight one another for lyrical space. Recorded by NYC hardcore legend Don Fury, so you know this has been given the treatment it needs to infect hardcore-heads around the world - not just in New York.

SELFMADEMAN - The Daylight Robbery CD (Small Man) When I first heard this it didn't grab me, but a few days later I popped this in and freaked. Pretty good. I like it now, but didn't a few days back. It all helps to point out the way this crap works - meaning reviewers, or critics and those who take their word as law. Reminds me of Samiam and Planes Mistaken for Stars. A bad review could mean the guy had a bad day and reviewed your killer CD when he didn't feel like it. "Steel Toed Amputee" makes me sing along. Or when that piece of crap disc you bought makes you wonder if someone slipped cash to the review guy. What it should point out to everyone is simply that none of this should be important to you, as reviews are strictly two fold: 1) to let people know something has been released, 2) entertainment. I like that the music is emotional hardcore, with a touch of pop punk - but the lyrics are not sappy love songs, but mostly sociopolitical messages. Anyone who buys this because I say it rocked needs help finding a life. What do you need me for? Corporate structures are defining what you should listen to anyway. Damn, emo can depress me at times.

SETTLEFISH - The Plural of the Choir CD (Deep Elm) While hailing from Bologna, Italy some say Settlefish sound almost West Coast - Bay Area. It may have to do with Canadian singer Jonathan Clancy fronting this European powerhouse, but I doubt it. It could just be their style. Anyhow, Settlefish impressed me with their last Deep Elm effort, but their new album shows they've grown - and in a good direction too. A little more streamlined, while even letting in a few more influences. "Kissing is Chaos" goes from a almost-shoegazer of a lullaby to a catchy power pop number at the five minute mark. "Oh Well" kicks in the familiar At the Drive-In-esque sound I found on Dance A While, Upset. "The Marriage Funeral Man" was the perfect blend of everything mentioned thus far. "Blinded by Noise" was a nod to either Sonic Youth or Drive Like Jehu, but I can't decide. "Two Cities, Two Growths" is - well, indescribable - it's just a great song. "We Please the Night, Drama" closes out the record in an epic, emo heart-tugger. One thing I must ask... This is a lyrically intense album, so where are the lyrics?

SET TO EXPLODE - s/t CD (Grave Mistake) Now this is the type of hardcore I need dropped in my mailbox more often! Too bad it's an EP because it's over in an instant, with its anger and blinding pace of punk-influenced hardcore. I wanted an album's worth of this shit, but I guess the next release will have to do. Until then, blast away this six song introduction to Washington D.C.'s Set to Explode, featuring ex-members of Worn Thin, 86 Mentality and The Aftermath. The vocals are forceful, yet well delivered, as Dave Byrd (ex-Striking Distance) screams, but you can clearly make out what he's barking at you - so listen up. The buildup in "Set to Explode" had late 80s written all over it... so I moon-stomped. They remind me of a faster, heavier, and often catchier Slapshot. Nice to get back into D.C. hardcore. Real hardcore - i.e.: Iron Cross, instead of the Dischord sound... not that there's anything wrong with that.

THE SHEMPS - Spazz Out CD (Reservation) A punk rock and hardcore circus! Featuring Dave 'Squeaky' Wilentz (ex-Chimpanzees and The Stallions), Maximum Rock N' Roll columnist and Bugout Society bassist, Bill Florio, Jim Hass on drums, and including ex-frontman for Indecision / Milhouse, and current Celebrity Murders' vocalist, Artie Philie and The Mercy Killer's Neil Halpin. Not their original lineup, but a definite three-ring if you ask me. "King of Garage" cranks out what to expect for the next half hour... a 60's garage-flavored hardcore-punk - almost as if The Hives stopped trying to be cute and butched-the-fuck-up. "Gimmie Everything" was all Weirdos, with an Adrenaline O.D. bass line and snotty lyrics. "Damn Shame" was some really catchy punk rock, with a little hardcore feel and a ton of hooky riffs. What would it sound like if Descendents went psychobilly? Well, listen to "Deep Thinker" and I think you'll know. "Lurker" was seemingly a nod to Dead Kennedys. Ending things off with their version of the 1965 Roy Head and the Traits' classic, "Treat Her Right". Fury, force, anger, catchy hooks and a little bit of clowning around. I told you it was a circus.

SHEPHERD - The Coldest Day CD (Exile on Mainstream) These German rockers were originally known as Shepherd, later becoming Kult, and after a few years coming back to the Shepherd tag. Well, a moshpit by any other name still smells of blood and sweat, so crank up that amp! Opening things off with a clear nod to the mighty Sabbath - in style, and sound - Shepherd deliver eight songs about your week-a-day experience. Starting off with "Monday" and on to "Sunday", and finally "Doomsday". Just like your average human's weekly existence, it starts off slow and somewhat tedious, as "Monday" is aggressively repetitious - all the while you're awaiting something like Friday to come along already. Well, relax as weekends are not enjoyed nearly as much if you didn't have some dirge-like weekdays, right? And like my week, things really pick up around Thursday... er, "Thursday". Am I still talking about songs or days? Um - onwards then. Guest players include Scott Wino (of Saint Vitus and The Obsessed) on guitar and some vocals, as well as German jazz-doom freaks Bohren & der Club of Gore. This is a definite for fans of The Obsessed, Kyuss, Trouble, Black Sabbath and - of course - well packed bowls.

SHIT OUTTA LUCK - Family Tradition CD (Organized Crime) This is a bit of a different turn for OC Records. Well, not really: it is hardcore, it is metal, it is heavy, hard, brutal and in your fucking face. So it does fit their stable, but it's a little slower than their usual. Not that it is in any way bad. Especially with an intro like Shit Outta Luck's starts with, 'This one is dedicated to our families, to the ones who fucked us up before we even had a choice'. Now, that is starting a record off right! Milwaukee's SOL started off in 2006 and feature exes from area hardcore bands Wings of Scarlet and Die Alone. The songs are intense hardcore with a slower doom sound. At time I thought of early Clutch, later Cable or Church of Misery, but all in all, its hardcore vibe brought to mind Sheer Terror more than anyone else. I guess it's all the hatred. The deep, dark, negativity... and still, I love these guys.

SINCE BY MAN - We Sing the Body Electric CD (Revelation) Possibly the best record released by Revelation Records in the last 5 years. Very emotional and heart-felt chaoticore-screamo. Take equal parts of modern metalcore (like Poison the Well), throw in more off-time chaos (like Curl Up and Die), add rock-n-roll riffs, style and attitude (like The [International] Noise Conspiracy) and top that shit off with a little emocore-flavored pop-sensibility (like Thursday). They probably hate two of the four comparisons - and they should because these gents have taken all this and run with it like no other. After the ranting 30 second intro, We Sing the Body Electric kicks it off with "Push the Panic". It starts the record off so well. Many sounds churn here and beyond this point. I love the song title "A Kid Who Tells On Another Kid Is A Dead Kid" - the kids should take a hint from those words, but the lyrics seem to tell another story. While the album starts off very well enough, it's in the middle of the record ("Death of Decadence") that this disc really starts to blow you away. One minute rocking out to the mellow sounds of "In Threes", then come the breakdowns in the middle of "Watch the Fall" and "It's Just That Kind of Night", which could make entire moshpits round-house each other silly. "The Enemy" had me chanting, and is my pick for standout track on this album. "Parole in Liberta" is a Slayer fans wet dream, while still slipping in some poppy harmonies and quiter interludes. Kurt Ballou, of Converge fame - who happens to be on every release lately, has given Since By Man his best production job yet.

SINCE BY MAN - A Love Hate Relationship CD EP (Revelation) A few lineup changes (adding new members Eric Alonzo (bass) and Brad Clifford (guitar) with Justin Kay and Bryan Jerabek's exit) since their We Sing The Body Electric LP (also on Revelation), but this little four songer still rages. A Love Hate Relationship captures Since By Man's chaotic metalcore sound well, as it's sonically consistent to their earlier releases, though a little more controlled this time around. This is possibly having to do with being tweaked by Paul Miner (of Death By Stereo) in the studio, adding a bit of punch here, and possibly omitting some insanity there. But it is still very interesting to go from the breakdowns of "Swan Killer", to the electro-gone-rock sounds of "Goddamnit Baby This Is Soul", then onto the metal licks and gospel kicks of "Who Would I Be Without My Middle Finger". As usual with EPs I'm wishing this was a long player... or at least wishing there were a few hidden tracks.

SINCE REMEMBERED - Coming Alive CD (Blood & Ink) "Intro" aside (a tracks that just doesn't fit the record), this is a blast of a disc. Run around the room in circles, with your finger pointing in the air, while singing along kind of a blast. Youth crew style hardcore (the singer sounds like he's 13, though by the tattoos, I'd say he's older) via the west coast end of it ala Uniform Choice, Insted, and Chain of Strength. Hardcore beats, gang chants and lyrics dealing with friends old and new ("Can't Keep Us Down""), personal issues ("Goodbye") and the scene ("Ten Years") - even that sounds West Coast. Actually, they are from North Carolina, and only formed about two years ago. My only complaint is that it would have been sweet to throw on their five song EP from last year as extra tracks, but these twelve will keep me jumping around the room for a time comin', I'm sure.

SINCE THE DAY - El Mensajero No Es Imporante CD (Bastardized) I thought this was going to be a band from Spain, as the title is Spanish for 'the messenger is not important,' but this is a German act. In no way does this make a difference, as the music on this disc is a punishing masterpiece. Have you heard the term, "Fuckin' metal!'? This record is what is intended. They released a split CD with Iceland's SNAFU, but it escaped me. This time around, with a new vocalist from Absidia, they will leave no one a choice, but to hear them. Powerful, forceful riffs - painful, sandpaper vocals - hardcore mosh with downtuned, metallic leanings. Think At the Gates and Slayer teaming up to beat the shit out of Darkest Hour. I even like it when they hit more emotional metalcore territory similar to Poison the Well or Evergreen Terrace - though the guitar solos in these sections are far better than either of the aforementioned. As an extra, the folks at Bastardized stopped being bastards long enough to think of fans by adding a video of the track "Lunar Eclipse". I can't stop playing "Powder Keg"!

SIRHAN SIRHAN - Blood CD (Anodyne) This trio formed in San Diego, California only a few years ago (late 2005), and feature a former member of Molly McGuire. They're pretty new around the block, only previously self-releasing a six-song EP, but either way, they get a big thumbs up from me. Twenty-five minutes (eleven songs) of twisted hyper-metal not far off of Melvins buggering Butthole Surfers, as Mastodon watches in a backroom while drinking with Black Flag. Sometimes fast and pounding, sometimes playing a steady groove, and other times all over the metal map. The vocals range from distorted screaming - the kind where the singer tastes blood - to a raspy singing, and even a few almost spoken tracks, while the tunes are noisy, blasting, and in-your-face hardcore metal. By the way, for you vinyl junkies out and about there's also a limited 12" version on Hi-Speed Records. Whether 5" plastic or 12" wax... the sounds will pummel you silly.

SIX REASONS TO KILL / ABSIDIA - Morphology of Fear CD EP (Per Koro / Bastardized) I never understood titling split records. Who gets to choose the title (here taken from Chezch poet Jan Svankmajer)? Band A, band B or the label? Who cares when the music blasts, right? This is an EP of two German bands, opening with Six Reasons to Kill. They dish out four tracks of dual vocaled, heavy as all death metal with a lot of the early 90's flavor. Think early Bolt Thrower meets the new Death Angel... brutal stuff. Their last song, "Gates to Eternity" was their highlight, as it contained the many faces of metal - slow to fast, new to old - and even some hardcore breakdowns. Next up is Absidia (who have just signed to Lifeforce Records), and they are my band pick from this split. Even though they waste the first of four tracks by giving us a piano instrumental. It's a pretty song, but let's get to the metal. Once they deliver though, they fucking deliver. From death metal speed picking and blast beats to doom ladened breakdowns and sludge riffs. Darkest Hour, At the Gates and Carcass combined. The layout artwork by Peter Hoffmann, and the setup - a fold-out for each band - is a nice touch from the PKoro / Bastardized camps, which also went through the trouble of putting out a website just for this release. Even without that, we have here two Deutch bands that should give a little kick to many American ears.

SKEW WHIFF - Taedium Vitae CD (Life Is Abuse) Hailing from Belgium, Skew Whiff bash out - thanks to Life is Abuse - a CD full of infectious metallic crustcore. Skew Whiff (meaning "twisted") is ex-members of Hiatus (Azill on guitar and Wills on vocals) and Medication Time (Ross on drums). While still holding true to the H-sound, this may go over the heads of many Hiatus fans, but I'm sure they'll make a slew of new ones. Taedium Vitae is nine new(ish) songs recorded in 2002 and five remixed demo songs. "Batter" was a crusty, yet bouncy number that picks up a little death metal speed picking here and there, and still making it sound punk as fuck. "No Matter How Hard" starts off doomy and ends up with 300+ beats per minute, while the next track, "Skew Whiff Mainroad No Way" brought to mind Black Flag Jealous Again era. "Hugs and Kisses" was a little Concrete Sox and Accused, but also Judas Priest and Molly Hatchet. I almost like the demo songs more, as they sound raw and the vocals seem much more stressed - that always makes for good hardcore! "Tofu is Dead" was crusty from beginning to end. "Solace" closes the disc with slow, sludgy verses being broken up by hooky, pit-inducing choruses. This is something the crust crowd should really dig... if they can afford it.

SKULLFLOWER - Tribulation CD (Crucial Blast) I'm surprised at how few people know of this noisy, droning Londoner (Matthew Bower) and his amplifiers. Crucial Blast has been out to let the world know for a bit, and now ear drums will forever bleed tears of red joy. A bit different from the first two releases (tUMULt Record's Exquisite Fucking Boredom and last year's Orange Crayon Mind also on Crucial Blast), though still much on target. What do I mean? Well, it's still based on structured music, but this time, the feedback, and neddle-in-the-red volume, totally drown out the guitar riffs, and the trippy psychedelics going on in the background. Yes, white noise helps the mind create its own music, and your mind will wander in the many notes found in fuzz, static and feedback. It's just that when the first two albums were loud, they also seemed graceful. Here Skullflower's out to hurt you. Well, that's not a bad thing for a predominantly metal label.

SKULLFLOWER - IIIrd Gatekeeper CD (Crucial Blast) A lot of people are familiar with the name, but not the sound. They may have heard it's just noise, or a Godflesh clone, or some Throbbing Gristle-influenced madness. It's some, it's neither, it's Skullflower. Skullflower for the most part is, and always has been, guitarist Matthew Bower - basically his amp worship and song structures. Skullflower has two UK incarnations. The first incarnation was formed around 1987 after Bower and drummer Stuart Dennison had exhausted their stays in Pure, Total and A Sulphur of Lions, The Wayward Boys, respectively. They played what can be best summed up as noise-rock (for that time); heavy droning rhythm, psychedelic swirling guitars, and a driving, thunderous beat. While coming off sounding very much like Godflesh, Skullflower predated Godflesh and actually influenced much of what Justin Broadrick wrote for that band. They came out with the Birthdeath EP (1988) and later the Form Destroyer LP (1989 and both on Broken Flag Records), in 1990 they produced two more albums, Ruins and Xaman (both on Shock Records), but it wasn't until 1993's IIIrd Gatekeeper (funnily enough on Justin Broadrick's label, HeadDirt Records) that they gained international notice. Of course, this is the repress of that album with new liner notes, new package design (yet maintaining the original release's artwork), and a remastering job. In 1996 Skullflower disband, but Matthew reformed it solo in 2003 with revolving guests on as many as three LPs (check Crucial Blast Records for the newer Skullflower material). Hey Crucial, how about repressing Infinityland.

SKY BURIAL - s/t CD (Housepig) This probably gone by now, but you can always try to find one. Limited to only 150 copies and holding forty-five minutes of psychedelic drone the likes of Skullflower, or for you locals, older material by The Goslings. Sky Burial is actually a side-project from Michael Page, who some may know from his main musical vehicle, Fire In The Head. Many of the tracks on this self-titled CD have an orchestral sound, with a quiet and hypnotic, tribal beat buried somewhere deep in layers of hum. Others drudge through thick soundscapes and doomy aural textures. The packaging is another highlight, as it's a grayish, silk-screened canvas bag holding the disc and liner notes. Ha - have fun hunting this sucker down.

SKY BURIAL - Of the First Light CD (Audio Immolation) Sky Burial is a ambient-noise project of Michael Page (of Fire In The Head and Irukandji) from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, who was introduced to my ears via last year's self-titled CD on Housepig Records. While I enjoyed what I previously heard, I think this far surpasses it. This go around has Sky Burial producing over an hour of vision-inducing soundscapes and aural compositions that brought to mind cold walks through leafless forests and abandoned villages. Distorted field recordings washed in a sea of ambient or looped drones, often crushed under an industrial-like dirge. Twelve tracks that brought to mind older modulator-manipulators like early Zoviet * France and Controlled Bleeding (before they hit the Wax Trax! dancefloor, or Paul Lemos going metalhead). I can see / hear quite well where the title stems from, which is a tribute to the Wampanoag tribe (meaning 'people of the first light' ), who were the original natives in Sky Burial's area. All of it is packaged in a CD slipcase with one cardboard letterpress sleeve featuring a nice camouflage look, and one glossy foldout sleeve with beautiful black and white photography. This release is another limited Sky Burial LP at only 200 copies, so the race is on.

SKYFORGER - Kauja Pie Saules CD (Paragon) This a re-release that had to be done! Kauja pie Saules is actually Skyforger's first LP from 1998, originally released on Dutch label, Mascot Records. Skyforger play good Norwegian-influenced black metal, with hints of 80s power metal, but what stood out the most is that they add touches of neo-folk and early pagan music, as well as chose to sing in their native tongue of Latvian (one of the thousands of languages on the wane). The album opens with their rendition of an ancient warrior song-poem "Zviegtin' Zviedza Kara Zirgi" ("Neighed the Battlehorses"), as is track seven, "Kam Püsat Kara Taures" ("Why the Horns of War Are Blown"), and it's on to a early Scandinavian BM sound (ala Enslaved) complete with buzzsaw guitars and blast beats, with moments of pan flutes, kokles, rattle sticks, war horns, bagpipes and a mouth harp. Standout tracks include "Sencu Ozols" ("The Ancient Oak") and "Kurshi". The layout provides the original prose, as well as translation, not to mention a touch of history on Latvia. Nice to see something from this Eastern Block country that's not Dr. Doom associated.

SLAPSHOT - Greatest Hits, Slashes and Crosschecks CD (Bridge 9) This is what is labeled as a "greatest hits" though I think it should have been called Hopefully, Your Favorite Slapshot Songs, because I don't recall seeing Slapshot on Billboard's Top 200, so I don't know about "hits", but many of my personal Slapshot faves are here. "Chip On My Shoulder", "Back On the Map", "Step On It" and "Hang Up Your Boots". Opening up with two brand new tracks, I was relieved that they dropped the 16 Valve Hate sound. Admittedly, I do like it when bands put out many of their old songs, but re-record them. A good idea Bridge Nine - releasing old Slapshot, as well as re-recording them. The only thing some Slapshot fans might complain about is that they drop much of the Oi! sound from their earlier records, but I lost my pension for Oi! anyhow, so I'm still pretty thrilled about this. The songs for the most part sound much more powerful than the older recordings. There isn't a single thing I dislike about this CD, but I don't feel like schooling some of you new-jacks on who Slapshot is, so I'll just tell a story. When Slapshot played West Palm Beach (at the Edge Upstairs) sometime around 1988 or 89, Choke was really trying to incite the crowd into violence, or he was just being Choke. In the crowd was a skinhead who went by the name of Jack Boots. Well, it seemed that Choke made too many "You stupid skinheads shouldn't drink and smoke" remarks because Jack walks out of the crowd and gives Choke a right-cross to his jaw, and as I recall, knocking him down to one knee, but he was still pretty alert. The place erupts in insanity. Two years later Jack and I put each other in the hospital. He with a chunk of his ear missing and I with "skinhead rings" slashes across the left half of my face. Oh shit, "Another Mistake" just came on - I have to take another trip down memory lane.

SLAPSHOT - Digital Warfare CD (Bridge 9) With the album name Digital Warfare I pictured 16 Valve Hate all over again. Luckily I was dead wrong in my assumption. Well, damn! Slapshot has been for close to 20 years, Boston's longest running hardcore band. Choke looks older than Death, but he can still scream and growl with the best of them. Sounds much more pissed nowadays ("Kill Your Parents", "Had It With Unity", "Stupid Fucking Kids") than when Step On It was recorded. I ain't no spring chicken myself, so I truly understand. Age does not bring peace or wisdom, but anger from unresolved issues and an added mortgage payment. My bleakness aside, this record is good. It's no Back on the Map, but it beats 16 Valve Hate by a long shot. I didn't need the Minor Threat ("Straight Edge") cover, as they've been done to death. Plus I know Jack K. would have preferred doing a Dinosaur Jr. or Buffalo Tom cover instead. Luckily they did two, and "C is for Cookie" was cute, so it saved them some punk points. The layout (with a Slapshot hockey mask cover cutout) is deserving of these hardcore stalwarts... but what's with having to look up the lyrics on the web? The centerfold could of had its useless photo (two pages of one of six live photos taken at the same show) traded for lyrics. This is the first LP in seven years for this Beantown crew, and I look forward to hearing more throughout the next seven.

SLINGSHOT DAKOTA - Their Dreams Are Dead, But Ours Is the Golden Ghost CD (Slingshot Dakota) Originally a trio, Slingshot Dakota is now a duo, and while I'm not familiar with their earlier sound (2004's Kenner Sighs on Immigrant Sun Records), the loss of their third party doesn't hinder their new LP in the least. The Long Island, NY pair (Carly on vox and keys / Tom on drums) play a sincere mash-up of punk-influenced indie-pop. The keyboards are normally fuzzy and sometimes near-psychedelic, though they clean up in parts peppered about. The drums range from steady to frantic, and is what mainly gives the songs their punky edge. The numbers on this release deal with personal issues, but ones we've all dealt with, I'm sure. I can relate to the lyrics in "I-78". Plus, as a trucker I drive on that sucker almost daily. I love that this disc is an effort released by the band. I wish every musical outfit could be so self-reliant. While I'm no enemy of record labels, I think many acts are better off cutting out the middleman.

SLOWRIDE - C/S CD (Deep Elm) I guess third time really is the charm, as this is by far Slowride's best work yet. On their newest - and third - album, C/S (meaning 'con safos', a West Coast vato term used mostly as a tattoo to let people know you should not mess with that character), Slowride matures into an amazing rock band. Building A Building was a great record that flowed back and forth from an alt-county sound to straight-up rock numbers, but this time around they focus more (much more!) on the rock, but there is still much to Slowride's sound. Hook-laden, riff rockers the likes of stoner rock bands Mammoth Volume or Colour Haze ("A New Day Is Upon Us", "RH"), with heavy flashes of classic alt-rock: Hüsker Dü, Screaming Trees, Dinosaur Jr. (on "Rust Killer" the music compares, but Dan Philips' vocals really help solidify this comparison.), as well as current faves like ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, and at times even Weezer. A total of twelve tracks consistently smacking you with riff after riff. Go ahead guys, I can handle it... but don't think this'll let you get away with not playing older numbers like "Smoke Cigarettes" or "Panther 1".

SLOWRIDE - Building A Building CD (Deep Elm) My favorite Deep Elm release since Appleseed Cast's Low Level Owl albums. After a brief acoustic track (a little more about this later) Slowride fucking rock out. "Smoke Cigarettes" and "Panther 1" are hook laden garage numbers. "New and Entitled" is a jam. Slowride doesn't copy anyone or borrow any particular sound, but I do hear flashes of Hüsker Dü, ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead (also from Texas), Samiam and The Pixies. Oh, yeah - about the opening acoustic number... Dan Philips added a few songs to the disc ("Solitary Man", "Quitting Again", etc.), which he wrote for himself, but later decided to use as Slowride songs. These tracks are all acoustic, and have an alt-country sound that actually adds to the garage rock on the rest of the record. It's almost as if they toss it back and forth. Playing depressing ditties about not caring, or caring too much, soul searching, killing yer kids and slitting your wrists - followed by rock groove sing-a-longs. I love the rock, but that steel guitar floating in the background of those slower tunes is just dreamy. Building A Building closes with nothing short of a Beatles meets Sonic Youth swirling frenzy. Appropriate. A definite for old fans, and one that should make a slew of new ones.

THE SMACKDOWN - Someone Has To Kill The Headwriter CD (Goodfellow) Part hardcore-metal machine, part rock-n-roll spectacle, Sweden's The Smackdown are trying to do as much for wrestling, as for punk music. A little more chaotic than last year's Calling the Spots (also on Goodfellow), and much more so than 2002's debut 7" on Coalition. A mix of choppy, grinding hardcore the likes of Daughters or Blood Brothers, meeting a garage rock fury ala the Hives. Admittedly, much of it comes off as a lot of the chaoticore of early Every Time I Die or early Curl Up and Die (even having titles like ""Raised On A Straight Diet of Mark-Outs and Mötley Crüe" and "My Entrance Looked Better When It Had Fireworks", though that last number does fuckin' rock), but the shinning moments of noisecore, and bits of pure rock do keep it from from just being a blur of blast beats and screamo vocals. As much as you folks wanna do up the wrestling angle, I think you kinda down played it.

SNAKES AND MUSIC - Isabelle CD (Universal Warning / Union City) This will be a winner on college radio. Many might classify this as either emo or college rock, and it does have moments of both, but Snakes and Music put out much more. Having members in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey could help in their diversity, or that the band features members of Jazz June, Citron and Translove Airways. Lots of singalongs, make-your-hands-clap beats, hooky keyboards and even a banjo. Indie rock elements blended with moments of blues, country, postpunk, and pop - yet, it still rocks. Much of this has a Low feel, or maybe if Weezer went acoustic (the title track, as well as "Sinking Ships" will confirm the doubting ear). "Burn the Bushes" was cute song, and while I agree with the sentiments... leave the twin daughters out of that fire please.

SOFA KING KILLER - Lust, Crime and Holiness CD EP (At A Loss) Balls. You have to have them - and large - to name your band with the phonetic pronunciation of "So Fucking Killer". That's a name to live up to, whether they are just being cute or actually describing the music. As luck, scratch that... As talent would have it, Chris Chiera and Brad Thorla know how to combine heavy, intricate, loud and infectious chords with charging, yet soulful rhythms. I'm seriously not trying to be funny when I ask you to imagine an AC/DC 45 record, played at 33rpm, but keep the vocals at 45 speed. Think Sleep or Church of Misery with better lyrics, vocals and more of a blues feel. "Blues Couch" is a trophy piece - a lyric-less shout-out showcasing that they know they're much more than your average doom sludge band. Let me also say a few things about the lyrics, as I'm big on reading. It was refreshing to simply see the lyrics printed. Many of the "stoner" type bands don't print lyrics because you'll realize how minimal it all really is (in text as well as context). Ryan Burgy's lyrics are heavy in word, as well as thought (the concepts of soul and afterlife as seen by most quantum physicists, "Die Like An Astronaut"). My only gripe with this is my usual with good EPs - they leave you wanting to hear more.

SO I HAD TO SHOOT HIM - Alpha Males and Popular Girls CD (Crucial Blast) Imagine if Dillenger Escape Plan went glam, or if the Dresden Dolls got their asses handed back to them by Napalm Death. Wait! I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back just a few months when I called New Jersey's So I Had to Shoot Him's debut EP (Epileptic Couture on Collekt Records) a 'schizophrenic and operatic mix of mayhem'. Those words are just as apt (if not more so) this time around on their new album. Female-fronted thrash madness that goes from rock to grindcore to no wave to spazzcore - math rock to punk rock, prog rock, arena rock and more, plus show tunes to pop grooves and hardcore in between. Even the look is tight: slick, sleek, rockin', all with a confusing, yet oh-so-hip air about them. Damn these saucy alpha males and their screamin' popular girl... I'm hooked on what their selling.

SO I HAD TO SHOOT HIM - Epileptic Couture CD EP (Collekt) This is pretty operatic, and heavy, so I ask the reader, 'Are you a fan of Racebannon?' Me thinks these cats are too. It's a highly schizophrenic ride not unlike the aforementioned, but New Jersey's So I Had To Shoot Him (with ex-members of Dillinger Escape Plan and Brazilia) add a touch more pop and pure rock elements. Hooky, but buried keyboards and the actually-sung female vocals round out some of the pop aspects, while blues riffs and arena-rock power chords fill out a touch of rock features. There's even a hint of a 'show tunes'-type chorus in "Deported From Flavour Country". "Aim for the Flat Top" goes from nowave rock to grindcore and off to some 60's garage. "Swedish!! Fireball(s)" has a theatrical-rock style reminiscent of krautrock, while maintaining a hardcore-thrash sound. Think Can kicking Velocity Girl around, or Today Is the Day meeting up with Faust for drinks with Queen. Eh - not even close, but it'll have to do.

SOL - Let There Be A Massacre CD (Ván) Seven tracks clocking in at an hour's length. What does that usually mean? Fuckin' doom metal. Slow riffs and punishing rhythm. Downtuned guitars and fuzzed out amplifiers. Sol is the solo work of one Emil Brahe. No bio sheet came with this disc, so where he's from and where this was recorded is a mystery to me. Though, I do know (thanks to the liner notes) that Emil played guitars, bass, drums, accordion, clarinet and banjo, as well as doing all the samples and all the vocals, though fellow misanthropist Martin Jacobsen helped with the track "The Inanity of Man". While the music is total doom metal, it has moments of operatic black metal - well, I mean, the slower parts of black metal. The songs, like their titles ("Centuries of Human Filth", "Where Angels Rot", etc) are dark and bleak, while the vocals fit, and are laid down in two forms - a deep bellowing growl, and a raspy, near spoken hiss that sounds almost like it's through gritted teeth. I'm a big fan of this style, so while I dig what I've already got, I'm already looking forward to even more from the Sol project.

SOME KIND OF HATE - Undisputed CD (Bridge 9) A sort of hardcore Oi! that sounds almost as much as The Hellacopters or Electric Frankenstein, than Cro-Mags or Madball. Other times I hear Discharge and G.B.H. influences over Blood for Blood or even Agnostic Front. I can't deny the record its moments of true hardcore and inspired punk rhythms. At times the speed almost sound like thrash ("Who's Next"), and there are even crusty, almost grind moments here and there ("Loose Lips Sink Ships") only to be chopped up by catchy, rock-n-roll sing-a-long choruses. "Desperate Like The Rest of Them" has a Minor Threat feel, but signs off like a Motörhead number. "Watch Them Fall" starts by punching you with machine gun drum fills, later kicking into a rebel, foot stomping beat. "All My Hero's" goes from punk to almost sludgy breaks - like a warped record speeding up and slowing down. Cool as fuck. I seriously can't believe it all ends in fifteen minutes. I wish there were more songs, but I'm a lot more satisfied listening to short hardcore records than grindcore records (songwriting varies more from track to track). The layout is simple, but eye-catching. The cover shot of the skin with Boston replacing England tattoo, liner photos and paper it's printed on are all nice touches, but nothing flashy. The music is definitely powerful enough not to need it anyhow.

SOME MONASTERY - Welcome to the Symmetry CD (Some Monastery) Some Monastery is the project of Cumberland, Maryland solo (and graphic design) artist Brad Walker. Walker first released a full LP in 2001, then releasing a new one almost every six months after, and he doesn't look like he's gonna stop any time soon. Past releases include the self-titled debut, Good Friend, Sober Village, The Photographer's Wedding, The Roaring Twenties, Weather Or Not, Origami, I Have Flown Several Times, Ushered Into the Vestibule, Livelihood, I Haven't Laughed In Over A Fortnight, Poorly Planned Escape Routes, Plagiarism Et Al (an album of cover songs), Machete Wounds, I'm Obsessed With the Seasons..., and now with this new release that makes sixteen albums. This is one hard working chap, not just by the number of releases, but by the quality of the music. I hear a lot coming from this release. The songs mostly have an acoustic feel, with a big college rock / indie sound, and a touch of pop elements floating around. A bit of All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors, some Broken Social Scene, a little Pinback, a pinch of Jett Brando, and tons of Thurston Moore's later material. Though I haven't heard any of Some Monastery's earlier works, this is supposed to be a noisier takeoff from previous efforts. Even so, it's very accessible, and will (should) probably get loads of airplay if it reaches the right college stations. Something different from the usual hardcore / metal that gets dropped of around here, and pretty well received too.

SONS OF PERDITION - The Kingdom Is On Fire CD (Gravewax) Damn, this is a brimstone and hellfire of a record! I'm getting ahead of myself. Sons of Perdition is more fittingly a son of perdition, as it's basically Denton, Texas local Zebulon Whatley with help of friends and enemies alike. This is their debut record, though Sons did previously release a track (Anhelo" - also found on this disc) on Gravewax's compilation Yells From the Crypt. If there is such a style as Gothic country, this is it - well, at least half the record is. Step aside Hank Ray, as the first half of this debut is a funeral march of depression awash in moonshine, blood and the Bible. A few comparisons have been made to Nick Cave, and I have to agree. A lot of the tracks bring to mind The Bad Seeds if they had gotten into more Americana. For the second half of this CD, Sons of Perdition waltz through some pretty straight Texas country (yes, many states do differ in their brand of C&W... honky tonk, lubbock, neo, red dirt, etc), and while it travels well, I do so love the first half a hell of a lot more. Thirteen tracks (how fitting) of the blackest and bleakest country and western tunes moaning about the depths of Hell in the human spirit, sea monsters, and the Civil War. A few guests appear like apparitions, such as Lonesome Wyatt of Those Poor Bastards lending a hand on "Blood in the Valley", and additional violin on "Burial at Sea" from Tamara Cauble. This album is an aural ride through the most parched sections of our country indeed - a sort of Hank Williams meets The Birthday Party. Now where in tar nation is my whiskey?

SOUNDS LIKE VIOLENCE - The Pistol CD EP (Deep Elm) Another Deep Elm disc that I could have reviewed much sooner if my girlfriend hadn't snagged it off my desk. She heard me give it a listen (as I was anxious after hearing the SLV tracks from the This Is How I Kill My Tears comp), she loved it and snatched it. I finally pried it from her car stereo about a day or two ago, so here it goes. This Swedish four-piece (featuring members of Niccokick) had me hooked from the very beginning. For a good image of what Sounds Like Violence sound like, try thinking of early 90s alternative rock with a much bigger punk-hardcore vibe, and indie attitude. Vocally? Kind of like The Cure's Robert Smith having a nervous breakdown. "You Give Me Heartattacks" was mix of emotional rock and Weezer-like, sing-a-long 'woo-ooh-ooh-oohs'. A strange mix that works so well. "Cry, Oh Cry!" almost made me. Did you just call me a 'fag'? Hey, fuck you because that's just a sign of good song writing. Lyrically,as well as vocally too. The title track brought to mind an angrier Dinosaur Jr. or Screaming Trees, with a more hardcore flare. Actually, "Afasi" did the same. "Perfect"? What a song title to end the disc. A hooky rock number, which ebbed and flows from quite to blasting, that just made me wish this was an album, and not just an EP. Also, I'm a sucker for simple black and white layouts, and SLV (or Deep Elm - whomever did the cover) has taken that simplicity and made it expressed utter sadness, violence and chaos. Nice piece of work from every angle imaginable in a musical release. Oh-oh, she's asking me where the disc is.

SOUNDS LIKE VIOLENCE - With Blood On My Hands CD (Deep Elm) I have been waiting over a year for this record, but when it arrived it just sat there on my desk, unlistened to, for weeks. There's a good reason behind it too. Their EP (The Pistol also on Deep Elm) was amazingly powerful, but I must admit a bit depressing, as "You Give Me Heartattacks" and "Cry Oh Cry" would always give me a bit of a lump in my throat. Wow, did I just write that? Yes, I did. So with a move to the No-Man's Land of Hope Mills, North Carolina and leaving behind years of relationships, I've been a bit down in the dumps. Well, you gotta face your personal demons, right? And as it takes a big man to write what a pussy he can sometimes be, it also takes one to face obstacles, over turning his back. I wasn't too far off with my guessing game. This album is way powerful, and can be an emotional roller coaster, but that's the sign of good music. Good song writing can move you. Good music can make you feel things, even when you don't want to. The album brought a lot to mind, but for the most part it kept me in good spirits. Even with lead singer Andreas Söderlund's crackling screams, and Robert Smith-like crooning, I held it together, and even found myself dancing. That is, until track four ("Until Death Do Us Part"), a song seemingly sung to one, but has the line "I never meant to leave you all," and the lump in my throat returned, the swallowing became difficult, and the music invaded my mind and my heart. The good music, that is - music that makes me feel strangely... human. That aside, there are moments of great pop rock, like "Glad I'm Losing You", which brought to mind Hot Hot Heat, and "Favorite Sun" was part The Rapture, and part Kyuss. "Longing For A Warm Embrace" was just as much downtuned fuzz rock, as it was emocore. From the opening number to the final track, With Blood On My Hands is an ebb and flow of a passionate wave that will leave you equally exhausted and exhilarated in its wake. That year I had to wait for this album was so very worth it. A toast to Sounds Like Violence and Deep Elm records for taking their sweet time in putting out a haunting, yet hooky masterwork. Damn, I miss Miami.

SOUVENIR'S YOUNG AMERICA - An Ocean Without Water CD (Crucial Blast) This is one hell of an instrumental record. It's equal parts Krautrock, musique concrete, ethereal hardcore and shoegazer. Pulsating tribal drumming ala Can and Faust, which are laid behind a shimmering, lush guitar work the likes of Cocteau Twins or My Bloody Valentine, often offset by a doom-laden crunch in the vein of Isis or Neurosis. Souvenir's Young America is from Richmond, Virginia and is a trio now on their third album (the last was the September Songs LP with vinyl on Protagonist Records, and a cassette on Perpetual Motion Machine Records, as well as their first self-titled CD on Underadar Records). They had also previously released a split 7” with ambient project Spylacopa, but good luck finding that one. An Ocean Without Water holds six moments of quiet ambient music and spacey key riffs, progressive rock-inspired thrust, a garage blues / alt-country twang, and even emotional elements that bring to mind a gloomy Sunday where you've just left your girl behind in some far-off city to start a new life as a long-distance truck driver. No wait, that last part is actually happening to me. Anyhow, SYA come off as if Explosions in the Sky or Red Sparowes had a lot more electronics involved, and some harmonica too, or if Mogwai become a little more experimental, yet staying pretty accessible. Many think that instrumental music works on a different level since it doesn't have a vocalist, and I agree, but so do SYA, as their soft melodies and altering soundscapes set moods and bring pictures to mind. Lonely, depressive, wrist-slitting pictures, but they're quite colorful and vibrant in texture. Brent Eyestone of Magic Bullet Records lends a hand in the electronics department, as does ex-Rorschach member Nick Forte - so, I guess misery does love company. Have a listen, and let's all be somber together. It'll be totally worth what you'll later need to spend on upers.

THE SOVIETTES - LP II CD (Adeline) Damn it, isn't this that Green Day guy's label? This can get press is major mags, I know, but once you skip track one, you have a really good disc here. The Soviettes open with "Ten" - a song that counts (something always for the lowest common denominator... no pun intended), and it sounds prefabricated for college radio. "#1 is Number Two" is where the band begins to shine, and "Pass the Flashlight" is where they really hooked me. I've been listening to nothing but Bikini Kill for the last month (I moved and those were the only discs I left out) and this really flows when I want to hear BK, but have already worn out the discs I have. The Soviettes have much more late 80's new wave and pop elements (and sans the 'in yr face political attitude') to be a rip off, but you can hear the nod to Kathleen and crew. "Angel A" was Screeching Weasel running over The Pixies. "Love Song" was a punk rock, millennial version of The Waitresses', "I Know What Boys Like". "Channel X" and "Don't Say No" are what The B-52 wish they sounded like today, but just don't have the balls to give the finger to the VH1 crowd."C'Mon Bokkie!' ends the disc, and I start thinking about giving "Ten" another chance. I'm going to wind up listening to the whole album again, aren't I? Yep.

THE SPADES - Learnin' the Hard Way... CD (Go Kart) These Dutch dudes fuckin' rock. I chalked them up as being a Turbo Negro rip-off when I had first heard the Friday Night 10" (on Germany's I Used to Fuck People Like You In Prison Records, 2001). It grew on me, as later, I realized Tubro are pretty derivative themselves, so fuck it! Everybody have some fun! What I like about The Spades is that they don't use melodies, keyboards or tambourines to make a hook - it's straight up rock and roll, baby. Plus, "C'mon Baby" has lyrics that'll make people way more uncomfortable than Negro ever did. You know me, I love confrontation... and Amsterdam. As the album goes on, the songs get better and better. "Beat Me" (super catchy), "I'm Loose" (loved the metal solo), "I Feel Alright" (the quietest track here, and still a scorcher) and the album's last track, "Who the Man?" (they're asking you a question, punk). As a bonus, the CD comes with the entire Seattle Sessions (double 7" and CD on Suburban Home Records) tracks - four extra songs recorded in Seattle by Jack Endino, and also featuring Mark Arm (of Mudhoney and The Thrown Ups) playing piano and singing back-ups on "You Had it Coming". The sound and production are much better on the LP tracks, but I totally thank Go Kart for adding the extras, as they still rock hard. Can't wait to see these fellas live, and possibly hang with some real party people. I have been to jail a few times... hope I don't get shanked.

SPHERIC UNIVERSE EXPERIENCE - Anima CD (Sensory) Ladies and gentlemen, I love power metal. It also turns out that the more experimental it is, the more I like it. Enter Spheric Universe Experience. They're a French quintet, which originally began in 1999 as a three-piece instrumental progressive metal band. In 2001 they added keyboards, then produced a self-titled demo under the band name Amnesya. They soon changed their name, and in 2003 added vocals, broke up, then reformed and released The Burning Box demo, which got them adequate management and label notice (Replica Records) who released their first LP, Mental Torments. The band recently flipped over to Sensory Records, which is now giving us their Anima album. This record is a scorching blend of New Wave of British Heavy Metal, technical metal, progressive rock and, believe it or not, ambient trance. While the guitars thrash you about, the keyboards sound almost as if they are bubbling along to their own song, yet mesh really well with that's going on. Speaking of which, the guitar playing is top notch technical wizardry - strong on power chords, heavy down picking, amazing solos and packed with time changes. The music is powerful, though highly melodic, as the guitar, keyboards and well sung vocals all deliver power, as well as emotion. This will hit the spot for fans of Dream Theater, Pain of Salvation and Symphony X, but also those who like Tool, Vancouver's Art of Dying, or A Perfect Circle.

SPINAL CORD - Remedy CD (Crash Music) Around since 1999, I had never heard a lick of this Polish band's music, and the only person losing in that situation was me. Spinal Cord reminds me why I got away from hardcore for a while and into speed metal in the late 80s. Bands like Slayer, Testament and later with Napalm Death. Plus, having Cynic practically in my backyard every night made me a bit of a metalhead for a while. Remedy made its way to me though, so Early death metal drumming, with blast beats and lots of double bass - rarely midpaced, or anything slower. The guitars are more from the Meshuggah school, as in heavy, crunching riffs with sudden start / stop solos and other guitar tech wizardries. The title track is sporadic - all over the place, a touch of black metal, some fusion power metal and even some NWoBHM - all with those killer solos. "Mtch-msts" even brings in a little funk at the end. Yes, funk! True that, bitch. "Chosen No More" is one of my favorite tracks on here as it is just punishingly heavy throughout, with hooky riffs. I'm actually surprised when hearing the technical solos, yet finding they did the entire album heavy, without attempting an entirely quiet or jazzy progmetal song. Good call. I'll have to keep my ear on the Polish death scene, as this is the fourth band in two months from Poland to catch my interest.

STALAGGH - Projekt Misanthropia CD (Autopsy Kitchen) This power electronic / black metal band began in Holland (around the year 2000) and takes their name from the German stalag prison camps (short for Stammlager), while adding a 'g' and 'h' at the end to abbreviate 'global holocaust', as their message is total human annihilation. While they hate the comparisons to Abruptum, they are apt (though Abruptum uses lyrics). Stalaggh's methods, as well as layouts, and ideology are usually the same: black layout with a face on the cover cover (the artwork of Netherland artist Jeroen van Valkenburg), digipack limited to 1000 copies with titles such as Projekt Terror and Projekt Nihil (originally released by New Era Productions from Holland, and Total Holocaust Records in Sweden), along with a thirty to forty minute composition of harsh noise under violent screams of pain, with a little bass, drums and guitars leaking through every now and again - usually improvised. This is their final release, and a good one, but nothing that far different from past efforts. This, plus previous works, is a true insight into harsh noise, as well as dementia.

STAND & FIGHT - s/t CD EP (Bridge 9) The cover has X's on the hands, as well as the faces of watches! Swatches no less. You know what to expect: a little over 10 songs in under 20 minutes. An old school mix that brings to mind a smashing of 7" era No For An Answer and Gorilla Biscuits, all from ex-members of Carry On, Collision and others. Sometimes they come off like a Dealing with It Dirty Rotten Imbeciles with added gang-chant choruses (even the lead vocals by Wrench - ex-Ten Yard Fight - are similar to Kurt). With track three ("Pressure Builds") Stand & Fight really begin to mold their record as something well enough on it's own. You stop looking for comparisons and just start to tap madly along with the drums, bang your head and want to dance along. Speaking of breaking molds, "Breaking the Mold" was in true '87 fashion - NY style. The first six tracks are all new and is the entire 7" version of this release, the second six are CD only tracks from their 2002 demo. The demo kicks off with "I Won't Break" - my favorite on this disc. It closes with "My Mistake", and I don't know if this is the song order on the original demo, but it ended this EP on a real high note. I wish the demo's lyrics were enclosed, but I get that it's an extra and not part of the original release - and you could pretty much make them out anyhow. When you need your hardcore fix Bridge 9 knows how to keep you coming back, junkie.

STAR STRANGLED BASTARDS - Whose War Is It? (Go Kart) When I put this on it remind me of two bands. One was Exploited, and I go looking at the bio, and it's written there. Okay so I didn't discover anything new, as they do - on the surface of it - Exploited, and even Discharge! and Violent Society. It's pretty iconoclastic hardcore-punk in the vein of the UK sound. Now, the second band, and the kicker here is that these southern California guys have much heavier guitars than the previously mentioned, which in turn makes them also sound a lot like (New York's) Rest In Pieces' first album - which I happen to love like no other record! Joel Nielsen even sounds a tad like Armand. An added bonus here are the backing vocals, at times, are almost like another singer instead of just backing vocals - with the back and forth shout-outs and all. The obligatory punk songs about alcohol and theft (all in one song, "Thief") are here. No lyrics included which is a bummer, cuz I did feel like singing along much of the time. But of what I can make out, it's pretty elementary ('Drive around in your fancy car. When we see you, you won't get far. Try and run, but you can't hide. Class war homicide!' - from "We Will End Your Life"). No Noam Chomsky, but nothing to be ashamed of. The title is timely, as well as the title track, which is a number about war, but also about those who blindly listen to orders. The cover art - by an uncredited artists - also brought to mind Exploited, but trust me, that NY sound is in there - even though they're from Orange County.

STINKING LIZAVETA - Caught Between Worlds CD (At A Loss) Philly brothers Alexi and Yanni (on upright bass and guitars, respectively) find drummer Cheshire to form a band that makes people like me use many a hyphen. Now on their fourth release (last one being 2001's III on Tolotta Records) these metal worshipping, jazz-prog-rock-doom-psychos serve us with over and hour of sixteen new instrumental licks. The album's opener "Beyond the Shadows" comes off as a mix between Sleep and Trail of the Bow, but then the title track comes next and you get a sense of prog-rock despair."Last Wish" had surfy overtones of the mid-60s, while "Over the Edge" has a power metal backbone, infused with gothic rock elements. "Stop Laughing" goes from King Crimson riffs to dogs barking onto speed picking, as later track "Staying Here" had a more straight-up power rock delivery. Serious meditation music at times. Hell, I used this to carve up my jack-o'-lantern this Halloween. I do have one complaint: the sound is not up to par with the tunes. It should sound much more explosive. For lack of better words, everything sounds level, but flat - especially the drums. It jams, and all is played top notch, but something lacks. It's not a hindrance to your listening, but strong enough for a mention. Though, I don't hear any overdubs, which is good, as that produces a live sound that helps me picture the band's performance. I'm interested enough, now I want to see it in person.

STINKING LIZAVETA - Scream of the Iron Iconoclast CD (At A Loss) The Papadopoulos brothers Alexi (upright bass) and Yanni (guitars), along with beat-provider Cheshire Agusta are back for the fifth time - at least album-wise. This Philadelphia trio poke and provoke many a music critic, not to mention listener, to pigeonholed them to a single category; whether metal, rock, prog, jazz, or doom. And no luck they shall have, cuz these three know how to change it up all over the place. I ain't talking about where one song is metal, and the next one is jazz, but each song an mixture of it all. Picture King Crimson's Fripp having a guitar battle with Theoretical Girls' Branca. A landscape of sensational sonance as if DNA were masters of their instruments or if Melvins decided to add a boatload of jazz licks to their repertoire. The album's title track was a psychedelic metal mix of swirling riffs and funky groove, while "Unreal' (track 6) had the guitars feigning the sounds of violins. Elements of power metal, arena rock, and even reggae ("Soul Retrieval") sneak into tracks every now and again, amongst what's already jammed in there. As with their first release, Big Black / Shellac noise-monger Steve Albini is back behind the soundboard. This new hour of work (as was their last LP, Caught Between Worlds) is on At A Loss Recordings, but you're gonna want to groove to so much more, so also check out III on Tolotta Records (2001), along with their first two (Hopelessness and Shame and Slaughterhouse, which have been re-released with bonus tracks). You'll be thanking yourself when caught in the midst of the swirling musical trip that is Stinking Lizaveta.

STRANGULATED BEATOFFS - Jacking Off With Jacko 7" (Apop) With a small handful of CDs and several handfuls of singles under their belt, the St. Louis, Missouri duo (Fritz Noble and Stan Seitrich) known as Strangulated Beatoffs return with a two song slice of wax. If you are unfamiliar with the Beatoffs, think of a danceable NON; consisting of simple loops and samples, though usually only a single one is used per song. Anti-music that's sort of Dadaist in a sense, but they call this dub - classified as the NY illbient variety, over Jamaican reggae. These two tracks are pretty good, with the "Beat It" side as my standout. I also believe this may be the first SB release with vocals. Anyhow, the cover is a watercolor painting by SB member Seitrich, and there was only 300 of these suckers made, so get 'em quick before you have to resort to eBay.

STREET SMART CYCLIST - s/t 7" (Our Neighborhood) Street Smart Cyclist is a sextet from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania that throw around emocore hooks and poppy singalong catchiness with a call-and-response urgency of the DC scene. One of the things I like about these tracks is their minimal use of the riff. I mean, they have them, but the guitarists (three of them) are mostly fiddling round and picking high, rather than just pumping out chords. The raspy, yet emotional, vocals fits the music well. Their formula may bring bands like Braid and Cap'n Jazz to mind, maybe even some of the slower material from At the Drive-In or Joan of Arc, though many of the uninitiated will lump them along the Gainesville sound of Hot Water Music. The highlight is the A side ("Hoods Up!") with its hand clapping and chanting chorus. The artwork for the cover is so thick it feels like velvet, and the vinyl is blue - and while those are nice touches, this sucker is limited to only 300 copies, so you may not get the chance to please the ears and the eyes. Hurry, and you can sing along with me.

SUNN O))) - White 2 CD (Southern Lord) Hold on... I'm packing a bowl as I start this. *cough, cough, cough* Holy crap! The stuff is good down here. Okay, now - here we go. Sunn O))) is Stephen O'Malley (of Khanate and Burning Witch) and Greg Anderson (of Goatsnake), and they are the metal version of Sun Ra in a sense. Wait what am I talking about again? Oh, yeah Sun Ra. Um, no... Sunn O))), and the new disc White 2 which is part two, I would guess, to their earlier CD White 1. "Hell-o)))-ween" starts out with eight minutes of the same sludgy riff until it gets into bigger hums of feedback and static for another six. Ever heard Sup Pop Records' Earth? Very similar, but much more interesting. "bassAliens" is very much like early (read: not techno) Coil, Boyd Rice's NON or even some of Thurston Moore's instrumental solo projects. This number kicks while driving around with some twelves in the trunk! Lastly, track three - yes, there are only three tracks on this sixty-two minute album - "Decay 2 [Nihils' Maw]" sounds like a Current 93 song, with Gregorian monk-like chants and echoed howls (with vocal props going to Mayhem's Attila Csihar), but guitars begin a feedback assault at about the seven minute mark. A definite for fans of thick, bleak walls of sound... and pain.

SUNN O))) & BORIS - Altar CD (Southern Lord) Unlike the Merzbow / Boris collaboration, this collaboration actually holds my interest. It could be either because Sunn O))) is a guitarist at heart, Merzbow hates beats, or Boris' drummer called in sick for that recording session. Here the beats are laid down right, and right along buzzing, whaling, droning and ear-splitting guitar work. Six songs (seven with the bonus) that tick-tock at near an hour, and sound like neither Sunn O))) or Boris, but... well, duh - it sounds like a collaboration between them: the stoner / riff rock of Boris, along with the psychedelic, amp-worship of Sunn O))). Guest musicians include Joe Preston of Melvins, Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, Steve Moore of Earth and a whole car load of others. After you're done here, check out Boris' Pink, or Sunn O)))'s Black One. They're two great CDs that are excellent on their own, but along with this LP, will make you wish they worked together even more.

SUPERSUCKERS - From the Audio / Video Department Volume 3 - Live in Anaheim DVD (Music Video Distributors) This is number three in the From the Audio / Video Department series (very curious to check out what bands are covered in numbers one and two). A DVD and a CD, both are of killer live material. The DVD is Supersuckers playing in California at Anaheim's House of Blues (playing mostly their solid rock material) and at San Diego's The Casbah (playing entirely their alt-country material). Both nights are filmed in an artsy, somewhat-grainy, black and brown colored haze, and it captured the moments well - as I'm sure you can imagine what a well packed club experience can be like. The shows are intermixed, and not played as two separate sets, so altogether they punch out seventeen live tracks of sweet-ass rock-n-roll, mixed in with a little bit of country flavor. I've been a fan of the Suckers since the early 90s, but when they got into their Country phase, I must admit, I turned them off. I guess I've grown, as I dug those songs almost as much as the whiskey rock. I said 'almost'! With tracks like "Rock n' Roll Records...", "Bruises to Prove It", "I Want the Drugs" and "Marijuana", you just can't forget the rock. The CD disc is their entire set from The Casbah performance, an all alt-country set of twelve tracks of soon-to-be classic tunes for the truckers of the new millennium. If you like songs about drinkin', druggin' and fuckin', then you'll surely love Supersuckers.

SUSPERIA - Unlimited CD (Tabu / Candlelight) Man, I put this on and I think of Metallica. Metallica without all that rock star bullshit. Just good metal tunes that are heavy, and I don't mean heavy in the sense of trying to recapture what you once were, but come off sounding like sped up nümetal. I mean real 1987 shit. Actually, scratch that - Susperia has better drumming than Metallica's early shit. Formed by ex-Dimmu Borgir drummer Tjodalv in 1999, these gents were part of a ten label rumble for their signatures. Previously releasing two albums on Nuclear Blast (Predominance and Vindication), Tjodalv brought in all new players for this release and label switch. "Chemistry" started things off, including my earlier comparisons. "Situational Awareness" has an insanely punishing riffs. "Devil May Care" was good old fashioned heavy metal with great solos and classic metal lyrics ('Grinning mask cracks and shows his fading face. You can take him out of hell, but you can't take hell out of him.' - Ooo, they must know me.). Vocally, Athera does a gruff singing similar to many of the stoner bands, but can growl as well as the rest of them when it's time to bark. "Off the Grid" (track five) goes back to punishing riffs with Slayer meets Metallica structures, as does the hook ladended "Home Sweet Hell" (track seven). "Untouched", the last track, had the most current sound, with it's death metal speed picking chorus and moshy hardcore breakdown towards the end. Even then, the late 80's sound prevails and the waves of nostalgia will keep on rolling, as long as the music plays.

SUZUKITON - Service Repair Handbook (Crucial Blast) Instrumental hard rock is getting big. There must really be a lot of good green floating around out there. Anyhow, Richmond, Virginia's Suzukiton feature ex and current members of Alabama Thunderpussy, and play an instro-prog-math-metal that doesn't sound too much unlike The Fucking Champs or even Pelican's work, but holds my interest well enough to stand out on it's own. Some songs range from the straight-up hook riff ala stoner rock ("Meatal"), while other moments are more progressive or mathrock-ish ("New Blood", "Melon"), as they travel throughout their sound (think Stinking Lizavette). Sometimes blending the two and coming off as a vocal-less Mastodon ("VIII"). I like how they keep the songs short (mostly under three minutes) though they shred through a longer track, they also bust out minute-long thrashers. My bike is an '86 550cc Shadow, so I could only like this release more than I already do if they were called Hondaton. Save me your "Harley's rule" shit.

SWALLOW THE SUN - Hope CD (Spinefarm) History first, and then I'll gush like a little a school kid with a crush. In the beginning of 2000, Finland outfit Swallow The Sun emerged from the ashes of Plutonium Orange through the work of ex-members Juha Raivio and Pasi Pasanen and went on to absorb a few members of Finnish fellows, Funeris Nocturnum. It took Swallow the Sun three years just to release a demo, Out of This Gloomy Light, but the work was worth it as they were soon picked up by Firebox Records who put out their first LP, The Morning Never Came, in 2003. In '05 Firebox released StS's second album, Ghosts of Loss, and it won them a spot in the Finnish charts for six weeks. For those unaware, Swallow the Sun's sound is similar to many a gothic doom and operatic metal band out there, but they hold well enough on their own merits. The music, like Amorphis, Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, is quite heavy doom: slow and pounding with the metallic riffs. Like the aforementioned they also filter in parts of melancholic bitterness and sorrowful lush melodies - sometimes gloomy, sometimes symphonic. The vocals are a highlight, as they range from death metal guttural growls to black metal screeches and shrieks to gothic singing. Last year they switched over to Spinefarm Records and released this new, depressingly dark masterwork. The Hope LP has also been released in North America by Candlelight Records, but that version lacks the track "These Low Lands" which is an (English translated) cover version of Finnish Sabbath-worshippers Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus' "Alavilla Mailla". Guest appearances on this record include Amorphis' Tomi Joutsen (vocals on the TR&TN cover) and Jonas Renske of Katatonia on "The Justice of Suffering". If you don't want to pay import prices I would opt for the later, but you'll be missing out, and with this newest release you'll want to hear every spirit-crushing and soul-blackening note.

SWARM OF THE LOTUS - When White Becomes Black CD (At A Loss) From Meatjack's stomping ground (Baltimore, Maryland) comes Swarm of the Lotus, who call their music 'A-Bomb Rock'. The music does help picture the atomic annihilation mental-picture- but while this rocks, there isn't much actual 'rock-n-roll' here. Though there is a bus load of technical metalcore, doom, hardcore and grind - close to an hour of it. This starts off with the strangely titled, "Cherry Chocolate Salamander" which goes from tech metal to grindcore, ending in a stomping breakdown - and on to "Committed to Ash" a mixture of stoner rhythms with some mad death metal speed picking and double bass drums in the middle. "Strength of Inner Eyes" had my head doing twirls (damn I need hair to spin!), and after four minutes my head started banging and my hands made the 'sign of the horns'. Metal! And I'm only up to the third track! As the album goes on, and the more I listen to this the more I like it - especially on headphones. I hear influences from Neurosis and Mastodon to older thrash and power violence like Failure Face and Infest. The vocals are a constant mid-toned scream (not high, nor deep). Very throaty - slightly monotone, but never boring. Reptilian Records is releasing a picture disc with three unreleased tracks, so you can get even more sometime soon. Until then, keep hitting the play button over again.

SWING BY SEVEN - s/t CD-R DEMO (Swing By Seven) I hear it quite often, 'You don't review enough demos.' I know I originally set out to, but 90% of independent material I get in is trash (sorry folks!), and a leaf I turned over a few years back had been not to slag music - at least not in print. Every so often, I do get a good demo... that's outside the noise genre. Swing by Seven is a Sioux City, Iowa foursome that not only knows the art of catching your ear, but catching your eye. Crude, yet artistic, hand-painted covers are a 1000 times better than nothing at all (or most band's simple handwritten song list and web address). Sight aside, the tunes are pretty catchy. Four tracks ranging round ten minutes of mathy, stop-start psycho-punk metal. An aural amalgam of many things, yes. I'd really like to see what these fellows can produce with more time and cash.