TAD - Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears DVD (Music Video Distributors) This isn't what I expected. I thought this was going to be a live show and maybe some videos, but it's actually a documentary. Very cool! Let me say that Tad is one of the most underrated bands of the early 90's Seattle sound. Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam - fuck them all. Tad had strength, volume, riffs, balls, hooks, even moments of melody. Now, why didn't Tad get the notice they deserved? I don't know... bad timing, bad luck? Seriously, maybe both. In 1988 Tad Doyle puts out his solo 7" ("Daisy" / "Ritual Device") on fledgeling label Sub Pop and both parties gain from it. Tad recruits members to start an actual band, and their first two discs (God's Balls and Salt Lick) are hailed as the next best thing, they even go on tour with an unknown local act to support them (they were known as Nirvana). Then they put out the 8-Way Santa LP and all hell breaks loose. Tad and Sub Pop are sued for the cover photo by the redneck couple who appeared on it, who are now born-again Xtians. Then a soda company (who I will not advertise for by mentioning their name) sues over the use of their name in a song. Tad jumps on to a major label, which weeks after the new record (1993's Inhaler) comes out they're dropped due to a poster for the LP which featured Bill Clinton smoking a doobie and saying, 'This is heavy shit'. It's an amazing story of a fast rise and almost-as-fast fall. All the while the music doesn't suffer and keeps on shredding, on and on. The entire story is told by Tad and crew, as well as Mark Arm (of Mudhoney), Kim Thayil (of Soundgarden), Krist Novoselic (of Nirvana) and Bruce Pavitt (of Sub Pop Records). The doc contains plenty of live footage, back stage antics and personal home video. As an extra, the DVD also contains every music video (five) Tad has done. Plus, if you act fast, you can also get a free copy of the poster I mentioned above. How? Buy the DVD and find out.

TARANTULA HAWK - s/t (aka Album One) CD (Life Is Abuse) Mauz, I want to strangle you. No, no... it's not that I dislike you. I just want to take your place. How does one surround himself with such killer bands and tunes? And get to release them too! Man, I really have to control my violent tendencies. Folks, this is a repress of Tarantula Hawk(named after a species of the wasp)'s 2000 debut, which had members of Neurosis (as well as others in that school of music) creaming in their jeans. The 12" LP is a beautiful gatefold (I downloaded a TH song off the Neurot Recordings site and bought that sucker immediately), and I heard the CD had some enhanced PC videos. Well, many of you didn't catch the gravy train the first time it passed, so here you go (sadly, with no enhanced CD features, but what do you expect when you catch on to things late?). Six tracks of psychedelic-prog-hardcore-jazz-doom, coming in at a little over half and hour. Tracks one, two and three really brought to mind a lot of kraut rock (Amon Düül, Faust and Can), as well as a whole lot of Goblin and a little touch of King Crimson (Red era). Track four started out heavy, then morphing into an ambient / almost-power electronics tune (complete with sounds of insects and sex) and later back into their brand of death-prog. The last and sixth track was the doomiest, yet most frantic - at times falling into a hardcore, jazz-like sound. Oh, I can't forget to mention the fittingly, beautiful artwork by Kevin Ross for the layout. A definite for fans of Yeti, Clearlight and Upsilon Acrux. Don't be a fool and not be schooled the second time around, chumps! Plus, once your hooked you can look into their other 12" gatefold, Album Two (CD on Neurot).

TENDER LOVE / TACTICAL ERADICATION FUNCTION - s/t split CD-R (Inner Space) Two collaborations, and six originals by the two separate outfits, producing 8 tracks. The first two are collaboration between TL and TEF, and honestly my least favorite material on this disc. They seemed as if nothing but deep rumbles. A less interesting Namanax. Tender Love remind me of Smell & Quim, without all the sex and graphic nature. Quality electronic noise. Like a hurricane blowing outside while jackhammers attack my woofers. Tactical Eradication Function had the better sounding tunes, or should I say, kept my interests best. "Arclight III" is some distorted jazz record with a construction site being dumped atop. Very nice! "Arclight IV" is my favorite track, as it is structured similar to the kind of power electronics I enjoy, (Whitehouse or Masonna). It's almost like there is an actual band performing and it all just went to shit, and sounds similar to someone screaming and screaming... eerie, yet very harsh. Twenty minutes into it, it sounds as if they're stuck in traffic and a laser battle breaks out, and then they're out. Quiet envelopes the house, as all eyes are on me because I've annoyed everyone here, as I sat through all 60 minutes of the CD without flinching. I look forward to hearing more of these 'bands' in the future.

TENT TRANSFORM - s/t CD (Akhenation) Tent Transform is the new project name of NY's underground bass legend Chuck Treece. Whether playing bass on classic hardcore albums, as well as slapping chords for The Roots, being an old bassist myself I have admired Treece's skills and output thus far. This self-titled CD is no different, and as an extra he also plays guitars, and gives us his rarely heard voice. He sings pretty decent, but I'd like to hear his roar. But I understand... he's not an angry man. The songs are a good mix of Bad Brains-esque punk-funk, post-hardcore and indie-rock. "Alone" is the best example of this. "Pretty" is an awesome track, filtering elements of Jamaican dub, hard rock and even some almost-drum-n-bass beats (through a live drummer). "A Look" is an experimental mix of ambient tones with guitar licks, feedback and spoken word. "See It" is the heaviest song on the record, but far from the best. My only complaint is that the recording is terrible. I can hardly hear the guitars, sometimes the bass, and the vocal effects they're trying pull off are not working (ie - back and forth from one speaker to another). I understand the DIY ethic very much, but bands like Pavement can get a great sound from a 4 track, so I don't see why Chuck couldn't either. In all honesty I would rather look at this as a demo, and hope it gets the royal remixing and re-mastering it so thoroughly deserves.

TERHEN - Eyes Unfolded CD (Firebox) Terhen is a funeral dirge / doom metal sextet, which formed sometime around 2004 in the land of forests and a thousand lakes, Finland. Originally they started under the moniker Thamuz, and leaned more towards black metal in genre. In 2005 they released the Self Crucifixion MMV three-song demo themselves, and have since found a home on Firebox Records. At five songs, I thought this would be an EP, but clocking in at a few minutes short of an hour, Eyes Unfolded is a dirge-y long player indeed. One of the more interesting aspects to Terhen's music is that it isn't simple doom, but an amalgam of said genre, with elements of coldwave industrial, a bit of gothic metal, and a touch of Krautrock's more ambient psychedelia. While the guitar plays a large role on this recording (it is doom, you know), the keyboards play just as big of a part in solidifying the sound, and while they are mostly somber, they are sometimes cheerfully playful - coming off like children playing in the ruins of war. The violin (played by keyboardist Marianne Mieskolainen) often give a Disintegration-era The Cure feel to the grim doom, as do the lush vocals of Elisa Pellinen on the tracks "Last Moments" and "What Truly Is Real". One good thing I can't do here is point out a musical reference. While it's funeral doom and comparisons can be made to some of Funeral, Thergothon, or My Dying Bride's material, Terhen really stand well enough on their own. I guess you're just gonna have to give Terhen a listen on your own, and figure it out for yourselves.

TERROR - Lowest of the Low CD EP (Bridge 9) Wow. What a fifteen minutes that was. Okay, let me tell you something first. Yes, this band does have Scott Vogel (of Buried Alive) and Todd Jones (of Carry On), but it also has (not credited on any bio sheet) Rich Thurston (guitarist of Culture and later, One Nation Under) on bass guitar. Rich is a local boy gone good. Forming, as well as joining, several bands throughout his stint in hardcore. (He also gave me a place to stay for a week, while my place in Little Havana had no electricity after Hurricane Andrew. Thanks dude!) I think Terror is the best stuff he's done yet, but he's worked too hard not to get his due credit. With props out of the way... You know I love hardcore, especially when they throw a little metal in. You know, enough to give it that extra crunch on the guitars, but not where the metal starts to take over the whole song. Nine songs, each about two minutes of verse/chorus/verse like a barrage of chin kick/gut punch/chin kicks at 300 beats-per-minute. "Nothing to Me" and "Keep Your Distance" have killer dog-pile choruses, as does "Push it Away". The metal almost takes over on "Lowest of the Low", but it doesn't spoil a thing. The guest vocals on that track are by HF of Ringworm (While out on tour in Cleveland he bought me and some friends a few rounds of beer. Aren't hardcore kids are just swell people?!).

TEXAS IS ON FIRE - Shine. Set. Repeat. CD (Crash Music) Noticed only a few months after the release of their first EP, Take Your Sex Elsewhere Girl, I'm Trying To Dance (their 'tour ethics' didn't hurt either, I'm sure), Crash Music took a chance a some very young kids. Now, many will classify this as screamo and be done with it, but it's so much more. Some songs contain much of what screamo is: Slayer-esque guitars, dark rhythms, big breakdowns and a singer's gut-wrenching heartache spilt before an audience. Denver, Colorado's Texas Is On Fire bring a lot more than that, so get ready to thrust that heart back in. Black metal, blast beats and deep guttural growls ("You're So Going To Hell for That One", "Looks Like A Natural Disaster"), even a touch of nümetal groove ("Face It Girl, Prince Charming Isn't Coming", "No Guys, This Is Epic"). It's hard to categorize TIOF with their hardcore mix of Neil Perry, At the Gates and On Broken Wings. Metalcore with a screamo and black metal edge? Too many words. Black screamcore? Sounds racist. We'll have to figure it out over a listen, so join me.

TEXTURED BIRD TRANSMISSION - Spectral Doves of Skeletal Intensity CD-R (Dead Sea Liner) Textured Bird Transmission is... well, I don't know, and supposedly neither does their label. Either way, they produce some really dark ambient tunes, a sort of soundtrack for early 1900s Expressionist German film. I can hear this playing well over movies like Nosferatu or Der Golem. Creepy synths bleep, guitars feedback, metal clangs, all of it over layers of soundscapes and textured drone. While I dig the music, what I really like - almost as much - is the layout. Hand-painted waves of red, orange and yellow (though I've seen green on other copies as well) over thick cardstock. Time consuming, I'm sure, but quite impressive. Limited to only forty-eight copies, so chances are you're a washed up sucker that missed out. Too bad for you, I guess.

THIS FLOOD COVERS THE EARTH / LANTERNS - split CD EP (History Major) While I did enjoy this split release, it came with no bio or info (aka a onesheet), and since I'm moving, I'm too lazy from packing to go search things out on the web. The label is from Boston, but there's a map of San Diego above the bands in the sleeve layout... so go figure? Still, both bands have an interesting sound, even if the home recordings aren't top notch, as TFCTE recorded in their living room, and Lanterns recorded in their garage, respectively. Lanterns is my pick of the two, with their shoegazer take on postcore - coming off as Interpol meets the Deep Elm School of Emo. This Flood Covers the Earth is more of a straight up hardcore attack with melodic moments, a bit similar to From Autumn to Ashes. The EP presents the songs one band at a time, back and forth, instead of one half of the disc being one band, then the next band taking the second half. All good debuts here, but I think the bands', as well as the label's sophomore will be their shinning moment.

THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD - The Scars of Ages CD EP (Lovelost) Fuckin' metaaal. This metalcore EP has more metal than some death metal records I've been getting lately. Sick shit here. "Autumn Tint of Gold" has some fine Nordic metal, and yes, as people keep bringing up, the drumming is damn good. "Forever Ends Today" is probably the best song on here. It pummels, it has good time changes, a good guitar solo and an all around brutal sound. They remind me a lot of Dead to Fall, and no matter how many people slagged them, I loved 'em. And, I use the word 'dude' a lot when I listen to this. The use of samples are good, as they're pretty obscure and all of them fit with the theme of the entire record: black, dreary and cool as hell. "To Take Comfort" is the way to end a record. Over four minutes of a band battling from a fast crunch on into a slow, punishing churn with torturous vocals. Pretty brutal.

TIDES - From Silence CD EP (Teenage Disco Bloodbath) As a trio they've been together in one form or another since they were kids, now under the Tides moniker for the past five. A year into this manifestation, one moves from upstate NY to Boston for college, and the rest packed their bags and welcomed a new city. Last year saw their LP, Resurface (also on Teenage Disco Bloodbath Records) get them a bit of notice to their style of instrumental, ethereal hardcore. This new EP sees an addition, now making Tides a quartet, but still continuing their brand of lush and lullful vocalless tunes the likes of Explosions in the Sky, or even Gregor Samsa, with moments of early Earth or Sun O))). Three groove and riff filled tracks in twenty minutes makes this EP well worth the dough, and your time.

TORCHE - s/t CD (Robotic Empire) Well, right off the bat I'm a fan of anything played on Orange. That guitar sound is Soma. Anyhow, it's been a great couple of months for local releases, and this is another example of the primo shit that's been floating through our streets lately. Steve Brooks of Floor, Juan Montoya of Panda Bite and Ed Matus' Struggle, Ric Smith of Tyranny of Shaw and Jonathan Nuñez of Shitstorm. Enough said? No. Okay... "Charge of the Brown Recluse" charges the sounds right out of the speakers. When they play "Safe" live the room rumbles. "Erase" is a garage-rock-meets-doom masterpiece, with the Pink Floydesque "Fuck Addict" following it. "Rockit" makes you wanna grow your hair long, yet punch somebody. "Holy Roar" plods, then cuts through riffs, plods again, only to hook you in a catchy and melodic ending, while "The Last Word" has the last laugh, ending the disc with bodies in its wake. Like I said, it's been sweet 'round here for local releases.

TORTURE KILLER - For Maggots to Devour CD (Candlelight) Only a year into crafting their homage to Scott Burns and the Tampa death metal scene, Finland's Torture Killer hit the world with a full album. Quite a feat for some unknowns from the very top of the world, but once you hear the mix of brutal playing, painful drums and riffs and a little laissez-faire production, you'll soon understand. An old school sound of constant double bass drums and speed picking, makes for equal parts Six Feet Deep, Obituary and Celtic Frost in sound. "Flesh Breaks to Open Wounds" kicks this open and punches a highlight at you right from the start. "No Time to Bleed" was a bit of the slower-edged stuff (like Bolt Thrower), but still powerful. "Torture to Death" was fast, heavy and punishing. While I have yet to outgrow the death metal sound, I did outgrow the lyrical content. When I was younger I saw lyrics such as these as some dark and mysterious shit. Now they are funnier to me than anything this side of sappy love songs. But, it is old school death metal, and damn it if it doesn't fit perfectly! I sang along with every word... doing the growls and making the 'sign of the horns' too. "Strangulation" ends this album with a tune most metalcore bands today want to come off sounding like. Music like this usually falls a little short of promise, and I'll pull out Obituary's Cause of Death, soon to forget the last disc I listened to, but For the Maggot to Devour feeds the need, without making me rely on old habits.

TOTAL FUCKING DESTRUCTION - Zen and the Art of Total Fucking Destruction CD (Translation Loss) This is almost like a triple release. It's a grindcore EP, an acoustic / unplugged EP and a live music video EP. Let's examine the band first, shall we? TFD was started by Brutal Truth drummer Richard Hoak, and this Philly-based four piece make a mass of thrash noise comparable to Napalm Death in an auto accident with The Ex, or if power violence trio Spazz had a word or two in an alley with leather thrashers Hirax. Their latest work (with previous three demos released on one CD as Compact Disc Version 1.0 by Bones Brigade Records in '04) is a re-release originally on Japan's Ritual Records in 2006, and is a musical half-hour split in two - nine originals and a Terrorizer cover (with standout tracks being "Mad Pig Disease" and "Corpse Position") in a unique blending of grind and groove. Following those ten metal masterpieces are four tracks that could air on college radio. Groovy bass leads and almost blues-inspired guitar twang. Admittedly, the lyrics are rather simple, especially when tracks like "Nihilism, Emptiness, Nothingness, Nonsense", "Grindcore Salesman" and "Bio-Satanic Terrorist Attack" spew forth little in words other than their titles' sake. That aside, they're still socio-polictical jabs at mass herdism, as well as drug addiction and consumerism. After the tunes are done, take the disc and put it in your computer to watch a full set (on Quicktime video) of nine songs live at Hazel's (West Philadelphia), where you get four from the record and five from earlier works. Does it make me less of a man that I kinda like the acoustic stuff almost as much? Well, it makes me less of a metalhead, that's for sure.

TOTAL SYSTEM FAILURE - The Frozen Hour CD (Black Noise) Total System Failure is a duo from... well, who knows where (New Jersey, I think). What I do know is that TSF started in 2005 as the sonic tinkering of one Vinnie Paternostro. Vinnie began to manipulate his saxophone through guitar pedals. He soon self-released a six-song, self-titled CDr of his experiment and limited it to a simple 200 copies. A little while later Paternostro was joined by Jay Reeve to process and manipulate the sounds in a live setting. This new CDr is an aural document of their collaboration, featuring VP's sax, with real-time manipulations, as well as looped noise and electro-babble. I hear a blend of sonances from this seven song disc, and it ranges from an ethno-ambient sound similar to Bryn Jones' Muslimgauze to more ritualistic power electronic ala Archon Satani, or even The Grey Wolves. I'm pretty sure this is, as are most of the Black Noise camp's releases, limited edition, so if you are into sonic insanity and textured mayhem, you may want to get a move on and order a copy for yourself soon.

TO THE LIONS - Baptism of Fire CD (Goodfellow) To The Lions hail from Burlington, Ontario (that's in Canada, dummy), and feature former members of Confine, SeventyEightDays, Boys Night Out and Victory Record's melodic hardcore monsters Grade. The quintet got together in 2005 and without so much as a back catalog - besides a demo - they were eyed by Goodfellow Records. The sound is a good early 90s style of hardcore reminiscent of Damnation AD, Strife, Chokehold and Most Precious Blood. Lots of chugging guitars, aggression, chunky breakdowns, and gang chants where folks will be fighting to get to the microphone to sing along. "Ride the Apocalypse", "From Fear and Hate Sets Free", "Amnesia", and "Final Chapter" (which was originally called "Chokehold") can originally be heard on the demo, but get a proper reworking for this release. Baptism of Fire is a ten song, half hour of stomping, metal-tinged hardcore. Notice I said 'metal-tinged' - meaning there's an influence, but not an overwhelming factor. Also, I like their attitude, as they claim not to care about fashion, photos, MySpace pages or voting over videos. Hardcore music was, and is supposed to be, about a pissed off attitude over an unfair world. It's hard to take a lot of that seriously when a bunch of Hot Topic suburbanites infiltrated the scene and made it about bad haircuts and tight pants while actually playing speed metal. Hopefully, these boys will help bring back true musical grit, and kill of the trends of posing and dress codes.

TOTOMOSHI - ¿Mysterioso? CD (Crucial Blast) From the hometown of Fleshies and one of the largest chapters of Hell's Angels comes Totimoshi. A three piece with three releases under their belt (this album, the self-titled 1999 self-relesed CD, and Monoli' from 2003 on This Dark Reign Records)), but as luck may have it they may have been no more than a west coast secret. Thanks to Crucial Blast, their sophomore effort gets a facelift. I reviewed this when it originally came out on Berserker Records in 2002. Nearing 2006, you could pass this off as a completely new release and the public would be none the wiser. Fans would be glad as well, as the out-of-print CD is now back out in print, as well as containing CD-ROM material (a video for "Cellophane" and tour footage). This is a definite for those who love the High On Fire or Melvins' sound and are looking for similar-jamming trios. Heavy on riff, big on stomps, thick with bass and loud on amps!

TOWER OF ROME - All is Lost, All is Lost, All is Yet to Be Found CD (He Who Corrupts) By the time you read the album title and all the songs listed, the record is over. Ten songs, nine and a half minutes. God that's good. Illinois' Tower of Rome play a maddening grindcore, with a few breakdowns, and are similar in style to Daughters, Get Fucked, or - for the locals - the amazing, but no-more, Tyranny of Shaw. The vocals are in a Spazz-like power-violence switch of one almost constant, screechy, screamo vocalist, backed up by a deep, death metal growler. It plays out as a near, one song EP, but it really does have some standout tracks, "Real Teamwork Means You Pull Your Knife Out of My Back While I Push Mine Deeper Into Yours", "This is A Film About A Ghost" and "I Guess Moods Just Go With the Seasons Around Here". Nice layout, with cover by artist Nigel Dennis (who has also done work for Deep Elm Records), but the interior color scheme makes (what I think are) the lyrics hard to read. I've been here over an hour, hitting play several times - so you know it's up there, grindcats.

TOXIC BONKERS - Progress CD (Selfmadegod) For a while there grindcore lost a lot of what made it great. Bands began focusing on speed over anger. This is a band and record that is trying to bring that all back - while still keeping it fast as fuck. Toxic Bonkers is from Lodz, Poland and formed in 1993. They recorded a self-titled, self-released demo in 1994, which to date has sold over 4000 copies. They didn't do much else (besides a 7" split with Uhuru) until 1997's If the Dead Could Talk LP on Italy's S.O.A. Records (with a cassette version on the Polish label Pop Noise Records). In 2000 they released Blindness on Nikt Nic Nie Wie Records, and were then picked up by Selfmadegod for the album Seeds of Cruelty in 2004. While the band stayed hard at work throughout, they didn't gain much notoriety outside of Poland, let alone Europe. It's a shame many missed out on their early-Sepultura sound, but this newest work could change things for them. The growling main vocals are good, but the witch-y backing vocals add just as much to the music. The album's opener, "Emptiness", is a punky metal meltdown. The drumming on "Manifesto" is like a machine. The keyboards on the mid-paced title track were a nice addition to the pummeling heaviness. Many of these songs could also bring to mind a band like Bolt Thrower or Aborted, but they stand well enough on their own. I hope this album finally gets this band a bit of recognition in the States. They deserve it.

TOXIC NARCOTIC - We're All Dommed CD (Go Kart) This is the first non-self-released album by this Massachusett trio in their 12 year existence, and, in my opinion, is possibly their best album yet. Chock full of... uh, pissed-core? Well, there's already hate-core, but that's more chugga-chugga tough-guy hardcore, with overt homophobia - actually covering very latent homosexuality - while, what I'm here calling, pissed-core, is a blend of old school hardcore, power violence, and crust-punk that is mad - mad at the world, and mad at you for littering, voting for the wrong dudes, bullshit conditions and not drinking enough beer. So wise up fucker, and dig what is being given to you. The music is, as I explained earlier, is a woven blast of punk rock and older hardcore fury the likes of the Nihilistics, Pissed Drunks or even a much, much better Sick Of It All (with way better vocals too). "Asshole", although somewhat similar in chorus to Government Issue's "Asshole", is quite a catchy number. "We're Not Happy, 'Til You're Not Happy" is a killer track full of sing-a-long choruses and boot-stomping riffs. A definite highlight are the lyrics, which are perfect for a mind like my own... "The planet is an organism, humans are a cancer... the virus that Nature is spreading is just her form of self-defense" from "At War with Nature" could not have summed up the way I feel in a nicer package. A thumb's up for the artwork, mostly on the back cover, by Amy Carpenter. And the other thumb is reserved for song titles like, "5 Billion People Must Die". I don't drink much anymore, but the next time I pop this on and "Talk is Poison Idea" comes on, I shall raise my glass to toast those words. Follow your bliss... not to mention the anger, and intelligence, that make up Toxic Narcotic.

TOXIC NARCOTIC / MISERY - s/t CD (Go Kart) There's been a few good split CDs out lately, and here is another thanks to NY's Go Kart. First up is Minneapolis, Minnesota's longest running crust band, Misery, skankin' it up since the late 1980s. "Sane Asylum" was an almost doom-like chugger, with thick buzzsaw guitars. "Deep End" is Misery's highlight on this EP, with it's brooding, eerie tones mixing with a straight ahead thrashy crustcore. If this was 1994, I'd be thinking that the Misery tracks would blow away Toxic Narcotic. It's been a new millennium now for a while and '94 was a decade ago. TN has gotten better with time, while Misery is still good, but it is just that these five Toxic songs are possibly my favorite tracks they've done so far. "Anthem" blasted its way into my ears, while "I Hate You" followed up with a street punk kick to the nuts. "Ever So Slightly" was one huge moshy breakdown of a song. Bill's vocals sound as pissed as ever before. The music is still Toxic Narcotic's usual mix of punk rock, hardcore and old school thrash, but this time going they're playing like cornered rats. Frantic, piss and vinegar stuff. Two bands that have been around longer than you've probably listened to punk... I can understand their anger, though it's good to see both bands are still pissed after all these years. Lastly, if you put this into your computer, you'll get a video of Misery recording "Bottom of the Bottle" mixed with live shots, plus a live video Toxic Narcotic doing "Allston Violence". Those Go Kart folks, always good with the extras.

TRACK A TIGER - We Moved Like Ghosts CD (Deep Elm) I'm kinda surprised I dug this as much as I did, but I did. TAT started as a solo project in Chicago around 2003 from acoustic guitar tracks written by founding member Jim Vallet. A few years into it (2006) Track A Tiger released their first LP, Woke Up Early The Day I Died, on Future Appletree Records. It wasn't until that year that they developed into a full-fledged band. I do admit, I'm not that big on alt-country much, and while it's the biggest atmosphere this record produces, the pop elements of certain tracks really had me. "Light", "All These Accidents", "Not Far From This Anger" and "Summer's End" were highly comparable to The American Analog Set, a band I really like, and Yo La Tengo. Some songs have more of a Low or Belle and Sebastian sound to them, while others bring to mind neo-folk and alt-country stalwart Iron and Wine ("Sometimes Love Runs Out" and "Without Fail"). There's lots of acoustic and slide guitar, soft drumming, lush keyboards and a wonderful trading (as well as melodically sharing) of male and female vocals. This is the record for those that know dynamically spirited and sonically vibrant don't always mean loud guitars. Not to get off track, but this release is another in Deep Elm Record's limited series to promote purchasing straight from the label, as well as downloading albums (legally). We Moved Like Ghosts is limited to only 1000 copies via mail-order, afterwards the tracks will only be available as digital downloads. If you are into atmospheric indie-rock or well-textured slowcore, say 'hello' to a possible new favorite.

TRANSMISSION 0 - Memory of A Dream CD (Go Kart - Europe) This Dutch five piece outfit (featuring ex-members of Reveal and Void) are back from a two year hiatus after their last album, 0 (Zero), gained them a bit of good press. Their first release was in 2004 on - of all labels - the usually punk rock Go-Kart Records, and though this is an import, metal label Candlelight Records is releasing a version for North American audiences so they don't have to pay overseas prices. Either way, I can see why either record presser picked this up, no matter what musical styles the label is known for, as these guys really rip. The newest work by Transmission 0, Memory of A Dream, stays true to form to their debut work, and though still highly melodic they picked up the pace somewhat, and don't go into as much electronic play as in 0, but it's all for the better. Transmission 0's epic song structure is a blending of an ethereal hardcore the likes of Neurosis and Isis, with an industrial metal ala Godflesh or early Pitchshifter, along with savvy shoegazer elements much like Cocteau Twins or My Bloody Valentine. The track "Paracas" is the best example of this as it's very bass heavy, with swirling psychedelic guitar, adding moments of lush keyboards in the vein of Disintegration-era The Cure - not to mention clocking in at a near-ten minutes. The brief "Dream 1" and "Dream 2" both sounded like Transmission 0 took pages straight out of The Pink Opaque or Blue Bell Knoll songbook; dreamy, but it fit the record really well. Much of this is perfect from those that wish Explosions In The Sky had vocals. Epic, but should hold one's interest. Trippy, but seemingly well structured. Man, those green crops must be getting better every year in The Netherlands.

TREPHINE - s/t CD (Public Guilt) From the home of labels like Reptilian Records, and bands Meatjack and Swarm of the Lotus, you should expect great things. So, with high hopes already in place, it's easy to let me down. Trephine did not let me down. With two self-released EPs (1999's Some Soundtracks and Surgical Preparations from 2002) I'm ashamed to say, "I thought I kept my ear to the underground." I guess with so many bands around nowadays it's easy to get lost in a sea of the mediocre. Trephine (or TREPHINE md - so as not to be confused with the defunct Michigan band) play an instrumental math rock - heavy on the rock, ala Pelican or Stinking Lizaveta. When the disc gets to "Metal Detector", I think I repeat that track three times before letting the LP continue. This disc was released on a pretty eclectic label too. After your first Trephine trip, I urge you to check out other releases on Public Guilt (out-of-print Cream Abdul Babar, as well as Still's Remains).

TRIPLE THREAT - Into the Darkness CD (Bridge Nine) Ex members of Jersey's Mouthpiece, Face the Enemy and Hands Tied form an early 80s influenced hardcore band with no borders. Taking elements of the NYC / NJ style (Youth of Today, Judge, Turning Point), and blending early West Coast hardcore (Black Flag, Bl'ast, Circle Jerks), and warping it all with dark lyrics and a matching look... plus, an ominous thirteen tracks, and you get a hodgepodge of hardcore darkness. I knew there was a reason I liked this just a little more than the rest. If you dig what you hear, they also released an EP in 2004 on Livewire Records (A New Chapter). Time to mosh... and goth out.

T.S.O.L. - True Sounds of Liberty; Live From O. C. DVD (Music Video Distributors) This was fun to watch. Although I would have been so much more impressed if anyone found some rare TSOL footage from the early 80s, I still enjoyed it. I've been a fan for sometime, but really hate the fact that they have a new album out, because (as law should state!) a band should be together no longer than 10 years - unless proven otherwise, it should remain so. But times are tough in this money driven world so you have to make a dollar somehow - either way, I'm straying from the topic. The DVD is still in my opinion pretty decent. It was recorded in 1991, and has the original line-up, Jack Grisham in lingrie, and all the goodies from the first EP - of course saying "President Bush can shove it!", rather than Reagan - and even though they're talking about Daddy Bush, it still applies today. Also in the special features section you'll find a few other songs recorded recently, in which you can see a much heavier and better dressed Jack Grisham. I hate to say it, but if you're gonna play the song... play the part - where's your nightie? The make-up? Punk rock mohawks and spiked do's? A good band, a time long past, you can re-live it today.

T. S. O. L. - The Early Years Live DVD (Music Video Distributors) When I first got into punk rock, I was a bigger fan of the West Coast style of hardcore than any other. Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Minutemen, Circle Jerks, Bad Religion and - of course - TSOL. This newest release by the band (check out TSOL: Live From OC also on MVD) is a true gem from better days gone by. Days when hardcore and punk were fun, and dangerous; challenging, and inventive. Not for mall-rats and rednecks, but for outcasts and rejects. Two shows on this disc, a Flipside show and a TargetVideo77 show, both recorded around 1983. While the Target show is way shorter, it's filmed better (camera work and the feel of the show), but the band and the music set for both shows are intense, energetic and ball-out punk rock. All the classics are played too - "Darker My Love", "Superficial Love", "Code Blue" and more. The disc extras are excellent additions, including an interview from 1983, a hilarious live shot of "Abolish Government / Silent Majority" from The Vault 350 taped in 2007 (I'd like to see more of this show), and an audio-only reading by Jack Grisham of a segment of his new book, An American Savage Reformed (can't wait to pick that up).

TURBONEGRO - The ResErection DVD (Music Video Distributors) This one packed DVD. First off, you get a personal, hour-long documentary about Turbonegro's reunion in 2002. The ResErection documentary was filmed for Norway TV and was never before available, and it's pretty nice to see the fellas without make-up and going on about life. You can see they aren't as sophomoric as many would think. Next up is Turbonegro's first live set of the 2002 regroup - ten songs captured live at Norway's Quart Festival. The sound quality is really good, the camera shots are from all angles, the crowd is big and wild, and the boys go off. You get two more live songs ("Rendezvous with Anus" and "Hobbit Motherfuckers") filmed at different locations, as a bonus. There's also a few extras, like Pål Pot baking a pizza at Pamparius Pizza, Happy Tom shootin' the shit and a photo gallery. The accompanying booklet is another thumbs up as well. This is a good month for 'must-have' DVDs for fans of particular bands.

TWELVE TRIBES - s/t CD DEMO (Twelve Tribes) I like releases like this just on the fact that it helps a band on tour, and sometimes at home. An independent record label can put out a release or two, and the independent band usually will get more fame than money - not a bad thing of course when you're trying to simply get by. A band can release a three or four songer - for fans, and to help out their pockets a little. This Ohio outfit, normally on Eulogy Records, bring it all out on this 13 minute mix of prog-rock and hardcore fury. Opening with "Baboon Music", a good number that uses much of the indie-rock Twelve Tribes is so known for throwning in their tunes, but the breakdowns are what make this song stick out well enough. "Luma" comes in next and proves that some in the hardcore scene can actually sing, and not just scream their heads off. Heavily saturated in old school hardcore, with its anthemic song structure, but at times throws in much of the post-hardcore sound made popular by NY bands like Burn. Third and last is "Train Bridge" an almost seven-minute hard-rock and beatdown festival. This song alone is worth the three or four bucks this little disc is available for.

TV PARTY - The Documentary DVD (Music Video Distributors / Brink) This DVD is an excellent documentary. On many levels too. First, as the digital history of an often rumored-about, but never (ever!) seen cable access TV show, which ran in NY city (and later Los Angeles) from '78 until '82. So, on this alone, I would say the TV Party documentary is by far better than others based on television shows, including Disinfo's Out Foxed or Channel Z: A Magnificent Obsession. Second, as a document of the NY music scene of the late 70s and early 80s, including punk, new / no wave, electro and hip hop. Guests included Klaus Nomi, Robert Fripp, Mick Jones, Arto Lindsay, plus graffiti artist Fab 5 Freddy and Deb Harry (of Blondie) were regulars on the set. These guys were light years ahead of Mtv! Lastly, it serves to plainly see with your eyes how many of your rights are being stripped away. We are all artistically, and expressively, regressing - all by force! Aside from current interviews, everything shown is from 1978-82, and all you see and hear are people smoking joints, dropping acid, toking coke, smashing shit up, rambling hardcore against corporations, the government and even landlords... all the while 'shit', 'motherfucker' and 'cunt' are easily, and sometimes abusively, peppered throughout every sentence. Nowadays, people make a huge deal (as well as dollar) where an episode of South Park echoes the word 'shit'. Well, bullshit to that! Here's to the DIY underground ethic. Until we get today's version of TV Party started, watch this documentary!

TV PARTY - Premier Episode: December 18, 1978 DVD (Music Video Distributors / Brink) This is the most rumored about show you've never seen, starring (Andy Warhol's) Interview magazine's Glenn O'Brien, and co-hosted by Blondie guitarist, Chris Stein, all directed by underground film legend Amos Poe. It's fifty-eight minutes of "a cocktail party that could become a political party". After introductions of the show and its philosophy, we have NY musician Gregory Fleeman of GF and the Fleeman Women. Next Glenn interviews one of the first Pop artists (and head of the First National Church of the Exquisite Panic) Robert Delford Brown. It's off to a video link of Debbie Harry and Robert Fripp at some warehouse. Singer Fred Schneiderof The B-52s comes on for a bit, until my favorite part - the phone ins. Calls from shut-ins all around Manhattan, including everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to Stevie the loner. Things are wrapped up with an interview with artist and fashion designer Mary Lou Green. There are a few extras of musician John Lurie blowin' the sax, Walter Steding playing "Skylab", kook DW McDermott stuck in 1925, Mick Jones' (of the Clash) appearance as well as Glenn ranting about his art movement, Sub Realism. Other titles are available in the TV Party series, including the Halloween episode where Fab 5 Freddy comes dressed as a dime bag. Now it's time to hunt down episodes of If I Can't Dance You Can Keep Your Revolution.

TWILIGHT - s/t CD (Southern Lord) The cliché, "Too many cooks spoil the stew," should contain the word 'can'. Sometimes the input of many can be a good thing, as this record is a project of all-star U.S. black metalers. You have Wrest from Leviathan (also known as Lurker in Chalice), Malefic of Xasthur, Hildolf of Draguar, Krieg's Imperial and from Nachtmystium there is Azentrius. The outcome varies from track to track. There are numbers that come off as solid black metal, with blastbeats, buzzsaw guitars and screeching vocals mired thick in an amalgam of white noise ("Woe Is the Contagion", "White Fire Under BlackText"). There are other noteworthy songs like the more electro-based, and sounding somewhat industrial "Winter Before", and the Gothic closer "Beyond Light", being the best collaboration on here (eight minutes of eerie, yet emotional doom). The production, as well as sound varies from track to track enough to where it's almost as if it's listening to a compilation, and I actually like that. This hit the spot too, as I haven't gotten a good black metal album in months.

TYGR! TYGR! / PROJECTILE CESAREAN - s/t CASSETTE (Nerd Party) Don't see many cassettes anymore other than in the noise music scene. I think they're sometimes a little handier, and break less often. Side A give us Tygr! Tygr! are two gents from Virginia who make great hums, drones and feedback intended to simulate the birth, life and death of Sol 1. Side B is Projectile Cesarean which is also two gents (this time from Oklahoma) collaborating on one track - "Clouds Taste Metallica (Detailed Pencil Drawings of Lars Ulrich Playing A Drum Set Comprised of Pizzas and Hamburgers)" - intended as a soundtrack for a horror flick. Though a bigger fan of harsh noise and power electronics, I found this to be the better of the two, but simply due to the creepiness Side B. All in all a good release, but probably limited, and probably gone by now - but still, try your luck.

TYRANNY OF SHAW - Stars In Camouflage CD EP (Goodbye Blue Skies) I've seen his Miami screamo band as a four piece (single singer), five piece (two singers) and then some... and it's always a great experience thanks to their insane drummer. I wondered how they could pull some of that energy off in a recording, but they've done pretty damn good. Four songs in nine minutes (mixed as one track) of maddening start / stop hardcore with a touch of metal influences. From quiet guitar and drum parts to explosive screaming and thrashing, they run the gauntlet back and forth. The riff in "transmission of Immediate Evacuation" had me jumping in my seat, then came the breakdown... woosh. The packaging is nil; as in nothing but a clear jewel case with all the artwork and information on the disc itself, all held closed by a sticker on the outside. Somehow this minimalism entirely works in their favor. It lets the music speak for itself without any added flash and glitz. Can't wait to see them live again.

U. D. O. - Mastorcutor CD EP (A-M-F) Before I looked at the bio I thought this was a band with a name in homage to horror actor Udo Krier, but it's actually the solo project of Udo Dirkschneider. Dirkschneider was at one time the frontman for heavy metal outfit Accept, which originally formed in 1976, so you know he's got the old school cred down. UDO released Animal House in 1988, and throughout its history released another ten or so albums and EPs, even though Accept reformed once or twice, and also released a few new records. To think that this chap is over fifty (born in 1952), yet can still wail with the best of them. His voice is still in top form, with its raspy growl and high pitched singing ala Bruce Dickenson or Ronnie James Dio. The music is powerful power metal with a touch of classic heavy metal and a bit of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and is highly comparable to Saxon, Helloween and Blackie Lawless' W.A.S.P. UDO has also recently released The Wrong Side of Midnight EP, so there's more new material out there for you to check out. Candlelight Records has decided to help fans in North America by releasing this album stateside, in case you're one who doesn't want to pour dollar over dollar on import prices you can track that down. And that's great too, because the value of the $ (US dollar) is at one of its lowest points since the Carter / Reagan years of inflation, which is coincidentally a time this album could mentally bring you back to.

U.K. SUBS - Punk Can Take It DVD (Music Video Distributors / Cleopatra) This is a bizarre little (20 minutes) documentary written and directed by Julien Temple was originally filmed sometime in the late 70s. It was a short film to open for and support another BBC movie project, Scum. It's way fun to watch and interlaced with footage of the U.K. Subs playing live at The Lyceum. The film itself is strange, colorful, funny, somewhat informative and a great little piece of British punk history. Oh, and the smashing of the Johnny Rotten statue was nice. The documentary voice-over (by BBC veteran John Snagge) is choice for sample-raiding. Especially with lines like, "Punks were born with their backs to the wall. Those that can fight, will fight." Plus, "Fashion mongers were encouraged to copy, dilute and sell the utility uniform of punk. What had been a weapon, they tried to make a toy." And, "Within months penguins were pogoing and hippies cut their hair." The extras make for good bonus material too, as you get a photo gallery (1977 through 1980) and a video interview clip of guitarist Nicky Garratt giving you his own "History of the U.K. Subs in 5 East Lessons" with his own posters, flyers and record collection. One of the best parts of it all, this DVD is only ten bucks! Yep, ten bucks. No excuses - if you are a fan of the Subs, or just punk rock - your broke ass can afford this.

UNBROKEN - The Death of True Spirit CD (Indecision) You see why I love October. Something about this month always gets me in good spirits. Every fall my box fills with some of the best items, all of a personal nature. Reestablished contacts with old bands the year before last, lots of friends in good bands sent material in last year, and a bunch of my favorite LPs from the 90s get re-pressed this year. Sweet! This one CD contains two Unbroken LPs, Life. Love. Regret. (a favorite in 1994) and Ritual (I liked this record, but it somehow sounded better the first time around). I would play the L.L.R. record and feel really pissed and realize the music was really affecting me. Once a pal - Little Havana Carlos - almost threw the tape out the window because it worked him up into a frenzy. Ritual is in itself a killer album with almost the same power as L.L.R., but that record came out when I was a lot calmer person. In 1994 I was moving from the East Coast out West and later back again - it was turmoil. The music fit. Every song had a specific meaning for me at that time. It's great to see both LPs re-released together. Over one hour of metallic-edged hardcore that spawned bands like Mourning Again and others. Helmet meets Slayer at a CBGB's Sunday hardcore matinee? Maybe. It's got mosh riffs ("D4"), gang chants ("In the Name of Progression"), heavy guitar solos ("Razor"). The vocals are in a sandpapery screech akin to the tough guy yelling, but more from the throat and higher pitched. Works very well with the philosophical, personal, social and political lyrics. Now, thankfully back in print are two albums from a band that preceded the whole metalcore tag, and even at times the rush to sound like Neurosis (listen to"Curtain" off Life. Love. Regret.).

UMIN - Uncivil CD-R DEMO (Umin) I thought their last demo was pretty good, but a good recording would have made it even better. This time, they got a decent - or at least better - recording and that makes it thrash a bit more than the first time around. The humor doesn't come across well this time, as there are no lyrics, so I can only chuckle at some of the titles ("Amputate Your Face", "Friendly Neighborhood Bomber", "Ugly Men Into Narcotics", etc). Only a few of their earlier songs are re-recorded here ("666hp", "Heinous Offense", "Media Whore"), but out of 22 tracks, 90% is new material. They still bring to mind power-violence bands like Spazz (especially due to the dual high pitch/deep growl vocals) and Drodead. Now, with songs like "Starvation Diet" - which is a '77 sounding number (with brief singalong chorus as well) meets death metal-grindcore - you don't get that simple early-90s sound. It's not all: intro, fast past - screams, slow part - growls, fast part - screams, end. They even throw in a little horror rock into their grind (the earlier mentioned "Amputate Your Face"). "Nerve Agent" breaks up the record with it's industrial static and looped laugh tracks, and it's off again to the fury of blasting rhythms and blast beats. "Lottery Tarded" alone makes me think this band would be a blast to see live. Still wish I had the lyrics.

UNICORN - Playing with Light CD (Housepig) Unicorn is actually WT Nelson of noise outfit Bastard Noise (and the band Sleestak). He has released twice under the Unicorn moniker (a split with BN and another with 2673), but this is his first LP (as well as Minneapolis' Housepig's first release). Way more tame than I expected, but it captured my interests. A lot of hums, drones, loops and samples - minimalism with outstretched notes and a big scoop of eerie. Much of this reminds me of Coil in their Hellraiser era. "Playing with Light", "Clay and Fire" and "The Sea" have actually appeared in films by California artist and filmmaker Stephanie Miller. And lo! These three films are contained in a CD-ROM portion of this release. Thanks Housepig, as it brings the samples from the song "Clay and Fire" into better context once you see the film, which covered pottery and the use of clay.

UNPERSONS - III CD (At A Loss) From the foggy marshes of Savannah, Georgia comes an amazing crash of hardcore and metal that serves speed, thrash and grind with breakdowns, crunch and stomp. Every now and again you throw in a little head-bobbin' rock-n-roll to weirden things out. Some head-punishing time structures. A bit of witty song writing. Even a guitar solo or two. I'm just sad it only beat me up for about a half hour. I'm no masochist, but this beating was good. Some songs are well lengthy ("...of Silence"), others are short ("Ligature, I'm Stolen"), but sweet. The record is somewhat operatic. The songs blend together, and none is any better than the next, but that's because III has to be heard in its entirety to be truly appreciated. "Blank in the Dead Light" is itself one track as a three piece grindcore suite. How to describe this release best? What if Kyuss kicked Rorschach in the balls? Hmmm. No, the vocals would be too high. Cult of Luna buggering Rush? Not violent enough. Kind of like Racebannon without the funk (and silliness, but still keeping a decent sense of humor), and much more speed metal. Yeah, that's pretty close, but still has to be heard for ones' self to enjoy the bruises.

UNPERSONS - IV: Self Portrait CD EP (Life Is Abuse) No, it's no I.V., but the Roman numeral four - as in 'fourth release' - and this time these sick Savannah, Georgian's put you through one hell of a fifteen minute track of pure dirge metal and hardcore mayhem. A review for a single song would be too short to do this justice, so I'll try to break it down for you. Opening up with a sound to the likes of Rorschach violating Kyuss, and hitting a prog session at about the three minute mark. Pushing out a Mastodon-like jam at about five, they suddenly slow things down to a spacey crawl, only to come back with a Racebannon-ish head stomp. At ten and a half minutes they speed things up, and then blow through some power rock with screeching vocals and back again. The last few minutes kick off with a moshy breakdown that would make pits go nuts, quieting into a lugubrious ending. The guitar sound they captured this time around is great, possibly due to the help of Phillip of Kylesa at the boards. The layout is nicely done. Two, four panel unstapled and separate inserts with nefarious artwork (by VA), painful lyrics and done in a dark brown color sure to bring on bouts of depression.

UPON INFLICTION - To Escape Is To Suffer CD (Crash Music) More south Florida metal madness, and I dig it! Technical death metal from members of Divine Empire and Broward gods Malevolent Creation, similar in style to Death or MC. One thing I really like is how Mygrant's vocals are in the low, burpy death metal growl, but you can clearly make out what he's peddling to your ears. Another is how the ten tracks are split half and half, 50% written by drummer Rios and the other 50 by guitarist Ringler, then placed one after the other. You can tell when like-minds meet, as the songs flow well and I wouldn't have known if I didn't look at the liner notes. Glad to see there's still good death metal with a technical edge coming out of south Florida.

UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A START - Worst Band Name Ever CD (Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start) I'm not surprised that this band is putting out material on their own. Their name (no matter how bad some may think it is) is well-known enough for them to try to cash in on it, over letting a label take advantage of them. UUDDLRLRBAS (whose name comes from the Konami Code for game system controllers) are five chaps from New Jersey that already have an album (And Nothing Is #1 on Ohev Records), two EPs (the CD Perris, CA on Limekiln Records, and the 5 Songs 7" which was pressed by several different labels at different times), two download-only releases (The Internet EP and Girls Names), as well as countless tours under their belt. Their newest work after a four-year hiatus, Worst Band Name Ever, continues in their poppy soft punk sound, where guitars mix with mellow, acoustic guitars. They have toned it down a bit, though there's always an edge of explosion near, but it stays calm throughout (until the final track, "Boise"). The vocals are in Poponi's usual, almost-spoken melody, where each song will tell you a story of love and geekdom. If you're unfamiliar with them and are a fan of bands like Low, Pedro the Lion or Mineral, you might find yourself rather pleased to pick this up. This newest work is also an enhanced CD which contains the music video for "I'll Thank You Later", a mix of eighteen tracks by independent bands they think are worthy of your attention and even guitar tabs to all the songs on this album. A good jam-packed release from a band that packs a good jam. If you're up for this, try to pick it up directly from them, just so they can make that little extra.

URNA - Sepulcrum MMVI CD (Aeternitas Tenebrarum) The Urna project is a collaboration between Italians Locus Mortis and MZ e RM. Much of this release is quiet, but still very threatening. Plodding and gloomy, though bombastic and sonically tumultuous. A bit of this reminded me of Minnesota's Celestial (on Bindrune Records), while holding its own in the development of a new genre. Downtuned guitars and guttural growls that I'm sure are invoking Satan or some Euro-pagan deities, contrasted with moments of ambient keyboards ala The Orb. Nine tracks of electro-doom and funeral dirge clocking in at over an hour. All the songs are originals, except for the closing number which is a Beherit cover. Nice to see someone take the old school of doom and black metal, and take 'em to class.

USURPER - Cryptobeast CD (Earache) Man this is going to be a short review... it's fuckin' Usurper, dudes. Okay, let's get into it. Usurper formed in 1992 in Chicago by previous vocalist Diabolical Slaughter when once-heroes-to-us-all Celtic Frost were busy doing that "cherry, cherry" shit. They decided to pick up the torch, but when Warrior realized his mistakes and wised up, Usurper had gained a mass following in that genre of metal. Visions of the Gods was released as a demo first in 1994, and got them noticed enough to follow that up with their first album Diabolisis (on Head Not Found Records), then the Threshold of the Usurper EP, Usurper II: Skeletal Season and Necronemesis LPs (all three on Necropolis Records) came next. Earache has gotten another old dog still in its prime, as this record is no let up - even with a new vocalist. Thrashing left to right, forwards, back, up and down... I'm hurtin'. A definite for fans of other Usurper stuff, old Celtic Frost or Bolt Thrower's material. Good shit to put a crushing end to a weird year.

V:28 - SoulSavior... Providing A Brighter Future CD (Vendlus) Those Laplanders, they truly know what to do with metal. This is the second album in a three-part series (part one was the CD NonAnthropogenic, also on Vendlus) where we get great black metal, but with a few twists. Some elements of doom, metalcore and pretty heavy-handed on the electronics (which is one of the reasons this sticks out to me so much). Behind the punishing riffs are ethereal keyboards. When breakdowns kick in, believe it or not, so do harmonious synths. "Infected by Life" can be played at a black metal show, and a rave. Lina Doll of Deutsch Nepal, Peter Andersson of Raison D'etre, Red Harvets's LRZ, Lars Pedersen of When and others contribute to the electroclash that wonderfully scrapes the hull of this Noric vessel. Damn, I'm already looking forward to Part Three.

VERBAL ASSAULT - Volume One: The Masses and Learn CD (Mendit) I'm big on collecting old demos, and I had never heard VA's first offering (The Masses) - which was recorded live at WRIU in 1985 - so that alone gets a thumbs up. The sound on this is actually better than most demos I hear nowadays, which I find funny as all. The songs are punk-fucking-rock, with a big touch of early 80s hardcore. Now, the Learn EP was an old favorite back in the late 80s, and always reminded me of bands like 7 Seconds and Minor Threat. Fast paced, melodic hardcore (NOT emo - though an early road there). The vocals are similar to both Kevin Seconds and Fugazi's Ian MacKaye (who happened to produced this record, and did backing vocals too), in that scream/sing interchange that was so powerful in early hardcore. When the brief guitar solo comes on in "Gray", I sigh... Yeah, I'm thinking about those "old days". And, no, those days weren't any better than today, but bands seem to have had much more integrity. While your Blink 182s, Good Charlottes and Simple Plans keep sucking off the teats of the pop-punk cash-cow, bands like Verbal Assault are left un-credited, though paving the way for many of these Mtv darlings. The last song is off the Another Shot for Bracken compilation, so more output I had not heard. The packaging is just great - thick with old photos, current liner notes, original liner notes, flyers and lyrics. Holy shit! Is that a picture of Pooch (a bouncer from The Cameo Theater in the mid-80s) in the insert? I think it is. An extremely good start to re-introduce Verbal Assault to many who need to be taught a history lesson or two - but I'm really looking forward to Volume 2... especially the Giant Records stuff. That's when I really became hooked on VA. I want to hear it all now, but out of fear of scratching them, I dare not play my vinyl copies. Hurry Mendit, hurry!

VERDUNKELN - Einblick in Den Qualenfall CD (Ván) Hailing from Germany, Verdunkeln is a duo (Gnarl and Ratatyske, both ex-members of Graupel), and they play a sulky black metal with neo-folk leanings. They began in 1998, but didn't record their first demo (eight songs, all unreleased) until 2004. In 2005 they finally unleashed a self-titled debut LP, and are now tracking the blood dripping from the wounds that record left, to pulverize you with another beating. Yes, there will be many a likeness to Burzum throughout, though it's no exact clone. They borrow, but make it their own well enough. The recording is a lo-tech, muddled mix that black metal is usually known for, and they skip much of the blast beats for slower doom-inspired riffs, while at times delving into psychedelic or shoegazer material. The vocalist sings in German, and though I know the lyrics are probably pretty dark, there is no translation in the liner notes for the lyrics provided for me to be sure. I actually don't mind that, as I'm pretty sad that English is becoming the world's most used language, as well as most used in music. Phasen sehnen sich der widerstand! Hope I wrote that correctly.

VIAL - Cadavres Sonique CD w/ magazine (Vial / A-M-F) Three tracks as one continuous work of original constructed sounds and samples, made from donated material, later "decomposed and deconstructed" by the Vial 'crew' (Patricia Cram and Louis Fleischauer). A nice work of ambient structures and tones. Very quiet for the most part. I could play this over and over as I write articles or have to concentrate on words. I notice that when I play music like this I use spell check less frequently. Some of the contributors of tracks for "decomposition" are Angelrape, Gydja, The Haters, myself (Adel 156 appearing as Martini Kulture), Psychonaut 75, The Rectrix, Sub Noctem, Vermiform, Willow Veil and over 10 others. 50 minutes in total, and nowhere did I reach for the skip or stop button. The magazine that comes - or vice-versa - with this release is a collection of articles, interviews (with editor of Morbid Curiosity magazine Loren Rhoads, and underground photographer Charles Gatewood are two good ones) and stories of dark dreams and un-deciphered nightmares. It makes for interesting, and most often, poetic reading. The 'zine is similar to an old favorite, Minotaur, or for those who tastes are slighly just 'under the radar', imagine a darker, better, yet not as slick version of Propaganda magazine. Also, I learned a little about the word 'cunt'.

VICTIM OF MODERN AGE - Channels Like Capillaries CD (Universal Warning) From Louisiana - by way of Pennsylvania's UW Records - comes a 40 minute album of intelligent and explosive indie rock. The entire record is packed with moments of quiet, lullful guitar, ripped in half by a post-hardcore drive and crunch. As if Antioch Arrow focused more ("The Kamikaze") - playing their instruments over smashing them. Or if Regatta DeBlanc-era The Police found hardcore much more interesting than ska ("Anthro-Apology"). Either way, you'd have to imagine it with more urgent, powerful vocals. The second, and title track is all rock-n-roll power chord verses blending into a bass driven emotional chorus, only to repeat the verse - each time more threatening than the last. I hear sounds from 80s alternative acts like The Essence and APB to DC emocore and it's later, Fugazi-influenced schools and even hints of classic jazz. For the musically uninitiated (or Alternative Press readers) mash up the vocal delivery and musical tunings of Quicksand, with the blending of emotion and heavy guitars of Thursday with At the Drive-In attitude and time signatures and your imagination gets you close. And please stop reading AP.

VINTERRIKET - Der Letzte Winter CD (Flood the Earth) Not being familiar with Vinterriket's sound beyond the two split 7"es with Northaunt, I expected this LP to be all ambient. This is Vinterriket's newest album, and I was pleasantly surprised that Vinterriket (who is actually a one man band) plays a mix of keyboard and synth-ladened ambient, which sometimes explodes into black metal, rather than the other way around. One of the things I liked most was that while the black metal rages on the ambient and soundscapes don't stop. In fact, they sometimes get louder, making the black metal an almost noisy wash of pink sound (that's static, not a gay term silly) in the background. Some of it brings to mind the Skinny Puppy single "Tin Omen". I think Norway's Vinterriket is showing some of the more interestingly mellow, yet still terribly dark sounding aspects or paths black metal can take. I'm telling ya, that aurora borealis and the whole six months of night can really do a number on the mind. Good thing it can flow out musically, over criminally - not that I give a crap about burned churches or corpse-paint-faced murders and suicides.

VINTERRIKET / NORTHAUNT - s/t CD (Flood the Earth) This CD is a repressing of two 7" vinyl splits between Vinterriket and Northaunt (who each contributed one track, each time), as well as an unreleased Vinterriket track from the Landschaften sessions. Both bands are Norwegian ambient / atmospheric acts which produce haunting soundscapes that bring to mind cold, barren winters and long dark nights. Northaunt's sound is based more on sound textures that actually make me envision landscapes, while Vinterriket at times almost travel into the Darkwave, or even the Apocalyptic Folk genre. I like both bands and all the tracks, but I guess Northaunt's minimalism somehow offered me more in the cerebral department - their music let me envision more... and I am a dreamer.

VMW - s/t CD (Coalition) First off, cheers for opening up with a sample off Age of Quarrel. Now, on to the review: Coalition, you have released my favorite record of the last three months! If you are big on the new fad of dance-punk this will hit you on the side of the head like a bottle. The sound made by the shards of smashing glass will be their keyboard samples. The drips of your blood, their beat. You are not prepared for the gritty guitar riffs, Casio nightmare and disco bass pulses that I'm sure is spun in the darkest of S&M clubs. Every song had me dancing, yet ready to fist someone in front of piles of white crank and black candles. If William Friedkin heard VMW he might of thought twice about using Germs tracks in Cruising. 80s synth pop, a hardcore beat dance-a-thon, and Bad Brains samples... I couldn't ask for more. Yes, I can. When's the new LP due? Vinyl-hounds, those sweethearts at Coalition pressed 1500 on colored wax. First cum, first served.

VOCIFERIAN - Universal Hate Decades Ultimatum CD EP (Infernus Rex) On their third release, France's Vociferian (which is actually one dark gent, Lord Genocide playing all instruments) lends one hell of a record for Holland's Infernus Rex Records as a debut into the record business, as it's my favorite black metal record of the past few months. Pretty old school sound: gritty in parts, clean in others, with dark, ripping riffs, yet holding hauntingly melodic overtones. Sometimes blasting, sometimes crawling. The vocals are in a lower (read: burpy) growl, and though I prefer the screeching for my blackest of metal, they don't take from what Lord Genocide has written musically. Admittedly, I would like to hear more vocal range. "Esse Dyabboli et Infecta et Inficienia Animas" is my standout track with its funeral dirge along with Gregorian chants on into blast beats and buzzsaw guitars. I've noticed that the one-man black metal band usually does a fair job in the electronics department too, as this release ends in the title track - a noise laden groove the likes of Autechre. This is a must for the corpse paint crowd.

VORKUTA - Into the Chasms of Lunacy CD EP (Paragon) Hailing from Pannonia, the European land of the Huns, currently known as Hungary, Vorkuta is a four-piece, which started in 2002. Originally calling themselves Fjord and self-releasing the demo Apocalypse, they were unpleased with the results and decided to start anew. Along with the name change came the self-pressed 2003 demo Where Only Darkness Dwells. That finally got them the notice of several labels, and they put out a slew of material appearing on split releases with Verdeleth in '04, Osiron and later Hell in '05. Those splits lead to more collaborations and split releases with Morbid Audial Plaguestorm and Helldrinkerz II in 2006, as well as appearing on the Bathory tribute record put out by Black Goat Records. On their debut EP they combine the traditional black metal structures of Darkthrone and Bathory, with (and this might throw a few black metal fans for a loop) a lush, textured and sometimes dreamy guitar work that many shoegazer acts use, as well as Disintegration-era Cure. For example: track five ("Vorkuta") opens up like a Cocteau Twins song, only to kick in to Burzum-esque metal then onto a Converge-like screamo dirge and back to lush guitar works. Still true to the black metal sound, yet going a bit beyond it. There's tons to come from this busy Hungarian camp, as they are planing more split works with Abigail, Marblebog, Kratornas and Inferno.

WAIT IN VAIN - s/t CD EP (Wait In Vain) Right off the start of the opening track ("Passions Just Like Mine"), the first guitar lick had me hooked, but I crossed my fingers, repeating, "Please don't let the vocals suck, please don't let the vocals suck." And suck they do not! I have one complaint... four songs - eleven minutes? I only write that because this thing has me jumping up and down in my chair. My foot won't stop tapping. I'm surprised the words I'm typing are coming out as well, and as coherent as they are, cuz I be bounce manicly like fool in seat front of here computer. This Seattle, WA super-group has members of some of the best bands (past and present) in the Pacific N.W. hardcore scene, including Trial (an old fave), Champion, Love Is Red, and Set Your Goals. Much of the music brings to mind very late 80s and very early 90s hardcore, when only a touch of metal crunch began pushing its way into hardcore. A little Burn sound here, a bit of early Cro-Mags there. Luckily, the lyrics deal with better topics than back in the days of the 'you stabbed me in the back' crap every band churned out, as singer McIntosh tackles religion, animal rights and the need to stand up and take action in a world that's crumbling around us all. Damn, the drum pace on this is frantic too, helping to establish that urgency. Set mostly at a blinding pace that makes me want to get up and dance, point my fingers in the air and dive into a crowd somewhere. Except for the fact that I want more - so much more - there is absolutely no let down from these tracks. Begin the hunt for this now.

WEEDEATER - God Luck and Good Speed CD (Southern Lord) This is probably the best band within 200 miles of where I live. I have enjoyed (and praised in review) the works of Weedeater for some time, and this LP is no different. Well, it's a little different, but all for the better. Forming in Cape Fear, North Carolina sometime in the mid-1990's, by the ex-frontman / bassist of Buzzov-en, Dixie Dave Collins, this trio has raged on with some massively heavy, southern-fried stoner metal since. In late 2001 Berserker Records released the band's swamp doom debut ....And Justice For Y'all, and Crucial Blast Records followed that up in 2003 with the Sixteen Tons album. Steve 'Big Black' Albini is behind the board to fuzz out a wall of guitar and distort all else to just the right level of ear-crushing insanity (except for one track which is an acoustic banjo number, and was produced by Corrosion of Conformity's Mike Dean). What I meant a little earlier by 'a bit different' is that one of the highlights here is that Weedeater doesn't repeat themselves on this disc. The music is, like earlier releases, solidly punishing sludgecore, while still keeping a fresh sound. Another highlight is the sarcastic wit behind the lyrics, with lines such as 'Mankind is unkind, man,' and 'I've done had my fun, now gimme back my bullets.' Also, the guitar sounds like it should on a doom record: heavy and assaulting the listener, but when the solos crack out, it's a mighty sweet sound. God Luck and Good Speed is a must for fans of Iron Monkey, Bongzilla, Eyehategod, and Buzzov-en, but also for more intricate dirge metal maniacs into Melvins, Sleep, Electric Wizard, and Church of Misery.

WEEN - Shinola Vol. 1 CD (Chocodog) If you are unfamiliar with this duo from Pennsylvania, PA, you must have never tuned into any college radio station for more than an hour. Anyhow, many unreleased Ween tracks had been pirated in some form or another - whether stolen from the studio, or bootlegged live renditions - mostly they appeared on the internet. Ween decided to self-release all of them, in clean sounding, topnotch studio versions - and here is Volume One. Some times tunes come off as silly ("Taste Good on th' Bun", "Transitions"). Ween silly? Nah! Though, silly does work for them well ("Big Fat Fuck"). Other times they write true indie-pop gems ("Boys Club"), or alterno-rock should-be charters, like the Weezer-esque "Gabrielle" (though proto-nerd Rivers' got no solo like that), or "How High Can You Fly". Many are claiming that this isn't a good place to begin if you want to school yourself on the Ween sound, but I disagree. It a very good compilation that showcases the absurdist-indierock and abstract-pop world that is Gene and Dean, true Dadaist rockstars.

WENDY O. WILLIAMS AND THE PLASMATICS - Ten Years of Revolutionary Rock 'N' Roll DVD (Music Video Distributors) If you need explanation of who this is, you're not only unschooled in punk / metal history, but you're also in luck, as this disc is a fast-paced, 119 minute history lesson. The Plasmatics, who for many years were the most popular, yet unsigned, band in NYC, began as an idea by manager (though nonmember) Rod Swenson, but took off as a musical phenomenon. The Plasmatics mixed punk and heavy metal when the two camps despised one another. The Dominatrix of the Decibels, Wendy O. Williams was the fronting member of the band, the only solid member of an ever revolving roster, a very intelligent interviewee, and was probably the first Riot Grrrl. Throughout the years, members (mainly Wendy) were arrested for obscenity, beaten unmercifully by cops, had almost a third of all shows banned or canceled, but also received tons of press, fans and infamy. Aside from the great two hour doc, which covers every nook and cranny on Williams and the band, you get another hour's worth of songs - both from live performances ("Butcher Boy" in NYC from 1980, "Sex Junkie" in '81, "Master Plan" from ''81 in California) and music videos (my all-time favorite video from my youth, 1982's "The Damned", and "Reform School Girls" from '86). Twelve full clips in all. An interesting side note is that during the documentary, small windows will open asking if you'd like to play the track they're talking about at that moment. When you click 'okay' or 'play' the track begins, and afterwards the documentary will continue where it left off. Now that's interactive! As an additional extra there are interview clips answering some wild questions about chain-sawing guitars, exploding cars and pissing in bottles. Sadly, WOW's not around to see this wonderful piece on her musical work, as in April of 1998 she walked into the woods one evening, and at 48 years old, ended her life way too soon with a bullet. This isn't just a documentary... it's a remembrance of way better times. Rightly so, many still miss this wild woman.

WESLEY WILLIS - The Daddy of Rock "N' Roll DVD (Music Video Distributors) Many have heard of Wesley Willis, but for so long - unless you had seen him live, in-person and bought a CD off him - you had only heard about him, but never actually heard him. A short while ago Alternative Tentacles released his best of CDs, and now MVD shows you the "behind the scenes" look at the demons in one man's head. I think their names are Nervewrecker, Heartbreaker and Meansucker. Well, I haven't been this entertained by my DVD player in quite some time. Where do I begin. Is The Daddy of Rock 'N' Roll a great watch because it's kinda fun to sneak a peak into a 300 pound, rappin' and rocking schizophrenic's life? Or is it because it's the greatest music documentary since Hated in the Nation (also carried by MVD)? The camera follows Willis around Chicago as he hangs out with friends, meeting "fans", going to the zoo, creating art and recording music (he's really much better at art than music). Watch as he's welcomed as a regular to Kinkos as he sits at their computers to belt out some fresh lyrics, "Suck my donkey dick. Elephant dick. Rhinoceros dick. So many dicks." Be hypnotized by the growing bruise on his forehead from the many headbumps. "Say Ra. Say Raw. Ra -n- Raw." Ah, you gotta love the guy... until his medication wears off and the demos are set free to lyrically trash his newest unloved cartoon superheroes. DVD extras include a brief talk with Big Black's Steve Albini and a live set by Wesley Willis and his back-up punk rock band, The Wesley Willis Fiasco. Too sweet.

WETNURSE - s/t CD (Wetnurse) Drove 300 miles to see Conflict and check out a matinee by Dove and Swarm of the Lotus, to find New York's Wetnurse was on the bill, but missing their set as I walk in during the last seconds of their last song. I had just received the CD in my box and was checking it out on the ride up, and it's a damn shame I missed 'em. Imagine if Kiss It Goodbye were in a no-holds-barred match with Voivod, using broken instruments as weapons and lashing out bluesy, stoner-inspired solos throughout. The drums are in an early 90's death metal style, where they almost sound as if it were a machine and not human. The vocals are a schizophrenic mass of barks, growls, screams, screeches and chick-getting-kicked-in-the-stomach shrieks that are off the map. "Silent as Decrepit" kicked this open pretty harshly. I see stomps, flip kicks and windmills in the pit. Burnt By the Sun's Mike Olender gives up a little of his growls on "Idolized in Pink". "Curse or Blessing" comes in with a jazz-funk slam and on into grindcore madness. "Urgently Missing Something" closes this out with a mix of new-ish metalcore and doomy breaks. Damn, I'm still wishing I had made it to the Orpheum a half hour earlier.

WHEN WE FALL - A Cry In Despair CD EP (Panic) If this label isn't making a name for itself in the hardcore scene, the straightedge movement needs to come back a hundred-fold, cuz the kids must be all hopped upon the goofy stuff. This EP is a fifteen minute explosion of angry, fast-paced hardcore mixed with melancholy breaks that throw in a touch of melody. Hey, I wrote 'melody', and I meant melody... not to be mistaken for emo. When We Fall usually keeps the pace at over 300 beats-per-minute, but every so often, moments of indie-rock flood the music, and add to the upcoming beat down your ears are going to receive."No Retreat - No Surrender" kicks things off with a boom. I got serious goosebumps from from the riffs in "Fractions of Distress" alone. The vocals are raspy screaming ala From Autumn to Ashes without all the whinny shit, but with lots of gang-chants and parts where you know people are fighting to get to the mic. These gents know what they're doing as most of them have had at least a decade of experience in playing in the scene, as this Swedish quintet began the pummeling of European hardcore only after the demise of skate-punk outfit Bowser, which had been around since '96. Absorbing members of other local acts, Noir and The Whole Nine Yards, they were finally ready to make crowds go nuts in late 2003 and haven't stopped since. Panic Records is also releasing a full LP later this year from these guys, so you don't have to feel this is some kind of tease.

WILDILDLIFE - Six CD (Crucial Blast) This California three piece was picked up by Crucial Blast Records on the downloading of just a few mp3 tracks posted online, so those that spend every minute trying to promote your band via MySpace (and the like) fear not... there is hope. Anyhow, they became a dominant listen staple at the Crucial Blast headquarters, and the rest is musical, as they say, history. At times, Wildildlife kicks around in a psych-haze, other moments contain an Am-Rep noisecore sludge. There are parts where the riffs crawl at a snails pace in a wall of riffage and amp worship, while others swirl in a possibly drug-fueled ascension to light and decent into darkness - all at the same time. The opening track is part Butthole Surfers, part Pixies, while the drums and singing are very tribal. "Magic Jordan" was half psychedelic folk-revival, half twisted doom menace. Though only six tracks the album clocks in at way over an hour, so you know it's packed in epic space rock and fuzzed out jams (hey, they thank weed and alcohol in the [very little] liner notes, so expect it). A nice addition to Blast's already amazing label roster. Check it out, and I'm sure you'll make the CD a part of your collection's roster.

WITHIN Y - Extended Mental Dimensions CD (Candlelight) I had no clue who Within Y was. I keep my ear to the metal scene, but I don't eavesdrop, so I threw this in the 'maybe review' pile. When I got to listening to this to 'give it it chance' I read the bio: Thim Blom of Gardenian (Nuclear Blast Records)? Good start. Right when this was sinking in, the disc was in the middle of track one ("Lost in Solitude") and I was hooked. I dissed the rest of the stack and sat back and listened to the whole thing. Since then, this CD has been with me for days. The double bass drums sound killer coming out of twelves in a trunk, let me tell you - and it scares the shit out of the local thugs. It is melodic death metal, but it contains equal parts death metal, NWOBHM and hardcore. Many will say this is similar to In Flames, though I think it sounds like a better Darkest Hour. Mostly because the vocals are vicious in the sense that they are shouted, over growled (or sung) which adds more urgency to the music. The classically-inspired outro to "Injection" didn't fit the record, but "Face Down" kicks in so amazingly, you immediately forget about it. All ten tracks are very well written mosh masterpieces. The drumming is incredible and the solos are top notch. The albums' closer ("Sacred Lies") ends the disc in a barrage of riffs, hooks and chanting choruses that will have kids running to scream along into the mic. A sight not often seen at death metal shows.

WOJCZECH - Sedimente CD (Self Made God) I'm so out of touch in some of my favorite genres. I've never heard of Wojczech, but seriously, you probably haven't either. Listen up, and get schooled. Germany's Wojczech are a power violence-inspired grind act that have been shredding through the streets of Europe (not to mention South America and Asia) since 1995. With over ten releases, and sharing over five split 7"and LP releases with the likes of Sarcasm, Parental Advisory and Instinct of Survival, it took a decade to get this thrashing act an album on CD with decent worldwide distro. Well, better late than never. This new disc is twelve little numbers that range from grinding insanity backed by screechy, sandpaper vocals, to groove-fills stomps with a growl-and-bark vocal style. Not far off of Spazz, Infest or even Tampa, Florida's Assück, maybe even a punkier Pig Destroyer, or a death metal-ish His Hero Is Gone. It's 'bout time I got to learning some new bands in this school of speed.

WOLVES - simulation.transparency.representation CD EP (Coalition) I have heard of Wolves for months now, but I have not seen anything by them around. And I never download music off the web. 56k - damn my connection! Either way, this little ditty shows up in my box, and I was really anxious to hear it. The best description I can come up with would be if Universal Order of Armageddon liked to rock out more, while at other times making even more noise than usual, or if Drive Like Jehu liked hardcore a little more. Track 2 "15" had me bouncing in my seat. The last track, "13", was noisy, all over the place and I loved it. It's over seven minutes and the entire lyrics are, "This is a letter to the cops. Here's a hint: You'll never catch us." Genius? Hmmmm? I'll wait till the full length to finally decide that. The songs are titled "14", "15", "12" and "13" and the cover is so wonderfully confusing that sometimes I had no idea what's what. Maybe I smoke entirely too much pot. Note to vinylheads; Coalition also has a 10" version. Four songs, twenty minutes, the play button is hit again - and again - and again.

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM - Diadem of 12 Stars CD (Vendlus) This three-piece black metal band from Olympia, Washington knows how to teach an old scene new licks. Their first album, Diadem of 12 Stars, is three epic tracks (one in two acts at fourteen minutes each) - part Explosions in the Sky part Emperor. An hour's worth of black metal morphing from classic Gothic black metal to neo-folk and into progcore, doom and more in a Neurosis meets Ulver and Ludicra in a dark-cave-for-bloody-rituals vein. From quiet lulls to crushing metal, they trans from genre to genre without a glitch. The main vocals are in a high-pitched wail that often makes me think it's a woman screaming, while other times there actually is a woman singing, backing the vocalist up, and it helps solidify some animus archetype. The doomier parts switch off to a lower growl, but they do trade off throughout the disc. This album is a must for the hardcore-heads who think Isis, or even newer Neurosis, has gotten boring. I think this may actually come to be a classic in the black metal genre.

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM - Two Hunters CD EP (Southern Lord) Wolves In The Throne Room is a black metal three-piece from Olympia, WA and they can educate many folks in the BM scene that you don't always have to be neck-breakingly fast and constantly screeching to be dark, brutal and menacing. Their first album, Diadem of 12 Stars (on Vendlus Records), was an hour-long, three-song epic record, and this newest work clocks in four songs at over forty minutes. Part Explosions in the Sky / part Emperor - equally mixing Neurosis with Burzum. Shoegazer-ish black metal morphing from classic Gothic black metal to neo-folk and into progcore, doom and more in an Isis meeting up with Ulver and beating up Mayhem in a ritualistic musical bloodsport. From powerfully crushing metal to quiet swirling lulls, they transition from genre to genre without a hitch. The main vocals are in a witchy screech, while other times there actually is a woman singing, backing up the vocalist. This new CD is a must for the prog-monsters who think Neurosis, or even newer Isis, has gotten a little dull. And, if you haven't done so, you should definitely pick up their debut as well. What the hell, just listen here and I'm sure you will soon enough.

WRNLRD - Cperadt CD (Small Sacrifice) This is the fourth CD release for Wrnlrd (Mask of Hate, Mldthr and In From the Night Herd - all previously being self released) and the first release for Small Sacrifice. Wrnlrd also shared a split 3" disc with Buer titled Avulsion (a limited to 50 disc of a live performance). Wrnlrd is a black metal / noise project by one unnamed soul from Arlington, Virginia, and with his previous EP (In From the Night Herd) I thought this would be a little lighter listening, but Wrnlrd has returned to the band's original roots. Both Mask of Hate and Mldthr were intense mixes of improvised programed drums, speed picking guitar, and tortured vocals buried in a cemetery of feedback, drones and more feedback, while In From the Night Herd was closer in the lines of ambient music and sonic landscapes than the first two. With the newest release Wrnlrd has taken what he's known for best and pulled it together to present his best work yet. Punishing, insanely fast-paced, loudly distorted guitars and vocals, with moments of electronic fuzz and calm. Twelve tracks of improvised grinding black metal (and thirteenth track - possibly a cover song, but I'm not familiar with it) played in a very unique, as well as threatening way.