“Hair I Go Again” is the story of director Steve McClure and longtime friend Kyle Kruger’s journey to reunite their 25-years defunct, eighties hair metal band Tryxx in hopes to achieve commercial success today. The now middle-aged Steve and Kyle have already done the unthinkable and quit their day jobs in order to pursue the possibility of finally making their rock star dreams come true, but is it too late? Continue reading
Doom three-piece Black Lung have returned with their new record, Ancients, via Ripple Music. Formed in Baltimore during the winter of 2014 by Adam Bufano and Elias Schutzman (founding members of The Flying Eyes) with multi-instrumentalist Dave Cavalier (Snakefeast). Creating a loud, effects-driven sound, they used their doom influences with touches of palatable melody. After the release of their self-titled album, they were named Best New Band by the Baltimore City Paper in 2015. In that same year, they went across the pond to Europe, playing Rockpalast Crossroads Festival (which was broadcast on German television), Freak Valley, and Desertfest Belgium. This is where they shared the stage with doomsters Graveyard, Dead Meadow, and All Them Witches. In 2016, they came back with a second full-release, See The Enemy, an album that put them on the map as a rising band. Now with more songs written, they went into the studio with Frank “The Punisher” Marchand (The Obsessed, Borracho) and came out with a sharper tuned-up sound.
Right off the bat, I am glad that they did not use distorted vocals on this album. Although I do enjoy distorted reverb vocals from stoner rock/metal and alternative artists occasionally, I think it can limit the songs. Dave Cavalier does great vocal work on this album, without making it sound like they are playing in a tin can. It feels cleaner, and it’s refreshing. That’s not to say I don’t love the guitar tone created by effects for this album. “Mother of the Sun” was an inviting first track with an intro that acts almost as an introductory track, without becoming too exhausting. The title track is really groovy and has a partnership between riff and chorus that will get in your head (in a good way, not a Bachman-Turner Overdrive kind of way). “Gone” is a fun track that has solos woven in and out of it, blended with another catchy riff. The album slows down with the heavier tone of “Badlands”, a song that radiates a Spaghetti Western aesthetic. Just when you think the track is ending, it pans out into an atmospheric jam. This album is a nice turn for Black Lung, making their sound a little more accessible without still being very heavy in the right places. I would recommend this to any hard rock fan who was looking for something heavier, as a stepping stone even heavier music.
Ancients will be released March 8 via Ripple Music (North America, Asia, and Australia) and March 22 on Noisolution (the UK and Europe). To preorder the album go here, and follow Black Lung on Facebook and Bandcamp.
Source is:
Ben Gleason: vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, synthesizers
Justin Mirarck: drums
Riley Selleck: bass
Totality
Release date: 01 March 2019
Source has become a mainstay with past and present members of the Metal Nexus staff. Starting with the first listen to “Memories of Yesterday” when they were first covered as a State of the Art band for Colorado back in April of 2016, through tour coverage, multiple interviews, album reviews, video introductions and King of Strings honors, Source is one of those special bands that we just cannot shake. Their masterpiece debut album Return to Nothing even gleaned top honors for my Best Album of the Year in 2016. There was not even any competition, in my humble opinion, even though my long-time heroes Metal Church dropped their long awaited XI and Aleah Stanbridge’s final album with Trees of Eternity before her untimely passing entitled Hour of the Nightingale were released the same year. Return to Nothing still mesmerizes and moves me, often to tears, depending on the mood. All things considered, it is probably one of my all time favorite albums and has still not grown long in the tooth after three years. It is my sage haven anymore. That said, what about their most recent release Totality? Read on…
Queens, New York’s Sworn Enemy is set to drop their new album ‘Gamechanger’ via M-Theory Audio on April 5th, 2019. As veterans of the metallic hardcore game, the band consisting of Sal Lococo (vocals), Matt Garzilli (guitar), Mike Pucciarelli (bass), Jeff Cummings (guitar), and Taykwuan Jackson (drums) just celebrated the 15th anniversary of their debut album ‘As Real as It Gets’ last year. The new album, which will mark their eighth full length release, was produced by the one-and-only Robb Flynn (Machine Head) and engineered, mixed, and mastered by Zack Ohren (Suffocation, Fallujah, Warbringer). For fans of bands like Hatebreed, Biohazard, and Madball, ‘Gamechanger’ is an album that offers a similar street-level attitude and testosterone-fueled rage that is sure to quench the bloodthirst of old school loyalists as well as place Sworn Enemy prominently on the radar of new listeners. Continue reading
Demon Hunter are back. The Metal legends from Seattle are back with a huge release. These days, bands tend to put out EPs rather than albums. The Demon gang had a different idea, releasing two albums on the same day, harking back to ‘Use Your Illusion’. Therefore, 1st March sees ‘War’ and ‘Peace’ come out.
The genius marketing here is that each album is different in its approach. ‘War’ sees the band go hard with more of a metalcore vibe, whilst ‘Peace’ walks a more melodic Metal path. Either way, both album is pretty damn impressive!
The wait is over, the band that was originally known as Super Stroke, will be releasing their much anticipated album on March 22 via Frontiers. The band finally settled on The EndMachine for the name and kept things simple with the album being self-titled. Frontiers have put together a slew of projects but none of them has had the buzz they have created. When you have a line-up of George Lynch (guitar), Jeff Pilson (bass), Mick Brown (drums), and current vocalist for Warrant Robert Mason, people will start talking. To break it down, your getting Dokken, without Don Dokken, and inserting Mason, or you can look at it as getting the line-up of Lynch Mob in 1992, minus Anthony Esposito, add adding Pilson on bass. Continue reading
When Buckcherry first burst onto the scene in 1999 with their self titled debut , they were breath of musical fresh air in a time of post grunge, pop punk and nu metal. Here was band that harkened back to the old school sounds of Guns n Roses and AC/DC with an in your face, keep it simple style and plenty of attitude. Their raucous, sleaze anthem “Lit Up” blew up on the radio airwaves becoming their first and only number one hit on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart . Another album followed in 2001 ‘Time Bomb,’ didn’t do quite as well and the band dissolved. Then something unexpected happened. Singer Josh Todd and founding guitarist Keith Nelson reformed the band with a new lineup in 2006 and released arguably their most successful album “15” which contained two of their biggest crossover hits “Crazy Bitch” and “Sorry,” their first Billboard Top 100 single. A series of albums followed starting in 2008 with “Black Butterfly,” all with varying degrees of success and although the chart prowess of the aforementioned songs alluded them they continued to release records and consistently tour remaining a strong draw on the concert circuit. Continue reading
Candlemass are one of the most important names in Doom Metal. Along with Saint Vitus, Trouble, and The Obsessed they all helped create a form of music that was heavily influenced by the forefathers of Doom and Gloom: Black Sabbath! From their 1986 debut classic ‘Epicus Doomicus Metallicus’ to the 2018 ep ‘The House of Doom’ Candlemass have been one of the hardest working and most consistent bands in the Metal scene. However, with the upcoming release of ‘The Door to Doom’ (available February 22nd via Napalm Records) the band have managed to top past glories and have (arguably) released the best album of their long career! Continue reading
After releasing their first ever EP back in 2013 called ‘An Exordium To Contagion’ Plague Throat are back with their second EP ‘Evolutionary Impasse’ and it will crush your soul and send it straight back to hell!
Director and writer Bob Nalbandian, who is probably best known for his compelling ‘Inside Metal’ documentary series, returns as the director and producer of the new documentary “Band vs Brand.” The new film, which will be coming to DVD and digital streaming outlets in March 2019 via Cleopatra Entertainment, covers the topic of making the comparison between the artistic integrity of a band vs the often exploitative business side of the music industry. It’s an interesting deeper dive into a topic that’s been heavily discussed lately among music enthusiasts, especially fans of classic hard rock and metal bands of the seventies and eighties. With many of these now “legacy” acts having, in one way or another, endured multiple lineup changes, deaths of key members, breakups, legal battles, and other turmoil, the idea of when a band is still the same band worthy of carrying on their original namesake logically comes into question. Well-known names such as Dave Ellefson (Megadeth), Jack Russell (Jack Russell’s Great White), Frank DiMino (Angel), Dave Lombardo (Sucididal Tendencies, ex-Slayer), Marc Ferrari (Keel, Ferrari), Nik Turner (Hawkwind), and other notable veterans of the music industry weigh in to offer their personal insights on the “Band vs Brand” debate. Continue reading
