Thursday 27 June 2013

New Satyricon album, Literally HELL YES


Having pretty much never put a step wrong in their career, black metallers Satyricon are finally returning with a new self-titled album on 9th September, after 5 amazing albums in a row, i'm finding it hard to believe this won't make 6.

UK tour dates also announced:

Sunday 10th Nov – MANCHESTER Academy 3
Monday 11th Nov – BELFAST Limelight
Tuesday 12th Nov – DUBLIN Button Factory
Thursday 14th Nov – LONDON O2 Islington Academy

tickets from https://www.facebook.com/SatyriconOfficial

New Kevin Tihista album 'Modern Standard'


While preparing for the next album of 2012 (hint - it's Kevin Tihista) i checked his labels site and found out he's already got another new album due, you can pre-order with bonus EP below:

http://www.brokenhorse.co.uk/brokenhorse2.html

I've always considered him a sort of american Ed Harcourt, but what i can say is his output has never been short of amazing and i highly recommend picking this album up and the one i may or may not review in the next day or so.

Top 50 of 2012: No.40: Two Gallants - The Bloom And The Blight [PIAS]

I’d started to think Two Gallants had called it a day, they’d released 3 albums in 4 years and then… nothing, finally 5 years later they make their return and in true gallant style (pun) they do not disappoint. I’m not sure what they did over that time but they’ve come back stronger than ever, and the noise they produce for a twopiece now is astounding, previous works have seen them a lot more subdued at times but they’ve always had a penchant for the theatrical and noisy side of music. The best thing about the new output is they’ve finally streamlined the songs, in the past albums have been a mixture of killer songs with songs that tended to meander on for up to 9 minutes, whereas on ‘The Bloom And The Blight’ you get the same brilliant stream of conscious tales from Adam Stephens but in much shorter and fuzzed up bites. There’s numerous stand-out songs here like ‘Halycon Days’, ‘Ride Away’, and ‘Willie’ some people are likely to take the Dylan going electric stance with this album as it’s much more of a rock album then the gallants have produced in the past, but as with Dylan it’s still great music and that’s all that matters.
8/10

Wednesday 26 June 2013

Top 50 of 2012: No.41: The Chariot - One Wing (Season Of Mist)


One thing that I like about counting down the top 50 albums of last year is each day I get to listen to said album to refresh my memory, which means each day I get to listen to an amazing album and today was no different. The Chariot have always been a band that pushes boundaries and keeps things entertaining, especially for a band as brutal as themselves, but on ‘One Wing’ they’ve just taken the whole thing stratospheric. So you still get your heavy as hell Chariot which some of you will know and love, but you also get a 1 minute female solo from Angela Plake on ‘Your’, ‘First’ goes off on a spaghetti western tangent, and the Chaplin sermonesque ‘Cheek’ is perhaps one of the best tracks the band have ever done. Now reading above the song titles probably seem a bit weird but in true Chariot fashion when you read them all out you get Forget, Not, Your, First, Love, Speak, In, Tongues, And, Cheek. So all I can say is another great day and another great album, makes me look forward to tomorrow.
8/10

Tuesday 25 June 2013

GIANTS - New Single - It's Not All Bad News


Just had this single e-mailed to me, generally i dread these situations where you're not sure to write anything if you don't like it, luckily for me this is a stormer of a single, full on skate punk with gang vocals that's making me want to know when the albums coming. What i also love about this single is it's posi-punk which you just need now and then, for fans of bands like Pennywise, i can imagine these guys being amazing live.

On top of that they're also raising awareness for a Love Live Southbank campaign, i'll let the band themselves fill you in on this;

“We’re sure it’s no secret that we like skateboarding. Simply put, our band wouldn't be if it wasn't for skateboarding. Recently something has been happening in the skateboarding world that we feel so strongly about that we decided to take it upon ourselves to try and help out as much as we can.”

“Earlier this year, The Southbank Centre revealed their plan to transform the iconic Southbank Undercroft skate park in London into retail units (Starbucks etc.) as part of their £120 million redevelopment of its Festival Wing. We believe Southbank is just as much as a landmark in our country to us as anything else that stands on its streets and it needs to be saved.”
 

“We as a band are going to be organising a downloadable compilation 'mixtape', with the sole purpose of spreading the word and raising awareness for the 'Long Live Southbank' campaign, set up to protect Southbank from the fate that it has unfairly had placed upon it.”
 

“This compilation will be absolutely free to download and as well as some brand new material from us, it will feature new/old/un-released material from bands all over that share the same view as we do about saving the historic Southbank undercroft.”
 

“By downloading the compilation you will be directly signed up to Long Live Southbank’s campaign and will be instructed on how you can do your part to save Southbank.”

“We will have more info on featuring bands and release info available very soon. We can confirm the following bands so far will be featured:
 

Giants
Great Cynics
Marmozets
Darko
Still Bust
Scouts
Public Domain
Forsaken
CB6
 

If you would like to put your band forward for the compilation please email us on skatepunkforsouthbank@gmail.com
 
Do your part to save Southbank by joining the campaign:
 
 
www.longlivesouthbank.com/membership/
 www.surveymonkey.com/s/longlivesouthbank

@savesouthbank / #savesouthbank
 
www.facebook.com/LongLiveSouthbank'

Now i've never been able to skate myself but it seems to me that we need things like this for the kids to stop them sniffing glue or whatever so get signing

They're also touring with veteran punks H2O

UK Tour Dates:

June
 30th - Underworld with H2O, London

July

1st - Trillians with H2O, Newcastle
2nd - Brudenell Social Club with H2O, Leeds
3rd - Bogiez with H2O, Cardiff
4th - The Vault with H2O, Rugby
14th - The Haunt with 7Seconds, Brighton

August

11th - 'Edgefest' at The Edge, Portsmouth
12th - Underworld with The Casualties & The Adolescents, London
31st - 'Make A Noise Festival' at The Tap n' Tin, Kent

Not to mention the single is streaming on Rock Sound's website one of the few music magazines out there worth reading.

Monday 24 June 2013

Top 50 of 2012: No.42: Testament - Dark Roots Of Earth (Nuclear Blast)


People bang on a lot about the BIG 4, but here we have Testament, who’ve just released an album that’s blown everything the BIG 4 have done lately out of the water, to be fair Death Magnetic was good but this is better. I’ve been guilty of ignoring Testament myself, I’ve got ‘The Legacy’ album which was pretty awesome in it’s own right but I’ve never really bothered checking much out since, so last year I saw they were releasing a new album and thought it might be worth checking out. What you get here is good old thrash metal, the kind you heard in the 80’s like Metallica’s ‘Master Of Puppets’, Megadeth’s ‘Peace Sells…’ and based on this you really feel it should be the BIG 5. Chuck Billy’s vocals soar throughout mixing huge melodies with guttural screams, and the guitars are near perfect, for anyone saying there’s no good thrash music these days you need to listen to this and the new Evile album.
8/10

Saturday 22 June 2013

40 Bands To Keep An Ear On


NME recently did a top 40 songs by new bands, they cocked it up as usual and only listed 39, and of that 39 a lot were pompus arty garbage, so here's my own list, it's much better.

1. Valentiine


Three piece girl rock band from Australia, harking back to the good old days of bands like Hole and Babes In Toyland, very good indeed. Debut albums finally getting a UK release including new single 'Chucky' a personal fave of mine.

Valentiine

2. Awooga

Another three piece from Sheffield, this time dealing in riff heavy Soundgardenesque ROCK, their last EP 'V Column' was a delight, they're recording more soon, something tells me this is going to be something special indeed.

Awooga

3. Drenge

There's a rash of two piece bands popping up these days and Drenge are easily one of the best, having seen them live, they wiped the floor with both bands that followed with they're noisy grunge styled rock. Their debut album in August should prove to be quite a listen.

Drenge

4. GOD DAMN

I've already been raving about these guys for a while, download their free new EP 'Heavy Money' to see whats so special, there's nothing more i can say about this band.

GOD DAMN

5. Baby Godzilla

This band should legally be judged too insane to be a band, never the less they continue to destroy crowds (literally) at every opportunity, just don't expect to see them on stage much, the picture above says it all. What do they sound like, previous single was a good mix of technical metal mixed with a bit of sea shanty.

Baby Godzilla

6. Hawk Eyes

Leeds own noise rock, previously known as Chickenhawk, last years 'Ideas' album was a stormer and their new pledge EP 'That's What This Is' promises to be something special judging by the demos.

Hawk Eyes

7. Jonnythefirth / Crybabycry

Whether tearing up the stage as a one man band, or dueting with the sultry Rosie Doonan as part of Crybabycry, Jonny Firth is a name to remember, debut solo album 'Broken Bones' already has people talking and something tells me the forthcoming crybabycry album will cement his reputation.

Crybabycry

8. The Thespians

Strokesesque simplistic rock n roll but relocated to Liverpool, debut album 'Haven't You Heard?' is due later in the year and something tells me this band will be going on to bigger and better things.

The Thespians

9. Mallory Knox

One of my favourite albums of this year so far in 'Signals' huge choruses, massive riffs, Mallory Knox are surely headed for bigger things.

Mallory Knox

10. Palm Reader

"We are Palm Reader. We play loud. We play heavy. We play hard. We play fast." says it all really, heavy as fuck and brilliant for it.

Palm Reader

11. Red Kite

Former Cooper Temple Clause member Daniel Fisher's new band, beautifully haunting is probably the best description of their music, amazing is another. Brilliant band.

Red Kite

12. TOY

Psychedelic, LOUD, Droney, Hairy, Brilliant! just a few words to describe TOY who have been touring relentlessly for the last year, in the vein of Ringo Deathstarr and that ilk but so much better.

TOY

13. Blame

There's a real 90's grunge resurgence going on at the moment and a good thing too, Blame could be the band to lead the pack, huge melodies, fuzzed up guitars, hell one of the them looks like Evan Dando and Kurt Cobain mixed for christsakes, did i mention they were brilliant, now i just need to get a proper copy of their album which seems to be rarer than rocking horse shit.

Blame

14. Dead Sons

Formed from the ashes of Sheffield's Milburn, containing that bands knack for a catchy chorus but mixed with a much dirtier bluesy style, plus you can can get their new album for a fiver.

Dead Sons

15. Carnabells

Yorkshire's own rocknroll runaway train, having caught these guys live recently and listened to their last EP 'She's A Rollercoaster' with the right breaks they could go on to huge things and next EP 'The Ramshackle Rattle' could likely prove to be that break.

Carnabells

16. Denim Snakes

I read a year or so back that Russell Toomey was resurrecting My Red Cell and then they went quite i was pissed off, but then out of nowhere he's got new band Denim Snakes and all is forgiven, it would be a disgrace if this was his 3rd criminally overlooked band and their debut album due soon should rectify this.

Denim Snakes

17. The Chapman Family

The Chapman Family seem more like a cult than a band these days, a cult you must join, it's rare these days to see a band get better with each release, but new single 'This One's For Love' is their best yet, surely we can expect a new album before long.

The Chapman Family

18. Wet Nuns

Another two-piece but this time much heavier, like Sabbath heavy, with their knack for turning bluesy riffs to metal, the last few singles have been head turning, their debut album due in the Autumn should be immense, people say there's no good new music these days, people need to stop being lazy.

Wet Nuns

19. Hey! Hello!

Sugar coated rock, Ginger Wildheart teams up with Victoria Liedtke for one of the surprise albums of last year/this year depending if you pledged for it or not, no one was expecting this album to be as good as it was, cynics!

Hey! Hello!

20. Bloody Mammals

More noise rock this time from that there London, file under Baby Godzilla and Palm Reader style and a whole new noisy scene seems to be forming right before our eyes, love it.

Bloody Mammals

21. Marmozets

Another band who just seem to get better with each release, and louder, like a faster louder Yeah Yeah Yeahs, like they used to be, i have to check out this band live soon.

Marmozets

22. Deadcuts

Mark Keds new band, here's hoping they release more than previous band 'The Lams' one album in about 10 years! Talent like Mark's shouldn't be wasted and the Deadcuts seem to be working a bit harder, lovely dark rock.

Deadcuts

23. The Ghost Riders In The Sky

the 2nd Carter brother to leave Gallows and after hearing first single 'What Could Be' you've got to feel he's not regretting the decision, Ghost Riders could go on to massive things based on just hearing this song alone.

The Ghost Riders In The Sky

24. Axis Of

Northern irish punkrock, catchy as hell, new album 'Finding St Kilda' is destined to make numerous end of year lists. ideally i'd make a mix of all these bands but that would be illegal.

Axis Of

25. The Catharsis

Extremely pissed off would be a good description of Catharsis, along with brutal as fuck and other such adjectives, but extremely talented would also make the list. Not for everyone's tastes but if you like it heavy then look no further than new album 'Romance'.

The Catharsis

26. Corrections House

Another Mike IX Williams of Eyehategod fame project, this ones pretty out there, previous single 'Hoax The System' showed off just how out there, tribal drumming over pummelling riffs, and whats sounds like someone predicting the end of the world, with a full length due by Halloween, i'm pretty fucking excited about this one.

Corrections House

27. Daylight

They might have been going for a few years now but only just releasing their debut has allowed Daylight to hone their 90's alt rock sound to a T, new album 'Jar' even looks like it was released in the grunge heyday

Daylight

28. Northlane

Australia's latest metal offering, Northlane have just released 2nd album 'Singularity' like a mixture of Bring Me The Horizon and Parkway Drive, it's an unrelenting assault, and at times catchy as hell.

Northlane

29. Rat Attack

Self described as Party Punk, and that's exactly what they are, with huge catchy hooks and positive lyrics, Rat Attack are standing out in a field of negativity, just enjoying themselves.

Rat Attack

30. Wounds

Another punkrock band with massively catchy songs, again from Ireland, signed to one of the best labels a band can be In At The Deep End, debut album 'Die Young' is 10 class tunes of punknroll.

WOUNDS

31. Charly Coombes

Previously of 22-20's when they were brilliant, then a few EP's as Charly Coombes and The New Breed, and now finally were due to get a solo album from this extremely talented singer/songwriter, i'll be stalking his webpage till it's released.

Charly Coombes

32. John Coffey

Loud rocknroll from the Netherlands, last years 'Bright Companions' album broke into my top 20 of the year it was that impressive, if only they'd make it over to the UK

John Coffey

33. Pigs

Brutal evil sick music from Unsane members, also managed to have the best album cover art of last year, i don't see these guys making a massive go of it as touring seems to be rare but here's hoping they keep releasing albums.

PIGS

34. Slaves

Another twopiece of raw rock and punk, a bit more gruff than the others but well worth checking out, if they're up north any time soon i'll be making it to one of their shows.

Slaves

35. The Death Rays Of Ardilla

ANOTHER twopiece, and like Drenge brothers, this time with a little more garage rock of old, check out their cover of Jack The Ripper on youtube, another band i can see going far.

The Death Rays Of Ardilla

36. Deap Vally

Hot grungy rocknroll twopiece, whats not to like, it's like an all female White Stripes, there's a lot more GOOD female rock bands coming up these days it's a great thing.

Deap Vally

37. Huw Costin

Another amazing singer/songwriter Huw Costin has just released 2nd album 'Something/Nothing' which somehow has managed to improve on his 'Regrets' debut, you want melody and thought provoking then try both albums now.

Huw Costin

Torn Sail

38. Turbogeist

Another noisy thrashy band laced with hooks and melody a plenty, new mini album 'Ancient Secrets' should introduce them to a much bigger fanbase, hopefully it's just the start of things.

Turbogeist

39. Savages

Another example of a new wave of great female bands, Savages carry the same vibe as Joy Division or Berlin era Bowie, very cold yet catchy

Savages

40. Bleached

More fuzzy bleached rock from the Clavin sisters, scuzzy and catchy as hell, new album 'Ride Your Heart' is pure bliss

Bleached

So there you have 40 bands to check out, if you can't find something you like out of this lot then you should stop listening to music altogether, and you sicken me.

Friday 21 June 2013

GOD DAMN - Heavy Money EP (Gravy)


Wow, who knew? I mean a lot of people have been knowing that God Damn were pretty good and showing a lot of promise, but this is something else. Hot on the heels of the 4 track EP ‘I’m A Lazer, You’re A Radar’ comes this new mini album ‘Heavy Money’ and finally we have a band living up to the hype. The bands bandcamp page where you can download this release for free lists their tags as ‘rock blues grunge hardcore popindie stoner metal’ and to be honest this release falls into all those categories, it shouldn’t work but it does. Main single ‘Heavy Money’ is obviously a standout track, managing to sound fresh yet so familiar that you could swear you’ve heard it before; ‘Like Meat To Morrissey’ is not only a great song title but an amazing example of the kind of early 90’s mixed with modern influences sound God Damn have created, if they’d have been around in the 90’s they’d have likely signed to a major label for millions, or maybe not as everything so far has been on their terms and they’re doing great for it. Special mention goes to last song ‘Dangle Like Skeletons’ like mixing Lemonheads with Black Sabbath, fucking genius!!
9/10

buy/download here:

Top 50 of 2012: No.43: Cancer Bats - Dead Set On Living (Hassle)


A new Cancer Bats album is always cause for celebration and this new offering certainly does not disappoint, last album ‘Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones’ was one of the best albums of 2010, but ‘Dead Set On Living’ takes it to a new level. Using everything they’ve done so far as a blueprint the band have taken things up a notch with huge riffs, the same screaming vocals mixed with the gravel throated threats that at times remind me of Alexis Marshall on the last Daughters album, no idea why, they just do. Kicking off with the vicious as fuck ‘Rats’ there’s no let up for the next 39 mins and that’s exactly what I want from a Cancer Bats album, ‘Bricks and Mortar’, ‘Road Sick’, ‘Breathe Armageddon’ they’re all stand-out tracks. What’s even better is if you get the re-issue now you can get the Bat Sabbath covers EP and 4 extra tracks, thankyourself for not buying it sooner.
8/10

Thursday 20 June 2013

Top 50 of 2012: No.44: Every Time I Die - Ex Lives (Epitaph)


I’ve not yet managed to catch Every Time I Die live, but if I ever did i’d imagine that it would be a lot like their last few albums recording sessions sounded, soaked in beer and fun and one hell of a party, and this in a nutshell is why I love this band so much. You can actually hear the band enjoying themselves in the recording, Keith Buckley’s vocals and lyrics are us usual amazing, and the band are on ferocious form, standout tracks, pretty much all of them ‘Revival Mode’ probably stands out above others but if you’re already into this band then this album will not disappoint. For those not already familiar with the band you can expect hardcore, mixed with a dose of metal, rolled over with southern riffs, and finally sprinkled with so much originality it makes other bands of a similar style redundant. Every Time I Die are up there with Glassjaw, Letlive and Boysetsfire as a band that can truly never disappoint, here’s hoping to catch them next time they’re in Leeds.
8/10