Pulling Teeth - Paranoid Delusions / Paradise Illusions
Fans have a hard time handling change. They take it as a personal affront when a group that, for instance, once reveled in uniform hardcore adulterates new material with questionable elements. Such has been the case with Pulling Teeth‘s Paranoid Delusions/Paradise Illusions (Deathwish, Inc., 2009). UnsatisfiedParadise Illusions (excerpt) Though these Baltimore old-timers continue the Integrity-meets-Scandinavian...
Stinking Lizaveta @ Cake Shop
Bands that exude joy are rare. Even if music is supposed to be “joyful,” all too often its execution isn’t. Technical difficulties plague shows; personal differences get in the way of music. These small details can turn hot gigs into merely warm ones. Thus, Stinking Lizaveta completely surprised me at New York’s Cake Shop last...
Dirty black summer
Summer draws nigh, bearing gifts of black metal. Metal release dates are notoriously moving targets, but here are some educated guesses. (These are mostly US release dates.) This week brings new records from 1349, Glorior Belli, Necrophobic, Kult ov Azazel (with their best album yet), and Hiems. The latter, titled Worship or Die, may be...
Riffage: Danzig - "Dirty Black Summer"
John Christ One of my favorite riffs of all time comes from Danzig’s “Dirty Black Summer,” off 1992’s Danzig III: How the Gods Kill. Danzig wrote the song, but credit goes to John Christ for playing it in, um, godlike fashion. It is quite simple, in standard tuning (hallelujah!). To get the full effect, do...