avant-garde metal

Anubis InnertubeHalibut Jones Ipecac2002 Since I started the month talking about James Plotkin projects, I figured I’d end it with another one. Phantomsmasher is/was his collaboration with DJ Speedranch and drummer Dave Witte (Discordance Axis, Melt Banana, Municipal Waste). It’s a continuation of his Atomsmasher project, which put out one album on Hydra Head. Phantomsmasher’s […]

My interview with Stolen Babies is now up at Stylus. I quite recommend the band’s debut album, There Be Squabbles Ahead. Normally, costuming in bands puts me off, but for Stolen Babies, it’s neither an affectation nor a genre convention. The more I talked with guitarist Rani Sharone, the more I understood where the band’s […]

IVV Hydra Head2006 Any musical New Year’s resolutions? Diversify your tastes? Get more into ___ genre? Finally listen to that Joy Division box set all the way through? Me, I resolve, except for Shadows Fall, not to cover any more metalcore bands with Swedish riffs and good cop/bad cop vocals. That’s going to be tough. […]

The story of Dog Fashion Disco infuriates me. Like many, I initially wrote off the band due to its goofy name and consistently awful album artwork. However, when I heard Adultery (on Rotten), I was blown away. Here was a band that was basically Mr. Bungle in its diversity and quirkiness, but with songs one […]

Also on Cock Rock Disco is Next Life, who sound like if Zombi and Fantomas got together to score Zelda. With this Norwegian duo, you get the cinematic synths of the former and the ADD of the latter. Songs burst into bloom with proggy odd meters and power chords, only to jump cut to the […]

Estradasphere is one of the craziest bands I’ve ever come across. When I hear them, I hear a klezmer band, a bluegrass group, a jazz outfit, a chamber ensemble, a sometimes metal band, and so on. What sets them apart is the depth to which they explore genres. Whereas, say, Mr. Bungle might merely reference […]

My dual review of Stolen Babies’ There Be Squabbles Ahead and Unexpect’s In a Flesh Aquarium is up at Stylus.