hardcore punk

The day I stumbled upon Berlin’s Core Tex Records was one of the happier ones in my life. Even now, it still seems unreal – a huge, clean store devoted almost entirely to hardcore punk, with decent selections of metal and other kinds of punk, and racks upon racks of CD’s, vinyl, videos, t-shirts, hoodies, […]

Only three lyricists make me stop and pore over every word they write – Suzanne Vega, J Church’s Lance Hahn, and Modern Life Is War’s Jeffrey Eaton. I just finished Richard Russo’s Empire Falls, an incisive, compassionate meditation on the type of small town life that Eaton portrays so brilliantly. Russo’s town is in New […]

Slowly regaining my productivity – up at Metal Injection, I have a review of Dutch prog death metallers Obsidian. I think I might like them even more than Meshuggah, their most obvious inspiration. At Stylus, I have reviews of the fantastic Modern Life Is War, Beatallica, 108, and the American Nervoso reissue by Botch. Obsidian […]

Recently I saw Promises, a documentary that I highly recommend. In it, the filmmaker arranges for Israeli and Palestinian children to meet and hang out, which is an unheard of phenomenon. He documents the meetings, interviews the children and their families, and tracks the children as they get older. It’s amazing how extremist the kids […]

Craig Chaney’s clean vocals are Evergreen Terrace‘s best weapon, and they probably know that. They withhold his trademark melodies until the second track; when they hit, it’s like hearing an old friend. For better or for worse, Wolfbiker (High Impact/Metal Blade, 2007) is Sincerity Is an Easy Disguise in This Business, pt. 2. That means […]

Kronos After what seemed like a slow start, metal in 2007 has shifted into high gear. Great releases flood in from the underground daily. In Left Hand Path #009, we’ve reviewed over 30 discs, including must-have splits from Baroness/Unpersons and Eibon/Hangman’s Chair, Harvey Milk reissues, Marduk, Municipal Waste, Abigor, Glorior Belli, Irepress, dark ambient from […]

SO36, Berlin, 19.06.07 SO36 isn’t just a club. It’s a friggin’ complex, with stairs in back and on the side leading up to an immense backstage area that resembles an office, albeit a punked-out one. Graffiti from previous occupants litters the walls. In multiple rooms, band and crew members sprawl on couches, check email, and […]

Man, I haven’t heard crossover like this in a long time! An exact midpoint between thrash and hardcore, Straight Outta the Gutter is 11 minutes of pure middle finger. Sometimes one wants a musical boot to the face, and this demo more than delivers. Simple riffs, simple beats, lyrics that approach nursery rhymes in complexity […]

Soon to FollowLevitate Hydra Head2007 Someone someday should write a book about the late ’90s, early ’00s Boston hardcore/metal scene. It’s mind-boggling that Bane, Converge, Cave In, Isis, Doomriders, Old Man Gloom, and now Zozobra are all connected, not to mention Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Red Sparowes, and assorted one-offs and solo projects. Zozobra began as a […]

Devious Up at Stylus I have reviews of new albums by The Stooges and Titan. At Metal Injection, I’ve reviewed Dutch death metallers Devious, Finnish melodeath dealers Omnium Gatherum, hair farmers Dokken (who seem to be getting “they weren’t that bad” reevaluation these days), and straightedge hardcore punkers Liferuiner. Devious – Room 302Omnium Gatherum – […]