sludge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKE6iGegrHY . . . Director David Hall has made a film around last year’s Axis of Eden, by Today Is the Day. The band is currently on tour (dates below) providing a live soundtrack to the film. (The above video for “I.E.D.” comes from the film. I love how the mirror effect assaults the central […]

by Cosmo Lee First Cough, then Thou, then Samothrace – it’s a great time for American sludge/doom. Why this Lawrence, KS outfit named itself for a Greek island is unclear, as it sounds distinctly American. Big slabs of downtuned dirt abut melodies that recall Earth’s leanings towards Americana. In fact, this record might satisfy those […]

by Cosmo Lee Baton Rouge’s Thou were hands down the most hotly tipped band for me this year. I’m astonished by how many people in different quarters recommended them to me. Interestingly, no one told me why Thou were good. (In this increasingly democratic information age, distressingly few people articulate why they like or dislike […]

ASG – Win Us OverInside layout The secret word of the day – every day – is riffs. I’ve reviewed some nice batches. The latest record by ASG has the best riffs I’ve heard this year. Imagine a whole album of “March of the Fire Ants” or “Hollow Severer.” The rest of stoner metal might […]

by Cosmo Lee Despite the pentagrams, upside-down cross, and many-pointed stars, this is not black metal. The pot leaves are more indicative: sludge/doom cut straight from the Eyehategod cloth. Sigillum Luciferi (Forcefield, 2008) is the full-length debut from Cough, who have this schtick down cold: monolithic riffs, agonized screams, gear set in “first.” Occasionally the […]

Laura Pleasants, Kylesa Kylesa is touring with fucking Pinback. I commented last year on another weird tour Kylesa did (Revolver‘s “Hottest Chicks in Metal” tour, with Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, et al.), but this is just bizarre. In case you don’t know Pinback, they’re indie rock. They have a knack for interlocking vocals and guitars […]

September 7, 2008The Echoplex, Los Angeles If I were in SoCal, I’d go to Manifest Destiny. The festival’s second annual installment is this Sunday 3pm at The Echoplex in Los Angeles. Manifest Destiny “was created by Tee Pee Records founder Tony Presedo to celebrate all things Californian and all forms of heavy music, unrestricted by […]

by Cosmo Lee What a difference a name makes! Apiary were a technical metalcore outfit that put out one record of faceless Dillinger Escape Plan worship. After various lineup changes and touring-related adversities, they re-assessed themselves. They found they had no original members left; perhaps they also discovered their sound was obsolete. So they renamed […]

by Jess Blumensheid Harvey Milk rises from the grave. After their split-up in 2003, they return with Joe Preston now on bass and Creston Spiers still on vocals. Life…The Best Game In Town (Hydra Head, 2008) is abrasive, more explosive and corrosive than their previous Special Wishes. I sense the quartet flaunting unshaven complexions, discarded […]

by Cosmo Lee In doom metal, the usual words tossed around pertain to size – “lumbering,” “massive,” etc. While Germany’s Black Shape of Nexus are certainly those things – they tune down to a bowel-shaking B flat – they exhibit surprising nuance. Amid the requisitive tiiiiiimestretching riffs are melodic curlicues and percussive details that demand […]