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One of my highlights of 2006 was interviewing Cannibal Corpse drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz for Hails & Horns, the metal offshoot of AMP magazine. For being in the world’s biggest death metal band, Paul was amazingly gracious and down-to-earth. He candidly answered burning questions I had – was the band being funny with its artwork and […]

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. […]

Wrapping up this “dead bands of 2006” week is Khanate. This band was so slow, they made me mad. The first time I heard them, I questioned whether they were even playing music. It seemed like they were trying to stretch a four-minute Godflesh song over a forty-minute length, and it was painful to hear. […]

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 […]

Each year, one hardcore record really grabs me, heart and soul. This year, that record was Betrayed’s Substance. Featuring members of Champion and Carry On, Betrayed wasn’t around for long, putting out the Addiction EP on Bridge Nine, a split with Champion, and a full-length, Substance (on Equal Vision), before breaking up this year. Betrayed’s […]

For the last week of 2006, I’ll highlight some bands that called it quits this year. I know my obsession with dead bands verges on the morbid, and if your band shows up in my blog, it’s probably dead, starting out, or underperforming marketwise. But success ain’t a meritocracy, and I’d rather give space to […]

It’s a minor miracle that I’m writing about this demo. I picked it up at an Animosity show in SF earlier this year. The CD was free off a spindle, with no sleeve or case. All it said was “Remorseless Demo 2006.” No track names, no contact info, not the best first impression. I listened […]

For picking up girls, Lecherous Nocturne isn’t the best band name. It does have a selling point, though – Nile guitarist Dallas Toler-Wade played drums on debut album Adoration of the Blade (on Deepsend). Toler-Wade recently left to concentrate full-time on Nile, and current Nile touring bassist Joe Payne did time in the band as […]

My review of the new Black Elk is up at Stylus. It’s a hot, nasty slice of noise rock straight from the ’90s. Over at Metal Injection, I’ve reviewed the new Jotunspor, A.C.T., and Kylesa. Norwegian black metal/dark ambient, Swedish prog rock, and Southern sludge metal – all good stuff. Enjoy!

Today marks five years since the passing of Chuck Schuldiner, so I’d like to revisit my favorite Death album, Individual Thought Patterns. ITP came out in 1993, an amazing time for Florida death metal; Cynic’s Focus, Atheist’s Elements, Pestilence’s Spheres, and Morbid Angel’s Covenant all came out that year. Scott Burns produced the album, Death’s […]