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CD reissues are a mixed bag. Sometimes you get true labors of love, with good remastered sound, expanded liner notes, and fancy packaging. Other times you get horribly brickwalled sound, worthless “extras” (screensavers, anyone?), or blatant cash-ins released a year after the original with maybe a bonus track tacked on. I’m not naming any names, […]

My review of the new Killswitch Engage is up at Stylus, as well as an interview I did with Facedown Records artist War of Ages. Over at Metal Injection, I have reviews up of the new Xasthur, Manowar, and Formicide. The “Immortal Edition” of the Manowar EP has one of the most enjoyable metal DVD’s […]

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 […]

Given my recent review of The Esoteric’s Subverter, I thought I’d revisit the band’s previous album, 2005’s With the Sureness of Sleepwalking (on Prosthetic). I saw this band play last year, and I was blown away. I picked up this album, and was again blown away (you can read an interview I did with the […]

My review of The Esoteric’s Subverter is up at Stylus. Great album, great band, why aren’t these guys huge??? Also, I’ve started writing for Metal Injection. I’ve been a fan of the site for a while. In its early days, it put out primitive, often hilarious shows composed of metal videos, tongue-in-cheek interviews, and some […]

This is the second of a two-part tribute to Chris Poland (today is his birthday). After Return to Metalopolis, Poland had a band called Damn the Machine. As with RtM, his brother Mark was on drums, with David Randi on bass and Dave Clemmons on vocals. The band’s 1993 self-titled debut on A&M was its […]

A guitarist’s tone is in his fingers; this is especially true for Chris Poland. He’s played in a wide variety of settings, but I can always identify him within seconds. Few musicians have such a distinctive voice, or have brought such joy to my life. This is the first of a two-part tribute to Poland’s […]

Scale the Summit is a Houston-via-LA instrumental prog metal band that began in late ’04. Influences are usually obvious with young bands, but with Scale the Summit, only a few reference points come to mind – Atheist, King Crimson, Dysrhythmia, the proggy parts of Between the Buried and Me. For being a bunch of guys […]

Formed in 2003, Zoroaster unload slow, sludgy grooves befitting of their beards. It’s heavy stuff, but it would have been heavier had the band named itself after a different religious leader, like, say, Mohammed or Jesus. Imagine the death threats! (See South Park, “Mohammed” episode) However, the original Zoroaster evidently also had a beard; maybe […]

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