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Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

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Music News

Actor/Horror Icon COURTNEY GAINS Announces New Single – ‘Fear The Boogie’

Musician, actor, and celebrated horror icon COURTNEY GAINS, most known for his role as Malachai in the 1984 horror classic Children Of The Corn, will release a brand new song this Halloween. A hook-laden heavy rock horror anthem, ‘Fear The Boogie’ is a collaboration between Gains and Peruvian guitarist/producer Wal. The song was written for the soundtrack to Barn III, an upcoming horror film starring Gains and Kelly Maroney (Fast Times Tt Ridgemont High). Drums on the track were recorded by Toni Mateos (www.tonimateos.com), an accomplished session drummer with credits spanning rock, pop, and film music. Gains and Wal previously […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Motherless – Do You Feel Safe?

From BIBLE OF THE DEVIL to LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR to USURPER to the almighty classic lineup of TROUBLE, Chicago, Illinois has long been a bastion of rock and metal largely bereft of the accoutrements that hold many of its counterpart local and regional scenes in check. No checklist here; that got rolled up and smoked long ago, a PBR can used for a pipe sitting in the front seat of someone’s car before clocking in for work for a double shift at some thankless blue-collar job. What matters is the riff, brethren and sisters! The sound of the drums. […]

Short Sharp Shocks

Psilocybe Larvae – Новый дивный мир [EP]

Russia’s majestic doom/death practitioners return after the emotionally and sonically crushing Where Silence Dwells with Новый дивный мир (Brave New World), a short but poignant EP. Writing for the first time in the band’s native language, the title track is aching from the start, a longing for a brave new world that wasn’t, isn’t, and can never be. Harmonies roll on a sea of crestfallen notes until pounding waves crash down, submerging. ‘Черта’ (‘The Line’) is begins windswept and contemplative before an overpowering passion swallows, the addition of a second guitar adding heft to the band’s already weighty sound and […]

Short Sharp Shocks

FALL & RESIST – Dissolved In Misery [EP]

Australian quintet FALL & RESIST returns with its third EP. At under 20 minutes there’s no time to waste, but the first 0:54 of ‘Living The Lie’ are perfect, building up from a scratchy vinyl to so keys, then finally exploding with a robustness the band hasn’t displayed previously. The guitars could’ve been more forward in this mix, but it’s a small complaint. There’s a bit of NWOAHM in ‘Moments Of Clarity’, yet nary a breakdown, the band clearly having spent time trying to hew out their own sound in a cluttered scene. ‘Cogs In The Machine’ ups the ante […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Vindicator – Whispers Of Death

It’s an all out thrash attack from this long-running Ohio band, and they really know what they’re doing. You don’t have to get too deep into Whispers Of Death to realize this is a veteran band that focuses on the essence of thrash. There’s no attempt to update the sound, smooth things out or add some grand concept to what they’re doing…they’re in it to whoop ass and that’s about it. You might not be able to sit down for a week after the ass-whooping delivered here. When VINDICATOR is operating at its peak, they rival EXODUS as far as […]

Music News

Thrash Titans VINDICATOR to Return with Whispers Of Death – New Song Streaming

Ohio’s thrash torchbearers VINDICATOR are gearing up for the release of Whispers Of Death, the band’s fifth and most destructive full-length album. Known for their firebranded approach to songwriting and relentless energy, VINDICATOR delivers an album true to their roots. This is raw, aggressive thrash — no filler, no compromise and no bullshit. Thrash or be thrashed. VINDICATOR has shared a stream of the album’s first single, the aptly titled ‘Thirst For Violence’. The band comments on the song, “’Thirst For Violence’ is, as the song title implies, a song about absolute destruction helmed by a race of creatures who […]

Music News

Stoner/Doom Metal Powerhouse, THORNDALE, Announce New Album, Spiritual Chains

THORNDALE, the Netherlands-based stoner/doom metal powerhouse, is thrilled to announce the September 12 release of their sophomore album, Spiritual Chains. A music video for the album’s first single, ‘Veins Of The Phoenix’, is available HERE This highly anticipated follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2024 debut, Lightning Spawn, promises a darker and more mature sound, showcasing the band’s evolving artistry and the addition of a second guitar player to their lineup. Comprised of seasoned musicians from notable acts such as Adarrak, Killing Darlings, Embers Of Oblivion, Epinikion, and Primal Charge, their unique blend of heavy, stoner, and doom metal has resonated […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Walking Bombs – Blessings Bestrewn Part 1

While being extremely new to shapeshifter(s) WALKING BOMBS, courtesy of the January 2025 mixtape Bong Hits For The Death Of Imperialism, I quickly realized there was something possibly fantastic to be discovered. I mined the Brave Hours record of 2017, surprised to find more of a “true” band setup (whatever that is anymore), and found the indie-folk of ‘Loveislove’ childlike that best way, simple and strong enough to be. ‘Flower Punx 4ever’ became a memory trip through my own days of coming up in that glorious era of skaters/BMXers who jammed RUN DMC, CIRCLE JERKS and HUSKER DU on the […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: The Medea Project – Kharon

THE MEDEA PROJECT lists its beginning as 2003, however, the UK duo’s first long-player didn’t arrive until 2020’s Sisyphus. Enjoyable, succinct, thinking neither too highly of itself, nor too headily about the sound it was crafting, the band – while not going leagues beyond in a search for a singular sound – used economy to its advantage on the debut. EPs Southern Echoes (2021) and Reflections (2023) acted as sonic travelogues, showing that THE MEDEA PROJECT was beginning to search its own heart to discover what blood flowed through. Anguished vocals submerged in a wet fog moan/cry from behind the […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Rum Runners – Wreck And Revere [EP]

Well, ALESTORM’s gone to shite long ago, SWASHBUCKLE’s last yawnfest was a song about the movie Starship Troopers, and YE BANISHED PRIVATEERS – while fantastic – aren’t what I’d call metal, so it’s about time for another pirate-themed crew, aye? RUM RUNNERS think so, returning after 2015’s The Quest For Mead with Wreck And Revere, new crewmates aboard, and ready to (hopefully) hoist my not so Jolly but quite formidable Roger. ‘In Sirens’ Wake’ eschews the trappings of for a feisty, thrash-injected thrust of the prow into the open seas, a bit of EDGUY (sans comedic tomfoolery) in their delivery, […]

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