Release date: May 3, 2019 Label: Self-Release Hailing from Winnipeg, Canada, Dizzy Mystics serves up, Wanderlost. This debut album is best described as psychedelic rock seasoned liberally with dashes of funk and metal. The musicianship on this album is indeed dizzying.  Letter opens the album with intense groove. The Frequent See, Consistent Seas exemplifies the surprising catchyness and melody buried beneath […]

Release date: March 29, 2019 Label: Outerloop Records Following a brief acoustic intro, A Wake in Providence go right to work.  This album is heavy. Like…really heavy. At times, The Blvck Sun/The Blood Moon pummels you like a ton of bricks with guttural growls and heavy break downs before shifting gears at break-neck speed to wraith-like shrieks and technical […]

Release date: March 29, 2019 Label: Static Records There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding Moon Tooth’s sophomore release over recent weeks. It’s rare to find a band that you can say has a truly original sound but Moon Tooth approaches that mark. Although, there are elements of sound that sound familiar, Moon Tooth’s particular combination of musical ingredients is truly […]

Release date: April 12, 2019 Label: Self-Release Heavy and groovy, Sludgehammer could be described as equal parts Soilwork/Sepultura/Pantera. A young band, Sludgehammer, plays brings a unique brand of death metal that’s heavy on the grooves. Antechamber is the band’s debut EP and opens with a killer single, No Control. The track is full of aggressive drumming and equally ferocious riffs […]

Release date: September 7, 2018 Label: Entertainment One U.S.  Skyharbor blends progressive metal with emo and hardcore. Essentially the finished product sounds like Circa Survive and The Contortionist got together to record an album. If you’re into soaring vocals paired with the heavy riffs, you’ll dig this album. Dim kicks off the album and is my favorite track. The instrumentation is interesting […]

Evil. There’s no other way to describe the sound on Uncle Acid & The Deadbeat’s new release, Wasteland. It’s like The Beatles, Black Sabbath, and Electric Wizard formed a super-group and spent a summer hanging out with Alex and the gang from A Clockwork Orange.  I See Through You is a fuzzy and fitting start to an album chock-full of retro rock n’ […]

I spent large chunks of my high school career listening to Coheed and Cambria so I was excited to hear that my generation’s Rush has released a new album accompanied by an 80-page graphic novel. This 79-minute epic is full of progressive ballad-y tracks that are vintage Coheed and Cambria. Each song is catchy and will have you singing along […]

On previous efforts, Windhand let loose glorious moments of crushing gloom and fuzz that made it clear that the band had all of the pieces necessary to make a Sleep-esque record…they just couldn’t quite keep your attention. It’s hard to explain. You know that moment, when you’re  ALL IN for the first three tracks of an […]

The world needs more bands like Clutch. In a genre that consistently takes itself too seriously, Clutch is a band you can’t count on for a good time. They also happen to write some catchy songs. Book of Bad Decisions immediately shifts into gear with Gimme the Keys. The title track, Book of Bad Decisions, shows a new, funkier side of […]

Pig Destroyer has been releasing quality grindcore for over 20 years. I remember listening to Phantom Limb in 2007 and thinking that they were loud and fast but walked away from the album generally underwhelmed. Pig Destroyer still plays loud and fast and even warns on the opening track that they won’t be held responsible for any […]

Deafheaven are often categorized as black metal and vocalist George Clarke’s vocals would fit with any band in the genre. But to shoehorn Deafheaven into such a confining label is a disservice. On Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, Deafheaven dabbles in shoegaze, post-rock, and even balladry. The album opens with You Without End. Spoken word and piano give way […]

Black Fast– Spectre of Ruin Release date: 2018Jul13 Label: Entertainment One Black Fast’s mission is simple: play fast, destructive, and heavy metal. Spectre of Ruin is a sneaky pick for best heavy metal album of 2018. Black Fast can best be described as thrash metal and the album art provides a pretty accurate description of what […]

Impending Doom– The Sin and Doom Vol. II Release date: 2018Jun22 Label: Entertainment One Rating: 4/5 Impending Doom is a Christian deathcore band from Riverside, California. Despite the baggage and preconceptions that come with such a description, Impending Doom’s sound places them among some of the best in their genre. The Sin and Doom Vol. II […]

YOB– Our Raw Heart Release date: 2018Jun8 Label: Relapse Records Rating: 4/5 I’m admittedly late to the game with YOB. The Eugene, Oregon doom band released their first full-length album in 2001 but all I knew of them was the Red Fang cover of Dawn Rising featuring vocalist/guitarist Mike Scheidt. YOB recently released Our Raw Heart […]

Orange Goblin– The Wolf Bites Back Release date: 2018Jun15 Label: Universal Music Operations Limited Rating: 4/5 Although Orange Goblin doesn’t do much that hasn’t already been done by other artists in the doom genre, they have a formula that works.  The Wolf Bites Back would be an excellent soundtrack for you and your friends if you happen to be […]