ALBUM REVIEW- Where The Corpses Sink Forever by Carach Angren

As said in the beginning of every Fallout game, "War, war never changes" and that quote resonates deep for me, especially with this record. Carach Angren is a three piece Dutch symphonic Black Metal band and their 2012 release Where The Corpses Sink Forever has been a recent listen for me, and one I wholeheartedly felt all the fucking feels to.
 To start, this record, unlike their previous ones deals with the subject of war. With track names like "General Nightmare" and "Spectral Infantry Battalions" you can't avoid the refrences to warfare. And there are even more blatant ones such as in the track "The Funerary Dirge of a Violinist" which tells the story of a violinist in the Ardennes campaign during WW2. The songs themselves are horrific in lyrical material, and one that particularly gives me chills is Bitte Tötet Mich or Kill me Please. 
 Instrumentally, this release from Carach Angren is beautifully symphonic, eerily almost and laden with the normal black metal elements that we've grown to love and cherish in the genre at large. I'm particularly fond of how the symphonic elements meld so beautifully with the rest of the instruments, and it's incredible how the band is only a three piece. The drums are phenomenal, fast and aggressive but meaningful as well. Overall, this is an instrumentally flawless release.
 Vocally, this release is great as well, and I say that only because of the harshness, tonality and how well annunciated they are. Vocalist Dennis "Seregor" Droomers is a masterful vocalist, and I can hear nothing that would make me want more and give any negative critique of the music. This is beyond your run of the mill metal, it's artful, tasteful and laden with feelings.

Overall, this release is pretty much flawless, and earns a solid 9/10 from us.

Listen and Purchase here

REVIEW: Cultus Profanum Sordes [EP] by Timeless Wounds

Bandcamp discovery time, and this time I found a heavy as hell band from Sofia, Bulgaria. This record is dark, aggressive and overall in your fucking face. Whether it be some slamming riffs or equally as slammy breakdowns, this record has it for you. In reference to the title, Cultus Profanum Sordes translates to Cultivation Pollution, and if that doesn't tell you something about how gnarly this band is, well I don't know what will.
 Instrumentally, it's slow and chuggy which is nothing too impressive, but it's absolutely formulaic to the genre. The riffs are slow as mentioned but are well positioned and executed through the whole of the EP, I'm particularly partial to the Indominus which starts out with this really gnarly chuggy riff that just makes you want to crowd kill the whole room. The basstone is nice, but where this record shines is the drums, with a really tight snare that gets me going. The double bass is also really tight and the cymbal work is phenomenal. The vocals are strong, and I get a huge No Zodiac vibe from them. There were a few spoken parts that were in Bulgarian, which flowed nicely as well, so no complaints on that end.
 Overall, this record is a solid 8/10, which was hard to give, given the repetitive nature of downtempo as a whole. Repetitive however, does not mean that it's not good and boy was this record good.

8/10
Listen and download here

REVIEW: PEACE FUCKERS EP by ALLERGY

Through my never ending searches through the many tabs of Bandcamp, I discovered Allergy, a noise punk band from Gainsville, Florida. From the material presented in this EP, I can totally get behind what this band has to offer. And what exactly do they offer, well, that's some in your face, aggressive noise punk with some really sick powerviolence overtones.
 Instrumentally, it's fast, hectic and at the same time well put together. Through this cacophony of noise I heard some really sick riffs, particularly in the third minute or so of the EP. The bass tone is tight, and really flows through the whole thing as well. The drums are punk, but also have some really sick powerviolence laden blast beats alongside it. The vocals are pretty good, and give me a really strong Infest vibe, which I was particularly fond of as Infest is a great act in my opinion.
 My only gripe, and that's me nitpicking, is that I'd like to be able to hear the material a little bit more clearly, but I have to take into account that this is a noise act, so I guess I can't really complain there.
 Overall, this EP is for fans of Infest, noise punk and really hectic music.

This release earns a solid, strong 6/10

Listen here

CLASSIC REVIEW: Dookie by Green Day

Green day are one of the few 90s rock bands still around where you can ask "who here heard green day's new album" and most people would know what you were on about. Forming in the late 80s to little success, the band went from a bland punk band to a world renowned pop punk band in a span of 5 years. This success is largely due to the 1994 release "Dookie". The album has been out for over two decades now and is still considered legendary due to the number of hit singles off it and the mainstream appeal it attracted to the punk scene. While it gets a whole lot of criticism for that reason exactly, its hard to deny the sheer impact the album has had on this generation, with incredibly catchy hooks, relatable angsty lyrics, hard, driving guitars, and fast paced drumming it's not surprising they've cemented themselves in history. With songs like longview detailing teenage angst and the things we do in our lonesome, and songs like basket case telling the story of a man feeling unsafe in his own head (in humorous fashion might I add) the album back to back features strong melodies and strong storytelling penned from singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong. In terms of instrumentation, it's important not to leave out Mike Dirnt's excellent bass work (especially on songs like longview) and Tre Cool's tremendous fast paced drumming. There are flaws, as during some parts of the albums it feels like the same songs are on loop but the unique little details on each track make them stand out and differentiate them enough to make it enjoyable. Is it their best work? No, but looking at the background information and the influence it's had dookie has truly left it's mark in history. Rank 7/10 (Above Average) Article by John Wolf

Lolipop Your Heart Out Spotlight

This upcoming weekend is the mini-fest Lolipop Your Heart Out. This is a one day festival that will be taking place in Los Angeles, California at The Teragram Ballroom. This is a one day only festival and Lolipop Records is hosting this event. This is a mix of bands on their roster that are punk, indie, and garage.

Lineup February 6^th

Mystic Braves

Corners

Part Time

Peach Kellipop

Psychomagic

Billy Changer

The Creation Factory

Samira’s Infinite Summer

Beach Bum

  

F*ck Mike Fest Spotlight

This upcoming Saturday is F*ck Mike Fest in Poughkeepsie, New York. This small fest is run by Upstate Media Production and it features punk, indie, and pop-punk bands from all over the east coast. This is one day fest will be at My Pizza Place. Also, Long Island pop-punk band Makeshift will be playing this fest.

Lineup

Ampersand

Caliway

Cold Hands

Lakeside

Sound of a Smirk

Tides

Tribute

Makeshift

One For The Braves

Johnny Manna

Contradictions

Luciano Ferrara

Break Down The Walls

Forever The Athlete

Bryan Corns.

Upcoming Shows 2/5/16-2/11/16

Here's a list of upcoming shows that we would like you to check out. Most of these shows are Rock shows and are all in the Tri-State area.
February 5th 
1. AMH- Shorebreak, Makeshift, Nice Shot Kid, Commonwealth, Table Talk, Staleworth, Macseal.
2. Saint Vitus Bar- Banquets (Final Show), Time Shares, The Holy mess, Save Ends, Brian Rottenbeck.
3. Shea Stadium- Gurus, Strange But True, Wing, Laura & Greg.
4. Suburbia- Chumped, Never, Strange Pride.
5. Shakers Pub- I Dreamt The Sea, Enemy of The State, Felix, Reign of Terror, Ziana, Jungle Gypsy.
6. VFW Post 220- Pines, Breaking Tradition, Reward, Tyler Surfert, Indian Pun, Darkwood, Benny G.
7. Aviv- Beth Israel, Heaven's Gate, Secret Crush, Melt.
8. Blackthorn 51- Whiplash, Magus Beast, Lost Legacy, Paralysis, Sycarian, Black Dawn, Bad Groove, Bestial God.
9. Market Hotel- Show Me The Body, B L A C K I E, Moor Mother Goddess.
10. The Meatlocker- The Vansaders, Morningside Lane, Bobby Mahoney & The Seventh Son, Jean Pool, Sad Lips, The Ramparts Rebel.
February 6th
1. Pulaski Club- Jagged Visions, LifeLess, Dysentery, Laid 2 Rest, Absolute Suffering, Iron Price, Enraged Youth, Cut Short.
2. Suburbia- Chumped (Final Show), Jeff Rosenstock, Chris Gethard, Adult Dude.
3. Even Flow Bar and Grill (Last Show for Venue)- The Avoiders, All New Episode, Flak Jacket, NFU, All Things End, Last Call Brawl, Czech Funk.
4. Terminal 5- Lotus, El Ten Eleven.
5. Shea Stadium- The Ying Yangs, The Due Diligence, Parlor Walls, Sin, Milk Dick.
6. Village Pub Lindenhurst- Sewage, Couch N Commando, The Wurst, Cherry Pop.
7. Parkside Pub- Urban Waste, Yo! $cunt, Enziguri, Examine, False Gods, Fragmented.
8. Blackburn Hall- Frogs Party, Jean Pool, Call Out, Motor heart Man, Jacobus.
9. BoonTunes- Matt Pless, Danni May, Eli Astronauto, Dream Alchemy, The Surprise of the Century, LA Ristress.
10. Groove Cafe & Juice Bar- Fire is Motion, Ishmael, The Planet You, Wrestling Moves.
11. In The West- The Best of the World, The Moms, Holy City Zoo, Teenage Halloween.
12. ABC No Rio- In Aeona, A Film in Color, Somnuri, NY in 64.
13. The Space- Palehound, Violent Mae, Quiet Giant, Ruby Nightingale.
14. The Grand Victory- The Dandy Lions, Crowd The Firwaves, Dalton Deschair, Juliana Christ.
15. Aviv- Peter Stampfel, Anmlplnet, Lauren Measure, Out of System Transfer, The Dress.
16. Left field- Hopeless Otis, Sound Revolution, Sexy Teenagers, Gone By Friday.
February 7th
1. Championships- LifeLess, Laid 2 Rest, Iron Price, Paid in Full, Departed, Time Spent.
2. Gramercy Theatre- Voivod, Vektor, Extinction A.D., Eight Bells.
3. The Meatlocker- Epilude, Stumpf, Weirdface, Marigolds.
February 8th 
1. Saint Vitus Bar- Night Rile, Skuz, I Disappear, Dead Corpse.
February 9th
February 10th
1. The Acheron- The Brass, NYC HeadHunter, Haram, Filth Hound.
February 11th 
1. Saint Vitus Bar- Whores, Fight Amp, Fashion Week, Haan.
2. The Stone Pony- Voivod, Vektor, Eight Bells.
3. Shea Stadium- Field Trip, Lightning Bug, Iris Lane, Gods.

Midwest Blood Fest 2016

This upcoming weekend is the annual Midwest Blood Fest. MWB, aka Midwest Blood Fest, is the biggest hardcore fest in the Midwest and features a lot of bands from this area. The festival will be held on February 5^th and February 6^th. The festival is located in New Albany, Indiana and the venue is New Albany Production House. For everyone that is going, please have a great time and stay safe.

February 5^th

Weekend Nachos

Harms Way

Knocked Loose

Cross Me

Detain

Stone

Purgatory

Out of Time

Blindside USA

No Victory

Crisis Unit

Nine Eyes

Miracle Drug

Judiciary

Breaking Wheel

Bib

Doomcow

February 6^th

Another Mistake (Final Show)

Rude Awakening

Bent Life

Written Off (Reunion)

Damaged Goods

Spine

Will To Die

Break Away

Society Sucker

Wild Side

Falter

Lost Souls

Hit List

Survival Method

Spitback

Head Creeps

Sons of Southern Darkness

Threshold

Purity Control

Street Rat

Muse and X Ambassadors at The Prudential Center 1/29/16

Last Friday my friend and I took a road trip to Newark, New Jersey to see Muse. I have been waiting years to see this band and I finally got a chance to see them. Back in 2010 I missed my chance when they played Nassau Coliseum. This was my first time going to the Prudential Center for a show. I have only been to the venue once and that was for a New York Rangers vs. New Jersey Devils playoff game. The arena is very nice and open. Our tickets were general admission and once we got to the floor we saw that the stage was round.  The stage was in the center and it was wild.

The opening band was the X Ambassadors. This indie rock band from upstate New York played a great set last Friday. They were not my style but they got the crowd going and they sounded great live. The lead singer's voice was amazing. The band sounded like Imagine Dragons but more instrument based. Overall, they played a great set. Seriously, if you like pop bands who act like they're an ndie band this band is for you. I actually see this band blowing up sometime this year.

Muse took the stage and from start to finish the show was amazing. The production of the show was incredible and the band rocked the house. Muse is a three piece band from England and these guys are so talented. Muse did not play my two favorite songs which are “Plug In Baby” and “Stockholm Syndrome.” Besides that Muse was great and I could see this band again. It was crazy how everything was set up. This show had just as much production value as the time I saw Roger Waters performing The Wall at Yankee Stadium. This was 100% worth the ride and I recommend seeing this band before you die. Seriously, Muse is amazing and they put on a great show. I am glad I got this chance.

Muse- 10/10

X Ambassadors- 8/10

Prudential Center- 8/10

Upcoming Tours

January Releases

So the first month of 2016 is over and so far it's come out strong. This year I am expecting a lot great music to come out. This month there was a fair share of great music. Here are some of albums, EPs and demos to check out.

My Top Three

1.      Basement- Promise Everything

2.      Milk Teeth- Vile Child

3.      Discolor- Wake

Here are some of the other releases I thought were great and worth checking out.

Agoraphobic Nosebleeds- Arc

Full of Hell- Amber Mote in the Black Vault

GAG- American’s Greatest Hits

GOTTEM- Infinity Blues

Labeled- Demo

Lion Heart- Love Don’t live here

Lume- Perennial Phase

Mindset- Nothing Less

Molly Drag- Tethered Rendering

Nerves Ending- Demo 16

The Pooches- Heart Attack

Secret Stuff- This is Fine

Snow Roller- Another Step in your Career Ladder  

Ty Seagull- Emotional Mugger  

Washer- Here Comes Washer

Upcoming Tours

REVIEW- Schisma by O' Krwenen

Daily bandcamp surfing has led me to finding another solid release, this time from Lille, France. O' Krwenen is, at least to my ear, a post grind band but for all intensive purposes, I'm just gonna say they're for fans of Full of Hell, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Ion Dissonance and and Meshuggah. It's chaotic yet has great structure and feeling in the tracks and overall is really very enjoyable for the avid fan of extreme music.
 Now, getting down to the guts of the tracks, the guitars are chuggy but also have some really great riffs as well. The breakdown parts are particularly mosh worthy and can be as good an ass beater as any other really. The bass tone is really nice, and fills out nicely but the drums are where I really fall in love. The drum parts are cohesive, well structured and at the very same time chaotic. They can go from a blast beating in your fucking face part to a solid moshy breakdown. Vocally, I can hear elements of grind for sure, but also some elements of what could be considered early 2000's metalcore elements. Some of my personal favorite tracks on this release are Hiatus and The Fall, particularly the latter because of the groove it has to it. Overall, this release is hectic, chaotic and any other synonym I can think of really, but also very much a well constructed release that I would absolutely love to hear live one day if ever I find myself in Lille or anywhere in France that the band may play.

7/10

Bands I've Never Seen Before.

I’ve been attending concerts since 2009 and I’ve seen 698 bands in my lifetime. I love going to shows. I usually go to a show once a week on average. I’ve been to at least two hundred shows. My goal is to see 1,000 bands before 30 but at this rate I think I'll change that to when I graduate in May. So far this year I've only been to five shows, but last year I attended 107 shows so I think I’m going to relax for bit. Usually I post about the shows I attend, but this post is a little different. I’m making a list of bands I want to see in my life and some reunions I wish could happen. I might see some of these bands, it would be cool to see all of them. This list might shock you because of the bands I never seen before. Starting in Febuary I’ll be making lists of 100 bands I’ve seen and briefly talking about them. So here’s the list of bands that are on major labels, small labels, and local bands.

1. 108
2. 25 ta life
3. 311
4. 7 Angels 7 Plagues
5. 7 Seconds
6.  ACDC
7. ACXDC
8. The Adolescents
9. Against Me!
10. Agent Orange
11. Alice in Chains
12. Alkaline Trio 
13. American Football
14. Anti Nowhere League
15. At The Drive In
16. Axis
17. The Banner
18. Babes in Toyland
19. Beach Slang
20. Best Coast
21. Better Off
22. Billy Club Sandwich
23. Birds in Row
24. xBishopx
25. Blacklisted
26. Blink-182
27. Blondie
28. Bob Mould
29. The Bouncing Souls
30. Boysetsfire
31. Brand New
32. Break Away
33. The Breeders
34. The Business
35. The Butthole Surfers
36. Cadet
37. Camera Shy
38. Captain We’re Sinking
39. Caught in a Crowd
40. Cave In
41. Cerebral Ballzy
42. Cheap Trick
43. City Cop
44. Charged GBH
45. Cheap Trick
46. Cloakroom
47. Coke Bust
48. Cold As Life
49. Comeback Kid
50. Crowbar
51. The Cure
52. Death (Punk)
53. Deftones
54. Depeche Mode
55. Descendents
56. Detain
57. Discharge
58. Disembodied
59. Disengage
60. Disgrace
61. District 9
62. Dog Eat Dog
63. Doomriders
64. Down
65. Down In It
66. Dowsing
67. Drive Like Jehu
68. Drop Dead
69. Drug Church
70. The Dwarves
71. E. Town Concrete
72. Ed Gein
73. Elvis Costello
74. Elvis Depressdly
75. Embrace
76. Empire! Empire ! ( I Was A Lonely Estate)
77. Entombed
78. The Exploited
79. Eyehategod
80. Faith No More
81. The Fall
82. Farside
83. Fiddlehead
84. FIDLAR
85. Firewalker
86. Flogging Molly
87. FloorPunch
88. Free Throw
89. The Front Bottoms
90. Fucking Invincible
91. Fuck You Pay Me
92. Fugazi
93. Gates
94. The Geeks
95.  The Get Up Kids
96. Ghost
97. G.L.O.S.S.
98. Gogol Bordello
99. Goldfinger
100. Gorilla Biscuits
101. Guns N Roses
102. Have Heart
103. Hate Force
104. Haymaker
105. Helmet
106. Hole
107. Hot Snakes
108. Hum
109. Husker Du
110. I.C.E.
111. Iggy Pop & The Stooges
112. Indecision
113. Integrity
114. Irate
115. Jank
116. Jawbox
117. Jawbreaker
118. Jawbreaker Reunion
119. Jimmy Eat World
120. Judge
121. The Killers
122. Killing Joke
123. Killing Time
124. Knapsack
125. Krust
126. L7
127. La Dispute
128. Lifetime
129. Limp Wrist
130. Lionheart
131. The Locust
132. Loma Prieta
133. Lost Souls
134. Lush
135. Mac Demarco
136. Make Do and The Mend
137. Marilyn Manson
138. Mastodon
139.  MDC
140. Melt Banana
141. The Melvins
142. The Men
143. Merauder
144. The Merciless Concept
145. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
146. Milk Teeth
147. Mission of Burma
148. M.O.D.
149. Modern Life is War
150. The Moms
151. Mondo Generator
152. Motion City Soundtrack
153. Mudhoney
154. Murphy’s Law
155. Muskets
156. My Bloody Valentine
157. My Chemical Romance
158. Nails
159. Napalm Death
160. Nasty
161. Negative Approach
162. Neglect
163. New Order
164. Nine Inch Nails
165. Nomeansno
166. No Bunny
167. No Redeeming Social Value
168. No Tolerance
169. No Zodiac
170. Noose
171. NORA
172. Oathbreaker
173. The Obessives
174. OFF!
175. Old Gray
176. One Life Crew
177. Operation Ivy
178. The Orwells
179. Outer Heaven
180. Patti Smith
181. Pearl Jam
182. Pears
183. The Police
184. Praise
185. Primus
186. The Promise Ring
187. Public Image Ltd
188. Punch
189. Pure Disgust
190. Purge
191. Queens of The Stone Age
192. Queensway
193. The Queers
194. Quicksand
195. Rage Against The Machine
196. Rammstein
197. Red Hot Chili Peppers
198. REM
199. Renounced
200. xRepeptancex
201. The Replacements
202.  RingFinger
203. RVIVR
204. Samiam
205. Sand
206. Saves The Day
207. Self Defense Family
208. Set Your Goals
209. Sex Pistols
210. Sex Prisoner
211. Shattered Realm
212. Sheer Mag
213. Single Mothers
214. Slapshot
215. Slowdive
216. Smashing Pumkins
217. Snapcase
218. Social Distortion
219. S.O.D. 
220. Somos  
221. Sonic Youth
222. Soundgarden
223. Spraynard
224. Steel Nation
225. Stiff Little Fingers
226. Stick Together
227. Street Dogs
228. Streetlight Manifesto
229. Strife
230. Subhumans (BC)
231. Subhumans (UK)
232. Sum 41
233. System of A Down
234. Take One Car
235. Taking Back Sunday
236. Teenage Bottlerocket
237. Thou
238. Threads
239. Thrice
240. Thursday
241. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
242. Tool
243. Total Chaos
244. T.S.O.L.
245. Ty Seagull
246. U2 
247. Underdog
248. Unit 731
249. United Nations
250. Violent Femmes 
251. Vision of Disorder
252. Walls of Jericho
253. War on Women
254. Weezer
255. The Weirdos
256. Westkust
257. The White Stripes 
258. The World is a beautiful place & I Am No longer afraid to die
259. World of Pain
260. X
261. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
262. You Blew It!
263. Young and in the Way
264. Youth of Today
265. Zoom