Black Peaks – ‘Statues’ [Review]

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I’ve written so many evangelical words about Black Peaks in the past that I’m sure at some point, I’ll exhaust every possible positive adjective in the dictionary raving about them.

Instead, I’ll keep this short and simple. Statues is the album modern rock junkies worldwide have been waiting for – even if they don’t know it yet.

Long-time Black Peaks fans will already be familiar with Read more…

Posted on 05 April 2016

The Colour Line – ‘The Long Awaited Seal Of Disapproval’ [Review]

Visualise Steve Vai and Guthrie Govan jamming with The Dillinger Escape Plan, and you’ll come close to the core of The Colour Line’s sound throughout E=MC Hammered and Usama’s Bin Liners. Marrying playful guitars with hectic drums and an impressively versatile vocal courtesy of frontman Sam Rudderforth, these guys have managed to take a well-established style and twist the mathcore kaleidoscope to a unique position. Nice.

R.E.D. almost brings The Knack’s My Sharona to mind, fucking with Read more…

Posted on 26 February 2016

HECK – ‘Instructions’ [Review]

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You are lying in a field. It’s sunny. Everything is happy. Good. Nice. Yay.

Suddenly, black clouds obscure the sun. Drum-thunder rumbles for a second or so.

Then the hail begins.

Freezing, harsh, relentless. Bullet-like balls of ice fall from the sky, their journey ended only by the soft flesh of your face. You flail frantically, your hands tugging your hoodie’s hood over your head as you get up and run. Head down, eyes Read more…

Posted on 25 February 2016

Heck – ‘The Breakers’ [Review]

If your day is getting to you, listening to The Breakers could go one of two ways:

1) Heck’s beyond-insane mathcore-or-noise-or-whatever onslaught helps you release all that tension and frustration, as you headbang your way into a blissfully ecstatic semi-transcendent state…or

2) It just gives you a headache, resulting in you taking all the painkillers and maybe weeping from the trauma.

Either way, at least some kind of Read more…

Posted on 23 October 2015

Let’s Talk Daggers – ‘A Beautiful Life’ [Review]

If you’ve ever wondered what a panic attack might sound like, look no further than this album.

Let’s Talk Daggers do hyperventilating riffs, bludgeoning beats, and rhythms that would make a professional mathematician’s mind cave in. They don’t do sweet, calming chillaxatives – and even when they do turn down the intensity, the results possess a constant undercurrent of disturbed unease.

This is not the kind of music you’d admit to enjoying on a first date. Read more…

Posted on 07 October 2015

Pulo Revé – ‘É’ [Review]

To spot a great band in the darkest depths of the underground, start by asking yourself the following questions:

1) Are they recycling the same old tired clichés?

2) Can you hear their influences?

2a) If so, do those influences flow into each other and blend well?

3) Do they sound like they mean it?

4) Does the production job do the music justice?

The answers you’re looking for are:

1) No;

2) I don’t care, because this is badass!;

2a) Yes;

3) Yes;

4) Hell yes.

É‘s Introductory Blues passes this test effortlessly. Acoustic guitar fiddliness in the vein of Candyrat Records gives way to Enter Shikari-style vocalisations, a buildup into Read more…

Posted on 12 September 2015