Melon
by Jay Snyder
June 26, 2009
 Delaware has become the home of a delicious new fruit commodity; a peculiar type of Melon that delivers a juicy, flavorful burst of audio instead of anything related to the taste buds. Now, maybe that sounds downright ridiculous but it isn't a far fetched descriptive effort! In fact, this high-flying quartet is taking some bold liberties with the stoner rock formula, thus creating a uniquely, refreshing zest. They're too damn experimental to be labeled with the aforementioned tag...
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Spice
by Chris Barnes
May 15, 2009
 The unmistakable rumble of Spice's voice and Mike Amott's (Arch Enemy) guitar pyro put the Spiritual Beggars on the map in the mid-90's with amazing albums like Mantra III and Another Way To Shine. For those of us into the heavy 70's groove and riffs, the Beggars remain the end all be all of the retro-minded resurgence. Spice's contributions to the music and lyrics made the Beggars an aural juggernaut. After Spice left the band, the quality of the...
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Sollubi
by Chris Barnes
May 1, 2009
 Every time I come across a Christopher (Griff) Griffith project I think of the episode of Deadwood (RIP) where Calamity Jane tells Doc Cochran that he's got a ‘dark turn of mind'. Deadwood was known for it's unflinching portrayal of life and never pulled any punches when it came to violence or exploring the dark side of the human experience. Griff brings the same sort of ethic to rock n' roll. The gritty, mostly gut-wrenching scenarios he writes for RAPE-X pus...
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Hellmouth
by Chris Barnes
April 15, 2009
 Rage un-caged is how to best describe Detroit's Hellmouth, one of the few bands that have made me sit up and pay attention as we head into the middle of a bleak '09. These guys were raised in the city of Detroit, no easy feat in any period of our history, but now a morass of unemployment, racial tension and violence and an overall decline in economic and political stability. To say that the city is hanging on by a thread is an understatement. That being s...
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Fiftywatthead
by Jay Snyder
April 2, 2009
 Ontario's Fiftywatthead have existed for years, but somehow manage to avoid the limelight here in the states. Never have I heard anyone talking about these dudes and it's a crying shame! Friends till the end, the band has kept the same core quartet since their inception and the sound has benefited greatly from the stable line-up. They've been honing and developing their craft since their first official outing, Volume 1; a ragged, tattered beast of jerky noise-rock and thunder...
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Valkyrie
by Chris Barnes
March 4, 2009
 One of the benefits of running your own webzine is that I get to interview the bands I really want to interview versus bands I could give two shits about but their label and PR people are willing to pay for a full page ad if I just suck it up. Virginia's Valkyrie is a band I have really wanted to interview for some time now, having really dug the band after their self-titled debut back in 2006 and last year's incredible Man Of Two Visions<...
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Dark Forest
by Chris Barnes
March 1, 2009
 If I played Dark Forest's debut for you, and you had any sense of history or taste in the field of Heavy Metal, you'd swear on the Baby Jesus that Dark Forest was an English band circa 1981 and that their debut was stuck in a vault and Old Man Barnes swam to Blighty to rescue it from time and present it to your ears for your personal edification and enjoyment. Seriously, if you...
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UFO Gestapo
by Jay Snyder
February 28, 2009
 You haven't experienced suffering until you've sat down and been ground to a pulp by France's UFO Gestapo and their sundering S/T album on Calculon Records. Nothing in recent memory has sounded so diseased, so barely on the edge of sanity as this nuthouse explosion. Among the Missing is probably the closest, more recent comparison with other attractive names such as Goatsblood, Seven Foot Spleen and Dystopia, resting on the tip of the tongue. 80's crust spews ...
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Masters Of Luxury
by Jay Snyder
February 1, 2009
 I sense a rich, shape-shifting career out of young upstarts Masters of Luxury; a career which mimics the band's sound to a tee. The Ohio based five-piece has already put a stamp on a special brand of stimulating, sonic abrasion which is one that they can proudly call their own. It's hard to think of a lot of bands who can pack so many varying styles into a full-length and an EP and still manage to sound focused. Their 2006 debut, Welcome to Opulence pitted stoner thund...
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SerpentCult
by Chris Barnes
January 22, 2009
 SerpentCult are a true success story in the sometimes sordid world of heavy music. After being poised for success with Thee Plague of Gentlemen, a series of unfortunate events tore the band apart in 2005. Immediately after the demise of TPoG, Fred, Cozy and Steven formed SerpentCult with a clear artistic vision but not the chops needed to handle the all important vocal duties. In steps Michelle Nocon and her amazing 'Air Raid Siren' voice. The lads pe...
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