CD Review: Idol and the Whip, Heavy Sleeper

This review originally appears at The 1st Five

Idol and the Whip

Heavy Sleeper

Self-Released

It used to be tough finding a heavy band with diversity in song structure and approach without just as easily settling for death metal, Tool or Fugazi. But these days the underground is more accepting of hard rock, or bands with hard rock influences. Suddenly it’s hip (or at least semi-hip) to listen to heavy rock, metal, hardcore, grindcore, and other headbanger material; from Bison BC to Barnburner to Mastodon.

There’s a lot of this crowd in Idol and the Whip, a four piece from Ann Arbor, Michigan who definitely have the heavy rock-near-metal sound down pat: a strength-boasting rock and roll style, flaring naturally with heavy metal harmonies and riffs. Their latest record Heavy Sleeper, available free as mp3 or for a buck in better quality at www.idolandthewhip.com, seemingly takes its title matter as a taunt. Even Hypnos couldn’t sleep through this.

Technical metal fans will be impressed by Heavy Sleeper's ability to pull out all the stops: epic arena-sized endeavours like closer “Calling Down The Dark”, original technical rock leads like that of “Grasscutter”, and utilizing the bass to its full potential with leading riffs in “Nocturne”. This is where the Tool-like aspect plays out.

What pulls Sleeper away from redundancy is that modern metal edge. No hair band shit, the cool stuff (mentioned above) that won’t get you kicked out of hipster circles. “Wasteland Battle Hymn”, “Leveled” and “Broken Crown” propagate a hooky metal sound that’s hard not to dig. Gladly, even harder to align with Guns ‘n’ Roses. Idol's got a heavy sound that isn’t overdone, grounds in riff diversity instead of candy-coated metal proven to sell but consequently unchanged.

Here and there a little Motorhead pops out in songs with fast, get-your-motor-running chugs and riffs, felt hard on album opener “Future Eyes”. There’s even a couple crusty punk jams, like record splitter “Watery Grave”, enough to wake you up amidst slower songs which occasionally dominate the record, like “Artery” and “Augur”. These faster, punkier tunes will let you sigh in relief that Sleeper isn’t all expansive stoner sludge.

With a touch of Dave Grohl tone in his throat, Chris Plumb has the ability to belt out chilling battle-cries throughout Sleeper. A black and white video of a pissed off muddy rugby team, dark rain slow-motion pouring over their angry faces, would fit naturally alongside his and these songs’ intimidation.

Review: Agnostic Front, My Life My Way

Agnostic Front
My Life My Way
4.75/5

Listen To: Self Pride

In their thirty-plus year career Agnostic Front has been a band of eras: way-back, gritty blasting street punk of United Blood and Victim In Pain; in the late eighties crossover thrash with Cause For Alarm and Liberty and Justice For...; even Oi! revival in the nineties.

AF's latest release, My Life My Way, is the third in their macho-hardcore Madball-esque period, starting with 2004's Nuclear Blast debut Another Voice. My Life My Way is arguably a mix between that record and 2007's Warriors.

In many areas of My Life, Miret's vocals fill out an edginess dropped on Warriors. On "Self Pride" he proclaims My pride burns deep with such weight, you can't help envisioning a brass-knuckle to your worthless gob. "That's Life" also packs a punch with classic AF blast-beats, think "United & Strong" or "Last Warning" ruthlessness.

Yet Warriors' deep dive into expansive breakdowns and slightly easier hardcore is also on this record, heard best on "Us Against The World" and "Until The Day I Die". These tunes don't rely on straight ahead thug-core like Another Voice, which some might dig. Their and other songs' uplifting Believe in yourself motif is also nice to hear.

There's even a little Riot, Riot Upstart found in album opener "City Street", a classic Miret homage to the only place him and Vinnie will ever be accepted. My Life's title track and "Now And Forever" have soulful street rock echoes. Mind you, all the influences on My Life surface from a solid bed of metal-hardcore.

Anyway, the haters won't like this record because there aren't any Cocksparrer covers. But they can fuck off. This is a band who invented their own genre, they do as they please.

STIGMA!

Track Listing:
1. City Street
2. More Than A Memory
3. Us Against The World
4. My Life My Way
5. That's Life
6. Self Pride
7. Until The Day I Die
8. Now And Forever
9. The Sacrifice
10. A Mi Manera
11. Your Worst Enemy
12. Empty Dreams
13. Time Has Come

Written for Tangible Sounds

Record Review: Fucked Up - Year Of The Ox

FUCKED UP
Year of the Ox
Merge Records, 2010

We all know bands grow up, but it’s usually into whiny commercial whores. That’s why it’s so great to watch Fucked Up somehow, with increasing severity, undercut punk’s simplistic ethos with every release. Indeed, they do it again on their latest, Year Of The Ox, the fourth instalment in a Zodiac themed singles line which has led the band in some of their most audibly absurd travels. And on a whole, at times completely off the cusp in any sense of hardcore punk, Fucked Up’s past five years, since their debut full-length record Hidden World and acclaimed follow-up The Chemistry of Common Life, showcases a band with an itching experimental side waiting to let loose.

On Ox, title track “Year Of The Ox” opens with an eerie violin and cello build-up, donated by Toronto orchestra ensemble New Strings Old Puppets, foreshadowing the song’s bass line and classical elements. Tension rises for just over a minute before the band kicks in. Damian Abraham immediately spits out his bludgeoning vocals in time with the guitar section’s stomping yet gentle hook that prevails as the thirteen minute song’s main riff.

A slight change in that hook switches up progression five minutes in. When the formula returns after a quick bridge, Abraham’s throat lashings assume an authoritative air while New Strings returns for an epic orchestral bridge. The guitar takes a backseat to elevating classical monstrosity reminiscent of Hidden World opener “Crusades” but with much more drawn out ampleness. Zola Jesus’s Nika Rosa Danilova dawns her voice in the latter half of the tune, offering mystical vocal swells amidst the now grittily palm muted guitar line.

“Ox” mixes the grandiose with the gutter, making it easy to wonder if Abraham would for once stop wrenching his guts, then Fucked Up would have to be labelled something other than punk or hardcore. What's punk about classically epic? Perhaps a question never to be answered by the troupe, but this song’s rule bending consciousness displays how punk doesn’t always have to laugh at itself, and can be seriously measured for all signs of integrity. Fucked Up proves punk is real music, even an academy-trained ear can recognise that.

The single’s B-side is another eye opener. Unlike previous Year Of’s backed with a couple two-minute punk standards, Ox flips over to the twelve minute “Solomon’s Song” uniquely featuring a saxophone line by Aerin Fogel of the Bitters. The bluesy intro leads to another low-mid tempo drum beat while a high-pitch guitar lead cycles over distant power chords. The song gets trippy as psychedelic delay effects are laid on the guitars during the choruses. When Abraham rests during the many, almost unnoticed bridges, the band is a marvel. Sandy wraths the bass strings offering low pitch punches; spacey bell rings and tremolo feedback jet out from hidden crevices; and Fogel wails on the sax for a broad five-minute outro.

Ox is monumental in mapping the evolution of Fucked Up from being an abrasive streetcore band to the scene’s forerunning innovators. Long time fans know they’re still thrashing and crashing, but to an obviously more intricate, grown-up style.

Published by This Literary Magazine

Early Graves

Goner

Rating: 4.5/5

Listen To: Rot
Skip It: Nothing.

All I can say to all my friends lately is "Holy fuck! Early Graves is awesome!" Their sophomore album, Goner, is a non-stop blowout of ferocious hardcore, dipping into thrash, punk and death metal for a smorgasbord of musical monstrosity.

Title track "Goner" jolts you into hysteria using a blaring siren effect, and then quickly slips into Early Graves's fast paced momentum. Chris Brock and Tyler Jensen's thrash knack is right at the fore front, buzz grinding through riffs like the best of 'em. The track provides a tasty breakdown with gut-ripping Terror-style vibrance. Enough said, I know, but I must go on.

"Rot" has an oldschool street tinge reminiscent of Victim In Pain era Agnostic Front. Raunchy guitar feedback rings over blasting drums before tempo slows for a crashing breakdown, and Makh Daniels venomously rips through the mic like a latter day GG Allin.

"Rot" leads seamlessly into another blastout, "May Day," which turns into a sludgy chug-fest for which Daniels keeps splattering his little black heart out. The song drowns out with over a minute of resonating guitar whine before "Wraiths" keeps the tempo down, relying on heavy metal riffing and more melodic feedback.

"Trauma," "Give Up" and "Bastard Tears" get your shitkickers moving again to their crashy, four-on-the-floor progressions. Brock and Jensen riff, chug, and solo around in amazing hooky fashion. Final track "Harm," another electroshocking feedback display, features John Strachan from The Funeral Pyre on vocals for a most furrow-browed album sender.

Simple yet one of a kind, Goner will leave you bloody nosed with its relentless energy.

Track Listing:

1. Goner
2. Faith Is Shit
3. Old Bones
4. Rot
5. May Day
6. Wraiths
7. Trauma
8. Give Up
9. Bastard Tears
10. Harm

Published by Tangible Sounds Magazine

CD Review: Grave Maker - Ghosts Among Men

Grave Maker
Ghosts Among Men
3.75/5

Listen To: Laid To Rest
Skip It: Nothing, every song is along the same lines.

Vancouver's Grave Maker, NWHC at its finest, have recently acquired a spot on Chicago-based Victory Records for their second full-length, Ghosts Among Men. The record is powerfully punchy, largely influenced by new style metal-hardcore which flooded the scene after eighties bands like Black Flag or Negative Approach were done punking around.

"Hell Followed" covers all the new hardcore bases, beginning with a fast paced intro, and then splitting the near minute and a half track with a crashing breakdown. Third song "Melt To The Mold" takes its title to heart. Guitars chug along at a mid-tempo pace, diverting here and there with quick metal fills for a wholly core picture. Jon on vocals yells his lungs out to the anthem lyrics, his voice nodding at Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed's angry, non-screaming style here and for much of the record. "Seducer" and "Why We Fight" progress along similar lines, full of hair-raising chants and steady palm-muted guitar lines.

Ghosts Among Men takes from more recent hardcore schools mid-disc with songs "Stronghold" and "Vlad The Impaler,” offering thrashy, Terror-style guitar sprays and heavy metal fills. Final track "Never Be Like You" then contrasts the entire album with a clean, twangy guitar line. Don't fret though, Grave Maker doesn't go skacore for a lone song, but tastefully exemplifies how they're not a one-tone hardcore group.

There are visions of mid-nineties Coney Island High on Ghosts Among Men, like you are catching Madball in the prime of their anti-stadium grittiness. Distortion is high, but not overpowering; the song structures follow underground hardcore's straightforwardness, straying little for experimentation. If you respect the definitive sound of newschool hardcore, this record is right up your darkened alley.

Track Listing:

1. Ghosts Among Men
2. Hell Followed
3. Melt To The Mold
4. Seducer
5. Why We Fight
6. Stronghold
7. Vlad The Impaler
8. Laid To Rest
9. Dead Of Alive
10. Sever Thy Head
11. Broken Bones
12. Never Be Like You

Published by Tangible Sounds

CD Review: Bleeding Through - S/T

Bleeding Through
Bleeding Through
3.9/5

Listen To: Breathing In The Wrath
Skip It: Light My Eyes

Bleeding Through’s latest self-titled album is another testament of the band’s boundary crossing sound. Throaty hardcore vocals and heavy power chord structures team up with extreme metal riffing, blast-beat drums, melodic singing and symphonic keyboards to round out a sound far from being simply metal-hardcore.

“A Resurrection” lays out the symphonic foundation for the record with layered violins and keyboards, before bursting into the face-slapping blast-beat and speed metal riff of “Anti-Hero.” All this within two minutes of the disc's opening, and then “Anti-Hero” merges into a hardcore anthem complete with circle-pit inducing triplet drums upholding echoey chants of I’ve Seen Enough of You … I’ve Heard Enough of You scorching over low palm-muted power chords. “Your Abandonment,” “Breathing In The Wrath” and “Fifteen Minutes” follow similar structures with heavy, pace-slowing guitar bludgeons supporting explosive battle cries.

The shape-shifting Bleeding Through also displays progressive metal techniques throughout the album. From the lightning fast guitar solo in “Fifteen Minutes,” to the blast-beat exposé that is “This Time Nothing Is Sacred,” the band displays thrash and black-metal influences jetting out of their hardcore centre.

If that isn’t enough, Bleeding Through also rocks a symphonic-metal sound through a distortion-dissecting keyboard illuminating over massive riffs. In “Slow Your Roll” and “Distortion, Devotion” the synthesized sound grabs your attention by accentuating the chord changes with refreshing bursts of high tones.

Bleeding Through’s sound on this disc punches across that they are not easily defined. If you’re looking for a distinct, experimental sound masked by massively heavy metal-hardcore, you should listen to this.

Track Listing:

1. A Resurrection
2. Anti-Hero
3. Your Abandonment
4. Fifteen Minutes
5. Salvation Never Found
6. Breathing In The Wrath
7. This Time Nothing Is Sacred
8. Divide The Armies
9. Drag Me To The Ocean
10. Light My Eyes
11. Slow Your Roll
12. Distortion, Devotion

Published by Tangible Sounds Music Magazine

CD Review: Bison BC - Dark Ages

Bison B.C.
Dark Ages
4.5/5

Listen To: Wendigo Pt. 3 (Let Him Burn)
Skip It: Nothing

All you headbangers better be excited, East Van’s Bison B.C. is back with their third full-length album Dark Ages.

“Stressed Elephant” settles you in, building energy with a melodic exposé before getting your head banging to a crash-along chugging match, upholding slick guitar leads and demonic vocals. The song fades with a bluesy acoustic guitar reappearing in “Melody, This is For You” and “Wendigo Pt. 3 (Let Him Burn).”

Dark Ages also showcases Bison’s knack for uniquely calculated breakdowns, like in “Fear Cave” which drops the tempo for over 2 minutes with a masterful power chord structure and the album’s best hell-growls.

The electrifying guitar riffs of “Two-Day Booze” grab your attention, pulling you along a ride of tempo changes from lightning fast to mere tricklings of a ride-cymbal. The anthem-like chants of What are we waiting for over a rejuvenating power-chord melody brings chills to your spine.

You have to love the old school heavy-metal foundation of Bison as well. The rockin’ guitar harmonies in “Die of Devotion” and the sharp-tooth pick-squeals of “Take The Next Exit” will arouse the Iron Maiden fan in all of us.

The album ends with “Windigo Pt. 3 (Let Him Burn)” displaying accredited musicianship through massively heavy riffs, in the standard style which can only be labeled Bison-esque. Dark Ages is a polished effort effectively displaying the untamed enthusiasm of Bison B.C.’s intimidating prowess.

Track Listing:

1. Stressed Elephant
2. Fear Cave
3. Melody, This Is For You
4. Two-Day Booze
5. Die of Devotion
6. Take The Next Exit
7. Wendigo Pt. 3 (Let Him Burn)

Published by Tangible Sounds Music Magazine

Remembering Roehrs - RIP

Maximum Rock and Roll magazine’s website posted a solemn comment on March 17 reporting long-time columnist, Bruce Roehrs, “passed away peacefully in his home.”

Maximum Rock and Roll is one of the longest running punk-zines, starting in 1977, and quite possibly the most reputable when it comes to coverage. It’s like this: if your band gets mentioned in Max RNR, you wear the mark of underground acknowledgement. Providing publicity for thousands of new hardcore bands over the last thirty years, Roehrs is Archbishop of Max RNR blessings.

Roehrs wasn’t a journalist, but he was educated. He attended the University of Miami in the 60s, where he developed a love for old school garage rock. Through the 70s he worked a number of blue-collar jobs, eventually ending up in San Francisco. By the end of the decade, he couldn’t stay away from the nightly DIY scene showcasing the new punk bands. This is where he met Max RNR founder Tim Yohannen, who recognized Roehrs from being at a bunch of shows, and recruited him to write reviews for his young zine.

In essence, Roehrs had a knack for recognizing great hardcore. He loved groups that did away with filler – like, now legendary bands, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and Agnostic Front. The faster, louder, and more aggressive the better for Roehrs, and that is what he found in the budding early 80s hardcore scenes across the Western US. Publicizing the new style of rock, which was scaring most of the listening public, became Roehrs’s vocation. The spirit of hardcore was embedded into Roehr’s writing. His articles were often laden with four-letter words, and always ended with a now retired tagline, “See you at the bar.”

In one of his last articles, he reviewed Agnostic Front’s 1983 EP “Victim In Pain” that was recently re-released on Bridge 9 Records. His love for the band bleeds through the write-up: “‘Blind Justice’ has one of the best breakdowns ever committed to hardcore vinyl” he claims, a sentiment that I truly have thrown around in my head ever since I heard the tune. I am sure his passion was mirrored in many of the opinions of his readers. Check out the entire review at Bridge 9’s blog.

The passion Roehrs had for the new punk and hardcore of the 80s, 90s, and today led to many of his favourite bands boosting in popularity due to his praiseful penmanship. He was a lover of the first wave punk bands like Motorhead, Cock Sparrer and UK Subs, and then the ensuing wrath of American hardcore that got its start where he was writing in the San Francisco Bay/Los Angeles areas, and spreading all the way up the West Coast, even to Vancouver where DOA made Canadian hardcore a reality in the late 70s. He also used him column to promote the underdogs. For example, his praise of AntiSeen in the late 80s in his Max RNR column helped create a following for the now renowned band. Jeff Clayton, AntiSeen’s lead singer, posted “We’ll never forget you brother .… RIP” on the “Never Forget Bruce Roehrs” Facebook group page.

The legendary punk writer will undoubtedly be missed by many people involved with punk and hardcore music. Rest in peace to a visionary, and an inspiration.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian printed Roehrs’s obituary on March 24.
Join the “Never Forget Bruce Roehrs” Facebook Group.

With sources from the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and maximumrockandroll.com.

Originallu published by campusintel.com

Fucked Up And Friends Dazzle Opera House - Show Review

Baltimore hardcore band Give opened the show at the Opera House Friday night, and set somewhat of a heavy tone for the night. Sadly, I only caught the last two songs of their set, and I really wish I could have seen more. The thunderous, bass-laden drums that continuously keeps rolling on through both fast parts and slow breakdowns initially captivated me. Their uniqueness kept my attention. Give is definitely a hardcore band, complete with tell-tale aggressive heaviness. This gets mixed, though, with a lighter guitar sound. There isn’t too much distortion, making it easy to follow the rhythm. Comparing the guitar style to a similar band would not be easy. And, when a band can heed me from b-lining to the bar as soon as I get into a show, which Give did, they usually stick around in my playlist for good.

The D’urbervilles, who took the stage after Give, are also great at keeping your attention. Their new-age brand of rock-pop beamed through the Opera House. Their sound is somewhere between Joy Division and the Weakerthans, and much in common with most dance-rock indie bands. However, they strike their own pose. They have some very technical, high-tempo, yet sometimes hard to follow, drum beats. Two synthesizers, looked after by guitarist/lead singer John O’Regan and lead guitarist Tim Bruton, work together well with the clean, palm-muted, not too overpowering guitar lines. There were highs and lows to this set – when at their best, the D’urbervilles can trigger sporadic, arm-throwing dance moves in any wallflower, like they did for O’Regan.

After the D’urbervilles, Kurt Vile played a captivating six-song set that I, once again, was very drawn into. He opened with “Overnite Religion” accompanied by a second guitarist/percussionist, who laid down the tambourine and maraca lines of the song. The trippy folk-rock made up of loop-dubs, looped drum beats, and guitar, set an intimate vibe throughout the Opera House before Fucked Up went on. At times I felt like it was just Kurt and I alone in a room, and when I would come back to my senses, I would look around and confirm that everyone else was also entranced by him. The third song was drummed by Jonah from Fucked Up, which added a refreshing crack to the low-key stoner rock. In total, the Kurt Vile set felt almost like a healing process, a cool rejuvenator before Fucked Up tore the place apart.

Tore it apart they did. Fucked Up started their set with drummer Jonah’s mother playing the flute line from “Year of the Rat,” and then dove into “Son the Father,” off their Polaris Prize winning album “The Chemistry of Common Life,” and staple opener for recent shows. They moved smoothly into “David Comes To Life,” with a tweaked breakdown in the middle, differing from the studio version of the tune. By mid-set, lead singer Damian Pink Eyes Abraham lit things up and tore his t-shirt off, as usual. For the next song, Damian sang while pulling an impressively long microphone cable around the entire Opera House floor, a perfect way to engage the crowd. Near the end of the set, while playing “Crusades,” a fan who grabbed the mic from Damian and started singing was attacked by another audience member, the attacker was swiftly removed from the event. After a quick break, the debacle was sorted out. The band just picked up where they left off, and finished the song with the final chorus. The performance was full of Fucked Up classics, including a thrashing rendition of “Two Snakes” off the band’s debut LP, “Hidden World.” The sextet played well together, in sync at all times, while frequently switching and changing parts of many songs. A tight set, that was undoubtedly planned and polished, from one of Toronto’s hottest bands.

Originally published at campusintel.com