DOWNLOAD: Red Fang - Number Thirteen
Portland metal band Red Fang’s most recent effort, Murder The Mountains, came out earlier this year via Relapse and followed the group’s 2009 self-titled debut. The album offers heavy yet accessible songs that fit well with the band's current tour mates Mastodon, pairing moments of guttural sludge with rousing metallic riffs. “Number Thirteen” is an epic album cut, bordering between fiery aggression and catchy heavy rock.
DOWNLOAD: MonstrO - Stallone
Atlanta band MonstrO, formed in 2009, is a collaboration between several musicians you may know from other groups. The partnership of bassist Kyle Sanders (Bloodsimple), drummer Bevan Davies (Bloodsimple, Danzig), guitarist Juan Montoya (Torche) and guitarist/vocalist Carlos Suarez (Sunday Driver) is in the practice of hard rock numbers that find a balance between aggression and introspection. “Stallone,” from their self-titled debut, which is out now via Vagrant Records, marries an alt-rock melody with metallic riffs and a heavy breakdown.
DOWNLOAD: Earl Greyhound - I'm The One
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The New York-based Earl Greyhound first grabbed my attention when they rocked me out of my seat during CMJ last fall. I was buying time between beer sips and London's The Noisettes when they pounced on stage - loud, ribald & beastly. Matt Whyte railed electric riffs while slurring out lyrics, Kamara Thomas followed up sticking her tongue out on the reverb, and Ricc Sheridan bolstered it all with crashing cymbals & mad bass drum beats. (see proof here).
So while reminding you of their Spring/Summer tour, starting May 28th in Baltimore, we kick off with "I'm The One" - which is hard rock at its crawling-on-shag-carpet sexiest. It's also a great example of their Zeppelin likeness; asides from the obvious hark rock tonality, they too monopolize the space between each chord and expertly build a slower tempo bridge towards a bombastic end.
SOUNDS LIKE : Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath
STREAM: Russian Circles - Harper Lewis
Russian Circles, the Chicago-based instrumental post-rock group, are about to release their second album of haunting, alluring guitar music on Suicide Squeeze records this spring. We have a little teaser for you, in the form of “Harper Lewis”, the band’s first MP3 with us and an awesome, heavy slice of the upcoming LP Station. Enjoy…
Stream: Russian Circles - Harper Lewis
VIDEO: Mastodon at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple
All metal fans know that Mastodon are amazing: they have the chops, the power, and the concepts to make truly interesting hard rock. Check out these behind the scenes video of the band before their performance a few months ago at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple.
FEATURED: Nitzer Ebb
If when you hear the word “Industrial”, you think guyliner and primal screams, then you’re only getting a minute detail of the full picture. Yeah, it’s kind of a “heavy” word in most music circles, but there was a time when “industrial” meant music that sounded like it was made by really angry robots and was totally off the wall. Nitzer Ebb are one of those bands. If you really want to get down to the nitty gritty, Nitzer could be referred to as EBM, or “Electronic body music”, a slightly more conventional off-shoot of bands like DAF and Cabaret Voltaire—we guess all you really need to remember is that it is hard, fast, shout-y, mean, and seriously amazing. Popdose wrote a nice long piece about Nitzer today, so check it out and digest it. Mmmm, scary.
Trivia: Bon Harris from Nitzer also composes music for Project Runway… we know.
VIDEO: Holy Ghost Revival - Embrace The Hate
One of the things that dismayed us the most about 2007 is that, for all the great dance, indie and pop music that came out, we didn’t feel like there was even one really strong, old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll record. To be frank we didn’t even really get into that last White Stripes album that much, which is saying a lot. Luckily, it looks like Seattle’s Holy Ghost Revival are going to change all that in 2008. The band have the sort of long-haired, sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll demeanor that makes huge riffs and screaming vocals appealing, but without any of the cheese that makes it sometimes obnoxious. This is not Jet or whatever, they’re the real deal. They’ve signed to 1965 Records in the UK, and the label has become a niche for all gritty punk and rock acts in the past two years.
Holy Ghost Revival at 1965 Records
FEATURED: Ladyhawk
The Fader blog have been crushing hardcore on Ladyhawk for a while, and are premiering a new song from the band’s upcoming album, Shots. It’s called “I Don’t Always Know What You’re Saying” and keeps in context with the band’s Neil Young vibe. The chorus really reminds us of T. Rex (only a little darker) and for some reason, parts of “Light My Fire” by The Doors (maybe it’s that one guitar line? Think about it!). Shots is out March 4th on Jagjaguwar.
