 Tomorrow marks the day that Hatebreed will see the release of their long-awaited "covers" album, FOR THE LIONS. I'm a sucker for covers albums, even though they tend to be really hit-and-miss. As a fan of Hatebreed and most of the bands they've chosen to cover on this 18-song set, my hopes were high, and thankfully the band has delivered.
 Make no mistake about it. As a writer and contributor for FANGORIA MUSICK, I literally love to death strange unusual artistic musical endeavors. I love it when acts take symbolism so bizarre and mix it into music so virulently infectious that it sticks in your head like a parasite, feeding and growing and waiting to burst forth. It seems that NYC is perfect breeding climate for the new wave of pandemic parasitic paranoia. Such is the nature of the new duo Evil Cowards, formed by Tyler Spencer of art rock act Electric Six and William Bates of the pop act Fall On Your Sword. An unlikely and strange alliance formed from two of NYC’s strangest yet compelling acts. The act is set to release the fruits of their dirty deed, COVERED IN GAS on Metropolis records on May 19th.
 I'm not exactly sure why I received this album. While I'd never heard music from The Showdown before, a copy of this 2007 release TEMPTATION COME MY WAY arrived in my office a few weeks back. I thought it was "new", but I then discovered that they have a new record out called BACK BREAKER that came out last winter. Perhaps a mistake in mailing room took place somewhere with in the halls of the label, which upon flipping this over appears to be MONO VS STEREO. Hm, quick visit to the band's MySpace page... reveals they're on SOLID STATE now. Shit, Christian Metal. My heart sunk a little bit. I find few things as horrifying as the words "Christian" and "Metal" together, and when they use the term "Praise Music?" - well then I just want to punch somebody.
 According to the sticker on the front of their new self-titled album, Kansas natives Hammerlord are the self-professed "new lords of thrash metal." That's a pretty bold statement to make as the 2009 thrash resurgence continues. Though as the oft-quoted line they sample at the beginning of "Dead City Radio" suggests, "No wimps. No false metal." (from 1986's TRICK OR TREAT) is a good indication that Hammerlord means serious business.
 A few weeks back, we featured a LIST OF DOOM from the Florida band Black Tide (read it here). While they expressed their love for CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, I personally hadn't heard much of them as a band. Now that's changed as I've finally gotten a chance to check out their debut album, LIGHT FROM ABOVE (out now on Interscope).
 Formed in what is becoming the new epicenter of dark and seething underground music, Portland Oregon, Son of Rust is one of the many innovative acts that are sculpting the musical landscape with a digital hammer and chisel. Currently programmed and organized by lone frontman, Justin Coop, Son of Rust is making a name in the Pac Northwest as one of the strange and few experimenters in dark electronic music. His second album VICIOUS CYCLES is available now for your digital pleasure.
 The Netherlands' own GOD DETHRONED have just released their latest full-length album entitled “Passiondale”. The new CD is an amalgamation of melodic death metal and balls-out thrash that marks GOD DETHRONED’s return to the more extreme and furious songwriting style they had a decade ago .
 German horror rockers The Fright are back at it again with their latest album BORN TO BE DEAD (released last week on Contra Records). Formed in 2002 as a dark-edged act that bled buckets while trying to make a name for themselves in the dank , European underbelly, this shadowy trio burns up the night on their new album, overcoming the internal issues and lineup changes that slowed them from the start.
 On April 18th, Independent Record Stores celebrated " Record Store Day", a growing tradition in which artists and bands release limited-edition vinyl that is available exclusively at independent record stores. The event salutes the stores that have pledged their undying support of the music industry, and the fans that continue to shop them, in an age where true "record stores" are fast becoming a distant memory. This year, SLAYER took part in the celebration, releasing their new single, "Psychopathy Red" - their first release since 2006's CHRIST ILLUSION - in a package limited to just 5,000 pieces. FANGORIA Fiends take note, this single is inspired by the infamous Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, aka the Rostov Ripper, a confessed murderer of 56 children.
 Offering a blend of haunting and complex melodies, DOMMIN is the newest band from Roadrunner Records. Taking it’s name from that of front man Kristofer Dommin, this L.A. based quartet is releasing their first major label album, ‘Love Is Gone,’ on May 12th. In addition, they’ve joined THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE for ‘The Show and Tell Tour’ and will likely be appearing in a venue near you. The band is, at least at this point, shrouded in a veneer of mystique. There isn’t much in the way of a bio out there for them, save the usual label fluff, so I can’t tell you a hell of a lot about them or their past, just their new album.
 I’ve been following the career of the grand master chronicler of Gothic Rock music Mick Mercer since I happened across his book GOTHIC ROCK as originally published and produced in the U.S. by Cleopatra Records back in 1993. The dog-eared beautiful book complete with a two CD set and Mr. Mercer’s personal stamp of approval for all artist’s profiled within was like a doorway opening wide. It was an Omnibus of information that was greatly needed for those of us starting out in the Goth scene when at the time, many of us were dependant on dial up BBS’s and the Internet was something that was new and foreboding. Websites were as yet, unheard of and e-mail was allowed only through pay-to-play BBS’s.
 Just when you thought metal couldn’t get any more extreme, Trigger the Bloodshed comes along and releases a brutally mind-blowing CD entitled THE GREAT DEPRESSION. Taking speed and aggression to all new levels, THE GREAT DEPRESSION has already earned the band a nomination for 'best new band' in this year’s Metal Hammer Golden God Awards!
|
|
666% Gore-N-Roll...
