Tense Men – Where Dull Care Is Forgotten

    Bringing a primitively lustful tingle inside with its post punk bred fusion of noise and psyche rock, the Where Dull Care Is Forgotten EP from UK band Tense Men, is one of those delicious treats which flicks all the right switches. Band and release is a ripe proposition for those with a strong appetite for post punk, repetitious discord, and minimalistic adventures of noise and maybe less tasty not for those with different appetites, but we would suggest still a rewarding encounter leaving a lingering mark whatever your penchant.

    Tense Men was formed in 2011 by Cold Pumas guitarist/vocalist Oliver Fisher and singer/drummer Richard Phoenix of Sauna Youth. Combining drums, guitar and a loop pedal the duo made people stand up and notice with a clutch of live performances before recording the six track Where Dull Care Is Forgotten. Since its recording the Brighton band has expanded with the addition of Omi Palone bassist Liam O’Neill. Now with its release via Faux Discx on 12” vinyl and digital download, the debut EP from Tense Men is poised to push this union of craft and noise sculpting into an eager awareness, its success on the strength of the release something hard to doubt.

    As soon as opener Stages Of Boredom scars the ears, imagination and an already assumptive hunger are lit as guitars lash the air with sonic persistence matched by a rhythmic enticement. The first piece of insidiously addictive weaponry is unleashed within seconds, a repetition driven groove entwining the senses with seductive potency as the vocals of Fisher offer a mutually monotone seeded suasion. Into its full drone bred swagger, the track baits the emotions with a mix of The Gaa Gaas like psyche temptation and the post punk causticity and repeating moroseness of Joy Division. It is a magnetising provocation which worms itself under the skin with an insatiable toxicity and an intensively powerful lure into release and band.

    The following RNRFON resonates through bone as its rawer body presses on the senses with a bass cast coaxing rapidly joined by equally unrelenting rhythms. Across their flanks shards of caustic guitar sear the air before the vocals join the affair with a sombre wishful tone to their delivery. The track reminds of another English band; The St Pierre Snake Invasion with its rawer punk lent persistence, again restrained torrents of repetition veined by squirreling guitar leading the passions into another ardour clad response. With a coat of discord to the jangling swipes of Fisher’s strings in dramatic contrast to his vocals and the low hum of the track, Tense Men has imagination, theirs and ours, tightly clasped in their hands.

     Lie Heavy (Desperate Times) has a thicker rapacious throat and presence to its sound, Mary & Jesus Chain with a touch of Birdland coming to mind whilst the enticing jagged guitar melodies add a touch of The Fire Engines to the abrasive incitement. Though the song does not spark the same depth of greed as its predecessors it still leaves satisfaction basking in a resourceful web of noise which the title track tries to exploit further with its slow and patient consumptive breath. The dark wash of the track almost swarms as it offers its doomy pressure, the drone preying on body and thoughts and in a different guise repeated through the equally potent Nonentities. The track has a slightly lighter atmosphere which also ventures into a Reid brothers inspired premise as its predecessor, but still allows no respite from the intensity and mesmeric call that unbridled reduplication brings.

    The EP ends on a riot to match the incredible start of the release, Opiate Glow the dramatic treat. The rawest punk spawned track on the album with post punk voracity, the tempest emerges from a two barrelled incitement into a ridiculously contagious stroll, rhythms and vocals simultaneously beckoning and taunting before expulsions of furious guitars and energy savage the air. It is an outstanding trap which has more than a whisper of Wire to its devilment, in fact the song like a close relation to the legend’s track 12XU, just a few generations on in the family time line.

     Where Dull Care Is Forgotten is a fabulous release, a scourge of nostalgic and modern smothering which ignites the passions from start to finish. Whether Tense Men will have to bide its times as its members return to their day jobs we will see but already the anticipation for their next offering is impatient.

http://tensemen.tumblr.com/

http://fauxdiscx.bandcamp.com/album/where-dull-care-is-forgotten

9/10

RingMaster 10/03/2014

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Monstre – Self Titled LP

 

    With more flavours than a Cornish ice cream parlour and twists than a snow boarder on an Olympic half pipe, the debut album from French rock band Monstre is a startling and scintillating beast of a release. The self-titled ten track encounter challenges and treats the senses from the first second, a constantly evolving mix of metal and rock in numerous guises all colluding to infest the imagination and passions. With a suggested depth of potential that is still to be fully untapped by the band as their album thoroughly captivates and thrills from start to finish, Monstre is one of the most exciting propositions to tantalise the ears in recent years.

     The creation of Toulouse duo King Pilo (vocals/guitar/bass) and Seb (drums/backing vocals); the album was recorded in November of 2013 at the Meskine Records Studio with its release at the start of this year. List your favourite metal and rock styles and most likely Monstre will be employing their essences in the multi-faceted and voraciously inventive release. More unpredictable than an orgy in the dark and just as rabidly enterprising, the album works on the primal and creative wants of all with a rhythmic alchemy which leaves you exhausted and drooling alongside a sonic kaleidoscope of ingenuity which simply dazzles and enthrals.

    The album opens with Obey, the jaws of bass an instant intimidation on thoughts as the guitar lays a slow glaze of causticity over the senses. With vocal harmonies grazing air as expressively as the stalking sounds, the track subsequently expels a sludge toned weight and intensity on its recipient. Whilst circling and probing emotions with its lumbering and incisive predation, the track’s lyrical incitement as across most songs is a minimal but equally imposing and effective lure helping create a towering entrance for the release.

    The following Green Fish not only builds on its predecessor’s presence but thrusts the album to new heights with its fusion of noise and psyche rock aligned to menacing alternative metal. As in the first the bass has an irresistible savagery which immediately sets the passions beaming, but it is just part of the wonderfully toxic bait building a web of virulence. There is an early Killing Joke potency to the song but also slithers of invention which suggest bands like Melvins and Faith No More has added spice to the band’s artistically informative years. The track is a glorious slice of intrigue and adventure for the imagination, a tantalising and chilled enticement soon matched by the instrumental Mother. Revisiting a sludgy textured prowl with that metallic snarl of the bass and equally ravenous riffery amidst a sonic voracity, the track is an epidemic of rhythmic seduction and inventive endeavour.

    Both Prick and Less taunt and light up the ears, the first coating everything from rhythms and riffs to vocals and sonic weaves in a rapacious breath. The guitars scythe and sculpt a riveting maze of provocative ideas and textures whilst the bass scowls and leans heavily on the senses as the drums pummel their tender flesh. It is an absorbing and incendiary mix offering a Gang Of Four compulsion and Fugazi liking attitude and combativeness. Its successor provides eight minutes of cantering sonic hostility and rampant incessant rhythmic incitement, the track’s first half an instrumental taking of the imagination and its latter stretch providing a great vocal enticement and grunge bred expression to the relentlessly anthemic charge of rhythms. Both songs are formidably imposing and irrepressibly magnetic upon thoughts and emotions continuing the impressive stance of the album.

     Drunk blends a grunge and stoner persuasion into its hungry design, a Nirvana kiss smooching in some of the song’s punkier moments whilst the following What U Say takes that same punk essence and immerses it in a more hard rock brawl with again a Gang of Four post punk tempting. Without strolling along the same plateaus as set by previous songs, both tracks providing a healthy feeding for a greedy appetite before Song One thrusts its muscular and sonic grunge/rock swagger through the ear for another contagious trap for the passions.

    The album is brought to a close by firstly the niggling pressure and charm of Nothing, a track with a provoking adventure and inventive voracity which reminds of Wire at their most transfixing, and lastly by the persistently shifting Welcome, a song which between a top and tailing Middle Eastern seduction which is very similar to that of The Cure’s Killing An Arab, immerses the ears in every essence of sound it can conjure for a fluid and inspiring soundscape of incisive metal and heavily boned rock ‘n’ roll. The pair of tracks impressively concludes a tremendous album and introduction to Monstre, a band with all the imagination and flare to rise into the strongest spotlight. The anticipation of that is full and sure whilst pleasure now is fat and bloated on the excellence of Monstre.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/MONSTRE/285147271524380

https://monstremusic.bandcamp.com/

9/10

RingMaster 19/02/2014

 Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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Hollow Leg – Instinct

     Following on from the release of their well-received second album Abysmal last year, US sludge metal sculptors Hollow Leg have their debut beast re-released by Argonauta Records this month. A raw and caustically honed brute of a consuming and oppressive encounter, their previously sold out first album Instinct returns to fill in the blanks of where the acclaimed Florida band began for those missing out the first time. Uncompromising and incessantly rapacious, the album is a sonic brutality with a merciless causticity but simultaneously holds and is tempered by a certainly rough but open seduction through often hidden but bare and potent addictive temptations.

     Instinct was originally released in 2010 when Hollow Leg was just the duo of Tim Creter (vocals, drums) and Brent Lynch (vocals, guitars), the band since expanding to a quartet with the addition of Tom Crowther (bass) and Scott Angelacos (vocals), and followed The Hive Demos of the same year. Demanding and exhaustingly heavy, the album is an unrelenting predator of the senses and psyche, a smothering intensity of sound with a taste for southern groove metal within its ferocious belly. Whereas last year’s excellent Abysmal had a more tempered if still abrasive breath to its impacting and suffocating enterprise, Instinct bares no niceties or respect in its invasive sludge swamp of noise and intent. It is not a release which thrust Hollow Leg onto the frontline of the genre but it is easy to see why it triggered an enthused response to its release, a potent entrance taken on to greater levels by its successor.

    Opener Caretaker attaches itself to the imagination on a sonic spear of sound, spoken vocals providing the initial narrative before intensive riffs and flattening beats add their scuzz fuelled presence. Employing raw vocal squalls and a leaden but irresistible groove, the song strolls with reserve and intimidating weight through the ears. It is a strong enticement into the album, not strikingly eventful but fully potent in its lure, bait stretched and reinforced by the likes of the bestially bruising Shattered and the more energetic devilish proposition of The Return. Whereas the first is another imposing and senses pinning load of sonic confrontation the second has an eager and fiery gait to its body, though that eventually succumbs to the core heftiness of the band’s sludge intent for a prowling and threatening climax.

     As the tracks follow each other it is fair to say that repetition of structure and chunks of certain riffery make a formulaic surface encounter which needs to be pierced to discover the extra delights tracks like The Source with its dirty melodic grazing upon another contagiously addictive groove offer. That southern lilt to the sound is especially rich and tantalising on this particular track, thoughts of bands like Sourvein, EyeHateGod, and Clutch making loud whispers in the raucous noise persuasion but also of another band, The Fat Dukes Of Fuck where certainly vocally and in a certain mischief the similarity is loud. For all those similarities, Hollow Leg ignite a hunger with their still distinct and raw invention; Bacchus with its inflamed swagger and addiction forging grooves around thrilling nagging riffs and punchy rhythms as well as the corrosively compelling Nothing Left drawing thoughts and emotions in with greater strength for a matching return of appetite for their voracious and intensive toxicity.

    The niggling violence of Spit In The Fire comes next to spark up another greedy response, the scowling vitriolic vocals against the equally tartish wash of exacting noise a rabid suasion, whilst the band’s intensity takes on a further burdensome and exciting depth with Warbeast, the title summing up the track quite accurately. Hooks and grooves, as across the album, come regularly and forcibly but as with most tracks also with a pleasing variation though their true potency often comes only after an excavating beneath the perpetually gruellingly textured skin of the release. The rhythmic taunting of Grace is an example of the variety at play beneath Instinct, but also proof of having to bury yourself into the song to best reap its rugged rewards.

      Closing with the tantalising and unpredictably twisting Wayside, a great epic finale of arduous invention and challenging enterprise, Instinct is a satisfaction filling entrance from a band we know goes on to an even more impressive endeavour. If you missed Hollow Leg on their initial entrance the new releasing of the album gives you a chance to make up for lost time, it a strenuous and stringent view of a band taking its first sonically acerbic steps.

www.facebook.com/hollowlegfl

8/10

RingMaster 05/02/2014

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Slippertails – There’s A Disturbing Trend

 

     US rock band Slippertails is a bit of a mystery you will find when looking for info on the creators of new album There’s A Disturbing Trend. Based in New Jersey and formed by its members in Bloomington, Indiana where they roomed together, the band is apparently a duo though the only name seemingly offered up is that of frontman Nick Casertano who recorded demos alone in his basement which would eventually become this album. Other than that it is pretty much left to the imagination to wonder what the band is about, but what is not a secret is the stirring addictive sound band and release persuades with. A merger of sludge bred tendencies within an alternative rock/garage punk narrative and steered by a hypnotic vocal drawl which at times embraces shoegaze mesmerism, Slippertails creates a presence which worms deep under the skin and into the psyche with irreverent contagion.

     The album is not a flawless affair if being critical but such its potency and potential it is hard not to be excited about the prospects and future creativity of the band whilst glossing over any small negatives. Varied in fuzz drenched sonic spice and caustic imagination which sears and scores the senses, There’s A Disturbing Trend has a nagging almost pestilential beauty which just empowers and improves over time and though a raw lo-fi proposition which maybe will grate on some, the nine track tempest of noise is a masterful slice of sonic alchemy. The immediate description of the band’s sound which comes to mind is Frank Black meets Everclear, the latter thanks to the vocal delivery and alternative rock/grunge tendencies of songs, with plenty of Melvins juices in the mix but that is only part of the story to be honest as the songs soon reveal.

     Opening with its first single Hip New Jerk, the album makes an energetic entrance with keen punchy rhythms puncturing the instantly compelling smog of scuzzy guitar. The vocals of Casertano soon seize control with a Frank Black like presence which infuses into the heavy garage punk sounds too. It is an irresistible lure of a starter with a very relaxed breath which fits in perfectly with the more boisterous and scowling aspects of the song. A great single and opener it makes an early strong plateau for the album to maintain which the following Failure matches with its different type of temptation. A slow almost stalking encounter for the ears, the track seduces and intimidates with equal efficiency, flames of guitar smouldering in the air whilst bass and rhythms scowl belligerently beneath them. Again there is a Frank Black like suasion which predominantly seems to guide the inspirations for the whole album but it is not so overpowering as to dismiss any of the uniqueness of Slippertails.

     Both Walk and Garden State Of Mind ignite the appetite into a hungrier state of eagerness; the first from a hypnotic drum coaxing evolving a garage punk tempting which latches on to the exceptional rhythmic bait whilst a sonic web of guitar toxicity and effect showered vocals play out their narratives. It is one of those songs which holds a virulence which the emotions unavoidably get infected by whilst its successor with another crawling sonic festering of an approach, wraps its fuzz sculpted arms acidically around the ears before serenading them with delicious vocal harmonies alongside the ever engaging core vocal causticity of Casertano. The pair only inflates the already buoyant pleasure spread by the album and though it at times takes time to fully recruit the passions There’s A Disturbing Trend by this point already has full command of thoughts and emotions.

   The following pair of Gold Tooth and I Will Peel You Open move into that Everclear side of things, the vocals very much reminding of Art Alexakis whilst the expressive emotive sonic casting is a close cousin to that created by the Oregon band. It is fair to say that both songs fall short of what comes before them, the second almost labouring in its persuasion, but still the two ultimately convince with a craft and infectiousness which can and does only enhance the presence of the album. Things are soon back on course though with the brilliant All Seeing Eye, a song which sounds like Jesus and Mary Chain in tandem with House Of Love as they seduce The Walker Brothers. It is a transfixing mesmerism which leaves imagination and senses lost in a fuzz drizzled evocation of an emotively crafted sunset.

     The brief punk surge of Altar Wine also has a sixties temperament to its aggressive outburst whilst closing song I Wanna Take Pills With You is a psyche addled piece of sultry enchantment, a shadowed soaked melodic psychedelic glow of danger and seduction. It is a slow burning conclusion which like the album just gets more potent and magnetically thrilling over time and plays. There’s A Disturbing Trend is a striking encounter which makes you work for its rapture but pays handsomely with some quite enchantingly abrasive treasures.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Slippertails/487759917932606

8.5/10

RingMaster 14/01/2014

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Mod Fiction – Hoax EP

   

The Hoax EP from US rockers Mod Fiction is one of those releases which from an intriguing and strangely magnetic seed in its first initial encounter grows into an irresistibly compelling and thoroughly exciting provocation. Consisting of four fuzz drenched persistently nagging tracks which simply infect and infest the psyche over time whilst breeding an eager hunger for much more from the Albany trio, the release provides an acidic and caustic landscape of minimalist noise invention, scuzz kissed guitar imagination, and hooks which are unrelenting in their temptation. Part noise rock, part garage punk, and part alternative rock, a mix which borders schizophrenic toxicity, the band’s sound merges different decades in an inventive brew that takes its time but all the time works a captivating spell upon thoughts and emotions.

     Formed in 2011, Mod Fiction released their debut album Come Back Down in the summer of 2012.Citing influences from the likes of Mudhoney, Velvet Underground, 13th Floor Elevators, Neil Young, Nirvana, The Beatles, The Kinks… and the list goes on, the threesome of vocalist/guitarist Kevin Gadani, bassist/vocalist Peter Monaco, and drummer Greg Gadani have honed a presence which certainly points and hints at their inspirations but equally sculpts an identity of its own. It does not leap out as fully unique quite yet but as Hoax reveals it is well on the way.

    A sonic spear of feedback and forcefulness surges on the ear to open up first track Quit Stalling before being rapidly joined by a heavy gaited deep throated bassline which would find a home in any L7 song. Soon acidic grooves and barbed riffs alongside crisp rhythms enter the provocation and intensify the temptation. Into its stride the track is a contagious mesh which plays for UK fans like a mix of The St Pierre Snake Invasion and Houdini, a raw melodic coaxing aligned to a punk causticity which ingrains its bait deeply in the appetite. The core groove of the song is a virulent lure from which everything else erupts and swings from whilst the twin vocal suasion only accentuates the raw and magnetic presence of a destined to be favourite of a great many, especially with another little Nirvana like spice breaking out at times to spice things up.

     It is an impressive start taken on by the following Losing Interest, a song which is rendering flaming chords and melodic tempting on the ears from its first breath. A sixties garage pop air coats the song though equally a seventies garage rock essence is working its charm just as vibrantly within the twenty first century fuzz driven keenly cast enterprise. Like its predecessor the song is impossibly infectious through its summery chorus and ever present hooks around bluesy grooves, especially at its climax, but it does just fall short of making the same impact sitting in the middle of the first song and the EP’s best offering which comes next. Silence in Stereo is a prowling treat of a song, a delicious menace which nags and probes the senses through its bass built spine and jagged cuts of jangly guitars. It immediately takes thoughts back to seventies/eighties punk and bands such as Swell Maps whilst its garage blues outbursts pulls up later decades and insatiable flavours.  The song swells and saunters along with a hypnotic allurement, which like the sonic flavouring, ebbs and flows through different gaits and structures. It is a masterful piece of noise alchemy, simple and concise within its muggy air but beautifully sculpted to belie its expertise.

    The closing track Is This Morning? for personal tastes just does not come close to matching the first three though its unique intent is as welcomed proposition. A heated ambience washes the ear whilst singular key notes plonk a lone discord narrative before all come together in a haunted union. With spoken samples colouring its air the piece is an evocative and intriguing, as well as intimidating, drama but so different to what came before that it does not sit easy on the EP itself. This is a band to keep you on your mental toes though you suspect so the track certainly succeeds in that aspect.

     Mod Fiction is a band destined and sure to challenge and thrill us ahead on the evidence of Holly Wax Records released Hoax EP. The potential revealed on the release is mouthwatering and already fully enticing meaning this is one more band to add to that ‘To Watch’ list.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mod-Fiction/349666908443016

8/10

RingMaster 13/01/2014

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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The new AKB’AL album,’…Of Darkness and Light’, uncaged on 10th February

PROGRESSIVE NOISE CHIEFS AKBAL RELEASE EXCITING ALBUM!

With an extensive cluster of intriguing influences spanning from Tool, The Doors and Porcupine tree, to Kyuss, NIN, Alice in Chains and Coheed And Cambria, Akb’al have served up a genuinely exhilarating piece of progressive rock that tips its hat to experimental metal in passing. Akb’al release “…Of Darkness And Light…” on Monday 10th February 2014 through all national outlets.

Akb’al began as a concept back in 2006 when Michael Young-Temple (Vocals, Bass, Tablas, Djembe, Didgeridoo and the Kaossilator!) was coming to the end of a long spell travelling around the world. Initially, his songwriting focussed on the key elements of stoner/prog rock and metal; however due to his experiences from his extensive exploration, he soon introduced world percussion instrumentation into the equation. Michael took these songs to his musical contemporaries, Thoby Davis (Vocals, Guitar, Violins) and Rob Miles (Guitar, Backing Vocals, Synths), and together the trio further sculptured and elaborated on Michael’s early ideas. The band soon recruited long-time friend and current Onslaught tub-thumper Michael Hourihan to play drums, who added extra power and depth to the band’s already established sound.

After further tweaking their sound Akb’al hit the stage in 2010, and since then, the wide-reaching four-piece have extensively played throughout Wales, racking up shows with Ten Cent Toy, Thorun, Chaos Trigger and Fell on Black Days along the way. After firmly establishing themselves regionally, the band headed into the studio to work on their debut album “…Of Darkness and Light…”. The quartet came out of the studio armed with a killer album. Packing seven stunning cuts, the record showcases experimental ambient texturing and engaging soundscapes underpinned by cutting hard rock and thoughtful metal undertones, all bonded together to take you on a progressive journey that will truly inspire and ignite. The album is set loose this February; look for the new video single ‘Equilibrium’ out soon. Also, head on over to the band’s Facebook page for show updates.

- AKB’AL RELEASE ‘OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT’ ON MONDAY 10th FEBRUARY 2014 –

www.facebook.com/Akbalband

Baby Godzilla – Knockout Machine EP

Thrashing the senses from pillar to post, UK noise activists Baby Godzilla build upon and thrust further forward their already rampant reputation with new release the Knockout Machine EP. Five tracks of raucous and lethal post hardcore /noise rock with voracious punk causticity recorded for the band’s legendary Black Heart Residency shows which they played in Camden, London this past summer, the EP has just been released for the first time and for free via the band’s Bandcamp profile. It is a mighty confrontation which is like being locked in a sonic spin dryer for thirteen odd minutes of pure imaginative ferocious, the release providing exactly what its title suggests.

The Nottingham quartet of Paul Shelley, Jonny Hall, Matt Reynolds, and Tom Marsh has garnered a massive reputation for their explosive live show, their stage presence being described as “death-defyingly brilliant”. Previous releases NPAG and Oche of 2010 and 2012 respectively have done them no harm either but it is easy to say that the Knockout Machine takes a deeper potent grip. With a sound bringing thoughts of Every Time I Die, Cancer Bats, and The Dillinger Escape Plan into play at times; the release one suspects provides a very powerful indication of what the band feels and sounds like live whilst treating the listener to an intrusive experience which juggles with senses, imagination, and ultimately the passions.

Opener A Good Idea Realised launches itself off of a lone abrasive stroke of guitar and an instantly biting sonic wind into a maelstrom of manipulative rhythms and ravenous riffing. With caustically squalling vocals equally scarring the air as the riotous sounds, the track pounces on and dances with the senses like an aural raptor, searing flesh and igniting the passions simultaneously. With a virulently rhythmic core and addictive toxicity to its carnivorous sonic hunger, the song and band ferociously ravages with the mischief of the devil and the enterprise of a bedlam bred imagination.

The first brief tirade upon the ear is followed by an even swifter assault from the torrential scourge that is Trogloraptor. The track may be shorter than the patience of a bear awoken from hibernation and just as powerfully irritable, but with a deluge of barbarous addictive hooks and a just as infectious riffing under another tsunami of vocal spite it is an incredibly compelling and consuming treat which is soon matched by the weightier Whorepaedo. Finding a throatier predation to its sound, especially the bass, and a more intensive rabidity to its hunger and energy, the track twists and flexes a sonic invention and rhythmic muscle which is soaked in creative intrigue and devoid of all predictability, something applying to the whole release.

The senses stamping presence of A Great Idea Bastardised bruises and preys on the senses next; rhythms again a thunderous tsunami of intent and provocation goaded by acidic guitar sculpting and vocal scathing. Employing a dance of discord bred and disjointedly boned revelry which secures the strongest submission to its fury and invention, the track is a blistering rampage of primal fingering amidst a destructive sonic tapestry and sheer exhaustive pleasure.

The EP closes with In The Name Of Science And Progress, a scurrilous and feverish sonic pestilence spawned from the cutest annihilatory genius posing as a band. Lashing and slashing the ears like a single minded executioner within an avalanche of aural malevolence and acidic ingenuity, the concluding torment forges a storm of unbridled rabidly delivered animosity with an alternative lumbering oppressiveness to enslave and evoke the senses yet again. It is a masterful punishment to end a similarly vicious and triumphant release.

Giving extreme music and sonic animosity a new exultant breath, Baby Godzilla is poised to sculpt the future of noise and psyche rock, the beast to take extreme realms to unexplored depths and viciousness with the Knockout Machine EP holding all the potential and proof to support that anticipation. It is easily one of the best releases this year and a turbulent aural transgression to welcome and devour with greed.

Get Knockout Machine as a buy now name your price release @ http://www.babygodzilla.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/Baby.Godzilla.Bastard

10/10

RingMaster 18/12/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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Plug – Back On The Skull

With more hip grinding grooves than a dozen pole dancing establishments, and certainly heavier boned treats, Back On The Skull the debut album from Texan noise rockers Plug enslaves and dances with the passions in exhausting and riveting style. With jackhammer rhythms powering ridiculously addictive grooves and equally seductive riffs, the eleven track juggernaut creates a loud and virulently compelling storm which is far too easy to greedily devour to surely be safe for any of us.

Formed in 2010 and consisting of ex and current members of Mammoth Grinder, Iron Age, Bitter End, FEED, and The Mites, Plug merges a voracious mix of noise and hard rock with metallic sinews and punk antagonism whilst stoner and psychedelic enticements add their  seduction. It is an exhaustive and breath-taking brew which simply ignites the imagination and passion. Imagine a tonic being made up from the essences of Unsane, Melvins, Torche, Red Fang, and Helmet whilst Dead Kennedys pees in the pot and you get a reasonably close dose to what Plug has to offer. It is a sound which is not exactly unique but neither is it without a distinctive flavour and intrigue of its very own, Back On The Skull working and playing hard from the moment it touches the ears and rewarding with a torrent of mouth-watering intensity and noisy drama clad adventure.

The San Antonio quintet of vocalist Tyler Lutz, guitarists Scott Corbin and Zach Brin, drummer Raul Vela IV, and Chris Ulsh of Mammoth Grinder, Power Trip, Hatred Surge, and The Impalers who provides the bass guitar for the album (Reed Deangelis the band’s current bassist), immediately chomp on the ears with opener Babysmile. Riffs and rhythms are almost grinning as they launch their muscular persuasion; a mischief soaking their thumping lure which evolves into a full swagger as the track extends its temptation with a rousing stroll through infection soaked grooving aligned to rhythmic taunting. The vocals of Lutz match the call of the music and with all aspects making an anthemic union, there is an irresistible recruitment of total attention and submission from its recipient.

     Meanwhile… is more than eager to back-up the immense start, its own wanton romp swinging brazenly between rhythmic legs as grooves and riffs again cast a spell of noise bred contagion for a minute and a half before evolving into the title track. Bringing a heavier weighted energy and intent, the third song stalks its victim with a leaden prowl wrapped in scuzz lilted melodies and harmonically scorched vocals. There is an element of The Pixies and more so Melvins to the smouldering intensive bait on show but again it only flavours a magnetic sonic causticity distinct to Plug.

A potent bass coaxing opens up next track Rainbow To Hell, the song continuing the arguably subtle shifts in character through the early tracks on the album but equally increasing that variety with its sludge coated predation of the imagination. A slower burner than its predecessors, the immersive encounter employs further detailed yet restrained twists and turns in its invention within a patient consumption. It does not quite match those early heights either but easily reinforces the appetite ready for the likes of the following cover of Discharge’s State Violence, State Control. Bringing a greater carnivorous breath through the guitars to the song to replace the more violent aggression of the original, it is a satisfying provocation though it pales against the bands own tempting.

     Pigbomb and Cadence steal their hefty portion of the acclaim next, the first rife with intensive rabidity and discord lined scuzziness as well as another groove and collection of hooks to drool over whilst the second is a sultry psychedelic/stoner flight through a heated climate of melodic exploration. Though another not to make a quick suasion, it is an absorbing drift through evocative textures and new intrigue from the release. Their allurement is soon pushed aside by the outstanding Hideous Rex, a ravenous track which does not rush its attack but unrelentingly nags with dark rapacious riffs and a hefty atmosphere which feels like it is licking its bulging lips as it smothers the senses.

A great cover of the Fang track The Money Will Roll Right In steps up next, its sonic grazing speared by another addiction forging groove and great squalling vocals, before the rampancy of Mexican Death Hammer unleashes its claim for best track with a torrent of bruising riffs and crippling rhythms spiced with a sonic web of discord leaning crafted invention. It is a glorious incitement for the passions and does indeed steal top honours from a flood of exceptional encounters.

The release is completed by the epic Sphere 3, a nine minute dronathon of menacing intensity and invasive sonic toxicity washed over by spellbinding vocal harmonies. It is a meditative danger which seduces from first doom seeping note to its last corrosive breath, and though for personal tastes probably a couple of minutes too long to hold attention tightly nearing its end, the track is a dark beauty of an evocation to end a scintillating release.

Available as a buy now name your price release at their Bandcamp profile, Back On The Skull is an epidemically riveting and thrilling encounter which thrusts Plug right up there with the likes of Torche, Kylesa, Buzzov*en, Orange Goblin and the like. This is an album all riff hankerers must add to their sonic landscapes.

http://plug.bandcamp.com/album/back-on-the-skull

https://www.facebook.com/PLUGLIVES

9/10

RingMaster 13/12/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

http://www.audioburger.com

Hysterix And His T-Rex – Changes – or, when love becomes misery EP

Looking for a slab of senses stomping intrigue? Then try plunging into the promise drenched tempest of Changes – or, when love becomes misery, the new EP from German rockers Hysterix And His T-Rex. The three track release is an eclectic fury of dirty rock ‘n’ roll with progressive and metal tendencies which captivate and seize the imagination. The Dortmund quartet has already pricked strong interest with previous releases but now stalk a new level of craft and invention which makes the band one needing close attention now and in the future.

Formed in 2010 by brothers Sandro (drums) and Dino (bass) as a side-project, Hysterix And His T-Rex creates a sound which merges a sludge thick breath and stoner heat to metallic sinews and experimental adventure.  Debut single A Clowns Tragedy of the same year was followed in 2011 by Nils (vocals) and Sebi (guitar) joining the line-up. Last year saw the band’s first EP The Wayfare released, a four track piece of compelling if patchy invention, but a strong base from which Changes… has sculpted the band’s finest moment yet.

Changes opens up the encounter, a sonic call soon dismissed by a bulging bassline and prowling riffs framed by magnetic beats. As a groove opens its throat the song has already found a contagious grip which leads into a hardcore bred ferociousness with a viscous sludge antagonism. The track presses on the ears with skill and predatory intent, its body simple but wholly riveting especially as clean vocals replace the previous scowling roar, with both switching from here on in. With an additional grunge lilt and a metal spawned hunger to the rhythms and riffery, the song twists and lurches across the senses with pleasing craft. The song as the release has to fight the raw production a little but it cannot stop the qualities of band and track from making a strong persuasion.

The following Ring takes the sturdy start to another plateau of impressiveness, the track easily the best thing on the potent confrontation. From its first second the track chews the ear and rampages with fiery belligerence, squalling vocals raging over merciless beats and a delicious swarming niggle of a groove. The intensive start is dropped into a vat of doom leaden labour soon after but takes little time in re-emerging into that virulent addictive opening scourge of waspish temptation. A taunting rapacious enticement with vicious aggravation and scintillating uncompromising coaxing, it is an outstanding blaze of instinctive noise abuse and without doubt the pinnacle of the band’s invention so far, and hopefully an area where they will stride forth in direction in the future.

The closing Beyond The Waterfall opens like Wire meets Beehoover, a wall of muscle and intensity seizing command before opening its arms for a grunge/stoner melodic suasion to stretch the offering further. Merging with the harsher elements, the inventiveness continues to press home its advantage as a jazz/avant-garde venture steps into view, it again a moment which is soon evolved as band and song twists and flexes an imagination which only increases the intrigue and its riveting presence. Arguably there is too much going on to flow easily throughout and the cleaner vocals are weaker compared to the inhospitable delivery elsewhere but it does little to diminish the lure and pleasing argumentative conspiracy making a strong persuasion on thoughts and emotions.

Released as a buy now name your price on Bandcamp, the Changes – or, when love becomes misery EP shows the leap Hysterix And His T-Rex has made since the previous release, in songwriting and bold adventure to ignite a definite anticipation and hunger for what they conjure up next.

http://hysterixandhistrex.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/hysterixandhistrex

8/10

RingMaster 04/12/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

http://www.audioburger.com

 

Dead Shed Jokers – Peculiar Pastimes EP

If the impossibly magnetic lures of Dead Shed Jokers have yet to make a play for your passions then the Welsh quintet has made the opportunity very easy with their latest EP Peculiar Pastimes. Available as a free download via their Bandcamp profile, the band has made one of those invitations only a fool would not go and investigate before greedily accept the rewards offered. Consisting of six contagion lit tracks, five of which are taken from a live session at BRFM Radio the band undertook this past July, the release is an enthralling explosive heat of sound with more dramatic spices than an Indian restaurant kitchen.

The title track opens up the richly satisfying encounter and immediately has a healthy appetite for its offering licking lips and attention rigidly in its hands. From an intriguing and haunting distant teasing the song erupts with intensive riffs and punchy rhythms rampaging through the ear whilst a guitar unleashes tendrils of melodic tempting which wrap tenderly yet rapaciously around the senses. It is a riotous fusion of noise and stoner clad rock, an instantly irresistible bait for the passions given extra toxicity with the strong vocals which add their urgent enthusiasm to the mix. Like a mix of The Dropper’s Neck and Queens Of The Stone Age but not, the track twists and turns like a wanton belly dancer, its sinews rippling within the energy and passions expelled by the outstanding storm of invention. Seduction and causticity go hand in hand as the track rages and draws the strongest, keenness submission from thoughts and emotions to its exceptional persuasion.

The next five tracks are live takes of songs, four of which appear in their original form on the band’s well-received and acclaimed album Peyote Smile which came out at the tail of 2011. Monkey Song is first and like its predecessor soon has the imagination lured into its embrace as a drifting blues temperance cast by guitar, harmonica, and a deep slow bass drawl coax the ears. Rhythms also take a restrained approach to the introduction, it all building up to the striking full stride of the track which takes little time to alternatively stomp forcibly or unwind a smouldering acidic tendril of enticement across the air. There is a classic rock and psychedelic essence to the fiery encounter, further evidence of the wealth of flavours the band take as inspiration and employ in their invention. The track as the subsequent ones reveal just how potent sound and band is live, something we should all indulge in at some point.

Interesting Point, But… follows next and like its predecessor takes a provocative and gentle hold on the ears at first before slipping up numerous gears and degrees of temperature to brew an incendiary and inciting stroll of sonic adventure. The entwining of restraint and full on rampancy again frequents this track making for a presence which has limbs treating the dirt to a rigorous thumping  and lungs taking deep breaths in between the outbursts. It is an adrenaline fuelled and coaxing treat which is soon matched by The Memoirs of Mr Bryant, a shimmering sonic flame of evocative textures and fire bred melodic flames brought with a craft and passion which only impresses. There is a seemingly taunting like intent to the riffs and drum jabs tempered by the potent expression of the vocals and deeply hued colour of the melodies which raise the passions further, a combination which makes the song a heavy duty irresistible temptation.

The live cut of the title track is next and no cigar on guessing it too is an odds-on winner in securing total slavery of the heart, the track genius live or studio embraced. Its raucous presence is replaced by the sultriness of Magic Teatime, a song which leaves you basking in melodies which entrance and a passion which sears the imagination. There is a kind of formula to certainly a majority of songs presented on the EP, persistently twisting slow burns of suasion with crescendos of almost antagonistic energy and brawling intensity laid side by side. Equipped with a breath of The Doors and Bad Company the song is simply a lingering joy to end an invigorating release.

The Peculiar Pastimes EP and sound of Dead Shed Jokers come to that, has an open familiarity to it but simultaneously manages to sound unique in presence and effect. It is a refreshing and exciting experience which leaves the listener with only one option, go check out and grab the band’s album, better late than never.

http://deadshedjokers.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/DeadShedJokers

8.5/10

RingMaster 22/11/2013

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from

http://www.audioburger.com