Eclectic Vibes

Titans Eve - The Divine Equal

I love thrash metal as much as anyone, but this throwback thrash quartet brings back all the things I don’t love about the music. Starting with the poor cover art, it continues with the cheesy logo and predictable song names. This group has cookie cutter repeat written all over them. I’m sure they worked hard on this, but to no avail, as I have seen and heard this hundreds and hundreds of times before.

Danko Jones - Below The Belt

Smack-ass Canadian hard rock with attitude, intensity, and great grooves. This well tested trio knows how to chew up the traumatic lessons of life and love that our existence hands out to us. Learn and grow from past problems and percolate them into great musical lessons for us all to learn from. Hold on, this one doesn’t stop.

Phutureprimitive - Kinetik

Phutureprimitive is the moniker of producer/song writer Rain who utilizes hypnotic grooves and lush bass heavy textures to provide listeners with dense and detailed electronic compositions. One of my first ‘finds’ on Bandcamp, but one with a huge future thanks to scoring the opening slot for part of Shpongle’s summer Stateside tour. Appearing May 10 at the Majestic Theater in Madison.

Freak Kitchen - Land of the Freaks

Touted as ‘Europe’s best musical secret’ due to limited distribution, Freak Kitchen has just had their back-catalog released and this one from 2009 is the first in line. The progressive power trio consists of three renowned virtuoso musicians - Mattias “IA” Eklundh (guitar/vocals), Christer Ortefors (bass), and Bjorn Fryklund (drums). When these hard-working musicians are not performing in a band, they are out teaching clinics. The music contains creative progressive rock elements with a healthy dose of Frank Zappa influenced humor plus musical shenanigans and acrobatics galore.

Prong - Carved Into Stone

When bands create seminal music in a given genre, what do they do in the years and releases that follow? Prong guitarist Tommy Victor took time off to play with Danzig and Ministry before revisiting his roots and getting revitalized enough to assemble and pen a contemporary sonic barrage under his old moniker that is ready to flood your senses with signature riffs and aggressive themes. The Prong sound is back and ready to exceed the neck- and finger-snapping experiences of the past.

Morbid Saint - Spectrum of Death

Wisconsin grown - gurgling, growling, gnarly thrash metal with ridiculous and blistering solos plus breakneck rhythms a la early Slayer, which is appropriate for this 1988 thrash vinyl reissue. Although production values weren’t what they are now, the spirit, energy and vitality of the time soars through every note!

Baroness - Yellow & Green

This release has all the trappings of being a landmark, breakthrough album. It debuted at #30 on Billboard’s top 200 and sold over 12,500 records in its first week, making it the highest debut in Relapse Records history. Baroness really show off their vocal prowess and musical composition skills, here. Each song is masterfully crafted to compliment their progressive hard and heavy rock innovations. Bravo!

Lacrimosa - Revolution

These pioneers of German Symphonic-Metal return for their 11th studio album filled with trademark German lyrics, dramatic atmospheric passages interrupted by terse industrial gothic beats, all crossed by orchestras, choirs and a stellar guest lineup. Since their inception in 1990, they have toured the world, worked with the world famous London Symphony Orchesta, recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios, and have topped the charts in over 25 countries worldwide. Bravo! 

Seven Kingdoms - The Fire Is Mine

Furious melodic progressive thrash metal with epic choirs is the order of the day for the third release from this Florida group. Led by the amazing female vocals of Sabrina Valentine and recorded at Morrisound Studios by legendary producer Jim Morris (Iced Earth, Obituary, etc) this release has the backbone to explode onto the metal scene and do some serious damage. 

Tusmørke - Underjordisk Tusmørke

Immediate flashbacks to early Jethro Tull flooded my senses on first listen, only to give way to other obvious influences from Gong, Can, Caravan, etc. While their name means twilight in Norwegian, their retro prog-psych music is twisted with a dark dose of Nordic folk and folk magic while being played out in atmospheric analog format thanks to the antique equipment that was used for its making.

Clutch - Earth Rocker

Ten albums in, and they are still hot as fuck! Self-admittedly wrought with more forethought, focus, and polish than some of their prior releases, Earth Rocker will knock your socks off. Their hard-rockin’ antics and usual sardonic lyrics have never sounded better.

Suicidal Tendencies - Thirteen (13)

Wow! Mike Muir is still making music! After a 13 year haitus, ST comes back with a heavy-hitting album filled with what they are known for: blistering. thrashing punk with some great funky interludes filled with the irascible wit and wisdom of Mike Muir. 

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