Hard Rock Zombie - "Monsterpiece Theater"

This brand new 10 song slab of scariness is just what the Dr.(Frankenstein) ordered for the fall/halloween season. Just 30 seconds into album opener "Scream Queen" and youre already hooked on the bands ghoulish blend of gritty guitar work, bottom heavy bass, tight drumming and smooth Danzig/Elvis like vocals which see frontman Gory George really coming into his own and finding his vocal identity with this creepy outfit. The 2013 re-'Vamp"-ing of "My Freezer" will have listeners air-guitaring and pumping their fists along to the "GO! GO!" gang vocals. "Top 40 Werewolf" is a standout track amongst this set of tunes. This is fun, energized 50's rock n' roll, just punkified and dragged through the cemetery. I dare you to not clap along and sing "Whoaaaa-aoooooaaaaa!" during the incredibly catchy break. "Wendigo" goes straight for the jugular, and is a straight up crusty barrage of classic, angry, up tempo punk rock that does not relent for 60 straight seconds. "Gravedance" is one of my faves here and is definitely the darkest and heaviest track served up on "Monsterpiece Theater". Slow, brooding bass lines and riffs build an evil aura reminiscent of early Black Sabbath and the 1st Danzig album. The fiery chorus with it's chunky guitar and Gory George screaming "Tonight we're gonna dance on your grave" create the perfect aura for any horror fan looking for their autumn soundtrack. People familiar with HRZ and who have been to their all too infamous halloween gigs at Popeyes Pub will get a nice chuckle from the :30 "Bob For Brains" invoking images of Chris Rush dressed up in full werewolf regalia getting us all to "Bob for brains and win a monster!". "Evil Dead 2" blazes through your speakers next and will have you banging your head faster than you can say "Klaatu Barada Nikto", another classic styled angst driven punk anthem about everyones favorite chainsaw wielding hero Ash! "My Name Is Ted" is another super fun catchy tune, with great rock N roll hooks that work their way into your brain and will have you cranking the volume and hitting the repeat button on your stereo. The extremely gloomy and somber "Inhuman Monster Ballad" may take most by surprise. It's melancholy chords, sorrow filled vocals and beautiful string arrangement are a complete 180 when compared to every other track on this album. But while this song isnt the quintessential definition of punk rock, this track fits and it feels right. Anyone who would down this gorgeous piece of music because it doesnt stick to the punk formula is just jealous that they couldnt come up with such an amazing opus. If there's one thing I love, it's when bands think outside the box, try something a little different and surprise the listener and thats exactly what Hard Rock Zombie does with "Inhuman Monster Ballad". A horror punk band evoking emotions and making me reflect?! You never saw it coming, and thats why it's awesome. Hard Rock Zombie close out this disk with "Dont Worry, It's Just A Rash", 2 minutes of rocking riffs, catchy hooks and more "Whoa's" than you could possibly sink your teeth into! All in all, Hard Rock Zombie have served up what is undeniably their best effort so far with "Monsterpiece Theater". There is something in the album for everyone, punks, metalheads, rock n' rollers, horror fanatics and even those of us who are (blood)suckers for a great ballad. Let's face it, your Misfits vinyl's are getting warped, you've listened to your Michale Graves albums a million times, you need something new in your collection and "Monsterpiece Theater" is exactly what your ears are craving in this fall season. You can find the band online at www.facebook.com/hardrockzombie and you can buy physical CD's or digital copies of "Monsterpiece Theater" as well as the HRZ back catalog and other merchandise at www.hardrockzombie.bandcamp.com

"Psychache" is the 6 track follow up to Curse The Son's highly acclaimed "Klonopain". Disk opener "Goodbye Henry Anslinger" sets the tempo for what is sure to be a slow smoke-filled ride. Each sticky riff slowly oozes from the mammoth hands of it's creator and drags the listener through a muddy trench of sonic fuzz. The mood is way darker and the tunes are even a bit slower here on "Psychache" than on the bands previous effort, citing less of a traditional "stoner metal" or uptempo vibe and showcasing more of an early Cathedral meets Melvins style and pace. Frontman Ron Vanacore's vocals are high and paranoid, giving each of these tracks the backbone of their eerie aura. Fans of the bands last release will hear Ron coming more into his own with his vocal styling and sounding way less Ozzy influenced than he had on "Klonopain", heck if I didnt look at the lineup on the inside of the disk cover, I might have even though Curse The Son had brought in a new singer! Catchy riffs, gloomy verses and memorable choruses are abundant on this recording, as evident in tracks like "Spider Stole The Weed". "Somatizator" and the disks title track "Psychache" which is an instrumental jam that begins with some primal drumming and a quirky bassline that reminds this reviewer of Down's "Lies, I dont know what they say but..." before kicking into full gear and busting out riffs that set your speakers on fire for almost 5 solid minutes. Being a fan of well-crafted doom epics that are a bit longer in the tooth, "The Negative Ion" is my personal favorite track here and closes out the disk running well over 7 minutes in total. The quietly played and soft spoken intro wets the appetite with an almost Pink Floyd-ian flavor, and even after the heaviness kicks in the band does well to keep this spacy groove prevalent throught the track. The hypnotizing guitar and thundering bass seem to rip open a huge black void, while Ron screams at us from another dimension and the timing of the drums keeps the stars perfectly aligned for the universe of doom metal that Curse The Son has collectively created here. Curse The Son hit a huge homerun with "Psychache", a meaty fistful of fuzzy, low and slow tracks that are an incredible follow up to their first album and see the band going in a different and even heavier direction. At a time where most current doom bands are more worried more about how much they sound like they stepped out of a time machine from the 1970's, than coming up with original ideas and crafting deep, swampy music, Curse The Son stands out and seperates themselves from all the usual  dime-a-dozen sound-alikes. Physical copies of "Psychache" are extremely limited so head over to facebook.com/cursetheson click the "Like" button and ask the band if there are any left, or you can go to cursetheson.bandcamp.com and buy the digital tracks to put in your mp3 player and blow out your computer speakers to! You can also visit the band at reverbnation.com/cursetheson as well. Hit these guys up, add these smokin' grooves to your music library and support the lowest and slowest band in Connecticut.

Neverwake - "Vitality"

This 12 song album kicks off with "A Beginning Of The Night", it's smooth acoustic intro busts into heavy melodic thrash metal and sets the tone for the rest of the disk. Technical and catchy with clean vocals and an unforgettable chorus. There's alot of evident Metallica influence here along with some classic swedish style playing ala In Flames and Soilwork. This band even boasts modern influences via Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine, just with a way better singer and no whining, no references to relationships gone awry, no "poor me" nonsense. The songs reference darkness, monsters, killers, cemeteries, death, the basic things you would want to hear in a solid heavy metal album. Songs like "Pulse", "Widowmaker", "Unjustified", "Twisted And Wicked" and "My Darkest Divide" showcase the bands knack to mix eerie chords, memorable lyrics and unbridled musicianship to make epic songs that are worthy or radio play, but still undeniably heavy enough to keep the metal purists head banging. "Fatal Remedy" is a fist pumping anthem with a singalong chorus that deserves to be heard from the biggest stage. The guitar work is stellar, the drums are tight and the melody is infectious. Almost every song here has "Hit single" written all over it. This is the perfect example of a band that can write a huge song without losing it's pure metal integrity. How this band is not signed to a label such as Roadrunner or even Metal Blade is beyond me. "Eye Of The Killer" has a modern Iron Maiden feel, with a heavy thrashing twist reminiscent of Testament. Catchy, mosh friendly and guitar pyrotechnics that will make you snap your neck if you headbang along. "Erased" is a dark ballad fueled by acoustic guitars and piano melodies, that stands up to the best of the best ballads you have ever heard, creepy, evil and moody. If there is one thing this band proves, it's that you dont need to growl and play a thousand miles an hour to be unrelentingly heavy. You can sing clean, use a ton of melody and write big, open choruses as long as you keep the integrity in your songs and have stellar musicians playing their respective instruments. Being a guitarist myself, I cant help but glorify the riffs and solo's the band serve up in every song on this release. Neverwake showcase alot of technicality and originality, ripping apart their six strings with a barrage of twisted, melancholic riffing and searing leads. This is a very tight band, intent on taking the metal world by storm with amazing songwriting. "Vitality" is an infectious release, full of unforgettable songs, that will stick with you long after the disk ends. If only more of the big boys in the industry made music like this, a disk where you dont want to skip a track, you NEED to hear the whole thing from beginning to end, thats become a rarity in music nowadays, but Neverwake have their finger on the "Pulse". Please go find this band atfacebook.com/neverwakemusictwitter.com/neverwakemusic andreverbnation.com/neverwakemusic and go see them live if they are in your area. I can only imagine how stellar these songs are in a live setting. You Can hear cuts from this disk every Thursday night from 7pm to 10pm EST atwww.brutalexistenceradio.com

Self Inflicted - "Sweet Taste Of Emptiness"

This 3 piece sludge metal band has never made any bones about showing thier obvious influences in Crowbar, Corrosion Of Conformity, Down ect. but also add their own element of groove and heaviness, showing us they are far from a novelty or rip-off act. "Sweet Taste Of Emptiness" showcases the slow, heavy riffing we have come to love from Self Inflicted, but also adds some unexpected twists and turns, keeping the listener on their toes. While album opener "Rebirth" could be considered a Self Inflicted staple, not deviating much from their doomy formula, the following track "SYFM" comes out of left field. This track is an uptempo rager full of classic NY flavor and very reminiscent of early Biohazard. It's stomping verses give way to big open breaks and mosh-friendly riffs and the lyrics are a big middle finger to back-stabbing, gutless shit-talkers. Listen closely to the lyrics and you'll quickly find out what "SYFM" stands for. I feel the mark of a truly great band is when you hear a song and find yourself humming the riffs to yourself later on out of nowhere. Self Inflicted have a couple handfuls of songs that do this for me in their catalog, and the title track here is a fine example of that. The riffing and song structure in "Sweet Taste Of Emptiness" is infectious, this is a track you want to listen to on repeat several times over on full blast, and as I've said in the past I feel that when an albums title track is the strongest song on the album, it makes me love the rest of the songs even more. "TFE" is full of tasty chunks of stoner metal, very bluesy, catchy and one of Self Inflicted's more uptempo tracks. The verse and chorus here could easily go head to head with any C.O.C. track from the "Deliverance" album or even from Down's classic "Nola" debut. "Crossed The Line" is slow, beautiful, brutality at it's best. This is a head-hanging, funeral dirge laden with Iommi-esque riffing and eerie vocal harmonies that sound like they are emanating from an underworld cavern. "To Prey Upon The Weary" evokes some more Biohazard influence with it's, pavement stomping verses, then brings the hammer down with it's Crowbar-esque choruses and super sludgy breakdown, almost a musical clashing of New York City and Louisiana, if you will. "Silent Echoes" is a solid track that sheds some light on the bands thunderous bass and drum section. Ian and Keith are the thick, rythmic foundation of this band and here they tactfully rattle the walls while Phil lays down slick guitar lines that help smooth out the heavy punch of the bass. "Twilight Of Enlightenment" while still heavy and unmistakibly a Self Inflicted track, has a very airy feeling and a very pure rock and roll vibe. I picture the guys rocking this one out and having fun, smiling at each other while doing so, almost with a "This rocks and you know it" attitude. "Unconscious Understanding" is a dark song with really cool guitar chords and killer background effect that makes the listener feel as if they are swirling down into a black hole of helplessness while Keith's lyrics paint an ugly picture of anger and depression. "Cant Change What Hasnt Happened" is a rollercoaster ride of a song, starting out with Sabbath style riffing that keeps your head nodding and toe tapping. Then out of nowhere we are bludgeoned with a death metal attack of feverish riffing and duelling lead guitar. I detect a bit of Entombed influence here, a mice mix of doom and death n' roll. Album closer,"The Will Of Man" is very much a "Classic" Self Inflicted song, oozing with sludgy riffs that steamroll over you like a large rusty wheel. This 11 minute epic showcases, big open chords, harmonized riffs and slowly lulls out and fades away with clean guitar and some background samples. As this album ends, the first thing you want to do is press the play button again. Without a doubt "Sweet Taste Of Emptiness" is Self Inflicted's finest work yet, and in my opinion any label would be proud to release this on a worldwide scale and make this 3 piece from Oklahoma part of their family. By the time this article hits print, the band should have physical copies of the amazing disk available. You can find Self Inflicted on Facebook and reverbnation or email them at beardofdoommusic@yahoo.com and contact them there to get your copy of this sludge fueled masterpiece directly from the band.

Gut Bucket - "Shattering Your Faith"

 Gut Bucket are a 3 piece, metal-fueled punk band from Providence, Rhode Island. Their 16 track, 2012 release "Shattering Your Faith" is a face melting slab of violence and is quite a unique and wild ride indeed. Gut Bucket feature 2, yes you read that right, 2 bassist/vocalist and a drummer/vocalist, opting for a deeper, heavier sound, leaving out 6 string guitars altogether and giving the band a very original style. The snarling dual bass riffing, combined with their unrelenting drum attack, bring forth somewhat of a Misfits on death metal vibe, especially on tracks such as album opener "Castrated and Crucified", "In My Cellar", "Faceless Stomp", "Beatngu" and "Born of Shit". This 24 minute disk is filled with crusty, grimy, catchy riffs that stomp a mudhole through your speakers. Songs like "Diebrator", "Jersey Saw" and "Biter 2 (Still Biting)" are frantic blasts of manic punk rawness that all clock in at :21, :34, and :8 respectively, these tracks call to mind S.O.D. but without the sarcastic/silly theme, as you can guess by the song titles and by glaring at the disk's gory artwork, these guys are heavily into horror and showcase that influence in their lyrics and subject matter. As much as Gut Bucket showcase a huge punk/thrash metal influence musically, I also find alot of doom metal in their sound as well. The band does slow it down from time to time and shakes the ground with sludgy riffs especially in tunes like "The Creature Walks Among Us", "Solomon Grundy" and "Blue Hell". I admit, at first I didnt know what to make of this band, but after a couple spins through I became addicted to this disk and I'm glad to know the monster that is Gut Bucket. This is a brutally heavy band, that writes fresh, catchy music and truly is doing something 100% different, separating themselves from almost every other band in the underground scene. If you dig death metal, true punk rock and horror culture, Gut Bucket needs to be the next band you check out. You can find them on Facebook and reverbnation where you can listen to some songs and contact them to purchase your copy of "Shattering Your Faith". You can hear cuts from this disk on Thursday nights from 7pm to 10pm EST onwww.brutalexistenceradio.com.

Skullhog - "The Evil Dead"

Skullhog are a 3 piece death/sludge metal band, much in the vein of Autopsy, Mausoleum and the like. They are spawned from the ashes of oldschool death/grind band Bile (not to be confused with the cheesy industrial band of the same name). Here Skullhog serve up a brand new 7 song offering, covered in thick sludge and dripping with gore titled "The Evil Dead". "Risen To Bludgeon" kicks off this newest addition to the Redrum Records catalog and after a quick creepy intro the listener is slammed with brutal riffing and razor throated vocals. This is pure oldschool, short, sweet and to the point death metal with a nice helping of slow, creepy doom metal in the mix. The slow brooding riffs of "Savage Butchery" shake everything in the room while they emanate from the speakers. The band pushes and pulls the tempo in this song, going from a slow crawl to almost punk like verses and choruses that will have you leaving your seat and headbanging along. The morbid title track is served up next and I feel it sums up the entire offering best. Picture if you will, the death n' roll sound of Death Breath mixed with early Cathedral. Factor in the gut wrenching vocals, almost akin to "Scream Bloody Gore" era Chuck Schuldiner and mix in some really creepy samples and you got the recipe to the gory soundtrack that Skullhog dish out here. "Curse Of Dunwich" and "Deadstare" adhere to the gory gameplan and offer up more grimy death metal goodness, relentlessly punishing the listener with Skullhog's low tuned, buzzsaw brutality. "Cannibal Frenzy" is 49 seconds of frantic, evil fury that leads into this disks closing track, the almost 7 minute "Tusks Of Gore". Here Skullhog really gets to show off how slow and ominous they can be with their riffing. This track plods along with a super heavy stomp, the notes bleed from their instruments and slowly ooze from the speakers. Right around the 4 minute mark, the pace kicks up and we are bludgeoned with neck snapping rythms until Skullhog pull us back into the murky depths with more dirge like death-doom. With "The Evil Dead", Skullhog simultaneously satisfy the death metal fan, the doom fan who loves it low and slow and the gory horror fanatic that resides within us all. This is a very solid release and I look forward to what Skullhog has in store for us next. I'd love to see this band tour the united states, put Skullhog on a bill with Mausoleum, Mortician and Deceased and you'd have one hell of a show!!! You can find this release at www.redrumrecords.net along with lots of other great cd's, vinyl, t-shirts, patches and more. X-mas is right around the corner so help out an amazing underground distro/label and give the metalhead in your life the gift of some awesome music for the holidays.

Down - "Diary Of A Mad Band"

 When I hear the word "Supergroup" the absolute first thing that comes to my mind is NOLA's own Sabbath-worshipping, sludge masters : Down. Comprised of Pantera vocalist and bassist, Phillip H. Anselmo and Rex Brown, Corrosion of Conformity frontman Pepper Keenan, Crowbar frontman Kirk Windstein, and Eyehategod's Jimmy Bower on the drums, Down have finally unleashed their long-awaited live package titled "Diary Of A Mad Band". The 2 CD and 1 DVD release is a collection of live performances recorded during their 2006 European tour. I'm not really a huge fan of live recordings in general, but I do buy the live albums from my favorites, and I couldnt be happier with "Diary Of A Mad Band". If there is one thing I love about live performances, it's the spontaneity and the feel of the band in it's most raw of elements. Most "Bigger" bands will bring their live album into the recording studio and overdub alot. They will re-record guitar parts to fix screw-ups, they will re-record vocals to eliminate sour notes and fumbled lyrics, and most of all polish the thing so much that it sounds just like the studio recording with crowd noise thrown in(ex. Kiss "Alive", Ozzy Osbourne "Live and Loud", Slayer "Live Undead" ect.). "Diary Of A Mad Band" couldnt be any further from that, this live package keeps the raw live feel 100%. Sour notes, fumbled guitar solo's and lyrical screw up's are all present and accounted for. At times a guitar will be slightly out of tune, Phil may come in too early or late with a vocal line, and I wont even get into how the vocal harmonies in "Jail" make me cringe a bit, but that's the whole beauty of this live package. With "Diary..." Down are giving you a straight-up no frills, unpolished representation of the band in a live setting, if your gonna sit and be a stickler and pick out every fickle little piece of the performances that are wrong or out of tune, then just leave this on the shelf and go pick up a copy of the new Linkin Park album. If you wanna enjoy some real, exciting, raw sludge metal done right by the masters, and if you can appreciate knowing that, YES even the masters screw up once in a blue, then you definitely want to add "Diary Of A Mad Band" to your collection. If I could compare this to any other recording, it would be Black Sabbath's classic "Live At Last" album for sure. All of your favorites from the first 2 releases are presented here in live format, "Lifer", "Stone The Crow", "Ghosts Along The Mississippi", "The Seed", "Bury Me In Smoke", "Losing All" and "Lysergic Funeral Procession" are amongst the 16 songs on both audio disks and 17 songs on the DVD(The addition of "There's Something On My Side" is the only song separating the DVD from the CD's). The DVD is the true focal point here as Down have been promising to release it to the fans since 2006, and the quality is amazing, great footage and editing, and the music is raw just the same as the audio disks. Those of you looking for a DVD full of hilarity and assinine moments akin to the Pantera home videos may be a bit dissappointed as the "Diary..." DVD keeps it's focus on the music and live performance, dont get me wrong the dudes in Down are hilarious guys and there are a couple funny moments to be had, but this DVD is entirely about the music, and this reviewer couldnt be happier about that. Diary Of A Mad Band is a perfect representation of what Down is exactly all about, unbelievably heavy, punishing and thunderous at times, and yet not afraid to show their mellow side and throw a southern-fried ballad at you that could only be best described as a molotov cocktail made up of equal parts Lynyrd Skynyrd and Led Zeppelin. If your a Down fan, you should have this already, if your new to the band and have somehow never heard them before, I believe "Diary Of A Mad Band" would be a great starting point for you as it is in a sense a "Live Greatest Hits" of sorts. An amazing release by one of Metal's best bands of all time...this release hasnt left my CD and DVD players in weeks, and I promise it'll be just as addictive for you, so get off your arse and go get a copy of "Diary Of A Mad Band".