Band Profiles
Band Profile: The Strange
Put the Ventures’ Pipeline, Eric Johnson’s Cliffs Of Dover, and Black Sabbath’s Planet Caravan in a blender. You’ll get The Strange. The music is rhythmic, bluesy, and centered around the all-important riff. One band member mused that they sound “like surf rock without the water. Instead of surfboards, we have skateboards.” Indeed, the sound is distinctly New Mexican, and their understated groove leaves the listener thirsty for more desert-grown Americana Rock. Their sound is … read...
read moreBand Profile: Serial Hawk
Marshall stacks were made for bands like this. Painfully loud, obnoxiously catchy, and somewhat tribal in their melodiousness, this is one exceptional Stoner Metal band. Although they sound similar to Sleep, Serial Hawk surpasses them in darkness and brutality. They have abandoned the twangy psychedelic riffs of old school Stoner Doom in favor of more sinister guitar hooks. Similarly, the subtle darkness that characterized the Stoner Metal of yesteryear has evolved to vivid lyrics that … read...
read moreBand Profile: Dissonance In Design
Dissonance In Design is a very appropriate name for a band of this caliber. As the name implies, they deliver intricate and yet caustic melodies. Their musical style is simultaneously technical and melodic… Put simply, they have sublime virtuosity. The compositions are so complex that they border on unholy. The drummer is probably on crack, or just mind-blowingly good at what he does. I don’t know what the guitarist looks like, but I can’t help … read...
read moreBand Profile: Eat A Helicopter
Do you like stuff like Whitechapel and Chelsea Grin, but your concert budget consists of of $20 and a bottle of cheap vodka? Worry no longer, comrades. Eat A Helicopter is just as awesome at a fraction of the cost. If you don’t believe me, here’s a music video. If you like what you hear, buy the album Descend Into Darkness, available on Itunes. The drumming is the typical Metal style, a relentless machine-gun … read...
read moreBand Profile: These Charming Cobras
The band is aptly named,since they are deceptively chill, belying venomous undertones and musical subversity. Upon first hearing them, I was enraptured by the simple, catchy hooks and vocals so smooth they border on sedative. However, the get-stuck-in-your-head guitar is distorted and full of attitude. The vocals, although aesthetically pleasing, are also more than what they seem. The lyrics are a trifecta of funny, sexy, and scary themes that characterized the lyrics of Alice Cooper. … read...
read moreBand Profile: HN-88
I have a secret love for Pop- Punk. Laugh all you want, but I am still a badass Metalhead, despite my adoration for cutesy music. Besides, HN-88 are actually pretty freaking boss. Never mind that their name is random numbers and letters in the vein of Blink 182 or Sum 41. These guys write songs with the same subject matter as Metal… the Apocalypse, drug use, murder, sex, and (if you count Metalcore as “Metal”), … read more
read moreBand Profile: Futilitarian
I’ve noticed that New Mexico has an obsession, almost bordering on a fetish, with Outer Space. Mayhaps it’s just because we have Roswell? I don’t know. Either way, our Metal scene was prototype Alien-core before Rings Of Saturn was a big deal. From the celestial tech-death of Fields Of Elysium to the astronaut rappers of State Of The Mingo, we’re all a bunch of space cadets here. Hell, we even have a venue called Launchpad. … read...
read moreWe Came As Romans: A Very Bitchy Band Review
I’m going to be brutally honest and admit that I am the Paula Abdul of Metalheads. That I refer to this simple fact as “brutally honest” is a testament to it’s validity. Sometimes it is in the best interest of the artists to provide some constructive criticism, and not meaningless praise. And sometimes it’s just fun to be a bitch to a band that you despise. And after hours of plunging the unknown, fathomless depths … read...
read moreBand Profile: Distances
Last post grazed upon the surface of the Albuqurque band Distances and their extaordinary stage presence. However, I feel as though their talent warrants a little more attention than what I gave them. Since I’m already conscious at the ungodly hour of 10 in the morning, I’ll do a quickie post before I go to the first annual Blu Phoenix Rising fest. (W21, $10, 5 PM). Anyway, this band is phenomenal, so check this shit … read...
read moreBand Profile: The Screamagers
“Centipedes seem to exert a weird fascination on the morbid apetites of the hysterical and insane.” -J.L Cloudsley-Thompson. I guess it’s true, because I happened to be researching the damn creatures for the past 3 hours or so. At any rate, whether by divine providence or the clusterfuck of the World Wide Web, I discovered something called Centipede Records. I guess it’s some kind of indie label? Well, these dudes are signed under them, and … read...
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