Author Archive for Paige Camisasca
Review: Propagandhi – Failed States
Propagandhi are the rare punk band you can count on to work the phrase “muckraking journalist” into the lyrics of a song, as frontman Chris Hannah does right at the top of Failed States, the long-running Canadian group’s first disc for Epitaph. That new label partnership makes sense: Like Epitaph founder Brett Gurewitz’s Bad Religion, [...]
Review: Loudness – Eve to Dawn
More than 30 years in, these Japanese metal veterans are still finding new ways to deliver on their name. Their new 11-track outing goes beyond the KISS-meets-Accept vibe of pop-metal faves like “Crazy Nights” and “Heavy Chains” from 1985’s Thunder in the East. Injecting furious bursts of thrash and power metal, the quartet thrives off [...]
Review: Circa Survive – Violent Waves
Prog-punk pioneers Circa Survive are nothing if not ambitious and the band’s fourth album sees them further stepping away from their Warped Tour roots to craft a disc that’s teeming with emotion without falling on emo clichés. Frontman Anthony Green’s distinctive falsetto dances on top of everything from Minus The Bear-esque grooves (“The Lottery”) to [...]
Review: Local H – Hallelujah! I’m a Bum
These smart-assed Chicagoans peaked early with “Bound for the Floor,” their 1996 post-grunge hit about keeping it copacetic. But if Local H’s commercial fortunes have dwindled, their ideas have only gotten bigger: Hallelujah! I’m a Bum is the guitar-and-drums duo’s second concept album in a row, following 2008’s breakup procedural, Twelve Angry Months. Here frontman [...]
Review: The Faceless – Autotheism
Ya gotta admire a band that believes in itself. With its third album, the Faceless unveil a new lineup and a bigger, more ambitious sound, one that pushes their technical approach into the realm of full-blown prog. Given the album’s overall concept—“autotheism” means self-deification, and the album opens with the appropriately-titled “Creation”—the occasional dips into [...]
Review: Testament – Dark Roots of Earth
On their 10th album, Bay Area titans Testament maintain their hard-won reputation as the only one of the major ’80s thrash bands who still haven’t released a crappy record. Even the mighty Slayer disappointed with 1998’s nu-metal-tinged Diabolus in Musica, but Testament have been rock fucking solid since their 1987 debut. With laser-tight drums provided by [...]
Review: Attika 7 – Blood of My Enemies
Evan Seinfeld may have split with Biohazard, but the hardcore/metal (and hardcore porn) star is back with another ear-slamming band. Attika 7–who also feature celebrity motorcycle builder Rusty Coones, on guitar, along with former members of Kyuss, Nonpoint, and UPO–spew brawny riffs, Rob Zombie-ish electronic bits, and a snarling street vibe reminiscent of Seinfeld’s previous [...]
Review: Versus The World – Drink. Sing. Live. Love.
Seven years is a long time to pass between albums even for arena rock stars. For an independent post-hardcore band, it’s an eternity. Yet Versus the World, which features ex-members of the Ataris and Lagwagon, revel in being underdogs. Like prime-era Alkaline Trio, Drink. Sing.Live. Love is filled with emotionally tangled songs about sacrifice, disappointment, and heartbreak [...]
Review: The Treatment – This Might Hurt
With driving hard-rock riffs and great songwriting ability, British quintet the Treatment get off to a strong start with their debut, This Might Hurt. While it may sound like a throwback to the unapologetic party rock of Kiss and Mötley Crüe (fitting since the Treatment will be opening for both those groups this summer), the album [...]
Review: Tremonti – All I Was
As a founding member of both Creed and Alter Bridge, guitarist Mark Tremonti has helped to define modern rock for the last two decades with his axwork. On his long awaited debut solo album, his playing is as epic as ever but way heavier. From the opening number, “Leave It Alone,” to the blistering title [...]
