LP Review: "Signals Through The Flame" by Ian Blurton

Signals Through The Flame

So, there's this gentleman by the name of Ian Blurton who just so happens to be a 35 year veteran of the Canadian music scene.

Thirty Five years!

When he started, Kiss was old and Zeppelin had already broken up. Yes, time is making fools of us all is it not?

In those three and a half decades, Blurton has played in 40 bands and more than that, he's produced, engineered, mixed, etc over 100 records. Hmm, is there anything this jack of all trades has never done?

Yes, it's released a solo record. Unlike folks like Ace Frehley, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, and others, he could in fact wait to release that overly self-indulgent album.

The album itself is why I am here speaking to you today though and what of it? It's that sort of side rock that gives off a faint whiff of metal, but mostly retreats back into hard rock territory.

This record is the farthest thing from self-indulgent. There's nary a guitar solo that's in poor taste. They all service the song and the player second as Satan intended. Signals Through The Flame just strikes all of the right notes.

It's a little spacey and a little normal. This album is always straddling two lines. Two armies are fighting over an imaginary line in the dirt. This disc is the result of those two armies moving forward and retreating.

RELEASE 6/7/19 BANDCAMP

Vinyl Review: "Chooch" by Walking Bicycles

Chooch

Walking Bicycles...it's been a little while since we've heard from these folks from up there near Lake Michigan....Chicago I think the place is called, but don't hold me to it.

I mean, it's the second city right?

All little jabs aside, Chicago is a lovely city that's superior to ours in only one way really.

You guys have crazy amounts of light rail and we have crazy little.

I envy your L, your Marta, and your other one....the BNSF one. Those cars are awesome.

Now what is a walking bicycle?

Frankly, I haven't a single clue. I suppose it's not a thing but an action. Presumably we're to be looking at their name as a gerund and not a noun. That's the only conceivable conclusion right?

When you tear into their music though, it's a unique blend of garage rock, psych rock, and sublime pop. It's rare that a band can meld pop, garage, and flat out noise rock into something this stylish.

Classic Spins with Grass

Grass

It's been a little while since we've spoken about the hip new stoner band on the block, GRASS, but here let's back to it with them.

If you're like me, you're ready to kick on your over drive pedal and plug your Gibson into that sweet Orange Amplifier for some dulcet tones.

We could talk all day about their sound and latest album, but we did that HERE already.

Today we're getting all in on their Classic Spins.

1. My favorite kind of album is the concept album. The Wall is my absolute favorite. Beyond the amazing songs, it has spectacular nostalgia for me. What's your favorite one and why?

LP Review: "Neon Graves" by Goregӓng

Neon Graves

Death metal is still my favorite kind of extreme metal. Perhaps the venerable subgenre isn't kvlt enovgh or brvtvl en0vgh?

It's still what captures my imagination and places a hook in my nose when it's time to play something exceptionally metal.

The issue is that of all the death metal out there, most of it is kind of shit.

The best death metal comes from bands that either started the formulas, altered the formulas, or just give me an alternate take on the genre.

With that in mind, I present Goregӓng to you today. My information lists them as a Death/Doom/Crust Metal band.

That's a lot of words to describe this band who just thunders out some metal. What these Americans have done is find a style of music that fits in neatly between Grindcore and Death Metal from the 80's, but that's not specific enough.

They took that specific kind of metal that they created and then modernized it. They've polished their missing link metal into something new. Get on it.

RELEASE 5/20/19 BANDCAMP FACEBOOK

Foods We Love With Gates To The Morning's Sean Meyers

Sean Meyers of Gates To The Morning

Well my friends, is there anything in this world better than talking to a drummer? I think it could be argued that it's been too long since we've allowed  a drummer to climb out from under the bridge in order to give us their personal brand of crazy.

I said it and I'll stand by it: drummers are crazy.

So, in order to give you that does of what in the world are we talking about today, allow me to point you into the world of Gates To The Morning's Sean Meyers.

I don't really know the man, but he has to prove to me he's not crazy. In the meantime, check out this record he and his friends did on BANDCAMP.

1. For me, lunch is usually the meal where I don't have to deal with the Napoleon of Food. So it's my favorite meal. What's your best meal of the day?

Classic Spins with Owl Maker

Owlmaker

How many times have we featured the doomed out death grooves of Owl Maker on the pages of Glacially Musical?

Probably at least eleventy.

And as long as they keep on keeping on we'll keep featuring these East Coast, New England Elites, but only providing they disavow all things that we don't like.

We at Glacially Musical need to know that they're pro-good things and anti-bad things and we haven't heard much about that from them at this point.

I held a staff meeting to discuss this with, myself and I..we agreed that Owl Maker's music is awesome and we're going to continue to probe until such point that they give us that clickbait title.

1. My favorite kind of album is the concept album. The Wall is my absolute favorite. Beyond the amazing songs, it has spectacular nostalgia for me. What's your favorite one and why?

Vinyl Review: "Punish The Stars" by Archons

Punish The Stars

Before we get going for true, let's talk a little bit. One of the things that folks online like to bug me about is my feeling on the current state of the music industry.

So, let's get that out of the way.

This is said by me, without hyperbole, exaggeration, and wholly truthfully: Right now, as fans we are living in the absolute best time to be a fan of music.

On the flip side (pun intended, it is a vinyl review after all.), artists are living in the worst time to make any damned money off of being an artist. Humanity has chosen to devalue art in all of its forms and has started stealing it en masse.

This is why my journey with the vinyl record began. There's no long history for me. During the heady days of my youth, cassettes were our currency. After some time doing the endeavor that has become Glacially Musical, the need to buy new music had ceased.

Classic Spins with Jon Davis of Ungraven and Conan

When you're ready to check something out, Jon Davis of Conan has recently released Language of Longing as a side project.

You should be checking out Ungraven.

It's a different kind of music from Conan. It's always awesome when Roger Waters releases another Pink Floyd album, but it would be cool if he was able to play some other sort of music too.

I'd be willing to bet that Waters really can't do anything else. That's why it's cool that Davis has another side to what he does.

So, check out the other thing that Davis does.

In the meantime, check out his favorite records.

LP Review: "Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring" by Smoulder

Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring

Respect the process.

That's what Ben Folds told us during his all request paper airplane tour thing and it stuck with me. The all encompassing and all powerful process helps me.

Today the process was kind of a failure. After skimming through over a hundred emails to find the quality, the goal, the diamond in the rough...the process had come up empty.

Then this little script flipper came up.

Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring is the debut album by a set of Torontonians.

In some ways, it's the epitome of 80's Heavy Metal. Look at that cover. It's colorful, cool, and straight out of Conan The Barbarian.

The tracks are riffy and thick. The kind of music that the person who hates heavy metal in 2019 can really sink his teeth into. For me, I love metal in 2019 and this album still kicks major ass.

Smoulder respected the process and came out swinging with this thumper of a debut record. Here's to hoping is all up from here.

RELEASE 4/26/19 BANDCAMP FACEBOOK

A Man Walks Into A Bar with Derek Lionas of Getaway Van

Welcome to the latest column on Glacially Musical: "A Man Walks Into A Bar."

The opening line to the most famous joke right? So, it seemed like a pretty apt way to start it out. Everything needs some sort of a  name doesn't it?

Hopefully no one will think this is some sort of comedy column though. 

Now, due to there being a lot more non-drinkers that have been getting back to me on the columns, the column is worded so that the answers can be about any sort of bars.

Today, first iup is Derek Lionas of Getaway Van. This past February, they released their DEBUT RECORD!

Find out what they're all about while you read about how Lionas likes to tie one on.

1. Which is your favorite kind of bar and why? It can be any kind. Whiskey, Beer, Wine, Coffee, or Steel. 

--- A dive bar that plays live music. We love a good time out with the crew, and you gotta support the local scene whenever you're able to. 

LP Review: "Striking the Bell of Death" by Sins of the Damned

Striking the Bell of Death

During my formative years metal was growing divergent. Metal had left the blues and psychedelia based music like Sabbath.

Priest, Venom, Iron Maiden, and others had kind of put the stake in the heart of that. Things were kept, the progressive bent, the evil imagery, etc.

In the early to Mid 1980's though, a change happened. Different subsets of metal could co-exist on this plane.

From there we got Black Metal, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Industrial Metal, and the return of Doom/Stoner Metal.

Now we're past the factioning off of all of the genres and into hybrid territories. Blackened Death Death Metal. Folkened Black Metal. Atmospheric Anything Metal. This is ever so pleasing to me, but what about a band that could reach into the past and pull upon the first thread in the tapestry?

That's what Sins of the Damned have done. The debut, Striking the Bell of Death, is a pure look back at 1984. It's proto-death, thrash, progressive, and all points in between.

It's a banger from start to finish. The anger of Venom, the dexterity of Iron Maiden, and the riffs of Metallica.

OUT 5/3/19 BANDCAMP FACEBOOK

Pizza Pie Do or Die with Steven Gilles of Atlas Empire

Atlas Empire

The Pizza Pie Do or Die Column interview is destined to be long running. That's pretty cool if you ask me, and if you dig reading about bands and pizza.

The answers that have been coming in have really changed my personal perception on the concept of pizza. Though, factually it's birthplace is Italy, pizza has always seemed like a very American kind of thing to me.

In the case that we took something someone else in the world did and got behind it and took the concept to a whole new level of decadence. 

(We did the same thing with IPAs.)

So getting back answers from bands in Europe, Canada, and other countries is pretty cool to me. Today, we have Steven Gilles of the Glaswegian Progressive Alt-Rock band Atlas Empire has weighed in on pizza, from presumably a distinctly Scottish point of view.

While you're checking into his delicious choices, spin their latest record via BANDCAMP.

Classic Spins with Space Coke's Reno Gooch

Space Coke

In Columbia, SC, you can find an old style, psychedelic riff band called Space Coke. Their latest record, L'Appel du Vide, was a complete and total crushing of the genre.

You should probably get that over here at BANDCAMP if you dig music anyway.

In the meantime, because we all dig music, let's find out what classic records they're into.

1. My favorite kind of album is the concept album. The Wall is my absolute favorite. Beyond the amazing songs, it has spectacular nostalgia for me. 

What's your favorite one and why?I'm gonna say "Joe's Garage." I got the original albums from my dad when I was like 12. So there's the young mind effect there but even looking back it's so intense. 

LP Review: "Erancnoir" by Erancnoir

Erancnoir

Imagine if you will, living in a brutal, authoritarian regime. One full of such oppression that you could be executed because you violated someone else's religious beliefs.

But enough about the State Senator of Texas who introduced laws to do just that, let's talk about Iran.

In Iran, being gay, listening to metal, etc can get you into very serious trouble.

Imagine listening to metal on the sly, but recording it. Erancnoir's Harmpag Karnik literally put his life on the line in order to give us this slab of atmospheric black metal.

Big thank yous to Morrowless Music for bringing it to my ears here in the United States of America.

The third album from the Iranian solo artist and my first listen. It does remind me others in the genre as it's an ever flowing river of pain. The cover perfectly encapsulates the music within. The rocks on the cover were carved by the water.

The ever flowing water.

OUT TODAY BANDCAMP FACEBOOK

Pizza Pie Do Or Die with Barry Cavener of Ancient Altar

Ancient Altar

Next week Ancient Altar will be unleashing their EP, Cosmic Purge/Foie Gras onto glorious vinyl. So now, instead of being able to listen to this striker anywhere you want, you've been leashed to your turntable.

Yeah!

For those of you old time hipster wannabes who listen to records, like myself, check out BANDCAMP to pick up this banger.

But for now, let's talk about another circular object Glacially Musical can't get enough of....

PIZZA!

1. Pizza is the world's most perfect food. This is not up for debate. Please define pizza as based on your geographical location.

In my area (I'm about 45 minutes east of LA) there are a few good mom and pop pizza places, but it's mostly chains.