LP Review: "Soul For Sale" by Sires

Soul For Sale

What makes a good first impression?

How do you introduce yourself to someone new for the very first time?

Is it your firm handshake or your perfectly coiffed pompadour? Maybe your chin is covered in a moss like beard of which General Tecumsah Sherman would envy.

Meeting a new band for the first time is rather similar to a first date or a job interview. Both parties are looking for something. The band and the listener are looking to form some sort of new relationship.

Glacially Musical is proud to consider the debut release of Waterloo, IA's Sires, Soul For Sale. My first impression of this band was from a bearded photo. As someone who cannot grow a beard, it caught my attention.

Album Review: "Midnight Chaser" by Liquid Steel

In the late seventies and early eighties a new sound emerged from Great Britain, which built tremendously upon the foundations established by Black Sabbath and borrowed heavily from the energy and enthusiasm of punk rock. Unlike their forefathers in Sabbath these bands largely steered away from lyrical content about despair, depression, doom and the devil, and instead wrote songs about fantasy, mythology or history. 


They were also different from punk rock due to a focus on musicianship, often with long epic songs, full of operatic vocals and searing guitar solos.  This sound gained momentum within the British Isles and then hit the shores of the United States like a hurricane, earning the movement the name of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM).  Spearheading this invasion were bands such as Raven, Samson, Angel Witch, Girlschool, Saxon,Venom, Rainbow and most significantly Def Leppard and Iron Maiden.

As the popularity grew, and the sound expanded to dozens of other countries and hundreds of other bands, the moniker of NWOBHM gave way to the simpler, but still accurate description of power metal, spawning such noteworthy acts as Dio, Sabaton, Hammerfall, Accept, Helloween, Kamelot, Armored Saint, and Manowar.

LP Review: "Paths" by Lord Almighty

Paths

It's been a bit, but upon hearing someone saying that new music was terrible...I knew that something had to be done.

So, a link was sent to a really great band that had released an album of stuff that was pretty reminiscent of the 70's.

This gentleman wasn't on the train because  he felt he'd heard all of that before. It should be mentioned that this was on a pretty big heritage band's discussion boards.

It was disappointing.

But here we are and there is new music on the horizon. Looking back at my formative years, all music was neatly cordoned off from the other types of music. Metal has gone a long way on this front....

It would have been inconceivable to think that music would have morphed into this multi-headed hydra which we have now.

Interview: S.N.A.F.U. "Our Drummer Is Actually An Amazing Guitar Player"

S.N.A.F.U.

There are a lot of bands in this world that straddle genres.

Many others completely defy convention.

S.N.A.F.U. is a bit more like the latter. In a former life they were a punk band. As they continued to playing and playing together, the band became something more than that. Looking back at old school thrash metal, the obvious choice would be to point at Metallica or Slayer.

Those two acts epitomized the fusion of punk and metal creating thrash, but S.N.A.F.U., isn't much like them either, though their genesis was strikingly similar.

When they were in the friendly confines of the lounge at Fubar, we talked the state of the world over a Rolling Rock Pint. Also, S.N.A.F.U. played at FUBAR...get it?

Concert Photos: Nile at Fubar in St. Louis January 25, 2016 -photos by Danny Nichols

Dallas Toler-Wade

Karl Sanders

LP Review: "Welcome To Fat City" by Crobot

Welcome To Fat City

It's been a few years, but on a hot sweaty night, my introduction to Crobot was made.

Without realizing what was to come for me, the bassist and I had a very nice conversation as I was waiting to interview Rex Brown and cover the show.

Well, their show was the stuff of legend for a band that was the first one the bill.

Years later, describing their music to people who aren't familiar is still difficult.

There's a lot to like about our friends from Pottsville, PA. They're the hardest working band out there today. They tour constantly. It's a mystery how they even had time to write this album much less record it!

Album Review: "Into the Void" by Infinite Earths

In all the universe there may be nothing more unequivocally awesome than heavy metal music.  The only thing which even comes close is comic books.  Fortunately the two worlds sometimes merge, although not nearly often enough.

Thus, I was drawn in by a  band called Infinite Earths (as I assume the name harkens to the classic DC comics storyline "Crisis on Infinite Earths"). 

When I read the band bio and learned the album is a soundtrack to vocalist Josh Mazzora's H.P. Lovecraft inspired comic book, I was automatically enamored with the band before hearing a single note. 

My expectations for this album were similar to stepping into the theater to see Star Wars Episode I.  Happily, unlike that fateful day in 1999 when midiclorians spoiled my stew, "Into the Void" has met my lofty expectations.  It is brilliant album which contains all the virtuosic guitar playing of technical death metal with blast beat drumming and a vocal delivery which hovers within the glorious realm of black metal.

NEWS: New Column On Glacially Musical

In the Four Years in which we have been running Glacially Musical there have been changes.

In the beginning this site was a running commentary on the new music being personally discovered by me.

As time wore on, indie artists began submitting their albums for our ears. Then not long after that, we began receiving emails, packages, etc from PR Firms, Record Labels, and yes more indie bands.

Then interview opportunities arose and Glacially Musical began to interview artists of many different stripes. As the array of music grew, so did our commitment to this site.

It was about 15 months ago and I was lying in bed. Something had occurred to me. Because of this site and the work I did, purchasing music didn't happen very often for me anymore, so I was going to be like a solid 18% of the population and get back into vinyl.

As a child of the 80's, I kind of missed vinyl, but I had some strong memories of records and record players in my house when I was a small child.

I began beefing up my (very pitiful and accidental) vinyl collection starting that day. In that time, I have created fairly nice sized collection of music which really shows my diverse taste in music.

There have been some vinyl promos that we've received, but we didn't really consider them any differently than the digital or CD promos we've gotten over the years. It's ironic considering that more often than not a new vinyl sounds like a new album instead of one I've heard a thousand times. (Kiss ALIVE!, I'm looking at you.)

So, we're presenting Frozen Grooves Vinyl Reviews.

These reviews will be different than our standard. Instead of just the music, there will be more pictures of the product, unboxing videos when merited, extra promotion, and the reviews themselves will also focus on the vinyl quality sound and packaging.

These reviews will also be open to albums of any vintage rather than upcoming releases as we typically cover.

For submissions please email me at battra13@gmail.com

Thank you!!

Concert Photos: Straight Line Stitch at the Troubadour in LA July 26, 2014 -photos by Danny Nichols

Darren McClelland, D, and Alexis Brown of Straight Line Stitch rock the Troubadour

Straight Line Stitch

EP Review: "Atonement" by A Province of Thay

Atonement

Juxtaposed.

Life is best lived when there are many competing forces. Underneath it all, my nature is fiercely rebellious. You should have heard the things I said to my mother when she was displeased with my dyed hair, eyebrow ring, etc.

But at heart, I'm also a rule follower.

These two sides of my personality have long been at odds with one another.

It's something makes me uniquely me. It also explains my taste in music as well. Show tunes sit next to death metal which sits next to psychedelic rock which sits next to avant garde craziness. Life is best lived on a continuing adventure. Alchemy is about far more than the search for gold.

LP Review: "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" by Chicken Diamond

The Night Has A Thousand Eyes

My apologies for my absence as of late. Life has a way of throwing you curve balls when you're looking for the heater.

It's easy to think about childhood. It's a care free time that many of us look back to as we inevitably age.

Personally, my life has been an interesting series of twists and turns that has led me to something that was simply unfathomable in my twenties and early thirties.

Keep on, keeping on and we can all improve our stations in life.

But all daily affirmations aside, during my halcyon days, the thing that really turned my crank for music was the quality of musicianship. Things like garage rock, punk rock, and even blues never were really on my radar, which is funny considering the company I keep in 2016...

Album Review: "The Others" by Northern Crown

Doom metal is as old as heavy metal itself, as Black Sabbath created both the genre and subgenre concurrently with the release of their debut album.  Not only is doom the first subgenre of metal, but the one which has survived the longest undiminished.

 
The later invention of power metal added a bombastic flare to metal which spawned great bands such as Iron Maiden, Dio, Halloween and Hammerfall. So when Northern Crown releases an album of Epic Doom Metal, which is essentially shorthand for the merging of these two genres, the expectations are lofty.

The first two tracks off this album The Others deliver in fine fashion. "With Malicious Eye" and "Surreality (The Tell-Tale Mind)" are compositions of crushing riffs and powerful, haunting vocals. The sound and the tempo reminded me of Candlemass with a hint of Iced Earth.

LP Review: "Brothers In Farms" by Steve'n'Seagulls

Brothers in Farms

Remember that time your wore your KISS tie to Christmas dinner with your entire extended family?

Man, your family was looking at you, thinking, damn Nik, you're 20 years old and can't even dress properly for this occasion.

The only support you're getting is from your stoner cousins who think it's awesome that you're letting your freak flag fly isn't really helping your situation.

Your mother always complained about you not dressing up for these things, so you decided to wear a tie, the only tie you owned and look what happened.

Geez. You just can't do any thing right. Well, that was me, and let me say that I miss the family members from that day who no longer walk among us. Our family was big, strange, and varied. My mother and I were the Town Mouse contingent.

LP Review: "Covenant of Teeth" by Morrow

Covenant of Teeth

There are times when things are not best left to the imagination.

In those times, we need to know what makes a hero worthy of an epic poem, series, etc.

Odysseus, Gilgamesh, and Musashi transcended history into myth and lesson. (NOTE: Ulysses was the Roman name and we are committed to only using the Greek names here.)

Epics are more than just a long story. Were that the case, Harry Potter would be an epic hero many times over and even Stuttering Bill from IT would be saddled with the title.

Of course that's just not true.

The same works for music. Ina Gadda Da Vida is over seventeen minutes long, but it cannot rightly be called an epic. There is no story and frankly the song doesn't go anywhere. Even Jimi Hendrix's, aka God Himself" Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) Live, though it typically clocks in over ten minutes long isn't an epic.

Album Review: "Present Day Plague" by S.N.A.F.U.

In the early 1970s there was an R&B and funk rock band of very minor renown called Snafu.  This is not your father’s Snafu.  The present day S.N.A.F.U. and their latest release Present Day Plague are a violent trip through a post-apocalyptic landscape of human decadence.

I am not sure there has ever been a band to so seamlessly merge the hardcore punk sounds of Napalm Death with the thrash mastery of Slayer as S.N.A.F.U has done here.  The comparison to Napalm Death is obvious. The songs are each a short, explosive bludgeoning of charged anger.  Yet the lead breaks and vocal cadence called to mind Reign In Blood era Slayer.   

There are moments when Present Day Plague settles into methodic crunchy riffs of doom, but they are short lived before inevitably searing into rapid fire thrash riffs reminiscent of Metallica's Kill ‘Em All played at double time.