Stream: "Vision" by SX

SX is known for being Belgium's most avant-garde pop outfit. Stefanie’s raw, ethereal vocals matched with Benjamin’s primal percussion and futuristic digital elements take you into an exotic realm. The duo is also responsible for directing and styling all of their visual elements. They went to Paris to shoot “Vision” and worked with their friends from Sankofa Unit, a Parisian Urban Gospel Choir, to create the video. 

SX burst onto the scene in 2011 with their exotic track, “Black Video.” The single kick-started an international tour, as they opened for bands like Yeasayer, Vampire Weekend, Ariel Pink, and Polica. Their debut album Arche went gold record status in Belgium and included hits “Gold,” Graffiti,” and “The Future.” Stefanie and Benjamin have also worked on exciting collaborations in other fields, such as their partnership with high fashion designer Dries Van Noten for his FW 2016 collection and an eyewear collection for Hoet: Cabrio SX. 

LP Review: Self Titled by Obituary

Obituary

There are times when I absolutely love a band. Many times during my life, when this has happened, I've torn through albums only to burn myself out for a time.

The ebbs and flows of life are a wonderful thing that will always confuse me.

American Death Metal and by extension, Obituary, was something that I did burn out on. There was a period of years where I didn't listen to anything extreme.

Upon my musical reawakening, I sought out Blues, modern rock, and scoured the classical aisle for anything I missed.

But, for Christmas, I purchased for myself, the Roadrunner Obituary Boxset. It was a lot cheaper then....and it had been so long since I'd heard from my old friends in Florida that they were a refreshing change.

Stream: "Codependent" by Mercy Brown

Spokane alt-metal band MERCY BROWN are pleased to reveal that they will be embarking on a tour of the west coast of the USA this week. The tour will consist of 14 dates from March 10th to the 25th. 

Mercy Brown spring 2017 tour dates

 

Fri 10 | The Hang Out | Moses Lake, WA

Sat 11 | The Shakedown | Bellingham, WA

Sun 12 | The Charleston | Bremerton, WA

Mon 13 | The Kraken | Seattle, WA

Tue 14 | Obsidian | Olympia, WA

Wed 15 | Real Art Tacoma | Tacoma, WA

Thu 16 | The Campbell Club | Eugene, OR

Sat 18 | The Alibi | Arcata, CA

Sun 19 | The Stork Club | Oakland, CA

Mon 20 | Characters | Pomona, CA

Tue 21 | The Tower Bar | San Diego, CA

Thu 23 | Club X | Salt Lake City, UT

Fri 24 | Treefort Music Fest | Boise, ID

Sat 25 | The Bakery | Pullman, WA
 

 Mercy Brown are:

Josh Schultz - Bass

Lunden Herndon - Drums

Chris Tanaka Canwell - Guitars
Sera Hatchett - Vocals

Interview: Druids "We've Known Each Other For 60 Odd Years"

Druids

Every so often there comes around a band that's so big and bold, that you know they're going to be huge.

It's not clear if Druids are that band, but our new shirtless friend tells of their secrets and speaks often about removing bits of clothing.

He's got a great beard and has a certain, shall we say, bias for bass players.

Just remember, all I did was ask the questions....

And without further ado, Big Shirtless Rod of Druids... Wait, I mean, Jay Goodrich.

Glacially Musical: Thanks for taking some time for us today.

Druids: The pleasure is all ours - no problem at all. It's funny you should mention time though... Time is track 4 on our album. It's really fizzy and it mentions flowers and spring time and speed.

GM: You guys seem to be a bit on the young side, what brought you to the seedy underbelly of rock, 80's glam metal?

Video: "I'm The Lucky One" by Mike Adams At His Honest Weight

In the not too distant past, I was introduced via Joyful Noise Recordings to Mike Adams At His Honest Weight. Whimsical band names will always catch my attention and therefore my ear.

They played St. Louis last year on the night of Bruce Franks Jr.'s redo victory in a terrible rainstorm. That night, I bought the vinyl from the man himself.

Today they've released a video from my favorite song from the record and they're about to go on tour again.

3/10 - Columbus, OH - Big Room
3/13 - Boston, MA - O'Brien's
3/14 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby's All Right
3/15 - New Haven, CT - BAR
3/16 - Roanoke, VA - The Spot
3/17 - Philadelphia, PA - The Sound Hole
3/18 - Youngstown, OH - Historian Recording Co
3/21 - Bloomington, IN - The Void

Tickets and other info at: www.mikeadams.info/tour

LP Review: "Among The Ruins" by Altar of Betelgeuze

Among The Ruins

Years ago after the fall of terrestrial radio, we're talking the mid to late Nineties, it became very hard to find out about new acts. As someone who worked in retail at the time and years after that, spending money wasn't something I had a whole lot of to go buy albums by bands I'd never heard of.

One band name that was bandied about frequently was Fear Factory. Their name was basically everywhere, but again, it's not like there was all this cash in my checking account to go spend on their record.

When they were on the Ozzfest bill, I was elated because their music would finally reach my ears. Remember, this was before YouTube, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, and all the other streaming services. After hours of patiently waiting to hear their dulcet tones, their music did less than move me. As someone who cares little for vocals, as long as they're inoffensive, their singer was what put me off.

Stream: "Destiny" by Kim Free

So, this email showed up from an artist who plays violin. In the past little while, I've learned quite a bit more about the instrument, but more than that, I still recall listening to The Suede Chain and their string section singing about the Mississippi River or lines from jump rope songs.

(Do the kids still do that?)

It was decided that Destiny was going to be the track to bring to my readers. Check this out and you won't be disappointed.

Hit up Kim Free on Facebook and pick up some tunes on Bandcamp.

Album Review: "The Immortal Wars" by Ex Deo

No other genre of music has sub-genres like heavy metal does. Not only are there dozens of sub-genres which explain the sonic qualities of a band, but there are sub-genres which are purely thematic which reflect the band’s lyrical content and stage appearance. 

 There is the much celebrated and beloved Viking Metal, Pirate Metal, Teutonic Metal, Egyptian Metal, Pagan Metal and at least a dozen more which are not occurring to me right now. Besides maybe Vikings, there is probably nothing more metal than an armor clad legionnaire charging into combat with the name of Caesar on his lips and the might of Jupiter at his back. So it stands to reason it was only a matter of time before the need for Roman Metal was necessarily met.

I cannot imagine a band could execute it more capably than Ex Deo. The glory of Ancient Rome has never been so appropriately displayed as when Ex Deo storms the stage in garb fit for an invasion of Gaul, whilst performing symphonic death metal.

Video: "Play The Devil's Piano" by Invasion

Check out the latest video from Indiana's Invasion, Play The Devil's Piano.

If you dig it, buy the disc HERE and send them a message on FACEBOOK to tell them what you think of it!

Invasion's new album was released on February 2, 2017 on Abyss Records.

LP Review: "Remnant Light" by Vaiya

Remnant Light

In the grand scheme of life, what do you think the purpose of music is?

Of course it's to paint a picture, to convey an emotion, but what is the end game of a song, an album, or a career?

We listen to the blues when we feel sad in order to feel better. We listen to metal when we're angry and seek relief. We listen to techno or EDM when we want to dance.

This train of thought can continue, but you have the idea don't you?

In the end, music seeks to inspire. When it's all broken down and rooted out. I feel like all songs are there saying, "Hey, Nik. This bad day, it's not the end of your life. No matter what happens, we'll be here to push you forward."

Split LP Review: "Split" by Grim Van Doom and Cult of Occult

Split

My daughter, who's been a bit spoiled over the years being not just an only child; but also the only grandchild on both sides of the family, has a hard time making choices.

When she's asked do you want to get this or that, her most common response is BOTH!

It's something that's grown a tad tiresome over the years if we're being completely honest about this situation.

It's clear that my little one wants to have her cake and eat it too. Is this really such a bad thing? Well, only when you're trying to teach her about life I suppose.

Lots of us, especially those of us in the Western World, abhor choice and prefer to just get it all. Normally this isn't really an acceptable option and we have to make that decision that we'd frankly prefer not to.

Artist Playlist: The Riven

Here are some of our favorites.

Enjoy!



Here’s a classic one! Sgt. Peppers had just been released two days before and Jimi decided to play that song before jumping on stage. McCartney was in the audience and you can imagine his face! After the crazy solo at the end Hendrix had to ask Clapton (who also happened to be in the audience!) to help him tune up the guitar.

Interview: Marc Bourgon of Cancelled (Greber...and more)

Marc Bourgon

How many of us travel for work?

Until about three years ago, all of my travel was for pleasure. Before that, I wished that business travel was part of my life.

Then having done it, it sucks.

Touring Bands, literally their whole life is business travel. It absolutely drives me insane to be gone and away from my family and the comfortable life I've created for myself.

Last year, I went to six cities in six weeks in four time zones, the farthest one west being seven hours behind the farthest one east. Naturally, I do my best to occupy my time when I'm on the road, but Marc Bourgon of Cancelled (Greber, etc) has got me beat.

Stream/Music Giveaway: St. Louis's Own, Spacetrucker

It's rare that I get to talk about my home and native land, The City of St. Louis, MO.

Though we're called villagers by the bigger places. Our scrappy something is still great, but let's have a beer, eat a provel topped pizza, and dip those toasted ravs.

Now, here's some music.

Check out this TWEET to win free tunes.

EP Review: "Tenebrific" by Cancelled

Tenebrific

A recurring theme in my reviews is considering an artist's home as their main influence. There are a great many examples of the home turf changing the landscape of music.

Sanktuary, from The Yukon Territory, have a running sound that almost screams so people don't lose them.  Sabbatory, hailing from the coldest city in the world, Winnipeg, also sound affected by the brutal cold of their hometown.

What makes today's reviewee interesting is that his hometown is not what influenced the music we're hearing today. This project is a solo effort from Marc Bourgon of Cambridge, Ontario.

He's a member of other bands as well. The songs on Tenebrific were written and somewhat recorded while riding in the tour van.

As someone who's made the journey from Buffalo, NY to Sarnia, Ontario, I can tell you there's large swaths of that trek where the Royal Highways look like backwoods State Roads here.