Taco Grande with Thrash la Reine

Thrash la Reine

It's not every day that a band comes into my notice that has a very unique name, but Thrash la Reine has done just that.

If you'd like some more information, feel free to check out their Website.

I will warn you, it is in French. I'm always happy to check out some Quebecois metal though, that's for true.

In the meantime, let's talk about Tacos.

1. Everybody loves Taco Tuesday, but what's the best time to eat tacos for you and how many tacos do you put back in a standard sitting.

I usually eat tacos on Friday night with my friends, before we play Dungeons and Dragons. 

There is such a variety of tacos: wizards, dwarves, and elves can find something they like! I am the dungeon master, so 4 tacos are not too much for me.

2. Describe your perfect taco plate.

Vinyl Review "Nikada se niam bojao zmija" by Left To Starve

There are few things in this world more satisfying than finding  new artist and their music.

Every single one of my favorite bands, even the big ones, save one were bands I found later on life. The only exception to this is Kiss. I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't love Kiss. This literally goes back to pre-school.

I can even pinpoint the time when I became a fan of Black Sabbath, a few years after the original band had broken up. In those days, information was hard to acquire. I'd been a fan of Ozzy for awhile and I had no clue he was ever in any other band...much less the one that started it all.

But in this day and age t here is something seriously wrong with people. Rock fans have taken their finger off of the pulse of new music and then blame everyone else for the lack of it, as they call it.

Of course, those of us in the metal community know better. You find one band in the underground scene and before you know it, you're covered in new bands full of new music.

Today it's time to consider the debut album from Left To Starve.

Vinyl Review: "Have A Nice Trip" by Evil Triplet

Have A Nice Trip

This one is a little bit late, but let's totally pretend like 2018 and 2019 have merged into one super year for music.

This year, I've been lucky enough to have two of my favorite avant garde metal acts releasing a new record. (This is where we're pretending, because this album came out in 2018...)

Follow up records for those odd artists are always a great time, but those times are fraught with peril really.

Anyway, let's talk about Evil Triplet for a moment shall we?

Hailing from the wild world of Austin, TX, Evil Triplet is a...well they're a band..of some sort. In the vaguest sort of way, they're a metal band. They play riffs, guitar solos, and sing about aliens and Satan.

So, that's metal enough for this bloke.

If you need more penciling in and pigeonholing of them, it's probably best to say that the play Evil Triplet music. Look, most times...when someone says this, it's a damned lie and we all know it, but I can think of no other bands that play in the same style, but others may play in the same vein.

Vinyl Review: "Je Suis Africain" by Rachid Taha

Je Suis Africain

Let's talk for a moment about today's subject. Rachid Taha has shuffled off this mortal coil.

Just days before his 60th birthday, he died after suffering a heart attack in his sleep.

This album was completed before his untimely death.

 That means we're not looking a posthumously completed record like Experience Hendrix has been doing for the past 20 plus years...

You know how artists tend to get really popular upon their demise?

Chalk me up into that group, because this is my first time having heard Taha.

Considering the standard fare covered here on Glacially Musical, it's possible that it's all of my readers' first times as well, but if you could consider Alex Skolnick's world music record, you may just find something here too....

A Man Walks Into A Bar with The Last Reign's Brian Platter

Let's check back in with a band whose sound is ready made for all the things we love to enjoy, The Last Reign.

Their new EP dropped a week ago today. You should get on over to BANDCAMP to check out that flavor.

In the meantime though, let's see what they do when the cross the threshold of their local public house...

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

For the start of the day I'm a huge fan of coffee bars, I've always had a favorite local place to grab a solid cup of coffee, no fancy bullshit flavors needed just a good quality cup. 

For any other time I prefer the local neighborhood beer based bars. Generally the dirtier and louder the better.

2. When you get up to the 'tender, what's your normal order?

Vinyl Review: "The Color of Sound In Space" by Ghost:Hello

t

The Sound of Color In Space

Years ago, I had a job interview where they didn't really believe I could speak Spanish. That's happened twice actually.

Because there are times when I get rusty. But when I'm back in it, it comes back straightaway.

So, my interviewers thought I wasn't what I portrayed myself to be.

What do you do when you have something along those lines?

Enter Ghost:Hello.

They self-describe as a Stoner Rock trio from Ohio. If I lived in Ohio, I'd probably drink more and be in a stoner band too.

It's too flat there.

So, consider...what does Stoner Rock mean to you? For me, it's a band that's somewhat dirty. It's a sound that harkens back to a time when all the rock bands were full on stoners.

Beam Me Up Scotty with Brendan Mainville of Mountain Dust

Brendan Mainville

From the very metropolitan city of Montreal, comes a band called Mountain Dust. 

It's a little hard to describe what they do, but they've got soul and throwback. Perhaps it's best to say they've got some throwback soul....if that's even a thing. 

If you dig Crobot though, you're probably going to want to snort some good old fashioned Mountain Dust.

Head over to BANDCAMP for checking them out purposes. 

If you're into it,  you can get those sweet metal grooves on your groove player via their STORE, and if I wasn't clear...

I mean vinyl.

In the meantime, let's talk about some Star Trek.

1. Star Trek is the world's most perfect universe. In what show (era) would you be the happiest? Why's that?

Taco Grande with Striker's Tim Brown

Everybody loves guitar shreds right?

Well, surely then you're aware of Canadian metal giants, Striker? They were up for a Juno Award, just like Jay Mewes.

In between their shredding of their guitars, sometimes Tim Brown takes some time to eat some shredded beef and cheese...

Sometimes known as the taco.

Get to CD Baby to pick up their latest CD... 

And now..

TACOS!

1. Everybody loves Taco Tuesday, but what's the best time to eat tacos for you and how many tacos do you put back in a standard sitting.

Pizza Pie Do or Die with Brien from Hosemen

This past April, Connecticut's Hosemen dropped their latest album via BANDCAMP.

They even made a contention that Connecticut Pizza is better than St. Louis Style.

I'm not sure if I can ever be friends with them.

You should read on.

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

Connecticut is the best hands down! New Haven which is about an hour away from Stamford (our hometown) has Sally's, Modern Apizza, Frank Pepe, and Bar which was recently reviewed on bar stool sports and got really high scores.

Old school Italian brick oven, thin burnt crust pies! We live in Stamford which is famous for our thin crust pie made by the original Colony Pizza on Elm Street. Best known for their "hot oil" pizza. I grew up on it and I think thin crust is the way to go!

1Up with Cult of Sorrow

When you're out there on the streets, and you're looking for jive, make sure you don't fall down into doom...because as Lil Littles says...sometimes balloons can spell your doom.

That has essentially nothing to with anything right now, but in Cincinnati, OH, there lives a band called Cult of Sorrow.

Perhaps you've heard of them?

Or this is your first meeting. In either case, head over to BANDCAMP to check out their latest album.

But in the meantime, let's talk about some video games!

Glacially Musical: My first system was a pong clone, the yellow and black Odessey 300. What was your first Console?

Review Round Up 10/18/19

Prelude by The Last Reign (DIY) 10/11/19

Let's start by saying that this EP slipped through the cracks and didn't make it to the round up, but here we are and let's just say it's a good thing we did.

There's nothing like high quality death metal to really annoy my friends and family. Honestly, too many of the people in my life don't even know what blast beats are, not that this EP is going to teach them, but that's fine.

The Last Reign has that classic 90's English Death Metal tone and a pure stomp that is always headed north to victory.

The title, hopefully, is a hint of things to come. Melodic Death Metal with strong song structure and that glorious guitar sound....give me all of it.

Rating B+ Bandcamp Facebook

Lone by Oak (Transcending Obscurity) 12/10/19

Coming from the oft forgotten country of Portugal, we have another band called Oak.

Lone is their debut and it's a cracking start to what could likely be an amazing career for this esoteric doom metal horde.

How many people does it take to make a horde? I'll be honest, but Hordak didn't exactly have that many people in his group.

There aren't enough bands out there that know how to incorporate the double bass beat into slow music and Oak does that ever so masterfully. Oak has on their first album put out the kind of doom metal that gets me salivating.

Rating A Bandcamp Facebook

Behold Sedition Plainsong by Dawn Ray'd (Prosthetic Records) 10/25/19

In this day and age, there are so few bands who're anything akin to Marco Polo. Meaning, most the available ground to trod has been troddened.

Dawn Ray'd for me though?

They have found a new path to break in a genre that's been overdone. But let's move backwards a little bit. Defunct Label Halo of Flies introduced me to their debut record which is one of the best albums of 2017 for me.

In the two years since that release, Dawn Ray'd has landed on a bigger label and apparently written a batch of songs that crush even the previous release.

If you dig those fine violins, the ideals of freedom, and melancholy, black metal style. Dawn Ray'd has a song for you.

Rating A+ Bandcamp Facebook 

A Man Walks Into A Bar with Byzanthian Neckbeard

Byzanthian Neckbeard

OK, let's talk names of things. Byzanthian Neckbeard is about the coolest band name I've heard this month....and we're on the back nine of October, so that's impressive I think.

What we're talking about is a doom laden riff cult from the terribly vicious land of Guernsy. (No you had to google where and what that is.)

If you didn't google, it's an island in the English Channel that's a self governing British Crown Dependency....which I think is similar to Bermuda...

Anyway...go to BANDCAMP and get a bowl of riffs in which to eat. Now let's duck.

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

Vinyl Review: "Into The Empty" by Lamassu

Into The Empty

Well, let's take a deep dive into the world of grunge music.

It's really been a long time since it's been a going concern. Certainly we are heading towards a world featuring Nu-Grunje right?

Perhaps one might consider how bands like Soundgarden and Alice In Chains influenced elder bands like Kiss which then in turn showed that stone out of their minds metal could be a thing?

There's probably not a single person reading this who's not already come to this conclusion and I'm just terribly late to the party.

But in the interest of honesty and clarity... I think Soundgarden (post Superunknown) sucks and that Alice In Chains (post formation) sucks.

I just do not enjoy these bands' music. Years after the Grunge vs Metal wars of the 90's, I revisited both of them and my opinions did not change. Though, my heart did soften to Nirvana and Rage Against The Machine (if they matter in this conversation).

Review Round Up 10/11/19

Violent Nature by Woodhawk (DIY) 11/1/19

Coming from the wild lands of Calgary, Alberta we have Woodhawk. Violent Nature is their third full length release.

As this is my first time with the band, there won't any discussion regarding how far they've come since their last one.

Based on what I'm hearing on this record, they seem to be the kind of band who's got a sound and stick in with it. There's naught wrong with that Volbeat, AC/DC, and Coheed and Cambria have done quite well with this sort of approach.

The difference between those bands and Woodhawk, is that (well all but one of them) they have chosen an alternate path on how to make music. Violent Nature is a record that breaks no new paths.

Pizza Pie Do or Die with The Last Reign

The Last Reign

One of my favorite cities in this country is Buffalo, NY. A few years back, I'd get up there every so often to visit a friend.

There's some absolutely awesome food (stinger pizzas), beer (Saranac Brewing), and sports (Sabres, Bison, and Bandits) in that unsung town. 

In many ways it reminds me of St. Louis, but with significantly more snow.

They also continue to have Tim Horton's locations...

So, today we're talking to The Last Reign about pizza and they didn't even mention the vaunted Stinger Pizza even once.

Oh well. On Friday they're dropping their newest EP on BANDCAMP and you should check that out if you're into death metal.

Beer Thirty with Steve Scavuzzo of Clouds Taste Satanic

Clouds Taste Satanic

How long has it been? I'm not certain, but I saw these photos of one of the coolest looking records I'd seen in quite some time. 

Then it turns out the band has a killer name and folks I'm tight with (well tight with on twitter) were singing their praises.

It's instrumental doom metal and well, that's enough to get me curious. 

It wasn't long until I was spinning Evil Eye on my turntable.

The good folks in Clouds Taste Satanic have another record about to drop...go preorder that on BANDCAMP and find out what Steve thinks about beers.

1. My personal favorite beer style is the mighty Double India Pale Ale. The best DIPA in the world is STLIPA by Urban Chestnut. Tell me about your favorite style. 

Taco Tuesday with Shawn from hell bent

hell bent

Most recently, when reading silly things on the internet, Vinnie Vincent made threats by saying he's from Connecticut.

I have no idea what that means. So in order get to the bottom of these we sought out local experts on the state of Connecticut.... sadly, we couldn't find anyone who was willing to talk to us about what goes on there.

So instead we spoke to hell bent about tacos. Before the tacos, Jake. Check them out on BANDCAMP or get a vinyl copy HERE

Enjoy!

1. Everybody loves Taco Tuesday, but what's the best time to eat tacos for you and how many tacos do you put back in a standard sitting.

Definitely for dinner. After a long day of work there's nothing like a cold Tecate and some Mexican food. Depending on the size, probably 3-4 on average.

LP Review: "Drowners Wives" by Monte Luna

Drowners Wives

Apologies that this week there's only going to be one review in the round up, hence it's not called a round up.

We're considering the sophomore LP of a psychedelic sludge duo from Austin, TX.

Seriously, isn't Austin just the best, if you're only considering music and what you see on TV?

This is my first rodeo with the band and what I love about them is how easy it is to get lost in their sounds.

Music is an art form of pure escapism for me. It's better than storytelling, paintings, poems, etc because of how much it allows me to fall into it.

Monte Luna's record is definitely a fuzzed out sludge record. Many times I'll consider usages for albums and this one has place.

It's Sunday afternoon, hockey practice is over, your idiot friends are talking about football on Facebook. It's time for a beer and a bit of anger.

You spin this record and crack open a Double IPA. Your afternoon will swirl away.

Rating B Bandcamp Facebook

Vinyl Review: "A Message of Love" by Nazi Gold

A Message of Love

Before we get started, let me say that because it is 2019, I had to think about this before even agreeing to listen to it due to the name.

Glacially Musical is a left leaning website and against all forms of fascism, foreign and domestic.

But this album and group came, and went before the current neo-fascist buildup in The Age of Trump. So, moving on.

Imagine if it were 2018 and you just discovered this guy named Paul McCartney and his latest record, Egypt Station.

At this point, you're just wowed by this man and his art. Naturally, it's time to start digging. Look at him, he's a bit on the aged side, so you know he's got more records than just this one. The likelihood of his having pulled a T-Model Ford is pretty low.

So, now you're digging and digging. Oh, here's all of these collaborations.

Now there's this group called Wings?

Are You Ready To Rock with Davis R. Hay of Sophist

Sophist, Hay (Left)

If you're looking for a band that's not really sure what they do, you might be interested in Sophist. Black Grind Necrosis is proudly emblazoned upon their BANDCAMP page. 

Why, if you click that link, you can even hear their latest record.

Check them out. Anybody who lives in Edmonton and has had to watch the Oilers routinely screw it all up for the pat 13 years deserves a look.

Right?

So, Live Records!

1. Every major band worth its salt has released a live album. Tell me about your favorite A list band's live record and your favorite underground live album.