Progressive metal has taken many different forms over the years. While Dream Theater was mixing 80’s thrash with King Crimson-esque arrangements, Tool was taking sludge metal and adding incredibly intricate rhythm patterns. Nowadays, prog metal isn’t as nuanced as it was in the 90’s, but that hasn’t stopped bands like Britain’s Tesseract from pushing […]

Incandescent vocals deliver a warm, southern rock blues style, enveloping raspy undertones. “Desperation Blues,” a monumental, smooth and funky grind leave a nice “blues metal” taste in my mouth, an allusion to thumb through my iTunes in search for a similar sound following a full listen of this new ten track monster of an album. […]

Suicidal Tendencies – Institutionalized All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one…Diet Pepsi? Well for anyone who was listening to those early Suicidal recordings, the “All I wanted was a Pepsi” reference being an all-to-famous line from the 1983 track “Institutionalized” (check the video above), you certainly remember that the pure ‘cyco’ style that was […]

There are times when fate intervenes in ones life to bring sweet surprises.  Upon arriving to Pittsburgh’s Altar Bar for The Dillinger Escape Plan show to find out that The Faceless would not be performing due to their van breaking down, I entered the facility with disappointment and concern for fellow Pittsburgh resident and lead […]

For fans who enjoy Pantera, Metallica, and old school thrash metal in general; the Swedish metal band Deception is someone to give a listen to.  They have just released their first EP and they did not hold back on any of their four songs.  From start to finish this EP was pretty solid.  It definitely […]

Florida’s Artizan have been going on their power/melodic metal journey for five years now, and they’ve had a good amount of time to steadily define their sound of expansive and epic tracks. Artizan’s latest metal record, Ancestral Energy, aims to continue their bout at huge, huge vocals and rhythmic riffs. But as the band steps […]

  Russia’s LOUNA were winners of the 2009 “Best New Artist of the Year” Russian Alternative Music Prize (RAMP)  and the 2012 “Female Vocalist of the Year” Nashe Award, and are setting their sights on the American hard-rock scene with their new album, Behind A Mask, in-stores and available online April 30, 2013 via Red Decade Records and MEG/RED. Lead […]

  Ugly Kid Joe debuted at an odd time. It was a transitional period between the dirty metal world of Guns N’ Roses and the rise of alternative music pioneered by Nirvana, R.E.M., and Jane’s Addiction. Even odder was the band’s commitment to keeping classic metal and hair metal alive, even when flannel shirts outclassed […]

Good Jeans is Derek January, an ambient, synth driven musician from right here in the Steel City. His debut EP, Amusement, dropped at the end of the last year and has already garnished support from the local scene. The collection combines dark and dreamy synth tracks with poppy, percussive driven synth tracks. It’s a synth […]

Punk has always been a genre with a thick history. Ever since its inception decades ago, the name of the game has been speed, fury, and a love of rebellion. It makes it all the more discouraging now that punk has become a numbers game, one where breaking free from oppressive convention is painfully rare. […]