Everytime BAD RELIGION puts out a new release, I get very nervous about it. This was the band that started it all for me more than 6 years ago, and I tend to hold their older albums as sacred musical documents. Their last album “No Substance,” was bipolar. The harder tracks rocked very hard and [...]

Hmm…I’m still kinda mixed on this. BAD ASTRONAUT is Joey Cape, from LAGWAGON’s new side project, and it’s part melodic punk, part dark IndieRock. What carries this from just being another cd in the pile is that the production is incredible and tuned up to the top of the meter. Joey’s vocals standout with precision, [...]

One word continuously comes to mind when listening to this band: “slick.” ACCEPTANCE are a five-piece melodic rock band that play uptempo songs with ridiculous hooks, gorgeous production, and a lead vocalist who drops a seriously good impression. The opening tune, “Permanent,” is by far, the band’s best work on here, and it’s the kind [...]

There is no doubt in my mind that if AGE OF RUIN had the ability to be a full-time touring band, they would clearly be a band on the tip of the tounge of hardcore and metal kids everywhere. Unlike so many contemporaries, and perhaps similar to UNEARTH, AGE OF RUIN really churn out a [...]

This band features some of that older Eulogy Records style metalcore charm and attacks it with modern, chunky, but not overdone production qualities. ACROSS FIVE APRILS place a lot of diversity in sound among all 12 songs, switching up tempos constantly, and even throw in a totally non-suck acoustic (with sample overdubs) song that actually [...]

I’ve been searching for days to find a way to convey my feelings on “Good Mourning” that come to the following conclusion: “pretty damn good, but it’s missing something.” I think I’ve finally made a breakthrough though – if “From Here to Infirmary” is akin to GREEN DAY’s “Dookie” – a modern pop-punk record flawless [...]

Sheer brutality folks! Unbridled, unfiltered, unrestrained brutality. ASHERAH play booming metalcore with stompfest breakdowns, double-bass pummellings, and scorching, growled vocals. Everything about this six song EP is top-notch, right down the stellar artwork, and damn creepy set of eyes that stares at you on the back of the cd case. Crunchy, fluid production gives ASHERAH [...]

This band amazingly combines the sounds of a youthful fascination with early Fat Wreck bands and the modern emo/hardcore crossover sound that’s increasingly pervasive today. This confluence of sounds results in a band that comes off as a hybrid between DEATH BY STEREO, THRICE, and “Hoss” era LAGWAGON. Although not exactly a “tech” band, ANTHYM [...]