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Conan
It is often true, and for the most part for the best, that music journalism praises the innovative and the unique. But there are bands that come along with the simple goal of reveling in the best...
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Elf
Ronnie James Dio, a tiny man with a gigantic voice, was one of rock’s great lifers. He got his start in the late 1950s, fronting bands for which he played trumpet and bass in addition to singing....
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Immolation
Immolation are one of the original death metal bands, rising to prominence in the late ’80s as part of the same East Coast scene as Cannibal Corpse, Incantation, and Suffocation. They’ve made 10 albums...
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The Obsessed
by Phil Freeman No two albums by the Obsessed feature the same lineup. Their debut, recorded in 1985 but not released until 1990, featured founder Scott “Wino” Weinrich on guitar and vocals, Mark Laue...
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Hard Stuff
by Phil Freeman Hard Stuff were one of those early ’70s bands assembled from ex-members of other bands. Some of those acts got huge (Bad Company, for example, was made up of former King Crimson, Mott...
View ArticleAtomic Rooster
by Phil Freeman Atomic Rooster were one of the more interesting bands from the early ’70s UK rock scene. Organist Vincent Crane‘s melancholy lyrics, sung by others, sounded like the perspective of the...
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Monster Magnet
Monster Magnet are coming up on their 30th anniversary—the original lineup of the group, featuring singer/guitarist Dave Wyndorf, guitarist John McBain, and drummer/singer Tim Cronin, formed in 1989....
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Beastmaker & Haunt
Trevor Church is a man with a vision. A guitarist and singer, he’s currently leading two bands, Beastmaker and Haunt. While each is unique, they are both recognizably the work of the same man....
View ArticleCreedence
Creedence Clearwater Revival are one of the most misunderstood bands in rock history, and it seems like they wanted it that way. Best known for catchy rock ‘n’ roll singles, sung by John Fogerty in a...
View ArticleBlack Bombaim
Portuguese instrumental rock trio Black Bombaim have good taste in collaborators. Saxophonist Rodrigo Amado, synth player Luís Fernandes, and Earthless guitarist Isaiah Mitchell have all made...
View ArticleLucifer
Discogs is not a perfectly accurate reflection of music history. Because its data is user-generated, it reflects those users’ preferences and the limitations of their knowledge. So, for example, while...
View ArticleTitan To Tachyons
Avant-garde metal continues to gush forth from New York City at an unprecedented rate, and the latest manifestation comes in the form of the trio Titan to Tachyons. The rhythm section consists of what...
View ArticleIncantation
Being a death metal institution is a weird feeling, I imagine. On the one hand, you’re being rewarded for making the music you love, but on the other hand, nobody expects you to progress — indeed,...
View ArticleSpirit Adrift
Spirit Adrift, a duo from Phoenix, Arizona, play traditional metal: loud, not too fast, catchy and headbang-worthy at once, aiming for operatic grandeur but settling for fist-pumping grit. This is not...
View ArticleSunbomb
It’s good to have your preconceptions upended. It’s good to be surprised. But it doesn’t actually happen that often, especially as you age and the boundaries around your taste solidify. After a few...
View ArticleMarta Gabriel
Metal is in many ways unrecognizable to people who’ve been listening to it since its earliest days. A brief history lesson: heavy metal, as it was originally called, evolved out of the bluesy hard...
View ArticleKælan Mikla
Kælan Mikla started things off right. Their first album (their second, really, but we’ll get to that), Kælan Mikla, opens with the song “Kælan Mikla,” in the tradition of Black Sabbath (whose...
View ArticleEric Wagner
Former Trouble singer Eric Wagner died of complications from COVID-19 in August 2021, at the age of 62. His band at the time, The Skull, had dropped off a scheduled US tour with The Obsessed after...
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