Them Crooked Vultures – S/T
(Interscope - 2009)
Putting Josh Homme (Kyuss, QOTSA), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana), and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) into a studio together will surely result in a straight up rock and roll album. ‘Them Crooked Vultures’ is exactly that. But it’s not perfect. Those hoping for round two of the last Homme/Grohl collaboration (QOTSA’s 2002 masterpiece ‘Songs for the Deaf’) will be a little disappointed. This album has the air of seasoned multi-platinum rockers doing what made them great, but lacks the ferocity of a band trying to get noticed. It is highly listenable, but nothing ground breaking.
Converge – Axe to Fall
(Epitaph - 2009)
Converge is a band that constantly delivers. Their latest outing, ‘Axe to Fall’, is no exception. Produced once again by Kurt Ballou, who also plays guitar in the band, they shred as hard and sound as good as ever and are one of the few hard bands to really key in to the importance of sonic texture on record. What is great about Converge albums is their tendency to pound through three songs in six minutes and then break out some seven-minute masterpiece. It’s not just hardcore, it’s hardcore you can listen to in the dark with headphones on.
Red Fang – S/T
(Sargent House - 2009)
Sure, it’s old school. Let’s not kid ourselves, though – nobody rocked this hard in the old school. Textbook crunchy guitars, pounding drums, migraine-inducing bass throb, and barrel-chested vocals that would be the ideal soundtrack for shooting pool and sucking down pitchers of Rainier, maybe even fighting a couple of motherfuckers. I want to shoot a movie now, just so I can use ‘Red Fang’ as the music for montages of fight scenes, car chases, drug deals and other illicit acts of rock awesomeness.
3 Inches of Blood – Here Waits Thy Doom
(Roadrunner - 2009)
I want to like 3 Inches of Blood, but I can’t. This is a well-made metal album, but it sounds like a rehash of a lot of other bands who are way better. I want to like this album. I kind of like it. However, if I want to hear this album I’m going to go listen to Judas Priest. That’s getting short-sighted, though. At the end of the day, it’s metal and thou shalt not speak ill of metal. Metal is the home team and we must support it regardless. I hereby officially commend the effort.
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