By Greg Maki And now for something completely different … Hear the name Mark Tremonti and you’ll think of Alter Bridge, Creed and his eponymous solo band. Most of all, you’ll probably think of guitars—huge, muscular riffs and shredding solos. I’m reasonably sure that you won’t think of Ol’ Blue Eyes. Mark started talking up... Continue Reading →
By Greg Maki After the COVID-19 pandemic wiped away touring—the lifeblood of any legitimate rock band—for more than a year, “Back from the Dead” feels like a restatement of purpose for Halestorm. It sees the band tossing aside its dalliances with pop and country music and finding its way back to its hard-rocking roots. While... Continue Reading →
By Greg Maki From classic metal cover act to legitimate metal band of its own to rock radio stalwart, Fozzy has had one of the most unlikely paths to success imaginable. After the 2017 album and single “Judas” propelled the band to new heights, Chris Jericho, Rich Ward and company seem concerned mostly with sustaining... Continue Reading →
By Greg Maki No band defined my late-’90s musical tastes more than Stabbing Westward. Something about Christopher Hall’s emotive vocals and the heavy guitars layered on top of dark, electronic rhythms spoke to me. “Wither Blister Burn & Peel” (1996), featuring the hits “What Do I Have to Do?” and “Shame,” made me a fan,... Continue Reading →
By Greg Maki While I appreciate its completely uncompromising nature, I’ve never been able to fully embrace death metal. Imagine my surprise then at how much I’ve been enjoying “Corpsegrinder,” the debut solo LP by George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, the voice of Cannibal Corpse, one of the most revered bands in the subgenre’s history. Perhaps that’s... Continue Reading →
By Greg Maki Ghost mastermind Tobias Forge has said “Impera,” the band’s fifth full-length, is about the rise and fall of empires, yet even more than that it plays like a celebration of Ghost itself, reveling in all of the over-the-top, bombastic tendencies that have propelled the occult act to the top of the hard... Continue Reading →
By Greg Maki You just can’t keep a good slasher down. Or even one that appeared in a classic, genre-defining film nearly half a century ago and, in the decades since, has turned up in a bunch of underwhelming sequels, prequels and remakes. Old Leatherface—emphasis on “old”—is back in the ninth installment of the “Texas... Continue Reading →
By Greg Maki When one thinks of Icelandic metal bands—an admittedly odd way to begin a sentence, but if you’re reading this, you probably have considered the subject at some point in a life that surely is more interesting than that of those who haven’t—power metal likely is not the first subgenre that comes to... Continue Reading →
By Greg Maki Merriam-Webster defines “ecdysis” as “the act of molting or shedding an outer cuticular layer.” Sounds like a fitting title for a record that’s all about moving forward with a futuristic twist on its metallic sound. “Ecdysis” is album number five for Moldovan band Infected Rain—its second via Napalm Records—and it’s clear the... Continue Reading →
By Greg Maki-----After the hellscape of 2020, music surged back in a big way throughout 2021. Concerts—even festivals—returned along with a flood of new releases from artists young and old. Metal and hard rock remain far outside the mainstream, but if you put in the effort to look, I’d argue that there’s more quality music... Continue Reading →
