The European Extreme Metal scene developed much like ours; In America we had our ‘big four’ thrash bands, and at the same time in Germany there were three more: Sodom, Destruction, and the subject of this review, Kreator.

Since their debut album Endless Pain in 1985, Kreator have been at the forefront of extreme metal. This year brings us Hordes Of Chaos, their follow-up to 2005’s Enemy Of God. Kreator’s 12th studio album, these 9 songs are some of the best Thrash Metal I have ever heard. Period. Full Article »

It’s always fun to set the charges, push the big red button and watch the horizon turn to ash- but how about creating? Inspiring? We can sling shit with the best of ‘em, sure, but I’d like to think it’s just as important that we make some musical recommendations along the way.As a shorthand way of doing that, I’ve put together a little mixtape of my favorite tracks lately; some are old, some are new, some are entirely uncalled for. But they all kick ass. Full Article »

I’m a huge fan of Henry Rollins. Not his music so much as his spoken word CDs & DVDs, and his show on IFC. I’ve got 36 hours of him talking in my iTunes (all of which I’ve listened to intently), and I’ve read several of his books. The day I moved to California, I flew into LAX just so I could see him speak at the Henry Fonda Theater that night, before heading south to Johnny’s couch in San Diego. Still, I haven’t seen every episode of the show, and I think I’ve fallen behind on the DVDs a bit. So I’m not sure when Uncut From Israel hit shelves, but if it’s new to me, then chances are it’s new to you too. As may be Henry’s speaking.

In my opinion, the spoken word portion of Uncut From Israel isn’t among Rollins’ best material. He talks about how the Middle East Crises could be sorted out with a couple of planes full of Ramones CDs, gets his digs in on Bush, and closes with a touching plea for the type of anger required to solve problems once and for all. It may be earth-shaking to the uninitiated, but my bar has been set rather high. On the other hand, the in-between segments, in which photojournalist Ziv Koren is guiding Henry through the Holy Land are intensely captivating. Koren is an amazing guy. Full Article »

I’m beginning to think that the motivation behind album leak crackdowns and Web Sheriff interference is more out of a concern for the Big Secret getting out than anything financial. The Big Secret, of course, being the fact that the music they’re putting so much effort into protecting is actually utter fucking rubbish. If the secret gets out, the entire goddamned house of cards falls down, and the record industry just can’t have that.

Franz Ferdinand are confessed music pirates themselves, and even went so far as to encourage fans to download a new song of theirs just a few months back. So imagine the confusion among those same fans when they heard that the band recently hired the infamous Web Sheriff to stop people from downloading their new album when it leaked. However familiar this song and dance may be by now, it all still sounded very suspicious to me; so I downloaded the record, and got to the bottom of the nonsense: Tonight is a half-assed disappointment of an album. Full Article »

I’m an evil son of a bitch, full of hate and ignorance. Sometimes anyway. Look, what I’m about to do is mean and totally unfair, but I love music with a passion. And passion is a volatile thing that can flip at any second.

A lot of music crosses my path. People send me links every day, I click around a bunch of blogs, I do my own hunting, and I go through the Antiquiet mailbox whenever I’ve got the time and optimism to waste. I used to believe that you couldn’t judge a book by its cover, but as the music business gets more and more formulaic and derivative, as the expectations bands have for their target audience’s attention spans get lower and lower, well… These days, you can. And here are some examples… Full Article »

I didn’t care about the new Morrissey record, Years Of Refusal, until it was recommended to me by a metalhead; my friend Eduardo from the band Ankla was talking it up the other day. Now I know Mexicans love the shit out of Morrissey, but Eddie’s from Puerto Rico, and that’s a completely different ballgame. So, with curiosity piqued, I picked it up and have been spinning it this week, letting it sink in.

I’ve gotta admit, the music behind many of the tracks- such as the opening Something Is Squeezing My Skull and third track Black Cloud- earns a few repeat listens.

The lyrics, consistently forlorn and occasionally hostile, make the album feel like a break-up record. Morrissey has been pulling this trick for years- famously refusing to define a sexual preference, claiming to be celibate, even calling himself a “fourth gender.” Yet his lyrics are soaked with emotions seeping from the cracks of complicated relationships. Full Article »