It’s that time again, boys and girls- after a month or so of digging, I present to you the latest batch of cover songs that stand out above the rest. Along the way, I was reminded of exactly why 311 should never be let near instruments or microphones ever again (their take on The Cure’s Lovesong), and was forced to ask the question: who the fuck told Atreyu it was a good idea to cover You Give Love A Bad Name? You don’t cover Bon Jovi, man. Even if you’re not a screamy little pile of dogshit. It’s not ironic, it’s not hip. Just… don’t.

But I digress. Here’s the jams, kids. Turn ‘em up.

After stomping onto the scene in ‘91 with their crushing Pitchfork EP, Clutch has spent the past 17 years in a vicious touring and recording cycle, honing their sound to the slick, snarling beast of blues-infused stomp-rock it is today.

We sat down to talk to vocalist and lyrical maestro Neil Fallon about all things Clutch, including the band’s label philosophies, how they put a song together and their future plans, as well as some promising updates on side projects The Company Band and The Bakerton Group.

Neil Fallon: The music industry followed a model that they set up in the 1920s to rip off hillbillies and black artists. They never changed their model, they made their bed and now they’re lying in it.

My favorite Opeth album is Damnation. Let me make that the first sentence of my review so all the hardcore Opeth fans can strip me of any credibility and walk away now. I wouldn’t want to waste their time. I know that Damnation wasn’t ‘metal’ enough, and by admitting that it’s my favorite of Opeth’s many albums, I’m admitting to being a spineless pussy or something. Whatever. It’s a beautiful album, and everyone I’ve burned a copy for have come back raving about it. This mainstream appeal that put a Swedish death metal band’s album on the Billboard Top 200 surely makes the loyalists puke, but everyone else should definitely check it out.

With all of that said, I own all of Opeth’s other albums, and their heavier shit represents some of the best the genre has to offer. So when I saw their new album, Watershed, available on iTunes, I snatched it up and fired it up.

Welcome to the March issue of Antiquiet. Let’s start with a roundup of what I’ve been listening to over the past week or so: New Moby, new Morcheeba, new Goldfrapp, an independent band called The Builders And The Butchers, the latest Mars Volta record, and some old stoner rock: Five Horse Johnson and Sasquatch.
Read on for links and video…