Alexander Jones

Boston’s sludge pioneers Grief had somewhat of a turbulent history. With a clutch of 7-inches and a few highly acclaimed records under its belt — including 1994’s absolutely essential “Come to Grief” — the band disbanded in 2001, citing a “hostile environment for doom metal bands.” Now, after several failed attempts to get the ball […]

The formidable shadows of The Mars Volta and Circa Survive loom large over Stolas. Still, while the Las Vegas-based band may wear its influences on its sleeve, the music never sounds overburdened by the inspiration each member brings to the table. Its latest, self-titled LP is lush with intricate guitar ambiance, soaring vocals, and balancing […]

“Who needs a God when you’ve got Satan?” If you’ve been to a metal show in the past decade, the chances that you’ve seen that theologically confusing phrase printed on the back of a T-shirt are pretty high. It’s the de-facto mission statement of New Orleans black metal giants Goatwhore, who unlike its bayou peers […]

Where do young metalcore bands turn when writing breakdown-laden songs about unrequited love just isn’t interesting anymore? The answer to that question, surprisingly, appears to be “metaphysics and astrology,” as evidenced by a fresh crop of bands like Fallujah, Hollow Earth, and most impressively Los Angeles’ Silent Planet, who are all turning their attention skyward. […]

North Carolina’s Sinai Vessel describe itself as “punks for sissies” on its Bandcamp profile, which is potentially the undersell of the century. While this kind of self-deprecating humor is all too common in the emo circuit, for a band like Sinai Vessel, a phenomenally tight emo three-piece that blends gut-wrenching vulnerability with massive choruses, it […]

While even the smallest reference to religious idolatry tends to make hardcore kids recoil in terror, Pennsylvania bruisers Jesus Piece have had no trouble finding an audience. Combining Eastern religion atmospherics with pummeling metalcore that evokes everything from 108 to One King Down, Jesus Piece comes across as a laboratory experiment that set out to […]

Exuding joy and possibility with every trumpet blast and tightrope-act vocal riff, Brooklyn-based Rubblebucket’s songs act as tiny encapsulations of a happiness that’s hard to nail down. “November” (which could very well act as a spiritual successor to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September”) is a brass-filled rollercoaster of a song, and “Came Out of a […]

Post-rock, with all its grandiose trappings and sonic maximalism, can actually be a remarkably succinct listening experience. By focusing solely on instrumentation and atmosphere, free from the burden of traditional vocals and lyricism, the best post-rock bands can, in a single song, cut right to the emotional core of any given topic. Boston’s Pray for […]

“Being grown up isn’t half as fun as growing up,” goes the chorus from what’s probably the biggest song Anderson, Indiana’s The Ataris have written to date (save for a perplexing cover of Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer”). It’s a sentiment that anyone who came of age in the era of low-slung Les Pauls, […]

When you think of shoegaze, a specific set of images tend to come to mind: Fender Jazzmasters drenched in reverb, washed out vocals, and flickering lights from seemingly endless pedalboards. While these are certainly unmistakable signifiers of the subgenre, the real beauty of shoegaze lies in its more subtle sonic possibilities. Kingston, New York’s Shana […]