Jane's Addiction | The Great Escape Artist

CD Reviews

Skeletonwitch | Forever Abomination

Prosthetic (2011)

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | October 25, 2011

4.0 Stars

Although composed of fun-loving party mavens from Ohio, Skeletonwitch on record have always left a trail of scorched earth that lacks in levity what it plentifully makes up for in sheer ass-kicking force. Like 2009's Breathing the Fire, this disc sees the 'Witch distilling their hairtrigger assault as breathless cannonades volley back and forth amidst trilling harmonics and beyond-fast-paced riffwork. The whole thing is nailed down by the blackened growl of Chance Garnette, who turns every tune into a dark descent into a godless abyss of flaming flesh and freezing forests of infinite sadness. Like I said, it's a far cry from the smash-beercan-on-forehead zaniness of their live assault, but that's a good thing when it results in honest-to-gosh catchy scream-alongs like "The Infernal Resurrection" and "Sink Beneath Insanity" — tunes that just beg you to recite their titles with a pointed finger and an exclamation after every word before hitting "Play" and headbanging yourself into a stupor. Like the best metal albums, it's over before you know it, and unlike some of SW's prior long-players, it doesn't all fly by like one long 35-minute haze of thrash. Acoustic interludes and a variety of drum-pummeling speeds give you time to pause before saying "Thank you, sir, may I have another?" It's Bummer Time, and in 2011 there is no better soundtrack for banging your head to oblivion.

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There's a distinct absence of wildlife or astronauts on Lowell electronica quartet Bearstronaut's latest release.
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[ 05/29 ] Brad Hooper @ Andy's Old Port Pub

[ 05/29 ] karaoke with DJ Ponyfarm @ Slainte

ARTICLES BY DANIEL BROCKMAN

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For those of us of a certain age who remember when school dances had a strict four-fast-songs-then-one-slow-one policy, the memory of bouncing around to "Let's Hear It for the Boy" with the anticipation of "One More Night" or "Take My Breath Away" still makes our palms sweat with hormonal anxiety.

CONFRONTING THE SWEDISH GLOOM OF IN SOLITUDE | May 08, 2012
When I am finally able to get through to the cell phone of In Solitude's tour manager, they have emerged from a massive dust cloud, their metal-mobile finding civilization after a long spell traversing the deserts of Arizona with no idea where they are going.

[R.I.P.] ADAM YAUCH AND THE BEASTIE BOYS | May 08, 2012
ADAM YAUCH, a/k/a MCA, was likely inspired to pen those words, that appear in a tossed off couplet in the middle of what would wind up being one of the band’s final singles, by his immersion in the world of illness.

INTERVIEW: SIMON REYNOLDS TRIES TO LOOK FORWARD | April 24, 2012
Quick, try to think of futuristic music that has nothing to do with the music of the past. Can't do it?