Relapse Records obviously knows a good band when it sees (and hears) one. The Pennsylvania-based label is home to an absolutely killer lineup of grind, death, and the heaviest of metal bands including household names (at least in cool households) like Cephalic Carnage, Exhumed, Obituary, and Iron Reagan. And as…
Note: Rest in peace Ron “Ronnie Reckless” Grotjan, who died of cancer on June 6, 2016, and was the reason I was listening to his band, Mighty Sphincter, as I wrote this. Peace to those of loved him in this time of transition, especially his wife Robin and daughter Athena…
Zack Carmichael, guitar player for The Freeze, remembers vividly why the band moved to Phoenix in 2009. “I had just moved to the Cape [Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where The Freeze originated] to join the band in October of ’08. It was a brutal winter, and we were having trouble booking…
There are times when journalistic integrity and putting one’s self well outside of the story are simply too difficult to entertain, let alone do. When the opportunity to speak with drummer Jean-Paul Gaster of Clutch about the band’s upcoming Phoenix show popped up, I met it with, quite honestly, a…
Few bands have had the power to unify youth the way the Violent Femmes did in the early- and mid-1980s. The band, which stops by Marquee Theatre in Tempe on Tuesday, March 3, had an extraordinary ability to unify the various cliques found in American high schools and colleges. Putting…
When Slope Records began releasing vintage Phoenix punk records toward the end of 2015, there were a few jewels in the crown for the fledgling label. One of those jewels was a 1987 live recording by the infamous Mighty Sphincter, which was released under the title Undead at Hammersmith Odeon…
When a band like the Valley’s own BroLoaf tells you its new record has “pop sensibilities,” you just have to roll your eyes. Those who have witnessed the spectacle of the almost 8-year-old band’s live show understand the general need to eye-roll when the subject of the “Loaf” comes up…
Nonpareil is a band that want to tell it like it is. Locally grown but internationally influenced, the Phoenix-area quartet plays a noisy brand of post-punk carefully designed to enthrall and motivate the listener and will please even the most discerning devotee of the great Dischord Records label out of Washington,…
Like most well-known, middle-aged personalities, Punk Rock, known by friends as simply Punk, is a little coy about disclosing its true age. For the most part, though, Punk’s fans and critics tend to agree it was born in 1976, making this year its 40th birthday. We thought it would be…
There have to be moments of existential angst for every worthwhile pursuit. There really does. If the universe is fair, everybody out there — working away at some job or profession, hobby, labor of love, whatever it might be — has to have some moment where you look within your…
Formed in the good old days (see: early ’90s and 1992, specifically), Tempe, Arizona band Alison’s Halo enjoyed a healthy run as a fully functional recording and live band for the majority of the decade. Founded by married couple Adam and Catherine Cooper (guitar and vocals/guitar respectively), and Lynn Anderson (bass,…
For music fans who are also inclined to delve into comics books from time to time, Coheed and Cambria are the perfect band. The name of the band itself comes from the writings of the New York-based band’s guitar playing lead singer, Claudio Sanchez, and his Evil Ink Comics series,…
Heavy metal is a fixture, almost like comfortable yet spike-laden easy chair you can always count on here in the desert. We are lucky to have a great mix of local, regional, national, and internationally acclaimed talent. During a recent conversation with Cannibal Corpse’s drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz, he mentioned he…
Kitten’s Chloe Chaidez is a killer interview. An old soul, for sure, especially for someone who can’t even by a legal beer yet, but something tells us she’s maybe had one or two alcoholic beverages. The Los Angeles, California singer/songwriter basically is the band she fronts, but to hear her…
For many local fans of death metal, the biggest show of the year is happening on Friday, March 11, at Club Red in Mesa. There will be lots and lots of growling vocals, double bass drums, and dual guitar attacks drowning out the bass lines. The legendary purveyors of the…
Robyn Hitchcock, who will turn 63 on March 3, the day he performs in Phoenix, formed the Soft Boys in 1976 and went on to front the Egyptians in the ’80s. He has been performing a vast amount of solo material in various incarnations ever since. Whether he is fronting…
Recently, there has been considerable effort to determine the best thrash metal albums of all time. There has been a list in the paper and the lists of some internationally famous dudes. In the course of our research for the story, we asked 17 people, of local, national, and international acclaim,…
Writing a top ten list vacillates between easy and hard faster than the questions in a typical Trivia Crack game. Sometimes, the lists flow right out and you nail it. Others, though, you stew on and cross things off, add them back, and cross them off again while the little…
Speed metal or thrash metal? The consensus seems to be that the terms are interchangeable and probably not even applicable in 2016, although the term “thrash” metal doesn’t elicit the groans that “speed” metal does when experts on the subject are asked. In fact, this list of the best speed/thrash…
What would it be like to move to another country and end up being called “Mr. Heavy Metal”? Marty Friedman knows. The gifted guitar player, initially known for his groundbreaking work in Cacophony, moved to Japan a decade ago after living in Phoenix from 1993 to 2003. Since his move,…
For those who want to “feel the Bern” with a veritable who’s who of local talent, Saturday, February 6, will be everything you could want and a little bit more as Sacred Reich and friends have a little fundraiser for the Presidential candidate from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, at the Rebel…
The idea of disruption is big these days. It seems everyone is trying to disrupt something: the mattress industry, healthcare, taxi services. You don’t have to look far to see advertisements talking about new, better, and different ways of looking at established products and services, especially when it comes to…
