Todd A

[This piece originally appeared in The Rage.]

If the cover art by Pushead weren’t enough to invoke the Metallica of old, the opening track, Frantic, finds Metallica at their fiercest since …And Justice For All’s closer, Dyer’s Eve. The production is loud and live. Guitars find new timbres of overdrive; cymbals are bright; drums have plenty of space around them; vocals are dry and up-front. Oddly, guitar solos are almost completely absent. (continue reading…)

Imaginary Baseball League – Cardiact (What A Waste Recordings)

The greatest accomplishment of Murfreesboro’s Imaginary Baseball League is the way each song on their new EP Cardiact wholly absorbs the listener. Even at four and five minutes, no song feels as long as it really is. It is a testament to the band’s clever arrangements that nothing sounds repetitive. (continue reading…)

[This piece originally appeared in the Rage.]

Sometimes it is a shame that the term “emo�? (once short for “emotional hardcore�?) became as watered-down as the bands it tried to describe. In cases such as Moneen’s, the original emphasis of the term fits the band’s fiery guitars, anguished vocals and complicated arrangements. (continue reading…)