The chaos that Hopewell throws in from the onset of “ Hopewell & The Birds of Paradise”, including a number of middle-eastern sounding instruments, horns, and dreamy-pop vocals really is enough to make listeners’ ears perk up. “Calcutta” comes to the plate with a much more traditional and coherent assault on Hopewell’s listeners, but does not completely abandon the Bacchic nature of the first track. The ropey bass present on…
Honeyhander – Woolly Mannerisms / 2005 S.A.F. / 5 Tracks / http://www.honeyhander.com / http://www.safrecords.com / Reviewed 29 September 2005 The distended vocals of Marilyn Manson hide themselves behind an eighties-influenced, synthesizer-heavy sound for “Wear Our Your Muscles Maryâ€. The track is a little repetitious, as the disotortion on the vocals renders everything into a mush from no words can escape. This mixture is decidedly low-key, and really smacks more of…
This beer retails at around $6-7, and it provides quite a kick considering that it clocks in at 10%. Take that into consideration with the fact that it’s a bomber, and one has essentially 4 beers under one’s belt after killing this bottle. The light coloring of the beer itself belies this heavy alcohol content, as the head quickly dissipates. The Reverend comes through with a decently light nose, one…
Honeycreeper – Freakqualizer / 2005 Planet A / 11 Tracks / http://www.honeycreeper.net / Reviewed 15 October 2006 At first blush, I thought Honeycreeper was going to come with a very jam band type of sound. “Your Voice†is the first track on the disc, and the female vocals are different enough that individuals will largely ignore the rest of the instrumentation on the track. This is not to say that…
The Honorary Title – Anything Else But The Truth / 2004 Doghouse Records / 12 Tracks / http://www.thehonorarytitle.com / http://www.doghouserecords.com / Reviewed 18 September 2004 The Honorary Title play a style of college-rock that is reminiscent of Lucero, Weezer and early Goo Goo Dolls, back before the latter had completely turned into the adult contemporary juggernaut they are currently. The rich mastering of “Anything Else But The Truth” allows for…
It’s hard to imagine Fairmont front man Neil Sabatino was once a punk rocker. His work with New Jersey’s Fairmont is more likely to bring up descriptions like “lush” and “atmospheric”. On the band latest effort, the six-song EP “The Meadow At Dusk,” indie rockers Fairmont stuck to the same style (thankfully) that made 2008’s “Transcendence” such an enjoyable record, but have added in an extra vocalist.
The Holy Mountain – Bloodstains Across Your Face in Decline / 2004 No Idea / 16 Tracks / http://www.noidearecords.com / http://www.noidearecords.com/bands/releases/holymountain_blood.html / Reviewed 28 January 2005 The pedigree on The Holy Mountain is impressive, taking members from Combatwoundedveteran and The Blackout Terror, but is “Bloodstains Across Your Face…†any good? Well, the music contained on this disc is beyond brutal, reminiscent of eighties-style hardcore with more than a little metal…
In a quick turnaround since the game was originally released as Samurai Spirits: Flash in Japan, Samurai Showdown Sen has been brought to U.S. shores (a little more than four months). The title immediately differs from a number of other titles in the Samurai Shodown series in terms of the character breakdown. Where previous titles kept a majority of characters in from previous iterations of the titles, Sen seems to…
Hollow Ground – Cold Reality / 2006 Organized Crime Records / 6 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/hollowground / http://www.organizedcrimerecords.com / Reviewed 26 April 2006 The rough opening that “Cold Reality†has is not a result by any lack of maturity or talent on Hollow Ground’s part, but rather a desire to keep step for step with established bands like Hatebreed. The screamed-out vocals that first assault listeners during songs like “Ill Fate 
It has been a long time since we reviewed an Absolut vodka, and even longer since we reviewed a spirit that is at least partially based on the Acai Berry (October and February 2009, to be specific). We were lucky enough to receive a bottle of Absolut’s latest effort, their Berri Acai, a short while ago. The first thing that one will notice about the spirit is the sweet fruit…
