Bleed The Sky offer new album, tour, line-up....

Oklahoma City's favorite metal band, Bleed The Sky, recently released its long-awaited sophomore album, Murder The Dance. In support of the Nuclear Blast America release, Bleed The Sky will hit the road in July to tour behind the album.

For this tour, the band will also be unveiling its new line-up, featuring Noah Robinson on vocals, guitarists Rob Thornton and Justin Warrick, bassist Ryan Clark and drummer Austin D'Amond. Warrick joins the band from the Southern California band Rev.

The follow-up to the band's stunning 2005 debut album, Paradigm In Entropy, the new album also features vocal contributions from folks like Jeremy Hall (Dying Regret), Martina Axen (Drain STH), and Jon Howard (Threat Signal). Bleed The Sky will "warm up" with four shows in Texas before moving onto headlining a two-month tour with Straightline Stitch, Within Chaos and Ekotren. Tourdates are listed below....

Bleed The Sky
07/17 @ Rock Bottom, San Antonio TX
07/18 @ Red 7, Austin TX
07/19 @ Harley Davidson McAllen, TX
07/20 @ Zeros, Corpus Christie TX

Bleed The Sky w/Straightline Stitch, Within Chaos & Ekotren
07/25 @ Midnite Rodeo 3, Abilene TX
07/26 @ The 169, Wichita Falls TX
07/27 @ War Legion Underground, Amarillo TX
07/28 @ The Compound, Albuquerque NM
07/29 @ The Clubhouse, Tempe AZ
07/30 @ The Jumping Turtle, San Marcos CA
07/31 @ The Knitting Factory, Hollywood CA
08/01 @ Cheyenne Salon, Las Vegas NV
08/02 @ Gator’s, Farmington NM
08/04 @ Elks Lodge, Sheridan WY
08/06 @ Oriental Theater, Denver CO
08/07 @ Lizard Lounge, Wichita KS
08/10 @ Rockstar Nightclub, St. Louis MO
08/11 @ George’s Majestic Lounge, Fayetteville AR
08/15 @ Station 4, St. Paul MN
08/18 @ The Underground, Sandusky OH
08/19 @ The Machine Shop, Flint MI
08/20 @ Wreck Room, Toronto Ontario
08/21 @ The Ritz, Warren MI
08/22 @ Peabody’s, Cleveland OH
08/24 @ Monkey Bar, Huntington WV
08/25 @ Crocodile Rock Café, Allentown PA
08/26 @ Chaser’s, Trenton NJ
08/27 @ Knitting Factory, New York NY
08/29 @ Jester’s Pub, Fayetteville NJ
08/30 @ Ground Zero, Spartanburg SC

Gibson announces Joan Jett signature model

We liked the idea of this guitar and wanted an excuse to publish something on Joan Jett, so we thought that we'd just go ahead and publish Gibson's press release and photo:

Gibson Guitar, the world’s premier musical instrument manufacturer and leader in music technology, has announced the launch of the Joan Jett Signature Melody Maker guitar, designed and produced in close cooperation with the rock legend herself. The model pays tribute to the iconic Melody Maker Jett played on hits like "I Love Rock N’ Roll," and "Do You Wanna Touch Me" and, true to her trailblazer status, marks the first Gibson electric signature model designed in conjunction with a female artist.

"This is my guitar. Gibson was successfully able to replicate my custom velvet hammer pick ups which have not been available for twenty years. It’s perfect for gigs as well as recording," says Jett. "For those of you performing live, you may understand the value of being able to shave off those split seconds between playing and interacting with the audience, especially if you use your hands to communicate. I can move between the killswitch, which mutes the guitar, and playing, and then back again without a lot of in-between motion. With its no frills basic set up, it’s a perfect guitar for either an experienced player or someone just learning."

Gibson’s Joan Jett Signature Melody Maker features a lightweight, slab mahogany body with a White Worn finish. Handcrafted to the same specs as Jett’s original guitar, the slim-tapered neck profile is similar to the Les Pauls and SGs of the mid to late 1960s. The fingerboard of the Melody Maker is constructed from the highest grade of ebony on the planet, Jett’s personal choice for her signature Melody Maker, and the headstock features Gibson’s classic, silk-screened logo.

The classic, snarling growl of Jett’s original Melody Maker is accurately captured by a single Gibson Burstbucker 3 zebra humbucker, slightly overwound with asymmetrical coils, unpolished Alnico II magnets, and all the punch and power of an original Gibson PAF pickup. The tuners are mini-Grovers with authentic "witch hat" knobs, exactly as they are on Jett’s guitar. A "kill" switch replaces the normal Gibson toggle switch, and the body is outfitted with a period-correct black vinyl pickguard. The guitar also includes such typical Melody Maker features as 24-inch scale length and the standard Gibson Tune-o-matic and stopbar tailpiece.

"Joan Jett is a true icon of rock and roll. Since the beginning she has been a groundbreaking artist and a trailblazer for women in the genre," said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. "Gibson is proud to be working with such an influential guitar player."

Joan Jett's most recent album is Sinner – click on the CD cover to buy from Amazon.com!

Iron Maiden - Live After Death DVD review

Finally!!! After years of it being out-of-print, and having to either shell out the dough for a degraded VHS copy or a really horrid, muddy sounding and grainy-looking DVD bootleg, the official release of one of heavy metal’s most important concerts has been bestowed upon the masses.

Complete with recaptured video, revamped sound, and a shitload of extras, Live After Death is the latest mandatory installment in the Iron Maiden archival saga. While the concert features the performance at Long Beach Arena in 1985 within the Powerslave tour, it’s one of the most powerful and energetic performances ever. It shows Maiden at their height, right before they would become more melodic (no complaints about that) and enter another era and expand their musical annunciations.

The show could only be described a lightning in a bottle, complete with the dueling leads of Smith and Harris, McBrain’s rhythmic punch, Harris’ galloping bass, Dickinson’s magnetic stage presence and, of course, Eddie. Through it all, they burn through classics such as “Aces High,” Flight of Icarus,” “Number of the Beast,” “Run to the Hills,” and “Revelations,” which the latter shows a rare glimpse at Dickinson playing rhythm guitar. Noticeably, not only does the show have a lack of digital harshness due to the era of production, it’s also in full-screen…but then again, it’s in its original form, as it was filmed. The sound has been re-mixed in 5.1 (with stereo mix as well) to put you further into the front row.

With the extras, the first thing is the part two of History of Iron Maiden documentary, which is a continuation from the Part One DVD that was released in 2004, which itself was the beginning of the archival releases for the band. It features interviews from manager Dick Bell, Rod Smallwood, and band technicians who all speak about the recording of Powerslave and how the "World Slavery Tour" came together. Segments include Rock In Rio 1985, where songs from the same era are played, which is somewhat grainy in quality, but then again, we are glad to have it as a bonus. A nice documentary of performances, interviews, and home footage is included called Behind the Iron Curtain. At the time, this was something sacred considering this was in the height of the Cold War – this is montaged similar to a short film. You also get a photo gallery, promo videos for “Aces High,” “2 Minutes to Midnight” and a fifteen minute segment called “’Ello Texas” which like the Iron Curtain segment, features both performances and home video/interview shots.

Undoubtedly, this is one of metal’s finest moments. Indeed, I’ll never forget when I first got into metal big time, when I first heard the album. It wasn’t the first time I'd heard Maiden, but there was something about this recording in general that intrigued me. Watching a friend of mine’s older brother play “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” on acoustic guitar and seeing the LP spin on the turntable with the gravestone label, now that was cool. That was really the milestone in my life where listening to metal music was important and unlike in today’s world where video games, reality TV, computer worshiping is present…this was a time when hanging out with friends and listening to records was fun, it meant something. So, Live After Death was really my entry into the whole metalhead army, not bad for this Catholic Schoolboy who was only eight or ten years old at the time. (Universal Music) - Review by Tommy "Hashman" Hash

(Click on the DVD cover to buy Live After Death from Amazon.com)

Whitesnake - Good To Be Bad CD review

It’s almost like an epidemic, most '80s era bands cashing in on nostalgia, touring, playing the same set list over and over again, releasing multiple ‘best of’ compilations, and treating us to stale new material that thankfully never gets heard. Unfortunately, a lot of these bands somehow eclipse the new blood of AOR and melodic rock outfits that work along the lines of what would be today’s "hair metal" or "'80s rock," if you must.

Nevertheless, Whitesnake has literally shunned any connotation of weakness or kitsch factor with their latest, Good To Be Bad, which is a record of serious hard rock proportions. Having played some of the strongest hard rock and metal to ever grace the turntable, David Cloverdale and Co. have returned with a kick-ass, balls-to-the-wall metal record that is just as strong as anything that the band has released, and is as strong, if not stronger, than anything that you will hear.

Armed with the lineup of guitarists Reb Beach and Doug Aldrich, bassist Uriah Duffy, keyboardist Timothy Drury, and drummer Chris Frazier, a real no-bullshit approach to making a rock and roll record is in play. One thing's for sure: this ain’t no record that was recorded in any basement for that matter, for the sound is big and fat – real production people, real fucking production (in a real studio)!! And the music, it can only be described as Whitesnake, where there is real substance here, not the substance of dancing on the hood of the car (although...it’s always something how we run to the TV during those old videos), it’s full-on aggressive guitars, catchy hooks, and the bombastic power that kicks you in the fucking nuts every time you listen to it, and you want more!

Anthems are in tow here, the lead off single "All For Love" is one hell of a hard-driving tune that ups the ante for the crankage factor. Cuts such as "Best Years," "Call On Me," and the title track follow suit, axe solo after axe solo, with Coverdale’s raspy vocals holding up with ease, singing out with commanding power and authority. He touches his blues roots with the Howlin’ Wolf call of "Lay Down Your Love" and "Got What You Need;" of course, he still has his flare for sentiment where there are ballads, and you have them here, but it’s not overloaded on the record. "Summer Rain," "Till the End of Time," and "All I Want, All I Need" offer up perfect backseat fodder without any cheesy factor involved.

Like Dokken and Great White, who both have recent releases out that pose strong tunesmith and hard rock gusto (although the same cannot be said about another ‘white’ band’s ‘return’), Whitesnake still has it. Yes, this might be a new lineup, but you have to hand it to Coverdale for keeping it together all these years, thirty to be exact…and let’s face it, with an album like this from the band long overdue, Good To Be Bad proves that the wait was worth it. Fucking brilliant hard rock, metal, melodic metal, or whatever you want to call it; so not only is it good to be bad, it’s good to be back! (SPV/Steamhammer) - Review by Tommy "Hashman" Hash

(Click on the CD cover to buy Good To Be Bad from Amazon.com)

Everygrey signs with SPV, album Torn to be released!

Popular Swedish metal band Evergrey – masters of black melodic metal – have been signed by noted German hard rock and metal label SPV/Steamhammer. The deal not only includes the band's upcoming new album, Torn, but also their entire back album catalog.

SPV Head of Labels Ulrike Rudolph says, "we are all happy to welcome Evergrey to the SPV/Steamhammer Family, and are looking forward to a great future together." Evergrey mastermind Tom S. Englund is also looking forward to working with Steamhammer, explaining "after long and intense negotiations, we feel that we have arrived at optimum conditions for everybody involved. We are confident that Evergrey will continue to grow artistically under the terms of this contract, that SPV will enjoy our cooperation and – this is definitely the most important aspect - that our fans will thoroughly benefit from the new deal."

Evergrey's Torn, consisting of eleven new songs from the band, will be released by SPV in early September 2008. According to Englund, Torn is a return to the band's previous sound of metallic onslaught: "The tracks are all guitar-oriented and very atmospheric. They have exactly the sound that our fans expect from us." As for the band's back catalog, which consists of six studio albums, deluxe reissues are planned, with bonus tracks rescued from the band's archives.

Christian Death tour dates announced, more to come!

From the press release: Working their way from the East Coast to the Midwest and Canada, industrial goth-rock gods Christian Death are out supporting their latest album and Season of Mist debut, American Inquisition. More North American dates are to be announced soon. For now catch them through next week in the following cities:

06/12/2008 @ The New Alhambra Arena, Philadelphia PA

06/13/2008 @ 31st St Pub, Pittsburgh PA

06/14/2008 @ Reggie's Rock Club, Chicago IL

06/15/2008 @ Peabody’s, Cleveland OH

06/16/2008 @ El Mocambo, Toronto ON Canada

Marillion's Somewhere In London DVD coming in August!

Folk-prog band Marillion has been a British rock institution for over a quarter-century, yet remains one of the island's most overlooked musical imports. On August 5, 2008 our friends at Music Video Distributors hope to remedy this situation with their release of the two-DVD set Somewhere In London.

Filmed during the final two nights of Marillion's Somewhere Else album tour in June 2007 at the London Forum, the Somewhere In London DVD set provides the viewer with a full concert film experience. The film soundtrack is offered in both stereo and 5.1 mix, and the DVDs features 15 live songs. Bonus material includes an exclusive tour rehearsal from Marillion's Racket Club studio. If you haven't discovered this phenomenal band, perhaps it's time that you should!

Cursed ask for your help!

Canadian ear- mashers Cursed need your help! For those of you who have not heard, the band was robbed on the second-to-last day of their recent European tour, losing most of their tour earnings, passports, and other valuables, including the cash that they had set aside to pay tour costs. This single violent act has all but crippled the band, and the band has considered breaking up in the face of this hard to overcome adversity. You can read all of the sordid details on the band's blog site.

Chris Logan, of the band's label Goodfellow Records, has set up a PayPal account for fans that wish to donate some cash to help alleviate Cursed's financial problems. PayPal payments can be sent to the address paulyspasta@hotmail.com with the subject CURSED DONATION. Music blogs are also asked to help spread the word about the band's financial difficulties.

The Reverend has known too many bands that have been ripped off through the years, losing their gear, their hard-earned cash, or both...and it always sucks ass. It's a hardship for any touring band (who are usually living hand-to-mouth) to experience this kind of crap, and more often than not it breaks up the band. I'll be giving a few bucks to help Cursed, and hope that others will kick in five or ten bucks for the band.

The Red Chord & Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival

Metal Blade label band The Red Chord will be hitting the road this summer as part of the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival. The Red Chord will be performing on the Hot Topic stage along with Underoath, Black Tide and 36 Crazy Fists.

Co-sponsored by Revolver magazine, the festival also offers plenty of other face-bashers, head-bangers and ear-mashers. Machine Head, Airbourne, Five Finger Death Punch and Walls of Jericho will be appearing on the Jagermeister stage while Mastodon, Dragonforce, Disturbed and Slipknot will tear up the main stage. Full details on the event can be found on the Mayhem Festival website.

Johnny Orlando Jr. of the Antibiotic Resistant Metal Show interviewed Guy Kozowyk about The Red Chord's metal from the 22nd century. Check out the video on MySpace metal.

ROCKSTAR ENERGY MAYHEM FESTIVAL
07/09 - Seattle WA @ White River Amphitheatre
07/11 - Sacramento CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre
07/12 - San Francisco CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre (Mountain View)
07/13 - San Bernardino CA @ Glen Helen Pavilion
07/15 - Fresno CA @ Save Mart Center
07/16 - San Diego CA @ Coors Amphitheatre
07/18 - Phoenix AZ @ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
07/19 - Albuquerque NM @ Journal Pavilion
07/20 - Denver CO @ Coors Amphitheatre (Fiddler's Green)
07/22 - Kansas City MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
07/23 - St. Louis MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
07/25 - Dallas TX @ Superpages.com Center
07/26 - San Antonio TX @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
07/27 - Houston TX @ Sam Houston Race Park
07/29 - Tampa FL @ Ford Amphitheatre
07/30 - W. Palm Beach FL @ Cruzan Amphitheater
08/01 - Virginia Beach VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
08/02 - Pittsburgh PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
08/03 - Uniondale NY @ Nassau Coliseum
08/05 - Boston MA @ Tweeter Center for Performing Arts
08/06 - Scranton PA @ Toyota Pavilion
08/08 - Toronto ON @ Downsview Park
08/09 - Detroit MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
08/10 - Chicago IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
08/12 - Atlanta GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
08/13 - Indianapolis IN V@ erizon Wireless Music Center
08/15 - Camden NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
08/16 - Hartford CT @ New England Dodge Music Center
08/17 - Washington DC @ Nissan Pavilion
08/19 - Buffalo NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center

Sothis' De Oppresso Liber album on September 2nd!

Our friends at Candlelight Records USA have announced a September 2, 2008 release date for the new album De Oppresso Liber by Los Angeles death metal stalwards Sothis.

Sothis has been a fixture of the L.A. metal scene for several years now, releasing an independent four-song EP in 2004. The mini-album caught the ears of several critics, with Brave Words, Bloody Knuckles calling it "fierce in every aspect, Sothis instantly captures their listeners' hearts and and souls... behold the next big black metal band."

Sothis founding member , drummer Dross says of the new album, "if you are into aggressive, polished black metal that is well executed then you’re going to love De Oppresso Liber. We’ve been able to capture some incredible performances and couple them with some very talented engineers. We wanted to make a record that we would be genuinely proud of and we’ve accomplished that."

Can't wait until September for a taste of Sothis? Check out this vid for the band's wicked bad track "Sinister Nation."

Pharoah's Be Gone album - listen for free!

Metallic riff masters Pharoah are celebrating the recent release of their critically-acclaimed third album, Be Gone, by streaming the entire disc for FREE for the next 30 days through the Cruz Del Sur Music MySpace page [link].

Be Gone has received some heavy press accolades. Blabbermouth proclaims, "...Pharaoh is without question one of the best heavy metal bands on earth and Be Gone stands tall as the act's best work yet and is a good bet to catapult toward the top of many a critic's year-end list. So far, it is my album of the year," awarding the album a 9.5 out of 10 score. Sea Of Tranquility gives it a 4.5 out of 5, saying "Be Gone is not an album that will collect dust any time soon, and will likely be high on my top 10 list at the end of the year. This album is a must buy for anybody who enjoys heavy metal."

Pharoah is hard at work on putting together a budget-priced EP titled 10 Years, for release later this year. The disc will include several additional songs from the Be Gone sessions, as well as special covers of Slayer and New Model Army songs. Stay tuned for more news from Pharoah as we get it....

Deadbird tour dates announced!

We talked about Deadbird here a couple of weeks ago, and about the band's upcoming sophomore album, Twilight Ritual, which drops on June 24th. Now we've got details on the band's upcoming summer '08 tour. Check 'em out at a club near you:

06/14 @ The Buccaneer, Memphis TN w/Seahag
06/15 @ Springwater, Nashville TN
06/16 @ The Note, Chicago IL
06/17 @ Melody Inn, Indianapolis IN
06/18 @ Club Khameleon, Kent OH
06/19 @ 31st St Pub, Pittsburgh PA w/Serious Grind
06/20 @ Knitting Factory, New York NY w/Harvey Milk, Growing, Bloody Panda
06/21 @ The Middle East, Cambridge MA w/Only Living Witness
06/22 @ Millcreek Tavern, Philadelphia PA
06/23 @ Talking Head Club, Baltimore MD w/Wooly Mammoth
06/24 @ Wonderland, Richmond VA w/Hail!Hornet
06/25 @ Reggie's, Wilmington NC w/Black Tusk, Sourvein
06/26 @ Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta GA w/Black Tusk & Zoroaster
06/27 @ The Haven, Orlando FL w/Black Tusk
06/28 @ Transitions Art Gallery (Skate Park), Tampa FL w/Black Tusk, Dark Castle
06/29 @ Sluggo’s, Pensacola FL
06/30 @ T/B/A - New Orleans LA
07/01 @ Rudyard's British Pub, Houston TX
07/02 @ Rock Bottom, San Antonio TX
07/03 @ Red 7, Austin TX w/Mala Suerte
07/04 @ Red Blood Club, Dallas TX w/Mala Suerte
07/05 @ Downtown Music, Little Rock AR w/Mala Suerte

Kansas - Two For The Show 30th Anniversary Edition

Two For The Show, the 1978 live concert album from prog-rock legends Kansas, will be reissued on July 1, 2008 as an expanded, two-disc "30th anniversary edition" with additional songs and a 24-page booklet, packaged in an environmentally friendly soft pack.

At the time of the original release of Two For The Show, Kansas was flying high off the success of the band's two landmark albums, 1976's Leftoverture and 1977's Point Of Know Return. For this 30th anniversary edition, the original two-album set has been restored on the first disc of the set; the set's second disc features eleven songs culled from the same 1977/78 tour as the original recording, all but one of the songs previously unreleased.

Two For The Show will be packaged in a beautifully designed, environmentally friendly, plastic-free soft pack, containing a 24-page full-color booklet with many unseen photographs, and a new liner notes essay written by Jeb Wright. The live set features songs from all of the band's previous five albums.

With the classic Kansas gem "Carry On Wayward Son" being featured in the Guitar Hero II video game, an entirely new generation of fans have turned on to this groundbreaking band. Two For The Show presents Kansas the way that they're meant to be experienced – live and on stage!

(Click on the CD cover to buy Two For The Show from Amazon.com)

Hermano - ...Into The Exam Room CD review

Hermano is a band out of place, out of time.

Formed as a side project by stoner-rock god John Garcia of Kyuss, with a little help from some axe-mangling heavy hitters like David Armstrong (Black Cat Bone) and Mike Callahan (Disengaged), Hermano has taken on a life of its own since the band's playful 2002 debut.

Hermano's bona fide third studio effort, …Into The Exam Room, sounds a lot like the '70s to me ... a freewheelin' time when mastodons like Blue Cheer, Bang, Budgie, Dust, and the almighty Sir Lord Baltimore stomped their way to infamy, with amps set on stun and guitars wielded gracefully and brutally like some sort of samurai sword of old.

Hermano also shares some musical traits with early Black Sabbath – the tsunamis of distorted guitar; low-slung bass lines to create a heavy, atmospheric rhythmic foundation; and the use of explosive, unexpected drumbeats to pepper songs with machinegun fire.

Both bands rely on the deep cut of the monster riff, but that's where the similarities end. Sabbath had a world class screamer in Ozzy, a transcendent vocalist that could rise above the fray and take a song to greater heights. Hermano's Garcia often hides his vocals beneath the instrumentation in the mix, like a rattlesnake coiled beneath a bush waiting to strike. Both approaches are equally valid, and both ultimately destructive, hitting your cerebellum like molten high-velocity jumping-jacks launched from an angry anti-personnel mine.

…Into The Exam Room delivers the expected buzz & drone in spades, Hermano masterfully executing a plodding stoner vibe – comprised of scalpel-sharp guitar leads, larger-than-life riffs, and powerful rhythms – throwing in shards of Southern rock twang, sleaze-metal and garage-blues.

"Kentucky" is a strident rocker that blisters-and-peels like a hydrochloric cocktail, offering what is probably Garcia's most potent, up-front vocal performance, all swinging cocks, money talks, bullshit walks and Hermano rocks as the band gears up to near hurricane-strength with scorching leads and a funky strut. Ending the song with a scratchy, tongue-in-cheek "Theme From Deliverance" chicken-picking that devolves into "Yankee Doodle Dandy" is simply brilliant, brain-dead fun.

Another swinging gallop across the hardcore, heavy-metal funk horizon (trademark, T.M. Stevens), "Exam" boxes both yer ears at once with stunning six-string gyrations, wickedly rapidfire drumbeats and swaggering vox. "Dark Horse II" slows down the pace, Hermano pulling off a nigh-impossible tightwire trick in forging a metallic instrument from what is essentially an acoustic, mid-tempo, ballad-styled song. In the background, behind Garcia's almost-whispered vocals, however, psychedelic guitar lines dance like those damned bears you see on every filthy Deadhead's van, duckwalking their way into your consciousness.

Just when Hermano has all but lulled you, the listener, into a quiet complacency, they bring out the 10-pound-sledge in the form of "Left Side Bleeding," a romp-and-roller of ascending malice, sabertooth guitars tearing at your mid-section while the rhythm section peppers your noggin with hammer-blows. At less than three minutes, the song is a rabid roller-coaster ride that leaves you breathless. From this point on, the gloves are off and …Into The Exam Room is aiming for the knockout punch.

Twin guitars knit a messed-up, dangerous tangle of barbed wire and axle grease on "Hard Working Wall," the ammonia-fueled rocker sweating blood and spitting nails with a miasma of six-string sonics and explosive rhythms that change direction quicker and more often than a mob driver trying to shake a surveillance car. "Bona-Fide" brings a little exotica into the studio, squiggly raga-style guitar lines flowing beneath an odd rhythmic foundation and breathless vocals.

Leading off with a fantasia canvas painted with random sounds of children's voices, "At The Bar" slips into garage-blues mode, muted, understated guitar leads slipping in under the casual acoustic guitar strum, combined with lofty vox and a fine sense of '60s-styled psych-pop whimsy. On the other hand, "Our Desert Home" displays a Queens of the Stone Age-styled penchant for mad riffery, tossed in with psychedelic-stoner lyrics/vox, a crazed clashing wall of sound, and an undercurrent of fierce redneck Southern rock soul with a Jack Daniels chaser.

With its ever-changing moods and radical departure from the typical, traditional heavy metal template, …Into The Exam Room doesn't fit easily into any box or critical category. What Hermano has done, however, is impressive, the band creating one magnificent bastard of an album, with enough metallic stomp and edgy fretwork to satisfy the most adventurous listener, mixing brains and brawn to create the ultimate Frankenstein monster of sound and fury. (Regain Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy ...Into The Exam Room from Amazon.com)