Author Archives: Jessica May

Awaiting the $600 Egg

Posted by on May 12, 2013 8 comments

The old days... Pillow Fluff, top right!

 

When I was a kid, I lived on a farm.  We had it all: horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, guinea hens, even a partridge!  My dad was the brains and brawn behind the operation; I was, for a time, the egg collector.  The chickens were my favorite animals because they were relatively “low-maint” and couldn’t trample you to death you if you got into a scuffle.  I always fantasized about having chickens as an adult, but moving to a different rental apartment each year made that impractical.

…Until now. Read more »

Dudes in Our Metal Scene: They’re Not All Rape Machines

Posted by on May 1, 2013 1 comment

Metal dudes: They're actually pretty nice!

 

A week or two ago, Metal Cyndicate released a podcast (Episode 15: AlcoholiCAST) that caused a furor in the local metal community.  On-air guest Matt “Rape Machine” Broderick ruffled feathers by listing his least favorite Connecticut bands.  Seems like the fastest way to make yourself unpopular, but someone who calls himself Rape Machine clearly isn’t concerned about that.  What really ruffled my feathers, though, was his assertion that people don’t like his nickname because metal fans have become “a bunch of fucking pussies.”  He went on to say that the “exclusivity of metal […] weeded out some of the fucking cunts, but now every bleeding vagina likes some extreme metal band…”

That’s so ridiculous that it doesn’t even justify a response…  Read more »

Going to Death

Posted by on April 26, 2013 No comments

I have to describe myself as a casual Death listener.

My first introduction to the band was through a high school boyfriend who loved them.  He would play Death songs for me on his guitar and I would say, “That’s so beautiful!”  Then he would play the CD for me… And unaccustomed to the vocal style, I would be like, “Uh….” Read more »

AltCtrl to Death to All!

Posted by on April 15, 2013 No comments

REALLY IMPORTANT LIFE-CHANGING NEWS: Baldwin, Carrie, and I will be taking an awesome field trip next week to the Death To All show in New York City.  In case you’re unfamiliar, Death To All is a tribute to Chuck Schuldiner with proceeds benefiting Sweet Relief, a charity that provides financial support to professional musicians with health issues.  This year’s lineup includes vocalist Max Phelps, guitarist Paul Masvidal, bassist Steve DiGiorgio, and drummer Sean Reinert.

Last year was the first DTA tour, and apparently there was some question as to whether the concert’s promoters were actually giving the money to Sweet Relief.  That company is no longer involved in the show, so hopefully this year’s good intentions will be carried through without a hitch. Read more »

Your Teacher Listens to Hardcore? A Review of Empty Vessels’ Waves of Waves

Posted by on March 23, 2013 No comments

What is hardcore music?  At age soon-to-be-29, I think I’m finding out.  I had pictured it involving a lot of visors, “junt-junts,” and guitar players squatting angrily while playing their riffs.  But as it turns out – I think – it’s much more punk than I’d imagined.  Judging from some random shows at the Heirloom, it also can involve skinny jeans and a guy wrapping his microphone cable around his neck.

To be fair, I don’t know what kind of jeans Empty Vessels wears or if their singer likes to strangle himself.  And that’s not really the point anyway.  All I know of Empty Vessels is the CD in my car, Waves of Waves.  On my way to my very non-hardcore job as a middle school English teacher, I like to play Waves of Waves at an enjoyable yet non-hardcore volume. Read more »

Review: Heavy Breath’s Muddy Life

Posted by on March 15, 2013 No comments

If you’re trying to get a girl to sleep with you for the first time, Heavy Breath’s Muddy Life is not the album to put on.  But if you’ve got an Al Qaeda operative tied up in your basement and you need to find out where the bomb is RIGHT NOW – or if the CIA is tied up in your basement and you need to know if Obama’s next drone strike is coming to your neighborhood — turn that shit on full blast.

Muddy Life is not subtle or agreeable.  It’s abrasive.  It’s fucking loud.  I’d say it’s “raw,” but the recording quality is very clear.  Speaking of explosives, the three-song EP begins with “Chekov’s Bomb,” a foreboding scream into the universe.  Read more »

Sound, Blood, and Lineup: A Review of Howl’s Bloodlines

Posted by on March 11, 2013 No comments

Bloodlines, Howl’s second full-length album, is due to be released by Relapse Records April 30th.  Fans of the Rhode Island doom metal band will find this work to be just as powerful as Full of Hell, but with some marked differences.

The first distinction is that Bloodlines is a lot less sludgy.  If Full of Hell was a tsunami, this album is a sniper attack.  The riffs are shorter and faster – a gallop where Full of Hell took its time.  Listeners will also notice that the vocals stand out more than in the previous album, where the words blended into the riffs.  In Bloodlines, the lyrics are clear. Read more »