TYRANT to Headline Saturday 5/16 at NESDF; Prefest Party Lineup Revealed and Weekend Passes on Sale Now

The legions of the dead have risen and it’s too late to pray….  Tyrant is back with a vengeance and headlining Saturday May 16th’s portion of the New England Stoner and Doom Festival!  They are the first headliner to be announced for the three-day event, which will be held May 15-17th 2020 at Altone’s Music… Continue reading TYRANT to Headline Saturday 5/16 at NESDF; Prefest Party Lineup Revealed and Weekend Passes on Sale Now

Top Ten Articles of 2019

The interviewer and interviewee on Candid Camera.

Is it really almost the end of a decade?  When this blog published its first post in September 2010, “The Year Twenty Twenty” was an abstract concept.  But here we are in the closing days of 2019….  This year, Alternative Control published 156 posts featuring 170 bands.  We interviewed 23 bands and enjoyed 10 Show Me… Continue reading Top Ten Articles of 2019

ROSTER ANNOUNCEMENT: New England Stoner and Doom Fest 3 to Feature Worshipper, Wolftooth, and more

Here it is, heshers!  The first roster announcement for New England Stoner and Doom Fest 3, May 15th-17th at Altones Music Hall in Jewett City, CT…. Orodruin — Tolkein-themed traditional doom out of Rochester, NY Ruins of Eternity by Orodruin Worshipper — progressive riffage from Boston Light In The Wire by Worshipper Red Stone Chapel — swamp rock coming… Continue reading ROSTER ANNOUNCEMENT: New England Stoner and Doom Fest 3 to Feature Worshipper, Wolftooth, and more

Album Review: Capricorn by Cortége

By Nikita Alekseyevich Khrenov On their September  2019 album Capricorn, experimental Texas duo Cortége uses a vast array of sounds and instrumentation to explore the trials and tribulations of a lost space traveler who finds himself in a strange world. The album instantly draws parallels between the eerie feel of Angelo Badalamenti’s work on Twin Peaks… Continue reading Album Review: Capricorn by Cortége

Jenn D’Eugenio on Inclusiveness, Vinyl, and Doom

If there’s one thing this blog is behind the times on, it’s vinyl — so I was very happy to talk with Jenn D’Eugenio and learn a little more about that area of the music industry and listening experience.  D’Eugenio, who runs the website Women in Vinyl, works in sales and marketing at Furnace Record… Continue reading Jenn D’Eugenio on Inclusiveness, Vinyl, and Doom

Women of Doom: Questions and Answers

A discussion of women in the heavy music scene is often a careful one.  Are we beyond the days of “woman guitar player” and “female fronted bands,” or not?  Do those distinctions still serve a purpose, and does it matter who’s making them? Enter Women of Doom. Organized primarily by two men, Brad Frye of… Continue reading Women of Doom: Questions and Answers

A Trip Down the Rabbit Hole with Dee and Willy of Spiral Grave

Spiral Grave

Photographs by Julya Brown. My trip to Maryland Doom Fest in June 2019 was a journalistic adventure as well as a musical one.  A highlight was talking with members of new Maryland band Spiral Grave, who played at Guido’s Speakeasy on Friday, June 21st.  Introduced to the band by photographer Julya Brown, I talked separately… Continue reading A Trip Down the Rabbit Hole with Dee and Willy of Spiral Grave