AltCtrlToob: Saturday Morning Cartoons with Xenosis, Sacred Ash, and Wildstreet

Meant to post this installment of AltCtrlToob like a week ago, but sometimes grown-up things get in the way…. This morning, er, afternoon I’m riding the high of a fun show at one of the only Connecticut indie venues left, #thankfreakinggodforcherrystreet.  It’s the perfect time to make a fresh pot of coffee and pull up… Continue reading AltCtrlToob: Saturday Morning Cartoons with Xenosis, Sacred Ash, and Wildstreet

Brave New Death Metal: Pyrrhon To Play Cherry Street On February 16th

Pyrrhon is not your dad’s death metal band. Instead of playing with standard genre tropes, the NYC-based quartet broadens its sound with shots of discordant noise, angular riffs and odd time signatures. It’s as if you combined some left-field, mathy, noise rock band with a death metal band. The results are positively exhilarating as heard… Continue reading Brave New Death Metal: Pyrrhon To Play Cherry Street On February 16th

AltCtrlToob: New Videos from Last Legion and The Absence

On this first edition of AltCtrlToob, check out brand-new videos from Last Legion and The Absence! NYC Viking metal outfit Last Legion just released a video for “God Ov Chaos,” a track off their sophomore album Muspelheim.  Performance shots alternate between a shirtless black metal guy chained up in an abandoned factory, with blood dripping on him… Continue reading AltCtrlToob: New Videos from Last Legion and The Absence

CT Innovation: A Review of Xenosis’ Devour and Birth

A band in the local Connecticut metal scene often consists of people that know how to play and want to play heavy metal. Well, duh. But it takes a special kind of band to take that ability and passion and turn it into innovation. There’s nothing wrong with a group of people getting together and… Continue reading CT Innovation: A Review of Xenosis’ Devour and Birth

The Black Dahlia Murder and Me: A Conversational Review of Nightbringers and ALBUM GIVEAWAY

What can I say about Black Dahlia?  Hearing Unhallowed for the first time around 2005 or 2006 gave me a whole new perspective on music.  I kept that album in regular rotation for many years, as well as their third album Nocturnal.  My now-ex husband and I even joked about playing “Closed Casket Requiem” at… Continue reading The Black Dahlia Murder and Me: A Conversational Review of Nightbringers and ALBUM GIVEAWAY

Album Review: Exhumed’s Death Revenge (Relapse)

Through seven full-length offerings and enough demos and splits to fill a casket, San Jose’s Exhumed have proven to be nothing but reliable.  You see the bloody logo and you know what to expect.  Even as the band as progressed from the early grind ‘n slash offerings to 2013’s melodic death opus Necrocracy, the quality… Continue reading Album Review: Exhumed’s Death Revenge (Relapse)

The Road to Slothfest, Part II: An Interview with Deathcrown

Editor’s Note: Deathcrown is another out-of-town band that will be playing Slothfest 2017 at Bleachers in Bristol on Saturday, July 29th.  Let’s give them some stories to take home, Connecticut! Introduce the band to AltCtrl: who are you, where is home, and what were you drinking when the band was formed? I’m Mikael Parks, but many call… Continue reading The Road to Slothfest, Part II: An Interview with Deathcrown