Podcast #181: Leatherface

Genghis & Ragman may not survive Halloween, but at least they have Pimples and John to get between them and Leatherface.Your old pals Genghis & Ragman have taken a break from the zombie menace this Hallow's Eve to check out some reports of strange sightings around the location of the classic 1974 horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in Round Rock, Texas.

So with John and Pimples in tow, the lads rented a camper and hit the road into Texas hill country to see what's up, discuss their favorite horror movies, and get the usual reports of fellow Halloween warriors like this year's Mr. Lordi (Lordi) and Steve Blaze (Lillian Axe). It's a horror extravaganza! So, sharpen your machetes, cock your pistols and light those cigars, cuz it's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum...

Beer of the Show: Black O' Lantern (Wasatch Brewing Co.)
	Appearance: 3.5 Aroma: 3.0 Palate: 3.0 Taste: 3.5 Overall: 3.5	"This delicious pumpkin beer seems more like a porter than a stout, but it's perfect for the season."

Featured Tracks: Helloween - Halloween; Below - Trapped Underground; Arch Enemy - Graveyard Of Dreams; Black Tide - Bury Me; In Flames - Dead Eyes; Alice Cooper - Prince Of Darkness; Motionless In White - Dead As Fuck; Lillian Axe - Deep In The Black; Revocation - Witch Trials; Vesania - Fading

- Genghis hopes everyone made their way back home safe this year...

Podcast #181: Leatherface

Update on Monday, November 3, 2014 at 5:26PM by Genghis

Apparently, the original file was corrupted and may result in some incomplete playback. The corrected file has uploaded in its place, so GO GET IT!

Nightglow - Orpheus

Italy is running away with 2014's metal god training ground title so far. Rest of the world: GET WITH IT!Italian band Nightglow means to take the world by storm with a sound that aspires to the great English metal acts of the 80s. But these guys throw a nice bit of modern sounds into the mix for a less retreaded sound; in the end you get an old sound/new sound mix of about 30/70.

So while there is an underlying current of that advertised 80s style sound, the low-end heavy production and gutteral screaming that comes out at times leans the overall impression to more modern sensibilities, but that isn't a complaint at all. I just didn't want to give the impression of getting an old Judas Priest sound when a souns more like Sevendust comes blowing out your speakers. All in all, this is some damn fine agro-metal, proving that Italy is this year's first place runner for amazing metal. Check 'em out.

The Bottom Line: If you dig an older sound but don't necessarily want to go too old school, Nightglow has the goods for rocking some metal tunes that don't sound like everybody else out there. Closest I can think is Iron Maiden crossed with Black Label Society (heavy on the BLS side in terms of guitar sound) with a hint of progmetal maybe? In any case, be prepared to mosh.

Tracks To Crank While Conditioning Your Leather Jacket: Fuck You, Liar & Stay With Me

- Genghis is almost ashamed to admit he's never owned a black leather jacket...

Hell In The Club - Devil On My Shoulder

If your Tardis is in the shop and you're itching to check out some late 80s party metal, Hell In The Club is the ticket.It's not often that I read a band's description that says "they mix classic hard rock and modern sounds, heavy metal and party songs, fifties rock n’ roll and anything in between", so I was justifiably intrigued to hear about Italy's Hell In The Club.

And that's not even all that makes this album/band different, being composed entirely of members of other bands (Death SS, Elvenking & Secret Sphere) decidedly not in Hell In The Club's genre of classic hard rock/pop metal of the 80s and 90s like Guns N' Roses, Poison, et al. And I'm happy to say that the result is more than just a gimmick. These cats actually do the concept justice, sounding like a band you'd hear on stage at the Whiskey some weekend circa 1989.

Fans of the aforementioned era should be grooving at the raspy crooning of Davide "Dave" Moras and the crunchy rhythyms of Andrea "Picco" Piccardi's axe on such bar-worthy tunes as Bare Hands, Beware of the Candyman and Save Me. But it wouldn't be the whole package without the anthemic We Are The Ones for sweaty, fist-pumping moments and the obligatory ballad, Muse. This is a great representation of a certain sound fondly remembered by many an elder rocker.

The Bottom Line: If you miss the yesterdays of weekend partying that included a stop at your favorite local, smoke-filled, live music bar for some late night rocking, Hell In The Club's sophomore release Devil On My Shoulder will scratch that itch, guaranteed.

- Genghis does in fact miss those days...

Circuitry (Self-Titled)

Like extreme metal, but want it to be more...listenable? Check these dudes out STAT!Fans of the site know that I'm a sucker for the intricate machinations of extreme or tech metal even though, like a rich dessert, I may feel like I've had more than enough after only a slight indulgence. But what makes the music of New Jersey trio Circuitry different on their self-titled debut is their judicious use of melodic hooks to take the edge off the razor-sharp technical prowess they clearly possess.

From the get go, tracks like Safe Words kick off with all of the sound and fury of your typical extreme metal band, replete with shifting time signatures, but tracks like Horizon have such a strong melodic hook, they bring to mind the easy fretboard gymnastics of Freak Kitchen or other such bands with musicians that have mastered - and transcended - technique and now make the music they want to make - even if it sounds like it's from Mars to us mortals.

The Bottom Line: Most extreme metal acts are so focused on raw technicality that they lose a sense of melody (or even just listenability, for that matter), but Circuitry maintains that love of the hook enough to make their output more than just "music for robots to mosh to".

- Genghis would like to see a music video with robots moshing to Circuitry...

Beastmilk - Use Your Deluge

You just know that each of these post-punk, Gothic rock dudes is thinking "Don't cry, man, don't cry"Helsinki post-punk, Goth-rock quartet Beastmilk has reportedly built up quite the rabid following in a short time, beginning with an utter clamor for their EP Use Your Deluge, which was heavily bootlegged on eBay for lack of available [vinyl] copies through their Finnish label. But thanks to some savvy industry dudes, their music is coming stateside through Magic Bullet Recordings.

Lead singer Kvohst sounds like a foreboding Jim Morrison as he croons through the EP's four tracks, which displays a unique if vaguely familiar sound not unlike 80s alt bands backed by the wall of sound of today's post-hardcore bands. Think something like the B-52s plus East of The Wall minus Fred Schneider's goofy shtick. Fair enough?

The Bottom Line: Beastmilk could easily entertain at your next hipster cookout, making for good background music that sounds avant garde without being a noisy fucking mess. This is a band that could go places, so I'm gonna keep an eye on these jokers and let you know what I find out. Tattooed fingers crossed.

- Genghis briefly imagined himself in a pair of black stovepipes and broke out in a cold sweat...