In the quest for the heaviest metal in the universe, it might not occur to most folks to look to France, which is known more for heavy foods than heavy music. But it would be unwise to ignore Gojira, the Bayonne-based quartet that packs more monstrous mass per minute into…

Though Mudhoney was a catalyst, victim, beneficiary and survivor of the major-label feeding frenzy that swept through the Pacific Northwest in the early ’90s, the band is surprisingly unchanged by the experience. After six years on Warner Bros.’ Reprise imprint, Mudhoney returned to Sub Pop in 2002 with the brilliantly…

Like a 10 p.m. buzz deteriorating into a 2 a.m. depression, Centro-Matic’s raucous, feedback-drenched hootenannies career headlong into perfectly twangy, tear-in-your-Lone Star balladry. Exhausted coal miners drink somber toasts to fallen friends while nostalgic grandmothers teach their grandchildren the two-step. When Will Johnson and Centro-Matic take the stage — be…

Sludgy and mercilessly gloomy, Facedowninshit is not the band to seek for an uplifting pep talk or a sympathetic shoulder to cry on. Dwelling in the same misanthropic, doom-saturated stylistic bog that made Eyehategod such a party, guitarist Jason Crumer, bassist Waylon Riffs (yeah, right) and drummer Ryan Wolfe fill…

If Chris Carrabba became obsessed with Casios and Coldplay, his next album might sound a lot like Illuminare. Largely the brainchild of singer-songwriter Scott Windsor — who has previously recorded under the Lyndsay Diaries moniker — Umbrellas is the squeaky-clean soundtrack to every indie kid’s imaginary alterna-prom. Hearts are worn…

Lamb of God is undoubtedly the most legitimate heir to the eviscerating legacy of Pantera. On Sacrament, the Richmond, Virginia-based quintet pushes its blistering brand of foot-to-the-throat metal into new territory while staying true to the chokehold intensity that earned it a rabid and devoted following early on. Hurtling forward…

With its latest effort, the Velvet Teen continues to follow an artistic trajectory similar to Radiohead’s. Starting out in 2000 as an artsy-poppy-emotive rock group, the ambitious band spends no time looking backward for inspiration. From the pop perfection of Comasynthesis and The Great Beast February to the dramatic darkness…

Aggressive, obnoxious and frequently unlistenable, the music of Salt Lake City’s Agape is also often dangerously danceable, hypnotically seductive and pleasantly disorienting. The experience of an Agape show lies somewhere between the scrotum-shrinking rush of jumping out of an airplane and the exquisitely unendurable pain of being trampled by a…

Dramatic, cinematic and unflinchingly poppy Austin quartet What Made Milwaukee Famous writes intelligent songs, plays them with heart-stopping passion and never makes the mistake of taking itself too seriously. While Schlitz might have given the band its name, Michael Kingcaid, Drew Patrizi, John Farmer and Jeremy Bruch are clearly under…

From the opening bars of Sweater Club’s debut full-length, it’s clear that something unique is going on. While a power trio melding rock, punk and reggae isn’t exactly new — heck, the Police did that — the addition of a three-piece brass section (trumpet, trombone and sax) gives this Oregon…

You might have heard this one before. The guitarist channels his emotive heroes while the rhythm section pounds with aggression and class. They start out rocking hard, proudly displaying their harder influences — maybe Budgie, Fugazi or Mission of Burma. But faster than you can say “Yoko Ono,” the female…

I’m sick to death of instrumental rock. There are just too many mathy, proggy, wanky outfits these days, trying to impress us with their fretboard acrobatics, fractal time signatures and abstract harmonies. With more notes per minute than Charlie Parker, some of today’s vocal-less ensembles practically numb the ears and…

Like a pissed-off, mistreated dog, Travis Reilly yelps, “This is how downward spirals start!” Then he growls, “This is a convoluted attempt to find some source of hope.” Later, he barks, “This is the best and worst things will ever get.” Reilly’s Long Island-based hardcore outfit, This Is Hell, seems…

L.A. rockers the Bronx have never had to work too hard to get noticed. After just a few gigs, the quartet was beating back A&R reps because of its brutal tunes and punishing live shows, until Island Def Jam finally got through. The major-label story often ends in broken promises…

After a somewhat unremarkable debut EP, produced by Spoon’s Britt Daniels, the five men of Austin’s I Love You but I’ve Chosen Darkness returned to the clubs and basements that spawned them, searching for their secret selves. Along the way, they stumbled upon longtime Ministry collaborator and fan of all…

The jokes about tentacles and ink could write themselves, so we won’t bother. What we will do, however, is note how gleefully the members of Austin’s Octopus Project plow through their glitched-out post-rock instrumentals. Armed with an arsenal of toys, keyboards, drum machines and samplers, spouses Josh and Yvonne Lambert,…

Basically,” says bassist Curtis Durham, “we’re just four guys who were sick of all the crap from our other bands and got together.” Durham’s joking, but from the sound of it, the members of this local pop-rock outfit complement each other, and together they communicate better than any other group…

After all these years, Gary Holt is still pissed off. As the founder of prototypical Bay Area thrash outfit Exodus, the dexterous guitarist and songwriter has spewed enough bile and venom over the past two decades to provide an alternative fuel. In a world of church-sanctioned pedophilia and corporate-sponsored wars…

The history books are full of great musical collaborations that have thrived despite bitter personal conflicts: Reed and Cale, McCartney and Lennon, Sonny and Cher. Add to that list teenage Azerbaijani Anar Badalov and his musical life partner, Flora Wolpert-Checknoff, better known as the Baltimore indie-pop duo Metal Hearts. While…

The duo known as Atmosphere — featuring the RZA-esque production of Anthony “Ant” Davis and the self-deprecating lyrics of Sean “Slug” Daley — sits at the center of the Minneapolis-based Rhymesayers’ collective. Proudly shouting out DJ Run, Kool G Rap and KRS-One on 2005’s You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun…

On that first real spring day — when the air still carries winter’s crispness but the sun feels just a bit closer and the smells are a tad greener — even the most mirthless life gains a spark of joy and hope. It’s the kind of day when stoplights turn…

Remember that one cheerleader in high school? You know, the one who discovered Camus, Marx and black lipstick in her junior year? Yeah, that one. She got all nihilistic and started shouting inane chants about murder, social injustice and revolution. And on game days, she dutifully wore her uniform but…