Six Organs of Admittance, 'Shelter From the Ash' (Drag City)
Psych-folk virtuoso's pipes could stand a tune-up.
By Aaron Burgess 12.15.07 4:17 AM
On his ninth album as Six Organs of Admittance, Ben Chasny (also of Comets on Fire) is still channeling obscure acid folkies like Gary Higgins and Sun City Girls -- even dedicating one track, "Goddess Atonement," to the latter. Like his heroes, though, Chasny has far
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Enter Shikari, 'Take to the Skies' (Ambush Reality)
The sound of a million glow sticks being used as weapons.
By Aaron Burgess 11.22.07 4:00 AM
Where similar U.S. synth-core units like Horse the Band shuck mass appeal through atonality, England's Enter Shikari have no interest in staying obscure. On their debut album, the Internet-storming quartet wed hardcore punk's most crowd-rallying elements -- intense breakdowns and gang vocals -- to the melodic buildup of that most populist of dance genres, trance.
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Thrice, 'The Alchemy Index, Vols. I & II: Fire & Water' (Vagrant)
A post-emocore concept album that summons the elements.
By Aaron Burgess 11.09.07 4:00 AM
These pop-resistant punk-metal fusionists left Island Records in June over creative differences, but their post-major-label output finds them soaring.
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HIM, 'Venus Doom' (Sire)
Lavishly wallowing in misery - it's the French way!
By Aaron Burgess 10.17.07 3:00 AM
HIM have superfan Bam Margera to thank for their early exposure, but it's frontman Ville Valo - a Byronic goth-metal pinup - who makes these Finns potentially iconic.
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High on Fire, 'Death Is This Communion' (Relapse)
Stoner metal with just a hint of acid seasoning.
By Aaron Burgess 10.16.07 3:00 AM
High on Fire's early albums were bowel-loosening slabs of post–Black Sabbath metal, but with 2005's Blessed Black Wings, the trio embraced their inner Motörhead, upping the velocity to match their volume.
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Funeral for a Friend, 'Tales Don't Tell Themselves' (Atlantic)
In screamo, the trouble starts when the yelling stops.
By Aaron Burgess 06.25.07 3:00 AM
Though they're superstars at home, this Welsh screamo quintet have yet to conquer the U.S., despite arriving here in 2003 with a thunderously melodic sound and a barge full of press clippings. For their third album, FFAF blatantly move beyond the aggressive scene that spawned them and focus on slicker ballads that hint at '80s heartland-rock melodrama.
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