Thursday, 15 October 2009
Valient Thorr * Early Man * Golden Axe * Hell City Kings
On July 1, 2003 Valient Thorr self-released their first album (only pressing 1000 copies which were sold at shows), Stranded on Earth, which had the same musical setup as present, but one of their guitarists (Djinn Thorr) used a keyboard, which helped to bring dance elements into their music. This aspect of their music not only further influenced their legendary live shows, but helped to cement their local status as the ultimate live band, with packed hometown shows at local favorite venue Kings Barcade (located in downtown Raleigh, NC). They toured the United States and Canada shortly afterward, doing 47 shows in 52 days. After replacing original drummer (Donn Thorr) with current drummer Lucian Thorr and ditching the keyboard entirely live and on release, they were soon signed to Volcom Entertainment, where their full-length album Total Universe Man was released on June 7, 2005. At that point, the group members gave up their regular jobs, which ranged from 6th grade teachers to pornshop workers, and set out on the road. They performed on the Volcom stage on the Warped Tour 2005, for the entire tour, except for a few shows where they played the main stage. They continued touring, taking six days off for Thanksgiving and ten for Christmas. Along the way, they lost their original rhythm guitarist (Djinn Thorr) and replaced him with Bjorn Thorr before going on tour with Hot Rod |
"The guitarist/barefoot drummer duo go straight for early heavy-metal muscle, riding back to capture early Metallica, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden in sinewy tracks with no pointy-headed noodling." "Early Man bring the hott rifffs without seeming clinical or showy, and they pray to the dark lord without having that cheeky tone dominate the music." |
 Golden Axe (Houston, TX) - "It seems I'm getting into a lot of instrumental metal these days, but out of all of it, Golden Axe consistently delivers. You cannot go wrong seeing riff-heavy, thrash jams played live on a ton a beer. Oh sure, you can TRY not to have a good time, be bored, drink club soda and lime, but get too close to the stage when sticks and fingers are flying and instantly you'll have a beer in your hand and a grin on your face. Don't believe me? Go to the Big Star bar tonight and see for yourself.
Pick up one of the two 7" records they are selling. The first is one, Kill 'em Allah, is a one-sided, two song platter that smokes and is only available in a one-time pressing of 100 on Houston's Heavy Leather Records. The other is a hand numbered double 7" split release from TEAM SCIENCE/Grey Ghost that has a playing card with Mike Sims face on it in an edition of 300. Then anytime you want to get into the party mood when you just aren't feeling it, plop one of these down on your turntable, crack a beer and wait, oh, four or five seconds and then find yourself transported to a parking lot, drinking Jager behind a buddy's Pontiac Firebird with the trunk popped up so you can get to the cooler and hear the jams from the back speakers better as you catcall gurls wearing tight, high-waisted jeans and bandannas for shirts. Shit, gimme some of that right now." - 29-95.com |
 Hell City Kings (Houston, TX) - Show up at a Hell City Kings show and you might get hurt. The Houston five-piece's new full-length comes on like a full-on brawl between the Misfits, Turbonegro, and Social Distortion, all chainsaw riffs and lyrics obsessed with death and destruction. Its music for binge drinking, making bad decisions with the opposite sex and most likely waking up in jail. with titles like "scumbags & scallyways" and "Soundtrack to the Apocalypse" you were expecting Death Cab for Cuite? - Houston Press |
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Last Update Wednesday 14 October, 2009