What are you doing Thursday night? You are going to see Howl at The Sidebar, that’s what. Why? Because they rock, and they have a new album out, and they drink Narragansett beer by the case, and I can spell Narragansett, which is in Rhode Island, which is where Howl is from.
ILSA, Spoilage and Dead Gods are also playing. All reasons enough. Now about this new record.
Howl’s new album Bloodlines further establishes the group as true heavy hitters in a metal market miasma dominated by snail’s pace funeral doom and core-of the week screamers. Blending blackened vocals, solid blues infused melodies with churning riffs and thrashy rhythms, Howl gives me everything I want in a metal band.
They have their doomier moments, true, but it also makes sense that this group has toured with Skeletonwitch and Red Fang, who keep the tempo upbeat and the drums pounding most of the time. I pretty much love everything about Bloodlines.
If you like groups like High on Fire, old Mastodon and Crowbar, Howl will appeal to you.
Record reviews are hard for me, so I will just give you some highlights. The second track “Midnight Eyes” roars forth and immediately assumes a thrash pace likely to get audiences moving. The chorus is headbang-worthy. This leads straight into another great song, “Demonic.” Great lyrics and memorable riffs. “One Last Night” almost has a post-metal melody, and I really like that, but it never strays from Howl’s mission of melting faces with those unrelenting power riffs.
“Down So Low” slows things down a bit to a sinister pace, with more baritone vocals coming through. “With a Blade” is among the most “doom-like” sounding songs on the album. No doubt the flavor-of-the-week kids will enjoy the fuck out of this down-tuned delight. Thankfully, “Of War” brings the tempo back up a bit. The slightly more progressive, Mastodon-y sounding “The Mouth of Madness” is also a slower track featuring death metal like chugga-chugga- guitar work and vocal harmonies.
There are some other songs on there; just buy Bloodlines when it comes out April 30. You won’t be sorry.
See you suckers tomorrow.
ILSA, Spoilage and Dead Gods are also playing. All reasons enough. Now about this new record.
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| Howl |
They have their doomier moments, true, but it also makes sense that this group has toured with Skeletonwitch and Red Fang, who keep the tempo upbeat and the drums pounding most of the time. I pretty much love everything about Bloodlines.
If you like groups like High on Fire, old Mastodon and Crowbar, Howl will appeal to you.
Record reviews are hard for me, so I will just give you some highlights. The second track “Midnight Eyes” roars forth and immediately assumes a thrash pace likely to get audiences moving. The chorus is headbang-worthy. This leads straight into another great song, “Demonic.” Great lyrics and memorable riffs. “One Last Night” almost has a post-metal melody, and I really like that, but it never strays from Howl’s mission of melting faces with those unrelenting power riffs.
“Down So Low” slows things down a bit to a sinister pace, with more baritone vocals coming through. “With a Blade” is among the most “doom-like” sounding songs on the album. No doubt the flavor-of-the-week kids will enjoy the fuck out of this down-tuned delight. Thankfully, “Of War” brings the tempo back up a bit. The slightly more progressive, Mastodon-y sounding “The Mouth of Madness” is also a slower track featuring death metal like chugga-chugga- guitar work and vocal harmonies.
There are some other songs on there; just buy Bloodlines when it comes out April 30. You won’t be sorry.
See you suckers tomorrow.
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