gloomchen

Def Leppard: underrated. Funny thing is, I’m not referring to their MTV-era success. Their first two albums? Slang and Euphoria? Good goodness. “Paper Sun” alone is one of the best things they’ve ever done to the point where it sends shivers down my spine. I am playing it quite loudly. Certainly beats the sweet sounds [...]

Website: Scar Symmetry The Inside Pulse: With widely respected debut, Scar Symmetry had wowed fans of tech and death metal alike. Complex playing partnered with catchy melodies and engaging riffs, all buried in thick layers of brutal vocals, word spread quickly across the underground. With that sort of reception among the die-hards, Pitch Black Progress [...]

Website: The Gathering The Inside Pulse: Not many bands have as much of a varied history as The Gathering. Starting as a death/black metal band, The Gathering transitioned to a more melodic approach with the addition of female vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen, later transitioning again almost completely away from their metal roots and into a [...]

Current count of MySpace bands in the queue for review: 20 Average number of MySpace bands who friend me just after a column is posted: 5 Average number of MySpace bands who friend me out of nowhere: 2-3/wk Something tells me I’m going to have to start reviewing more bands, pronto. Also, the new Tool [...]

Local music. It’s a beautiful thing, honestly. Bands don’t just spring out of a hydroponic farm hidden in the basement of the Capitol Records building. However, there are times when one is out and about, sampling the sounds around them, when they start to wish it did work that way. Don’t get me wrong; everyone [...]

Website: Thosquanta The Inside Pulse: Evolving from an experimental darkwave project into a full-fledged industrial noise terror, Thosquanta seeks to please a crowd that ranges from goth to stompy and all the way into pure metal. Some would call it industrial, but we don’t need labels. Lovelife would be impossible to describe if we tried [...]

Website: Edguy The Inside Pulse: Rising out of Germany, Edguy brings a neo-classical groove which, in the wrong circumstances, would be a disaster. However, their oddball style — seemingly a glam-flavored modern take on power metal of the early ’80s — is done with such effect that one has to extend a bow in awe [...]

Website: Lacuna Coil The Inside Pulse: Italy’s Lacuna Coil has been around longer than most recent Ozzfest attendees may realize. Releasing their first EP in 1998, the six-piece quietly worked its way into a cult following overseas, leading up to the slow-built success of 2002′s Comalies. Ozzfest didn’t hurt their exposure, either. However, it’s clear [...]

Website: Avenpitch The Inside Pulse: Hailing from the Twin Cities, one of the strongest music scenes in the United States, Avenpitch brings the local sounds of electropunk to the masses. Or, at the very least, super-indie distribution. Either way, the band has been touring vigilantly before the recording of and now in support of their [...]

Last night after writing that column, I got the itch to listen to Veruca Salt’s American Thighs. It was one of my favorite albums back in its day. Really, it should be no shock that I still remembered nearly every lyric, aside from the fact that I don’t think I’ve played the album in nearly [...]