INVISIBLE ORANGES OR SOUR GRAPES?
I’ve made no secret of my general distaste for black metal, going so far as to call for a boycott of one of the sound’s most celebrated and influential figures. Without question, I’m not the ideal person to defend any aspect of a subgenre that I consider an eye-rolling, oft-racist joke. And yet, Tim Hunter at Invisible Oranges has driven me to stand up for it (sorta) thanks to his scathing and shoddy article lambasting the sub-subgenre “Cascadian black metal” and those journalists who dare to use the term in their pieces.
I’m not saying the music itself is bullshit – that’s more of a personal taste thing – but I think the sub-genre as a concept is bullshit. Ever since Wolves in the Throne Room garnered a more significant share of the music spotlight (chiefly by playing a corporate-sponsored festival, I’ve seen the term “Cascadian black metal” tossed around in more articles recently. Some of these have been from outside the metal world (the New Yorker, The Guardian), while others are more in tune with the underground. But I’m skeptical by default of any attempt by music media to create new pigeonholes for the music they cover. In some cases, it’s merely lazy journalism; in other cases (I’m looking at you, New Yorker dude), it’s just a way to make it seem like you know more than you really do about your topic.
Here’s why Hunter’s argument is (to reclaim the epithet) bullshit.
The way metalheads describe him, Lou Reed is some sort of excavated relic from the Paleozoic era. Yes, I know you don’t like Lulu, but for fuck’s sake, the guy isn’t just some hobo Lars Ulrich found on the street begging for change and warning the world about Y2K. Reed’s the rock and roll animal, man, responsible for some of the most interesting and influential music of the 60s and 70s. Being publicly ignorant of his contributions to rock music doesn’t make Lulu‘s detractors cool; it makes them look narrow minded.
Split 7″ releases always carry a risk of one band’s side kicking the ever-lovin’ crap out of the other band’s side. Neither Ringworm nor Mindsnare deign to upstage one another on Your Soul Belongs To Us (
If you attended this year’s CMJ and didn’t catch at least one of Trash Talk‘s five sets, it’s your own damn fault. The brisk material on Awake (
Santa Barbara, CA’s Minus may have only just released their debut 7″ Hard Feelings (
Matt Henderson must have been storing these riffs for a decade. How else could the former Madball guitarist sonically recreate that group’s 90s salad days with his latest project? A veritable hardcore supergroup, S.O.S. windmills all imitators on I Owe You Nothing (
Trapped Under Ice, Big Kiss Goodnight (Reaper)
Crossover thrash historians know DYS, the Boston-based band whose self-titled second album remains essential listening for hardcore and metal fans alike. While the group’s initial run was short-lived, late last summer frontman Dave Smalley (Dag Nasty, Down by Law) and bassist Jonathan Anastas (Decadence, Slapshot) resurrected the name for a handful of gigs, one of which was recorded and 
It’s all too easy for me to get a bit America-centric with hardcore, given the intense amount of activity and output from bands based on this continent. Fortunately, 
Now back to the American scene! 
Over the long weekend, I seized on the opportunity to snag a copy of Trapped Under Ice’s sophomore effort Big Kiss Goodnight at their New York City release party. The record, stuffed with beefy riffs and instantly memorable hooks, quickly found its way into heavy rotation in my home. But what kind of guy would I be if I didn’t share the love with you all?
Still, if I may be permitted to abuse a tired phrase, when one door closes, another opens. 6131 has just announced a new signing of its own: 
Though we can pretty much rule out a long-awaited follow-up to Axe To Fall before year’s end, Converge aren’t planning to finish 2011 quietly. According to the band’s 
Sacramento, CA hardcore band Trash Talk have a new EP entitled Awake due out next week (pre-order 
“Today kinda sucked,” Bob Wilson laments as the sun begins to set over Philadelphia. His band, 
Was I foolish to expect more than this? After all, the last two Bush albums were such dizzying letdowns, with 2001′s Golden State all but unlistenable. Still, alt. rock pinup Gavin Rossdale’s post-Bush career contained the delightfully brutish, Page Hamilton-produced 
As the media can’t help but remind us, September marks the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind. Too many journos and players have spilled ink on this topic over the past month that I’m not even going to waste my energies doing the same. That record has been essentially IGNORED for half of its lifetime, and the commentary has been cheap and useless, so why bother?
It’s a Saturday night in Greenpoint, a still-Polish neighborhood smothered by hipsters and transplants orphaned by and priced-out of neighboring Williamsburg. My favorite part of Brooklyn is not actually living there, and this neighborhood is blessed with the city’s worst train line: the G. Somehow, I make my way to Europa, a nightclub that not-infrequently hosts rock concerts that end early, via three different subway transfers just in time to catch the last two songs of Bison B.C.‘s set. This frustrates me since they’re one of the few metal bands that consistently impresses me. Their last two melodious albums have both made my year-end lists, and in the live setting you can tell that they’re simply a bunch of unpretentious guys who just wanna rock.
Fashion Week has begun! Designers, buyers, celebutantes, journos, and wannabes have descended upon New York City to see what beauteous items the industry plans to bestow upon the world this coming Spring. And while this blogger was unsuccessful in scoring press credentials for event — losing yet another opportunity to practice 
Though nowadays my bailiwick at MetalSucks is hardcore, those who have followed this column from the start will recall that I started out with a focus on noise rock, a subgenre that peaked in the 90s and has experienced a glorious resurgence over the past several years. At the start, I used this space to turn readers onto bands like The Austerity Program, Cable, Disappearer, Goes Cube, Kowloon Walled City, Pissed Jeans, and Wetnurse, to name a few. You dig those acts, right? Yeah, I thought so.
Though some of you may be tired of me writing about it, 
