Writer Archive: Mike Rickard
Scarpoint – The Mask Of Sanity
Dig. Dig until your calloused hands blister yet again. Carefully extricate the ore from the surrounding rock. Smelt it in the searing heat of the forge...
The Greenery – Spit And Argue
Angry? Pissed off? Grab yourself a copy of The Greenery’s Spit And Argue and put it on – loud.
I’m not saying you’ll find any solace in the...
Iwrestledabearonce – Ruining It For Everybody
Iwrestledabearonce is like the Marmite of the metal world. If you’ve never heard of Marmite, look it up. It’s a yeast extract spread that tends to...
Backjumper – White, Black and the Lies Between
When I saw the first track on Backjumper’s album White, Black and the Lies Between was called Jack Bumper and I admit that shiver of trepidation ran...
The Artifact – Eternal Dreams And What Could Be
What happens when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object? What happens when the members of March Against Fear and IWATCHEDHERDIE combine, like...
Subversion – Lest We Forget
‘Concept album’. Two words that generally elicit at worst, revulsion and at best a cynical eye roll. For me, stories are best left to books...
Kills And Thrills – Liars
The Kills And Thrills are a “fresh and ambitious” five-piece from Long Island. Their standard PR blurb describes them as “constantly focused on developing...
Eradication – Dreams Of Reality
Speed. Full-on, flat out, white-knuckle, hang on for dear life, cheek flapping, unadulterated speed.
Some people live for it. To paraphrase Michael Douglas...
Farm School Holocaust – No Human Involved
Farm School Holocaust class themselves as mathcore, but cite references as far and wide as Ion Dissonance and Converge, classical grindcore and even jazz....
What’s Left Of Her – Perceptions
If variety is the spice of life and music can soothe even the savage beast, then by inductive reasoning and unassailable logic, Perceptions by What’s...
Alter Bridge – AB III
I’ve said it before: vocals constitute a large part of whether or not I’ll like an album and often I define a band’s genre more by the vocals than...
Rolo Tomassi/The Dillinger Escape Plan – Bristol, UK
Mathcore ahoy!
I’m lucky enough to work with a few people who are into the same sorts of music I am. It hasn’t happened in many of my other jobs –...
Arcania – Sweet Angel Dust
It’s a beautiful day, tinged with the first auspices of autumn (or “Fall” for most of you), with leaves browning on the limb and I’m driving...
King Conquer – America’s Most Haunted
Having been a vocalist myself in the past, I find it fascinating what some people can do with their voices. People like Chino Moreno and Mike Patton continue...
Sons Of Tonatiuh – Sons Of Tonatiuh
There’s a t-shirt for sale in a shop near me. It shows badly drawn representations of sections of fretboards with dots on the ‘strings’ to represent...
Turbid North – Orogeny
Some bands get lucky, other bands have to work hard and pay their dues. Turbid North, having dominated their local scene, were advised by Drowning Pool...
Feed The Rhino – Mr Red Eye
Interesting name, interesting band. Hailing from the south-east of England, Feed The Rhino sound a little like The Used and Every Time I Die got together...
Psycho Choke – Unraveling Chaos
“Psycho Choke”? I sigh slightly and put it on, expecting a pretentious and contrived album, full of gore metal type lyrics and disappearing up its...