The Days of Lore

TDoL Best of 2012: 20-16

Wednesday, December 19th, 2012 | musiX | No Comments

16. Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE (Def Jam)

17. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light (Fat Possum)

18. Fellwoods – Wulfram (At War With False Noise)

19. KISS – Monster (Universal Music Group)

20. Baroness – Yellow & Green (Relapse Records)

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Tags: At War With False Noise, Baroness, Best of 2012, channel ORANGE, Def Jam, Fat Possum, Fellwoods, Frank Ocean, KISS, Monster, Relapse Records, Spiritualized, Sweet Heart Sweet Light, Universal Music Group, Wulfram, Yellow & Green

Black Friday, White Knuckles, Red Fang

Friday, April 29th, 2011 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

How do you categorize Portland’s Red Fang? Four 30-somethings who wield mammoth rock riffs like young’ns and apparently have little regard for metal’s conventions. They’ve been called metal, stoner rock, neo-grunge—all of which is just music critic-speak for “I don’t know what the fuck to call them” …

… Well, I don’t know what the fuck to call them, either. They’re not exactly metal (though that probably would be the most accurate descriptor). They’re not just a rock band (or are they?). They’re not stoner (musically speaking). And neo-grunge is just a slap in the fangs. The band’s second release Murder the Mountains (Relapse) is a monster. And it’s all over the place—heavy as a two-ton slab of concrete, intricate when needed and, dare I say it, accessible. “Wires” offers the best of all worlds—multiple parts, moodiness, power, aggression—which sounds a lot like metal, but it’s not. The record is also produced by the Decemberists’ Chris Funk, who cleans up these guys’ act while at the same time pushing them to volumes usually associated with jet engines (and Motörhead).

While 2009′s self-titled release—and more specifically the video for “Prehistoric Dog”—got them some notice outside Portland, Murder the Mountains has them positioned for world takeover. Beginning with a First Listen from the folky folks over at NPR, and now with U.S. tours, Euro tours and a slot on the Mayhem Festival with … Disturbed? OK, it is now Red Fang’s duty to completely crush Disturbed fans’ skulls (figuratively speaking, of course). I think they’ve got it in ‘em.

“Wires” – Red Fang

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Tags: "Prehistoric Dog", Murder the Mountains, Portland music, Red Fang, Relapse Records