Articles By: Geoffrey Mitchell 
Former lighting designer, military helicopter mechanic and dolphin tamer. I cover local bands in the NJ/NY area in my free time. It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll.
Mind Games – Silent Descent album review
We live in a ‘cross-over’ world now; the Canadian acoustic/indie band Walk Off The Earth can cover “The Backing Up Song”, a song that is nothing more than a news report that someone Auto-tuned, and get over four million hits on Youtube. If that is popular, it is possible for death-metal and trance/electronica to jump into a pool together and come out dripping gold. Silent Descent, from Dartford, England, are this exact combination. Their album Mind Games features Petrucci-esque guitar [...]
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Tenacious D – Rize of the Fenix album review
Tenacious D’s latest album, Rize of the Fenix, is exactly what you expect it to be: a sexual explosion of reckless clichés. It is hilarious, surprising but most importantly, fun. You play this album when you grill steaks with your friends this summer. Before the album was officially released, the music video for “Rize of the Fenix” was leaked onto Russian Youtube. The band’s response was to offer the music video for free to the US and Canada, then they [...]
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Damon Albarn – Dr. Dee album review
Dr. Dee is the soundtrack to an opera written by Rufus Norris and Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz). The subject of the opera, John Dee, died in 1609 and was a noted alchemist and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. The opera was well received when it debuted in 2011; this is the first time the original music has been released. It is better to approach this album like a movie score; Dr. Dee is better suited for background music, while you [...]
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Marilyn Manson – Born Villain album review
Ever since Marilyn Manson exploded into the music scene with his 1996 album, Antichrist Superstar, he has remained the same person. A strange, uncomfortable, ‘shock rocker’ whose brand of music has been blamed for school shootings and teenage drug use. Now, almost 20 years later, he releases Born Villain, another album full of angry songs and teenage rage. Marilyn Manson never grew up, and his music has not evolved. Manson sounds just like he always does in this album, pissed [...]
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Lioness – The Golden Killer album review
Think Spinerette meets J.U.S.T.I.C.E., and you have a slight idea of what The Golden Killer by Lioness sounds like. This album could be the soundtrack to a futuristic porno, Lioness’ dystopian raunch sounds like it comes from another planet sometimes. This trio from Canada, Vanessa Fischer (vocals), Ronnie Morris (bass) and Jeff Scheven (percussion), have produced an album with a sound so large, it threatens to engulf your sanity. The Golden Killer has a raw crunch to it, rough sounding [...]
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Boys and Girls – Alabama Shakes album review
Experiencing something unbiased is a privilege. Take movies as an example, rarely does anyone get the opportunity to experience a movie free from outside influences, such as a preview or review. Given the chance, one might discover their opinion does not coincide with others’. If you have never heard of the Alabama Shakes, or their new album ‘Boys and Girls’, stop reading.Listen to ‘Boys and Girls’, it is free on plenty of streaming music programs. Grab your headphones, an old [...]
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Black Mountain – Year Zero album review
‘Year Zero’, the 2012 release by Vancouver based Black Mountain, stands apart their previous work despite using some of their old material. The movie that Black Mountain wrote this soundtrack for is a post-apocalyptic surf flick. The album sounds like Deep Purple and Daft Punk performing on the set of Mad Max, but instead of leather and spikes, everyone there has a surfboard. The five new tracks depart from the typical sound of Black Mountain, and it allows them to [...]
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