SOUND BITES

Not to be confused with a compilation plucked from the band's previous records, Grimmest Hits is in fact an entirely new collection of songs; that said, there are certainly callbacks to some of Zakk Wylde's greatest moments to be heard. Take the slow-burning lead-in on Trampled Down Below , the bass lick for which sets the song up in the same way Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tears was nearly thirty years ago. Wylde has never been shy about his affinity for Sabbath and Ozzy, and several tracks mine for that sweet, sweet sludge. Seasons of Falter takes its groove from the playbook of Sabbath, while incorporating some Alice In Chains-type brooding (the latter band themselves rarely hesitant to dabble in the dark grooves of Sabbath). Then, All That Once Shined takes the AIC hat-tip even further, pushing its tempo down and adding in some vocal harmonies that approximate Cantrell/Staley levels on the chorus. That is, before exploding into a thick, double-time Sabbath groove. S...

Over the course of a career that is now twenty years running, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have slowly built a reputation for dependability. Never turning in the type of smash hit to threaten the band's street cred and never truly falling off to the point of irrelevance, BRMC have had the privilege of maintaining their stature without resorting to tired gimmicks or drastic measures of any kind. They came close on occasion (such as the acoustic-backed Howl and the overly abrasive instrumental record The Effects of 333 ), but they've since settled in to a strurdy groove. Having said that, it would admittedly be nice to hear something drastic from this band again, as the more albums they put out with the fewer surprises threatens indifference. Wrong Creatures , the group's eighth LP, follows the longest break without new material in their career to date; this record arrives nearly five years after Specter At the Feast , an album that saw them refine some facets of their sou...

Though their origins as a thrashy punk band are well known and the original trio of Mike Dean, Woody Weatherman and Reed Mullin put out a pair of well-received albums earlier this decade, for many the quintessential Corrosion of Conformity line-up includes Pepper Keenan, who joined the band in 1989 and was responsible for fleshing out the group's sound during their ascent to popularity. So, as serviceable as the previous two records were, No Cross No Crown features Keenan back in the fold for the first time since 2005's In the Arms of God ; not to downplay the other members, but in some minds that makes this C.O.C.'s first true record in over thirteen years. Fans of the sludgy, meaty style they introduced on their 1994 breakthrough Deliverance will find plenty to sink their teeth into on  No Cross No Crown , as its ambitions are clearly rooted in this aesthetic. That's what Pepper brings to the table, and there's a full spread of heavy riffs and thick grooves o...

Well, 2017 was an interesting year, and one full of choices in terms of music. That's already yesterday's news, though, as 2018 is here and wasting no time in giving us reasons to be excited. We already have a handful of releases confirmed, including some I'm really looking forward to from the likes of Corrosion of Conformity, Brian Fallon, Superchunk, Screaming Females and Manic Street Preachers. Of course, we both know you didn't start reading this article to hear about what we already know. "What Are the Chances?" is all about predicting the unknown, reading palms and gazing into crystal balls. Naturally, some releases are easier to predict than others (we have bands like A Perfect Circle virtually guaranteeing action in the form of advance singles, while for others it's been all but confirmed in interviews). Some are total shots in the dark, crapshoots that can go either way, while some are very unlikely to see light of day in the next year. Before...