Hop over to New Noise to check out our inaugural roundup of new releases that drop today.
Archive for the Reviews Category
Amon Amarth, Liminal Shroud: Best New Releases
Posted in Album Reviews, New Releases, Reviews with tags Amon Amarth, Fearsore, Liminal Shroud on 08/05/2022 by kurtorzeckMemento: A Spellbinding Set List From Bewitcher
Posted in Concert Reviews, Features, Mementos, Reviews with tags Bewitcher, Brain Tourniquet, Cloak, Infernal Magus of Nocturnal Alchemy, Shredder, Unholy Weaver of Shadows & Incantations on 07/04/2022 by kurtorzeck
Bewitcher, Portland’s most scintillating speed-metal band since Toxic Holocaust, blew the garage doors off the Shredder in Boise once again on Friday night. It was an exhilarating set played by the band that played the same venue with Nile in mid-April, and with Exhumed and Creeping Death in November 2021.
The 50-or-so attendees danced and rubbed knocked elbows during each song, before and after which Bewitcher’s gracious frontman — who goes by the tough-to-memorize moniker Unholy Weaver of Shadows & Incantations — frequently expressed his appreciation for the crowd.
Brain Tourniquet Turn Minds Into Mush at 1st PacWest Gig
Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags Brain Tourniquet, Shredder on 07/01/2022 by kurtorzeck
The phrase “time is of the essence” originated during the construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad that connected rail networks in the eastern U.S. with the western half of the country. Time is also the essence of live performances by Brain Tourniquet, a D.C. band that is powerfully violent to the hardest of cores.
On Friday night, the trio played their first gig in the Pacific Northwest at Boise’s haven for hard and heavy music, the Shredder. In the spirit of Brain Tourniquet’s speedy set — during which they played about 20 songs in 20 minutes — what follows is a rapid-fire attempt to communicate what it’s like seeing them live.
Continue readingUnto Others Hit Boise With a Bang (and Bangs)
Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags Brandon Hill, Colin Vranizan, Gabriel Franco, Goth-rock, Idle Hands, Sebastian Silva, Shredder, Unto Others on 05/12/2022 by kurtorzeck
It’s been a decade or three too long since mobs of miscreants banged their heads to metal mavens wearing bangs. That’s aside from Dave Mustaine and Joey Belladonna — who, at 60 and 61 years old, respectively, really should move aside. C’mon, guys, let the young ones get their chance.
But on Sunday night at the Shredder, Boise got some fresh air and fresh hair in the form of throwback ‘80s hard rockers Unto Others, a newish quartet from Portland, Oregon, led by frontman Gabriel Franco. Breathing new life into a cauldron of ‘80s hard rock, his group originally spawned in 2017 as Idle Hands. Shortly thereafter, they changed their name to another Biblically referenced moniker, Unto Others.
Continue readingBob Odenkirk’s New Memoir: 20 Key Takeaways
Posted in Comedy, Lists, Reviews, What You Readin' For? with tags Bob Odenkirk, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama, David Cross on 05/03/2022 by kurtorzeck
Thanks to his breakthrough role as Saul Goodman a.k.a Jimmy McGill in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Bob Odenkirk finally got his due in mainstream culture starting in 2009. Landing the part was a game-changer for the actor/writer/director/sketch-comedy icon who had spent more than a decade toiling on dozens of projects that never saw the light of day.
Continue readingWayfarer Blow Away Boise With Blistering Black-Metal Fare
Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags Ghorot, Wayfarer on 04/17/2022 by kurtorzeck
Make no mistake about it: Denver’s Wayfarer are dead-set on claiming the throne as kings of black metal in the Western U.S. Cofounded in 2011 by guitarist/vocalist Shane McCarthy, bassist/vocalist James Hansen and drummer Isaac Faulk, the group even haughtily describes itself as follows: “Wayfarer is black metal of the American West.”
Reaching such status will be a very tall order, but the quartet (also featuring guitarist Joe Strong-Truscelli) showed promise with a relentlessly crushing concert at the Shredder in Boise on Thursday night. The gig was the penultimate one on their 11-date “Death Rides West” jaunt.
Yola ‘Stands’ Tall and Proud at Post-Grammys Gig
Posted in Concert Reviews, Interviews with tags Dolly Parton, Elton John, Grammys, Jon Batiste, Los Lobos, Yola on 04/14/2022 by kurtorzeck
British-born, Nashville-based singer/songwriter Yola left the Grammy Awards empty-handed last week, losing to Jon Batiste for Best American Roots Song and Los Lobos for Best Americana Album. Still. the outcomes weren’t a huge surprise for an emerging artist whose music is not confined to a single genre.
Indeed, Yola didn’t seem phased whatsoever when she played her unique blend of pop/country/hip-hop/Americana/soul/R&B/you-name-it to the Knitting Factory in Boise. Smiles abounded through the crowd, who were enraptured by Yola’s vocal range and authenticity — and seemed to know the show was so special, they might tell their kids about it someday.
Her covers of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” Aretha Franklin’s “Day Dreaming” and Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love” iced the cake.
If you aren’t yet familiar with the gift from the music gods that is Yola, check out my recent cover story on the artist for Music Connection. In the feature, she discusses her most recent album, July 2021’s Stand for Myself; growing up practically destitute; the “hot mess” that is U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson; and her lifelong love of Dolly Parton.
Noctambulist, Sunless Eclipse the Rest in Boise
Posted in Concert Reviews, Reviews with tags Noctambulist, Sunless on 04/11/2022 by kurtorzeck
“Just remember what ol’ Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big old storm right in the eye and says, ‘Give me your best shot. I can take it.’ ” -Jack Burton, “Big Trouble in Little China”
The Shredder, Boise’s go-to club for brutal bands, came out of the pandemic with guns blazing. Tech/death-metal legends Defeated Sanity and Skeletal Remains dropped by late last month. Meanwhile, Inferi, Wayfarer, Bewitcher, Nite, Borknagar, Rotting Christ, Necronomicon, the Convalescence and Malevolent Creation will perform there over the next month.
Continue readingGojira – Revolution Concert House (Garden City, ID) – October 8, 2021
Posted in Concert Reviews with tags Gojira on 11/26/2021 by kurtorzeckFriday night’s performance by Gojira marked the first occasion on which the massively successful quartet played in proper support of Fortitude, one of the year’s best albums in rock music writ large.
Read the full review here.
Guided by Voices’ August by Cake: FLOOD Review
Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags Guided by Voices on 04/29/2017 by kurtorzeck
Guided by Voices’ August by Cake album cover
Here is my album review of Guided by Voices’ terrific August by Cake — the 100th release by frontman Bob Pollard. “By the time its 71 minutes are up, ‘August by Cake’ leaves a resin-free aftertaste.”
The Bad Penny (beta) 