If you expect to see any headbanging this weekend at the Grammys, I politely suggest you give your head a shake. As always, most (if not all) the rock and metal awards will probably be handed out during the unaired pre-telecast ceremony on Sunday afternoon. But whatever. Who needs the Grammys when you’ve got The Grindhouse? Every one of these heavy hitters is a winner. Best of all: No sucky acceptance speeches:
Striker | Sucks To Suck
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Get ready to rumble! Striker have a new video for Sucks To Suck, produced with Top Talent Wrestling Academy and featuring Harlon “The Healer” Abott and Marisa West. The video celebrates the release of the shred master’s new album Ultrapower, produced with Josh Schroeder (Lorna Shore, Tallah, King 810). “Three days of training, four broken backs, and one trash can to the face. We’re out here putting in the work in the name of HEAVY METAL!” say the band. Ultrapower is the seventh full-length from Striker and follows their Juno-winning self-released record Play to Win (2018) unleashed on their label Record Breaking Records.”
Jupiter Hollow | Cohesion
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Toronto’s Jupiter Hollow take music to a whole new level. Led by the fearless Grant MacKenzie and Kenny Parry, this powerhouse duo (and live quartet featuring John Ryan Godfrey and Nathaniel Reynolds-Welsh) have been making waves since 2015 with their unique brand of progressive rock/metal. Their latest single Cohesion tackles the relationship between an artist who wants nothing more than to have the freedom and the ability to express, share, and grow, but is trapped by the demands of survival in an oversaturated society incapable of supporting the true diversity of each individual. “Most of us are struggling out there in some way, and a lot of us are on the verge of giving up on everything because we don’t have the life we dream of, constantly reminded everywhere we go by someone who is succeeding while we struggle to survive,” says Parry. “So whether you’re an artist, a mechanic, a doctor, or just a single mother or father with barely enough time for their family, let alone themselves, everyone deals with darkness in their life at some point. This song is a reminder that no matter what may get in the way, never lose focus on what makes you be yourself, and never give up on what gives you joy.”
Midnight | F.O.A.L.
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Notorious and prolific Cleveland cult Midnight will unleash their sixth full-length Hellish Expectations on March 8. One-man-army Athenar has been churning out an ungodly racket, dropping countless demos, splits and EPs for over two decades, ultimately slaying the metal/punk underground with his own, highly addictive brand of lust, grime, and sleaze. Filthy, belligerent, and unapologetically obnoxious, Midnight make music to start fights to. Later this year, Athenar will return with Hellish Expectations, a 10-track sonic assault of blackened heavy metal nefariousness. “It’s a knuckle dragger with a fat cutoff,” he elaborates. “Pure testosterone meat. Probably the most concise and straight-to-the-point Midnight album to date, and all written in a weekend.”
Job For A Cowboy | Beyond the Chemical Doorway
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Experimental death metallers Job For A Cowboy are pleased to unleash Beyond The Chemical Doorway, the latest single from their upcoming full-length Moon Healer, set for release on Feb. 23. Featuring a newly refreshed and reinspired lineup of frontman and co-founder Jonny Davy, guitarists Tony Sannicandro and Al Glassman, bassist Nick Schendzielos and drummer (since 2020) Navene Koperweis, the band seamlessly pick up where their last album Sun Eater left off. With Beyond The Chemical Doorway, Davy explores Gnosticism — an occult teaching based on Gnosis, a state of transcendence achieved through intuitive, unconventional means — by way of Hieronymus Bosch’s art. Elaborates Davy, “On Moon Healer, we unravel the dismal narrative of a close friend consumed by an unwavering pursuit of enlightenment. They achieve this through a compulsive embrace of hallucinogenic drugs. This storyline emerges from the foundation set in our earlier album Sun Eater, delving deeper into the intricacies brewing within our friend’s psyche when under the influence of these drugs.”
Hamferð | Ábær
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Faroe Islands death/doom outfit Hamferð will release their Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk album March 22. When this magisterial sextet’s third album Támsins likam emerged in 2018 — 10 years after they first entered a rehearsal space — the highly acclaimed and powerfully emotive opus thrust the mourning-suited band on to the world stage. Five years on, the accumulation of plentiful live experience and interpersonal chemistry has had a profound impact on their extraordinary fourth LP, feeding into the artisanal sonic vision of guitarist and producer Theodor Kapnas. Concertedly eschewing all the quick-fix trickery of modern recording technology, the band recorded the songs playing all together live in the studio, without a click-track. The result is a resoundingly human album that heaves, swoops, and shifts in elemental style — from passages of glacial post-metallic beauty through sorrowful folky goth cadences, via icy blackened blastbeats to shuddering vistas of extreme doom mastery — with a crackling tight-but-loose interplay recalling the giants of yesteryear.”
RivetSkull | Hellbound
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In 2009, a group of passionate musicians came together in Seattle, united by their love for the legendary metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio. From this convergence came RivetSkull, a band that not only paid homage to Dio’s classics, but also sought to carve out their own unique space in the metal genre. Today, RivetSkull release their scorching single Hellbound, a relentless anthem that sets the stage for their upcoming second album Absence of Time. They say: “Hellbound deals with facing your inner demons and trying to hang on when the world around you is full of chaos and uncertainty.” Formed by guitarist Mark X. Plog, powerhouse vocalist Chad McMurray and drummer Michael Robson, RivetSkull quickly gained acclaim under the name Rising for their faithful renditions of Dio’s greatest hits.”
Goat Major | Snakes (Goddess of the Serpent)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Welsh occult doom metal trio Goat Major release their single Snakes (Goddess of the Serpent) and present its roaring video. Their debut album Ritual is due out March 8. Captivating audiences with their fuzzed-out steamroller sound, devastating riffs, creepy and haunting melodies driven on by aggressive grooves and sophisticated fills, Goat Major are a formidably earth-shattering newcomer in the British stoner and doom metal scene. Soaked in the trio’s infectious brand of sinister occult doom metal, their debut album Ritual is inspired by the band’s roots and Celtic traditions, making for and aural experience that is haunting and bone-crushing all at once and will leave you humming the melodies while you pray for forgiveness.”
Sometime In February | Hiding Place
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Originally founded as an instrumental solo project for guitarist Tristan Auman in 2020, Sometime in February became a fully rounded prog-rock trio with the addition of drummer Scott Barber and bassist Morgan Johnson after making the jump from studio to stage following the release of their EP Here Goes in 2021. The band have launched the single Hiding Place. Tristan comments: “Up to this point, nearly all of the writing for Sometime in February had been my responsibility, and for the past year, we’ve been focused on switching gears to a full band dynamic. The resulting collaboration is wholly new, and unmistakably us, and sets the stage for our upcoming sophomore album.”
