A new TOOL record cannot exist in a vacuum. The context surrounding it can't help but alter how it is received and perceived. Like it or not, they're a band that inspire fervent idolatry from their legion of die-hard fans, and abject, sneering ridicule from their detractors. Taken too seriously by the former, and not seriously at all by the latter, TOOL are the textbook definition of "divisive," hailed as mold-breaking geniuses by one camp, and tediously pretentious by the other. ... read more

There have been a number of stories in the music press of late extolling the mental health benefits of listening to metal music. Contrary to popular misconception, exposing ones ears to the bludgeoning instrumentals, and, at times, darkly violent lyrical themes of extreme music does not, it appears, render the listener a raging, misogynist misanthrope, mired in festering self-hatred and suicidal ideation. To the contrary, metal music apparently helps its fans process and control feelings of ... read more

”I would do anything to feel like I’m alive again.”

There’s a common misconception that those who survive a near-death experience find a renewed lust for life, an almost simple-minded gratefulness for the mere circumstance of continuing to exist. The reality is, of course, more complicated. John Baizley, frontman, guitarist, artist behind those incredibly intricate album covers, and now the only remaining founding member of Baroness, knows the reality of a life lived in ... read more

Despite bearing all the hallmarks of a classic break-up album - the pained, fragile vocal delivery, the sparse arrangements, the directness of the lyrics - Hayden Thorpe's Diviner is not, in fact, the product of a clichéd boy-meets-girl > boy-gets-heart-broken > boy-sings-of-his-heartbreak kind of narrative. It’s more of a boy-meets-three-other-boys > boys-spend-17-years-together-in-a-band > band-breaks-up-leaving-boy-alone story. That old chestnut.

Thorpe himself has ... read more