-Raz- has written the following articles:
2006 was a year. It was last year. 2006 was a year that punk rock burst all over front covers and end-of-year lists again in its many different guises. One new punk outfit trampled over the underground throughout the year on their way to megastar status, while another group of newcomers burst out of the ether in the autumn to quickly conquer the underground. This is Panic! At The Disco vs Gallows. Fight!»
2006 has been a year that’s lived up to and exceeded all expectations. With enough fantastic albums to treble the length of my Albums of the Year list, and a gig list long enough to frighten even the hardiest tour manager, I’ve seen plenty of goodness this year. Luckily we’re on hand to jog those memories and help you reminisce about the good times and the couple of sad moments which brought us all back down to Earth with a big bump. This is 2006...»
Hell Is For Heroes have completed work on their third album and will be touring across the UK and Europe to promote it in early 2007... »
Angular punkers Dartz! are to release their new single 'Once, Twice, Again!' on 29th January 2007 and, unsurprisingly, are going to go on a little tour to celebrate...»
The quite wicked people at Music For Vampires are hosting their very own Black Christmas at London's Buffalo Bar on Sunday 17th December and are offering some free bloody tickets!»
Such is the huge buzz around the still unsigned, Astoria-headlining dance-rockers Enter Shikari that when they announced their new tourdates on Saturday, their fans broke Ticketmaster's servers.»
The second annual Big Scary Monsters Christmas Tour is now proud to announce that the mighty Yndi Halda are to join it this week»
Orange County hardcore growlers Bleeding Through are returning to tour across the UK in February. »
Ridiculous 80s-styled Canadian metallers 3 Inches Of Blood are to return to the UK in March 2007 with a new album and a tour as well. »
Welsh metallers Bullet For My Valentine have rescheduled their recently cancelled tour dates for January 2007 and are taking "the best British punk band since The Clash" with them (Gallows).»
Earlier this year The Abominable Iron Sloth released one of the heaviest, hookiest and heaviest albums around. Last month, after completing just a few of intended UK tourdates, a makeshift version of the band split up. Help make a new album!»
At this year’s Download Festival, one unlucky punter punted a Golden Delicious at the Main Stage during Cradle Of Filth’s set. Dani Filth said: “An apple? Who throws an apple? You? You rubbish wanker.” That is by no means verbatim. Dani Filth recently engaged in a vapid session of answering Some Questions...»
Yorkshire trio Bromheads Jacket do the Sheffield Shuffle and sing about real stuff to funky rhythms and bittersweet melodies. Mike Skinner from The Streets is a big fan. Mike Skinner also likes Deftones. How diverse is he?! For some reason, BJ have agreed to answer Some Questions. I think they are mad... »
In 1977 there were many things happening in the world of music. One was punk, but another was PMS. While there is little left of the ground breaking, life-affirming genre full of anti-establishmentarians and frenzied upstarts, the Liverpool-based BBC radio show is still alive and kicking and is possibly one of the most ‘punk’ segments currently floating around Britain’s airwaves...»
Ninety per cent of every new fad of a genre can be dismissed as a bunch of bands that nobody will care about in five years, so it’s easy to make the case that nobody should care about them now. There are some interesting exceptions that somehow gain credibility as time goes on, and there are the ones that everyone always knew, or at least hoped, would always make the grade. With metalcore, there is one band that stands head and shoulders above the rest. They go by the name of Killswitch Engage...»
While a vast portion of diehards have been queuing up for ages to get into Brixton Academy early and be one of the first in the Slayer moshpit, there are also many that are lining local bars, snakebites and JD & Cokes in hand...»
Print Is Dead has been touted as the UK’s version of the acclaimed Desert Sessions by some of the more optimistic members of the musical cognoscenti. The founders and main protagonists of this tale, yourcodenameis:milo, are more eager to liken this project to that of the much-loved mixtape...»
Fear Before The March Of Flames should be an album title, not the name of a band, but let that deter you not for The Always Open Mouth is a most wonderful proposition. The band's third album will please many fans: they're realising all of their promise with a complex and matured experimental punk record that is both ravishingly beautiful and jaw-droppingly massive in one fouler than foul swoop...»
Here's the last little tidbit tangent to DiS's favourite 66 albums of the past six years, Our 66. Here, we present to you a selection of personal top sixes (of the last six years) from an assortment of musicians and label folk, starring Alan McGee, Sparklehorse, Howling Bells, Kaiser Chiefs and more...»
She’s possibly the ultimate contemporary one-woman band, running around the stage to play piano and keyboards and some other stuff that escapes me right now. Imogen Heap has answered Some Questions with deep thought, witty wit and alarmingly gritty realism. Ms Heap, we salute you and everyone who sails in your eternally majestic boat...»
The Wombats are a delicious indie-pop troupe from Liverpool. Comprising two native Scousers and a Norwegian, they’ve been touring like crazy and releasing as many of those plastic music discs as possible, picking up several fans along the way. DiS chatted to “penguin-fingered keyboard player” and vocalist Matt Murphy and drummer Dan ‘The Rat’ Haggis; they very kindly answered Some Questions. Hooray!»
If you don’t know already, Assembly Now are four spiffing young lads from London that have not even been playing with each other for a year yet. They’re new friends! Regardless, Radio 1’s Steve Lamacq and Xfm’s John Kennedy love them to bits and stuff.»
Since forming in Sheffield in early 2004 Bring Me The Horizon are getting used to justifying themselves. Much vilified by many parts of the music community due to their close association with The Scene, Raziq Rauf talks to the band before the release of their debut album.»
Everyone knows who Cradle Of Filth are. They’re… that metal band… the ones that made that 'Jesus is a cunt' t-shirt. Blasphemers! Thornography is the seventh album from the British black metallers and promises to be a more diverse beast of a record...»
Calling all goths! I Am Ghost have arrived and it’s not a dream. You’re fully awake and this is the punk-rock, prog-rock, concept-album debut of your collective year...»
We all know he’s been saved (by a woman), and that seemingly makes him a one-hit wonder. If only it was so simple. He is the housewives’ favourite that ain’t so easy on the eye and he’s the top 10 album chart mainstay that really doesn’t like doing press. Ray LaMontagne's sure and steady success really just doesn’t make any sense...»
Australian website MelodicRock.com have reported that the mighty Van Halen are set to reunite with complete lineup for a full tour of the US and other places in 2007»
Canadian nu-metal band Kittie have announced their new album will be called Funeral For Yesterday.»
Duran Duran have replaced guitarist Andy Taylor with a session guitarist just hours ahead of the Chicago leg of their US tour.»
The Finnish bastard children of Refused they may be, and mega-selling punk-rock chart-botherers they may not, but with only a couple of short UK tours under their belts Disco Ensemble have proved that they can be awfully important to some people. DiS caught up with lead singer and keyboard player Miikka Koivisto to discuss Some Questions...»
