US hardcore/industrial metal outfit American Head Charge made a few waves with their 2001 album ‘The War of Art’, released on the American Records label [original home to The Beastie Boys and Black Crowes, sometime home to the legendary Johnny Cash and metal titans Slayer]. It’s opening barrage of tunes hit like a concrete hammer, while the shouty, uncompromising and scratchy vocals from Cameron Heacock bore a resemblance to Sick of it All’s Lou Koller (circa 1998). A great combination of tough musicianship and hard-hitting material proved a winning combination…and then the band disappeared for four years. Perhaps this was a little longer than they should have been away, since by the arrival of 2004’s ‘The Feeding’, the band were reported suffering from internal problems. Not long after, they were missing, presumed gone forever.
THE OYSTER MURDERS – Mourning Birds EP
Following their 2012 debut album and tour, The Oyster Murders set about writing and recording new material to follow up ‘Winter of the Electric Sun’. While the prospect of a new full album would have been very appealing, this six track offering is a welcome enough release – it’s six songs and twenty two minutes showing off the Australian dream-pop quartet’s surprisingly accessible sounds in a lean fashion, the EP format cutting down any potential filler material.
Sondura tour dates
UK rockers Sondura will be playing a run of dates across the UK throughout the rest of October 2013 (beginning tomorrow and ending with a support slot for Focus). All confirmed dates can be seen below, along with the band’s current video and info from their press release [courtesy of RedSandPR].
Breed 77: Upcoming tour dates
Recently, the Gibraltarian hard rock band Breed77 had a major change in their ranks when long-serving vocalist Paul Isola stepped down from his duties as frontman. His replacement, Portuguese singer Rui Lopez has already appeared at a couple of dates, but now fans in the UK will be given the opportunity to see him again when the band take to the road for a full tour to end the year.
Toby Jepson: solo live dates
Having bought the successful Little Angels reunion to a close, singer-songwriter Toby Jepson returned to his many other projects. 2013 saw him contributing to The Answer’s ‘New Horizon’ in a writing and production capacity as well as working on a Katie Melua album.