Ipecac Canada Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Los Angeles crusted hardcore bruisers CNTS delivered a venomous statement of intent with their beautifully titled 2019 debut full-length Cunts, but sadly only had a brief opportunity to tour in support of the project before the world closed its doors in early 2020. Unfortunately, any and all future plans would be put on hold following vocalist Matt Cronk being injured in a car crash which resulted in a surgical error leading to a paralyzed vocal cord. Though members turned to other projects whilst awaiting/praying for Cronk's recovery (both drummer Kevin Avery and guitarist Mike Crain are members of Retox with the latter also being part of the Mike Patton-fronted Dead Cross), it wouldn't be until the winter of last year that, against all doctor's predictions, Cronk's voice would return and with it, a bevvy of new gripes and grievances to expel. Sardonically titled Thoughts & Prayers, and receiving distribution through the aforementioned Mike Patton's Ipecac label, prepare for an even more depraved batch of jagged, fuzzed-out, cynical and severely pissed off hardcore headcavers.

Review: Following their succinctly titled 2019 debut full-length Cunts, the Los Angeles based hardcore mob of the same name (sans the one vowel), would only briefly tour the project before the 2020 pandemic put a stop to all live shows. During this time, vocalist Matt Cronk suffered from a paralyzed vocal cord as result of a surgical error following a car crash injury. With other members Kevin Avery and guitarist Mike Crain keeping busy in Retox while the latter also serves as bass-man for Mike Patton-fronted Dead Cross, Cronk recovered against any medical predictions and between his personal strife and the state of utter division across the US, he has a whole load of hate to get off his chest on their cynical sophomore statement, Thoughts & Prayers.

Review: A collaborative album made and released by Mike Patton and NYC's hip-hop DJ trio the X-Ecutioners, General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners is a landmark album in the big-smoked turntablists' discog, thanks to its then-newfangled embrace of elements of two nascent genres: free jazz and glitch. In fact, the album is themed around a war between the two vastly different styles, which makes it a worthy, but lesser-known contemporary to many other artists fusing the styles at the time, such as Amon Tobin. However, this album is more in the vein of Wu-Tang than future angst; this reissue via Ipecac serves to rejolt its underground infamy.

Review: Mosquito Control and The Red Sea served as the first two officially released EPs from Boston post-metal outfit Isis. While the band had recorded two early demos prior, these projects marked the first formative material before settling into their unique brand of atmospheric, heaving prog-sludge by the arrival of their full-length debut Celestial. While somewhat rough around the proverbial edges when compared to their later works, this collection still teems with nuanced aggression and an artistic finesse that put their contemporaries to shame. Originally released in 1998 and 1999 respectively, this compilation offers longtime followers and newcomers alike a chance to experience these vital experiments more than two decades after the fact in their most undiluted form.

Review: San-Fran experimental rockers Oxbow dedicated their eighth album Love's Holiday to familial renewals, marking the point at which guitarist Niko Wenner's two children were born shortly after his father's death. Despite the immediate inspirations, the album also cycles through many of the more all-encompassing kinds of live humans may encounter, from romantic to tragic. We hear the band segue through gargantuan plains of looping guitar and reverb-drenched vocals from lead vocalist Dan Adams; ostensibly, it sounds closer to an exploration of grief than commonly received ideas of "love", although relatively few pop-cultural ideas of love keep it real enough to reflect the strife that comes with it.

Review: On their latest album Alchemy For The Dead, post-rock "sludge-gazers" Spotlights (Sarah Quintero, Mario Quintero, Chris Enriquez) collide heavy riffs and apocalyptic murmurations, evoking an unstoppably crunchy armaggedon. The album is described as a contemplation of mortality and a tribute to the band's late friend and collaborator, Caleb Scofield of the bands Cave In and Zozobra. A divine, druidic sense of the end of times is felt throughout, whether on the squeezing feedback and distortions of 'Sunset Burial' or the final countdown that is 'Ballad In The Mirror'.