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All Mass Nerder (Epitaph) Brief history lesson: So-Cal punk legends Descendents break up after singer Milo goes to college. Remaining members form All and have a succession of singers and, despite barely Alltering (sic) the sound, never quite live up to the intense melodic power pop of the first band. The Descendents then reform and release their best album ever, Everything Sucks. The difference between the two bands is that the Descendents have Milo and All are stuck with Chad Price. Poor guy... he can't be blamed if his band enjoys watching him picking up scraps from the Descendents' cutting room floor. 6/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Seems ol' Rob Zombie (of White Zombie) has gone and started his own label. No rap/metal nonsense for the pierced-eyebrow set, though. If the first two releases, this and the Ghastly Ones' A Haunting We Will Go-Go, are any indication, Zombie's got a taste for raunchy, reverberating retro goofiness. The Bomboras have long held a significant position in California's surf punk hierarchy, and this album full of roaring instrumental slammers can only serve to cement it. Includes a stupid little boardgame in the liner notes... what a cool bonus! 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) Slayer Diabolus in Musica (American) When original drummer Dave Lombardo called it quits it looked like Slayer's days were numbered--even the thundering hooves of Beelzebub couldn't keep up with the double kick drumming which became Slayer's staple. But within 30 seconds of the leadoff track "Bitter Peace," it becomes obvious that Slayer haven't changed one iota and can still bear the crowns of the Kings of Heaviosity. Slayer's true talent is completely ignoring all trends and staying true to their sound, which is more than can be said for the washed-up likes of Metallica and Megadeath. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins) Add N to X On the Wires of Our Nerves (Mute/Fusion III)
It should not be lost on those who would embrace "electronica" that this latest album on the Mute label sounds a helluva lot like the imprint's debut single, "Warm Leatherette" by The Normal, a stark synth-pop classic released exactly 20 years ago. But that only adds to the aura around ANTX's Kraftwerk cru, Numan nu, synths sauvage and vocoder violent (sorry--they're British, not French). Toss in a touch of ELP progginess and you have one of the most delightfully disorienting moments in synthistory since Walter Carlos became Wendy. 8.5/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
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Bomboras Head Shrinkin' Fun (Zombie-A-Go-Go/Universal)