Raunchy - Velvet Noise
(Nuclear Blast)With a terror ethic that reaches back to Killing Joke, Ministry and Godflesh, Raunchy bridge the old school of industrial with the new, most notably that of Fear Factory and Strapping Young Lad. Saddled with an unfortunate name that comes from the band being Danish and not exactly up on connotations, Raunchy is anything but, going for more of a smoothed out, tricked out, layered and floaty smear of power like Devin but with an alt.rock sense of song. As well, choruses are sturdy, memorable, almost Amorphis-like at times, these being recurring respites as the album slashes and crashes on. Add to that real drums, a sense of Swedish death, horrifically large guitar tones, and very real, distinct variations between songs, and Raunchy becomes more than a worthy newcomer to the loud machine rock scene.
Rating 7Tesla - Time's Makin' Changes
(Geffen)Posers but not poseurs, Tesla prove through this collection comprising mostly production videos, that they really do originate from that hair metal era, despite the slightly more casual dress and the rich, soulful progression of the catalogue. They indeed loved to pose... big hair blowin', loud men strapped with multiple guitars, striking guitar hero stances in football stadiums, cowboy hats, cowboy boots, American flags, slo-mo, wistful stares out the tour bus window... along with the obligatory playing in the surf shot. The history of music video is all here, including that of concepts, grainy b+w footage, and fortunately in Tesla's case, rippling, ripping, inspired songs, making all this hard rock Americana pure pleasure to watch despite the clichˇs. Not much for extras, although some of these vids are generated from live and soundcheck material. But a bonus would be that the interview footage is quite good, albeit short, including Jeff talking about his love for his passed-on dog, Troy discussing the surprise hit acoustic album, and the band bickering, looking scragged, worn and drugged as they discuss whether Psychotic Supper could be a double album or nay.
Rating 7.5