Fear Factory: The Industrialist (Candlelight, 6/5/12)
“Recharger”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Fear_Factory_Recharger.mp3|titles=Fear Factory: “Recharger”]Fear Factory’s eighth full-length studio album, The Industrialist, is the next chapter in the band’s sci-fi narrative that has spanned the past two decades. The futuristic storyline, however, is a mere backdrop for the blistering noise of its soundtrack.
Melvins: Freak Puke (Ipecac, 6/5/12)
“Leon vs. The Revolution”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Melvins_Leon_vs_The_Revolution.mp3|titles=Melvins: “Leon vs. The Revolution”]It’s another year, another set of releases from the incomparable Melvins, whose five-song EP The Bulls & The Bees (with its Big Business lineup) preceded Freak Puke, a new full-length album as Melvins Lite with Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn.
Fresh on the heels of its self-titled, full-length debut, Off! has just released a video for “Cracked,” the first part of a trilogy to be completed in the coming weeks.
Directed by Whitey McConnaughy (Superchunk, Red Fang, The Thermals) and featuring comedians Randy Babcock and Andre Hyland, the video highlights the competitive world of sign-spinning gone awry.
The Hives: Lex Hives (Disques Hives, 6/5/12)
“Go Right Ahead”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/The_Hives_Go_Right_Ahead.mp3|titles=The Hives: “Go Right Ahead”]In 2000, The Hives hijacked the garage-rock takeover with a two-tone wardrobe, the huge single/video “Hate to Say I Told You So,” and the very sharp studio album Veni Vidi Vicious. Exemplifying the Swedish indie scene’s knack for reinterpretation of retro genre details, the band also brought the charismatic energy of punk rock to the table. It didn’t hurt that the quintet cornered, shifted, and raced like a well-tuned hotrod. The Hives seemed poised to dominate the genre for the rest of the decade. But the hard-touring group only mustered one new full-length between 2004 and 2012, the glossy 2008 release The Black and White Album. Sue us if we feel a bit deprived.
Generation of Vipers: Howl and Filth (Translation Loss, 6/5/12)
“Eternal”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Generation_of_Vipers_Eternal.mp3|titles=Generation of Vipers: “Eternal”]With a pair of members in US Christmas and one in A Storm of Light, Tennessee trio Generation of Vipers has kept quiet for the past four or five years. But the sludgy post-hardcore three-piece finally self-released its third album, Howl and Filth, last year, and now it gets a proper push and release from Translation Loss.
