DAY SHEET BLOG — Category_Dirtbag Artist Review

Curse The Fall…. A 4-piece hard rock metal core blend of midwestern musical sauvignon. These boys are from the OKC in our beloved panhandle state. I’m a fan of Oklahomans already so this interview may be a little bias. I’ve personally toured through Lawton and OKC multiple times and love both. Last August, we played on a Sunday night to at least 75 people. Good job Oklahoma. There is a lot of hardworking talent and venues that support the heavy music community. I’m honored and humbled to give my opinion of one their own. Seasons is a 4:00 min rock hard gritty wall of sound consisting of squishy and pronounced guitars, a bass guitar that fills every 200-500hz void like a musical metal jelly doughnut. You know... like bacon on a maple glazed kind of doughnut… So fuckin good. The drum performance that was captured sounds good. Like the drummer showed up motivated and willing to do his job. Good job! I do feel that drums could have been mixed a bit larger. But what the fuck do i know. And… the singer. I always enjoy a singer who can actually present himself with some emotion, character, and presentation. It sounds like he hasn’t quite found his unique identity as a vocalist, you know that thing we all feel when Randy, Howard, Jesse or one of the lovely Butcher Babies gets behind the mic, but he is well on his way. As the entire band is. I like the overall composition and length of the song. The dynamics between all the instruments was well thought out and executed for a hard-rock metalcore snack. Although, I believe the bass could have been thicker in the low end and the drums could have been larger the overall mix is good. Sort of like spicy Chex mix without those burnt toasty crunchy things that nobody likes. It’s a tad bit messy getting the Chex dust on your fingers while eating it but you can’t stop eating it because the overall mission is being accomplished. This song fills the belly of the heavy music listeners soul. Thank you. Gotta go get some spicy Chex mix and listen to the rest of the EP titled Symbiosis which will be available for your listening and purchasing pleasure 11/21/17. Buy Curse The Fall’s new record Symbiosis and then prepare to mack down on Thanksgiving dinner a few days later… I see what you guys did there. Good work! Maybe we’ll see you in OKC sometime or somewhere down the road. 4.0 out of 5 Horns

Dead Animal Assembly Plant I am so intrigued, that if I were a cat, I would probably be on that assembly line- dead from curiosity. The hook in the opening song and title track Old Fashion Hellfire was opposite of what my brain expected to hear. This was a much-needed relief, because like momma always used to say, too much of the same crap makes for a dull soup. Ask any modern pop artist in the world. This Portland-based 5-piece is a balls-deep industrial metal band of butchers. Compromised of Z Wager, The Professional, Guitar Demon, Buzzard, and The Prophet, this crew is prepared to slice and dice you like a warm dish of sweetbreads. The song Rise With Me has a beautiful marching and anthem-like opening riff at 0:21. It is a beautiful piece of bloody pig snout ready to be served to the masses. Its driving guitars, sonically glued together with the fat bass guitar, deliver a well-balanced performance, sharing the stage with some percussive and ambient synths as well as soulful drums. This is their single, and I am stoked to hear more. A little further down the assembly line comes a song titled Be The Decay. To my used and abused ear holes, Be The Decay has a similar tonality and mix as Rise With Me. This feeling leads me to believe that maybe the same human mixed these two songs. This of course was after one of the butchers told me that two humans had their filthy little engineering hands on it. The song Six Feet Lower gave me the throw back low and slow Marilyn Manson feeling- something out of the “Smells Like Children” record. Dead Animal Assembly Plant has now officially taken me back to my first rock and metal records in the early 90s. Definitely bonus points there. I love the effort that was put in to this record from a musical standpoint as well as the ability to take the listener on a journey aspect- well done in that regard. What I truly feel it lacks, and most importantly of all, is a great mix. I would like to see the time and effort that Dead Animal Assembly Plant put into this full length LP get put into an EP of some sort. Imagine the LP effort and energy put into 4 songs. I’d like to see the band really dig in to the process of recording; perhaps some more organic instrument experimentation. But I digress- every independent artist is recording on a budget so I won’t dig in too much. I completely, personally understand that struggle. When you buy “Old Fashion Hellfire, you aren’t just getting some songs written by a band you’ve never heard of. You are getting a new and intriguing experience. I would recommend this record to those that listen to Rammstein, Marilyn Manson, or a more industrial Rob Zombie. I hope to the dead animal gods that this band puts out this much creativity and energy in their live show. I wish I could go see these guys once a month. I would. Purchase the record “Old Fashion Hellfire”

I jump-started my Friday morning by rushing out the door for work. I was still dreary, and in a bit of a haze from the show I had gone to the night before. When I got on the road, I received an email asking me to review the new single from Dirtbag artists, Dear Abbey, entitled: Parasite. Given the condition I was in at this particular time of the day, I was unprepared for the musical kick in my ass that was about to be delivered. This track busts through the doors with a driving guitar lick, led in by a full-band hulk smash. Right off the bat, I hear a fat, pumping, pulsing kick drum. It cuts right through the heavy guitar rhythms/soaring lead like a fresh blade. This song has gotten my attention; I am wide awake now, and we haven’t even hit the first verse. So the band pulls back a little; a tight, crunchy rhythm takes over, and out pours the beast himself, Jeremy Hunter. In an era of such steep uncertainty for hard rock, a strong, male-fronted act is exactly what these times call for.. and Jeremy Hunter delivers. The verse builds perfectly into a catchy hook, followed by an expected and appropriately-placed interlude. From here, the rest of the track writes itself. The above mentioned sequences repeat, and we are taken into a majestic and curious-sounding bridge, which incorporates some neat guitar sound effects. The chorus then plays out two more times, and the song hits its abrupt finish- the lead slowly echoing off into the distance. Although I could feel the punch in this song, I could almost predict what was coming next. This song would make a perfect push for radio play. Parasite is hot, it’s heavy, and is guaranteed to blow the lid off your brown-bottle flu. Another woe often overlooked in hard rock these days is accessibility . Without a doubt, this song is accessible, relatable, and radio-ready. I am exceedingly ambitious to hear the rest of Dear Abbey's new LP, The View From Up Here, available April 15 on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify. 5 stars. -GJoneZ Dear Abbey on FACEBOOK Dear Abbey Official Website

I first spoke with Jeff Jones via the Dirtbag Clothing facebook page. He mentioned Never Buried was currently writing some killer new music in the studio. That’s what all of us musicians think while we are diligently chipping away at our art and craft under the microscope. Its all killer to us, but what will the fans think? It was unusually warm in San Diego the morning Jeff sent me a new track titled Novocaine. I put my extremely hard and uncomfortable apple earbuds in and opened the sound-cloud link at 7am as I waited for the metropolitan trolley to take me to jury duty. I pushed play on my phone and was immediately and delightfully greeted by a tightly knit, heavy and riffing guitar, something similar to Killswitch Engage. I’m ok with this because KSE is a favorite band of mine, one of many. The entire instrumental arsenal of Never Buried sonically punches the listener in the face at 0:11seconds with a mean and definitive groove transitioned by synchronized and punchy footwork including cymbal chokes. The crunchy, gritty, and aired out vocals of singer Chris Frost enter at 0:34 seconds; a modern metal track standard. Heavy and to the point, Chris Frost drives the point home during the verses and gives the listener a melodic hook during the choruses all while keeping it heavy and hooky. There I am standing a few feet from the trolley tracks staring at the sun getting higher in the sky and warmer on my face, bobbing my head and tapping my foot to the full, layered and rhythmic guitar tones Novocaine has to offer. The trolley pulls in front of me and the door opens. I step onboard and sit down in the seat, just as Novocaine enters the bridge of the song. Good timing too. I had to tame myself a bit at this point because I wanted to air drum, and scream, and play air guitar right in the other passengers’ faces; but I held back. I enjoyed the bridge, clearly designed to take me away for a bit using clean and full guitars with a little grit for texture to get the job done. The drums slow the groove and the clean frosty vocals come back melodically singing and building into a monster scream. This transitioned my attention into a smooth and smoking guitar solo lasting until the music breaks and the carved out throaty bass guitar introduces me to the final portion of the song. I don’t know if the band did this on purpose but I feel like every band member got a bit of the spotlight during the bridge. Good sharing kids. The band digs in during the heavier ending of Novocaine. The energy feels like they are giving it everything they have together, united in aggressive groove, looking at the light at the end of the Novocaine tunnel. This is where the percussion section of Never Buried gets a special shout out. Specifically for a great performance song wide and the energy that is delivered on the way out the door with intricate double bass work and snare shots for days. This is a great song. The groove of this song is nothing new, but makes me want to hit repeat. I am curious to see if these guys can reproduce the same sound live, but most importantly, the same energy? I expect to hear some good things in 2016 from Never Buried. If you are ever in the South Texas area… please check these guys out http://www.facebook.com/NeverBuried. I would easily pay $20 to hear this band in its full glory with a beer in my hand or from the pit, whichever you fancy. It’s official. My brain has been numbed by a special type of Novocaine; the Never Buried kind. NOVOCAINE song click here Dirtbag Smitty (4 out of 5 horns)

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you the aggro and articulate 5-piece metal and punk act hailing from Portland, OR: Separation of Sanity (S.O.S). I received a digital press package from Jason X (Vocals) within 24 hours of requesting it. I think I like these guys already; they mean business and were prepared. Like momma always said, never judge a book by its cover, but I have been fooled before and momma sure didn’t raise a fool. Are these dudes the real deal, I thought to myself? The press package I received was neatly organized; the files labeled in such a way that allowed me to cruise seamlessly through the works of Separation of Sanity. The band has produced a new LP, titled The Crucible, due to be released on 3/17/16. I am here to tell you about their awesome new single; Armed. One of two tracks being released as singles off of the album; the other being Drift. Listening to Armed once through my desktop speakers prompted me to immediately load it into ProTools and listen on my studio monitors. On the first pass, I noticed an awesome compliment of bass and guitar work during the verses specifically starting at :21. Along with the guitar overdub parts during the verses, I truly enjoyed the way the three layers intertwined, locking me into some sort of Separation of Sanity sleeper hold- all while preparing me for the chorus. It is here that Mr. X. himself lets loose his aggressive delivery while maintaining some personality and a nice overall gritty vocal tone. I got the hint that Jason possibly used a dynamic microphone for tracking. SM58? SM7B with a Cloud Lifter, perhaps? Whatever it was complimented both his grit and delivery, as well as the genre. The rhythm section, backed by Jackson Coffey and his click-killing percussive energy, blended beautifully throughout the entire song. The toms were wet and meaty during the more rhythmic parts, and his drums cut through the mix seamlessly when required. I do feel that the mix lacked a bit of low end, possibly from the kick and bass mix. Perhaps a little more massaging of the bass tone next time. Of course I am a bass player and am bias. Speaking of bass- apparently, there is a human named Ivar Forkbeard that plays the bass in S.O.S. Yes, Ivar Forkbeard. The bass work, with the groove and flow in the verses was as entertaining and impacting as his name, the bass run at 1:50 was sweet too. At 1:58 my ears truly wanted to snack on some sort of modified repeat of that 1:50 bass run but momma always yells at me when I want snacks… Speaking of snacks.. if you, the reader would like to hear some new heavy music, please, for God’s sake, take your ear over to facebook.com/separationofsanity and give them a like. Also, this St. Patrick’s Day, go and spend a few bucks on your copy of “The Crucible”, a sweet record that will keep those heavy metal and rock n roll cravings satisfied. Snack metal is my favorite kind of metal. I can’t wait to play a show with these dudes and also see what they blossom into. Dirtbag Smitty – Grade: (4 out of 5 horns)