POWERCHORD RADIO PODCASTS!!!

Posted on by

Here is the link to all of the Powerchord radio podcasts. If you want to know what bands we are spinning or find out about awesome contests and request songs, like us on Powerchord radio on Facebook.

Some of my favourite shows so far:

Three full hours of CANADIAN METAL from 2014:

I spin my favourite albums of 2014:

An all DOOM/SLUDGE SPECIAL in anticipation for Sleep (I spin the whole Dopesmoker album) playing Vancouver:

I am joined by Cam Pipes from 3 Inches of Blood for a special 2 hour takeover:

Silliness ensues: I am joined by Erik, Coleman and Steve and we get drunk and sing along to random 90’s songs all while playing crushing metal:

I am joined by Chris, my partner in crime, as he spins some of his favourite new bands:

Fam-Jam special: I am joined by my mom, Debbie, and my sister, Katie and we play some of their favourite traditional blues/rock and roll as a family tribute to the roots of heavy metal:

Thanks for listening in and if you ever want to request songs, please do! We are always live on Saturdays from 1pm to 3pm on CITR or 101.9FM in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada!

Want grit, heavy, opaque, twisting melodies with some beauty?! Usnea – Random Cosmic Violence

Posted on by

Relapse Records

Usnea, a Portland Oregon metal band, suggests on their Bandcamp that their second full length,Random Cosmic Violence is “one of those rare records that elevates itself above the boundaries that its genre typically self-imposes.” This is evident on Random Cosmic Violence as it takes a journey through funeral doom, black metal, sludge, death and doom genres. The album clocks in at just under an hour with only four songs. Justin Cory and Orion Landau crafted the album’s artwork, which is simple yet grand.

The rhythm and lyrics of the entire album are tribal in nature with twisting transfixed melodies and a rhyme similar to a beat poet. There are several highlights elevated by vocals drenched with grit, such as the opening of “Healing Through Death.” The title track does exactly what the title suggests. The lyrics are opaque and the sound is piercing and heavy. Usnea even adds acoustic guitar to the mix to calm the spirits before hurling down the cosmic highway with rolling drums. Usnea want to “explore the universe for the origin of how this all happened” and if you yearn for that journey, you should listen along.

By Serena Navarro

Thanks to Beatroute for providing the album to review.