47 posts
Join the Newsletter and stay up to date on all things BallBuster Music!
Subscribe >First of all, I have to be honest here…I’m not into the musical style that’s featured in this publication. After reading through this, I saw very little that I would wanna add to my CD collection. But, then again, when someone does their own magazine, it’s usually based around the editor’s own personal tastes or […]
Magazine size, newspaper print publication that seems a little thin. But, it’s loaded with information and, for those of you who are interested in knowing just what’s out there, what’s hot and what’s not, this publication is a very worth read. Let’s examine the issue I have before me, which is number fourteen. Excellent cover […]
No matter where you go, I’m sure you’re able to find a free music publication lying around somewhere. They’re not hard to find because every state has ’em. If there’s a local music scene, there’s a local music magazine that will tell you about it. Keeper Magazine can be found in Southern California and it […]
Century Media has put together an awesome lineup with God Forbid, Angel Dust, Opeth and Nevermore. However, despite the 100% effort given by every band at Club Krome in NJ, the show was less than what I had hoped for. For everyone who doesn’t live in NJ, here is a brief synopsis. There is one […]
Jaxx, Springfield, VA. 4/21/01
Josey Scott – Lead SingerChris Dabaldo – GuitarWayne Swinny – GuitarPaul Crosby – DrumsDave Novotny – Bass Memphis. It’s a place where music isn’t just played; it’s created. From that legacy comes Saliva. On the quintet’s 12-song Island debut, Every Six Seconds, Saliva bring the sturm und drang of hard rock together with hip-hop, grunge […]
To understand how Warhorse created its debut album, “As Heaven Turns To Ash,” it’s almost irrelevant to discuss its past. Not that they arose from hell and mysteriously appeared in human form. Rather every Warhorse performance be it live or in the studio is played solely in that moment and as if each note played […]
Labyrinth’s beginings are not unlike most metal bands that pay their dues in the underground, honing their chops and songwriting skills. Their evolution to one of Italy’s & Europe’s premiere power metal band is far from ordinary. The original line up came together in 1991, jamming in a garage , setting high expectations for themselves. […]
“Iommi is God!” A familiar refrain among rock aficionados in tune with the groundbreaking work of founding Black Sabbath member Tony Iommi. The name itself…Iommi…conjures in the misty mind’s eye visions of down tuned apocolyptic doom and monolithic riff mastery nonpareil amongst his peers. The stalwart backbone of rock’s greatest band has proved time and […]
The road to ruin…that’s what I would call this trip, which would take us, roughly, 250 miles from home. It all began on Friday night at two in the morning…that’s when we hit the road. It was a five hour drive to Tune Town Arena in Titusville, Pennsylvania, where eleven different bands were waiting to […]
A new epic/power symphonic metal sensational act from the lands of Rhapsody, Labyrinth and Vision Divine. Thy Majestie! The band formed back in 1998, originally under the moniker of Thy Majesty and leaded by Giuseppe Bondi (keyboards) and Claudio Diprima (drums); later Maurizio Malta (guitars), Giovanni Santini (guitars), Michele Cristofalo (bass) and Dario Grillo (vocals) […]
In just a few short years, Philadelphia’s Wolfpac has stirred up a cyclone of controversy in its hometown, stemming originally from the group’s alleged involvement an illegal Halloween warehouse party gone awry and backed up by an extraordinarily chaotic live show. “It’s controlled chaos,” says Wolfpac founder and leader Daddy Long Legs. “There is no […]
Over the last few years the sentiment of Rose Tattoo’s classic, Nice Boys has proven to be disturbingly prophetic. There’s no real rebel stance, no attitude or aptitude for that matter. There’s nothing tribal, nothing brotherly or sisterly in terms of group cohesion. Everyone just looks at their feet and moans and wouldn’t know Chuck […]
Bubble (Left to right)
Share Pederson from Vixen, Bam from Dogs D’amour & The Wildhearts,
Brent Muscat from Faster Pussycat & LA Guns, Ballbuster’s Jym Harris,
and Dino Everett from Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs
Could it get more perfect than this? An anti-cultural icon at the forefront of rock and roll theatrics and all things evil, silly and grotesque was making his first overdue appearance in these parts for quite some time. And so what would Halloween night truly be without the likes of one Alice Cooper to kick […]
The 2nd annual Metal Meltdown was held in Pennsauken, New Jersey, which was a new sight from the first one (which was in Asbury Park). This was much better than last year due to the place having heat, better location and, overall, just a newer building. Plenty of bands were on hand over the two […]
All Photos Courtesy of Troy Welles Well, even with the crazy LA freeways, our accidental trip through Compton at 11 PM, and basically being lost for far too long, I must say this show was worth the 30-hour road trip. Saturday was spent on Huntington Beach (where do these women come from???), cruising down Sunset, […]
As I drove west on I-80 from North Liberty, Iowa, towards Vermillion, SD, I was rocking to “For Whom the Bells Toll” on the radio. While driving north on I-29, a rock station played “Master of Puppets.” Things have definitely changed. Who doesn’t remember lamenting that radio didn’t support Metallica because they were too heavy, […]
16th June 2000, Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, London, England
The Birch Hill Nite Club – Old Bridge, NJ
Gullifty’s Underground, February 12th
THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK ON THE SUBJECT OF MUSIC. As a music journalist, there are people out there who are under the impression that I know everything about every band that ever was. I do have a rather extensive knowledge about music, but, I DO NOT know it all. I felt I should explain that […]
“Unholy Crusade” marks the third installment in the black metal journey of Lord Belial. Recorded at the now famous Los Angered Recording Studios, “Uholy Crusade” is 60 minutes of deep, haunting blasts of long withheld fury and hate. The low tunings of Vassago and Bloodlord add hellacious depths with additional seven string guitars and five […]
Manticora was formed in 1996 on the ashes of other Danish underground metal acts. They play a mixture of 80’s power metal (inspired by the likes of Blind Guardian & Helloween) and 90’s semi-progressive metal (Nevermore & Iced Earth). The band received only positive responses on their “Dead End Solution” mini album (released by themselves […]
Sacrificial was formed in August 1990. The band soon caused a lot of stir in the international metal underground with the “91 demo “Lords Of Torment”. In 1993 Sacrificial issued their debut album “Forever Entangled”. An aggressive death thrash album which was very well received. Sadly the local record company closed down and Sacrificial was […]
Blast off! Prepare to be lifted from that listless, soulless life you lead. Repent and rejoice, 50 Tons Of Black Terror (known as Penthouse outside North America) deliver the juice with their subterranean sick blues in the form of their 2nd long player. Endearingly titled “My Idle Hands,” said record includes 13 self penned beauties. […]
Vocalist Jizzy Pearl puts down the microphone and picks up a pen and, out of his twisted imagination, comes a book, “I Got More Crickets Than Friends.” While he might not rank up there with the likes of Stephen King, he does manage to keep you entertained from page one all the way to page […]
Bernie Torme, legendary cult guitarist, uses his 60’s Fender Stratocaster and Marshall 100 watt amp like he knew them in a previous life.
These ever evolving Oska City stalwarts have been kicking out the jams since 1985. During their early years, the bands sound leaned more towards the realm of thrash/hardcore crossover. In 1991 the band released their album “Psycho Thrash” and spent much of the following year touring Japan and opening for such overseas acts as D.R.I. […]
And when the jaws of the alternative revolution momentarily shadowed the metal scene, only those bands laden with uncompromising dedication found the drive to march on with their metal crusade. Among them stood Sinner. Strutting a laundry list of albums, each seemingly more potent than the last, Sinner is quite possibly one of the most […]