GAD! Zine

Skeptic? - Hornet's Nest Birmingham's Skeptic? has been punk rockin' since 2001, and they've never put out a bad release. Band members and longtime fans may have their opinions, but I think it's difficult to call anything they've done less than bad ass. Regardless of fidelity (or maybe the occasional lack thereof) of some recordings, Skeptic? has never failed to get the blood pumping. I chalk that invulnerability to two things: Barron's snarling society-is-an-asshole voice and the band's potent speedy energy. Those attributes have been enough to carry the listener and can cut through just about anything. Skeptic?'s latest full-length, however, finally gives us a near-perfect blend of live enthusiasm and studio depth. What that means is that you get what records were meant to be in the first place: not only a documentation or art as sound, but the closest thing to being THERE. Kudos to Aaron Greene (A New Kind Of Hero) for his excellent sound and...

    The Goddamn Gallows' 6th studio album, The Trial, just like its predecessors, does not suck at all. 10 songs total, it starts out dark with "Grassmuncher". An instrumental piece, it's almost an initiation or perhaps the introduction to a character (if you imagine a rock opera, which I did, when listening from start to finish.) The story my imagination followed was a shady and despicable evil character who commits a series of awful deeds, leading up to The Trial, a stop at the Honeyhole, eventual death, and then on to the afterlife. However you choose to listen to the songs on this album, either in succession or individually, they are each an experience or a journey. The variety of voices, sounds, and instruments used by The Goddamn Gallows has always been a favorite aspect of this band for me. Whispers, evil yodels, growling and the fact that all members voices are heard at some point is really fun, invoking, and keeps your attention. They touch on so ma...

Bands: The Devil's Got A Hold On Me The God Damn Rights Skatanic Higher N' Hell Show flyer. Horton, Alabama is a hoot! Beautiful moon above an outdoor amphitheater. Loud music, stage, skate ramp. I was enthused to see the hard work and change from the last time I had visited, when the show had been in the basement of the house. The set up is spacious and includes a good size spot for vending and a fire pit. Unfortunate and unseasonably cool weather occurred or I'm sure there would have been a better turn out. The art was cool, I got a new piece by Dawn Erwin but got there late and missed Brian Burks' stuff, as well as one of the bands, The God Damn Rights, who were kind enough to give me a CD. I have enjoyed it many times since. I guess I really like bands with the name God Damn in them. It's creepy, and scared my driving companion a little while we were driving in the woods. The title of the CD is Everyone Who Ever Loved You Was Wrong, and the ...

    Over the course of 35+ years, Alabama Sharp has led such legendary and infamous underground Alabama bands as The Knockabouts, Monster Dog, Monster God, and the Go-Go Killers, all the while quietly writing some of the sickest fiction ever imagined. Seriously, the reason why we’re just now reading this stuff is because no one was brave enough to publish any of it. In the true spirit of D.I.Y. (of which he was an early purveyor), Mr. Sharp finally said, “Fuck it!” and decided to publish the work himself. This means that Sharp doesn’t answer to anyone, which in turn means we get even sicker stuff than we would have gotten had somebody else published him.     The first half of the book is a collection of Sharp’s art. Simple crude pen and ink drawings of hyper-violent and over-sexed demonic debauchery. Readers of our print zine have likely bared witness to some of his work, which is downright quaint when compared to some of the demented smut found in these pages. L...

    This is what I loooove about the digital age: THE IMMEDIACY. Just last month, Metayouth released their debut self-titled full-length on Bandcamp, and now they're already back with an E.P.! Dakota Gilliland hasn't lost his chops when it comes to creating catchy poppy kinda emo-y punk rock. I should hope not; like I said, it's only been a month! But that's not to say that there hasn't been some growth. Everything seems more effortless (in the good way) this time around. The distorted overblown instrumentation is a potent tool for this artist and he's become more adept at it. I've always said that I've rarely heard a pop-punk band sound bad live, but that something is often lost in the translation to tape (or digital computer pixie dust or whatever). Metayouth agilely avoids this by (1) writing lyrics that are interesting regardless of the vessel, and (2) Co-opting the raw intensity of a rough demo while having the skill to build upon it and manipulat...

    Rapid Randy Hughes (Nic-O-Teens/NcSeventeen/Model Citizen/Parasites/Backseat Virgins/too damn many more to name) is back after close to a five year hiatus. And his return is nothing less than an extraordinary experiment. Gentle, but brash by virtue of its very existence, Widow Maker is a delicate, personal, and strange return for the one-time (and hopefully once-again) prolific musician. For this 4-song EP, Randy has traded in his bass for an other-worldly autoharp and subtle electronics. Using these devices, and a little help from his equally creative family, a soft, spectral soundscape is crafted. A skilled pop and punk and pop-punk singer, his voice is now distant and low in the mix. Spoken poetry and observations. He shares his thoughts as spacey soundbites. A salesman of the soul. Melancholic. Cathartic. Magical. This is the fragile sound of a brilliant artist freed. I can't wait to hear what else he has in store for us. Glad to have you back, Rapid, hope you stick ar...

    Before Alabama was treated to the often political themed punk metal hybrid of The Crashing Falcon, there was Postal. Active from 1998 to 2004, the band was very much a proto version of TCF. Recorded over ten years ago, the album was never given a proper release due to incomplete vocals. Recently, however, TCF decided to throw it up on their Bandcamp as a "name your price" purchase, and it's well worth a download. Featuring members of other Huntsville AL acts such as Radiotron Barricade At Night, the release is a nice little time capsule of early 2000s metalcore and certainly better than many of the local releases this writer picked up from around the same time. Of the thirteen tracks, roughly half feature no vocals, which may be a strength of the release rather than a detriment. After a brief intro track, " Sober Sunday " gives you a good taste of what you're in for. The deathcore vocals are mostly inaudible , and one may say subpar , but for a demo ...