Richmond, Virgina’s Windhand released their self-titled full-length debut in 2012 and have become doom metal heavyweights since then.
You might think it’s an EP at first, since it only have five tracks, but the last two are each over ten minutes long. There are more heavy riffs and growling menace on this record than there are in a den of angry bears.
Starting with “Black Candles,” the double-whammy of guitarists Asechiah Bodgan and lead guitarist and producer Garrett Morris hits you out of the cemetery gate and Dorthia Cottrell‘s spooky vocals must have caused chills in 2012 because they still do now.
“Libusen” starts with the sound of a thunderstorm, and it’s peaceful at first, and then Nathan Hilbish‘s bass and Ryan Wolfe‘s drums hit like sledgehammers. Cottrell sounds like she’s singing from, or possibly toward, a portal to another dimension that Morris’ guitar solo has apparently opened.
“Heap Wolves,” the shortest song on the album at a little under five minutes, wastes no time in hitting hard and heavy for its run time. Cottrell’s vocals are often hard to decipher, but that’s often the point. They become another instrument, a chant, a spell, a hypnosis.
“Summon the Moon” starts off slow and menacing, like something awakening under a swamp. Hilbish’s bass is the low rumble of a yawning beast until it turns into a hungry roar. Cottrell’s hypnotic voice becomes one of ancient, seething rage while Wolfe uses big hits with simple cymbal hits to create a slightly unsettling effect.
You can help but crank “Winter Sun.” It’s perfect for putting on a suit of magic armor, casting a spell to commune with spirits, and digging an ancient book out of a collapsed tomb inhabited by a wraith. The fuzzy snarl throughout makes you feel ready for battle rather than dreading the dark forces plotting your demise.
It’s a powerful debut and Windhand has since taken the metal world by storm. I’ve been to multiple shows where they’re not playing and people are talking about them. This is a great place to start if you’re still new to them.
We decided to end Levitation 2024 with a lot of metal.
My girlfriend slept and relaxed during the day, while I went to End of an EarRecords (where Drop Nineteens were doing a signing) and scored some fun CD compilations of everything from Italian late 1970s disco to classic British punk.
We were famished by late afternoon, and I realized that my girlfriend hadn’t yet experienced Stubb’s for their food, so it was an easy decision to go there. She fell in love with their Serrano cheese spinach.
I was surprised that the show that night, featuring Gran Moreno, The Well, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Pentagram, and The Sword, didn’t sell out right away – especially since it included The Sword reunion set. Lo and behold, it did sell out before day four arrived and the crowd was massive.
There’s about another third of this crowd behind us in this photograph. The turnout was wild. I hadn’t been around that many metal fans since probably Psycho Las Vegas in 2020. The line to buy The Sword’s merch was over an hour long for some people, and people were dropping money like mad. Metal fans always bring cash to spend.
We missed the first part of Gran Moreno’s set, but what we heard was a lot of heavy Latino garage rock from the duo. Up next were local doom darlings The Well, who crushed it as always and teased their upcoming album with “Christmas Lights.” The night crept in during their set, which was appropriate for their material.
The Well casting a Darkness 150′ radius spell.
Up next were another Austin trio, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, or, as I saw them listed on a fan’s shirt, “Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Whatever the Fuck.” The mosh pit for their show of what I call “goofy metal” (I mean, they have a song called “Peanut Butter Snack Stix,” after all – which they played.) was insane. Their drummer is impressive, laying down thunderous stuff. They also teased new material coming soon.
Metal legends Pentagram showed they still have chops and commanded the stage with wizard-like power. The gray hair and beards only seemed to be lightning erupting from their bodies.
The crowd was at full capacity by the time The Sword hit the stage, and everyone was singing / yelling “Barael’s Blade” with them for the opener. “Cloak of Feathers” was a welcome addition, as was “The Hidden Masters.” Crowd surfers were abundant and everyone was going bonkers for most of their set.
It was a heroic return for them, as big as some of the epic tales they spin on their albums. “I didn’t know there were so many different kinds of metal,” my girlfriend said.
It was another fun year in Austin. The vibe was, as always, great, and the people were all lovely.
On Day Three, at the Hotel Vegas “Levitation Lounge,” I chatted with a father, Eric, and his son, Charlie from Minneapolis. Charlie had convinced Eric to come with him for the festival, and Eric was surprised to discover “This is all my music.” He was stunned at the sounds he was hearing, and loved how “You tell people you’re here for this festival, and they don’t know what you’re talking about. I love that. It’s like they don’t know it’s going on.”
Levitation still, somehow, feels like a secret even though it brings in some of the best bands in the world. “The level of musicianship here is amazing,” my girlfriend said after experiencing the festival for the first time.
Bonnie Trash (Dana Bellamy – drums, Emmalia Bortolon-Vettor – guitar, Sarafina Bortolon-Vettor – vocals, and Emma Howarth-Withers – bass) are no strangers to heavy subjects. Their debut EP from 2017, Ezzelini’s Dead, told the story of a real-life cannibalistic tyrant. 2022’s Malocchio and 2023’s Hail, Hale! told horror tales often spoken to sisters Emmalia and Sarafina by their grandmother. Now, on their newest EP, My Love Remains the Same, they tackle themes of love and the loss of it.
Howarth-Withers solid bass groove locks in the opener, “Kisses Goodbye,” which has Sarafina Bortolon-Vettor walking away from a relationship she knows isn’t going to last but also is gut-wrenching to end. Her sister’s guitar fuzz reminds me of some Jesus and Mary Chain cuts with its deft flow between almost garage-pop and melt-your-face assault.
“What Have You Become” gets darker, thanks in large part to Bellamy’s heavier beats and lyrics like “Love is not enough to take the pain away.” and others that confront the agony and relentless questions your mind creates during deep grief.
The EP ends with a slick and menacing cover of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds‘ “Red Right Hand.” They up the metal growl in it and you can feel Sarafina Bortolon-Vettor practically casting a hex upon you as she sings it.
Bonnie Trash is working on a new full-length album due in 2025. Keep your eyes open for it. It might sneak up on you in the shadows.
Following winter’s release of ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’, Sleepbomb returns with another slab of cinematic sound – ‘The Sleeping Dead’ coming out January 24, 2025. Hear the first single from the doom-metal band, ‘It Was A Good Plan‘.
Subtitled “Excerpts from their score for George Romero’s 1968 ‘Night of the Living Dead” and based on their full length score for the film, The Sleeping Dead is an epic serving of filmic doom. Starting with the drum parts fully synchronized with the cinematic imagery, during the recording process each track was pared down to the essential character of each scene from the most influential zombie film of them all. ‘Unlike ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’, we knew that the final product would not be a fully synchronized score due to rights issues and the large amount of dialogue in the film.’states Sleepbomb‘s Tim Gotch.
Sleepbomb is a San Francisco-based psychedelic doom project focused on full, original scores for genre films including the German Expressionist silent masterpieces – The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu and Metropolis. Historically a live experience, Sleepbomb has performed their scores across the West coast of the US since 2003 and now has set their sights on expanding to the East coast and the world for 2025.
Originally stylistically close to a chaotic version of Throbbing Gristle vs Black Sabbath, Sleepbomb has been exploring experimental sounds and forms, guided by the band’s love of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Coil, Neurosis, Sunn 0))), Ulver and Swans, among others. Settling on a drone influenced style of doom metal as the overarching theme while exploring other genres as appropriate for each film’s particular style, Sleepbomb’s goal is to re-contextualize the experience of these well-known films. They succeed in this goal.
Sleepbomb joined Bill Gould’s Koolarrow records and Belgium’s Consouling Sounds in 2023 for the release of their score for the classic 1920 German Expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. They are overjoyed to repeat this collaboration for their January 2025 release of The Sleeping Dead: excerpts from an alternate score for George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead!
● Charlie Hernandez: guitars ● Tim Gotch: basses, synths ● Rob Johnson: drums and percussion. ● Claire Hamard: vocals, synths, electronics
Last Rites, Live Wire Lounge and Pabst Blue Ribbon are excited to bring back Heavy Chicago this year for its “Second Edition.”
Heavy Chicago II November 1, 2 and 3 at Avondale Music Hall, which Time Out says is located in one of the buzziest neighborhoods in the world.
There are three levels of 3 day ticketing, a limit of 50 tickets at each level. When the first level $99 all in pricing tickets sell out, the next level tickets kicks in. The second level 3 day ticketing price is $109 and when that sells out, the third level price of $125 kicks in. Take advantage of the advance purchase discount and get your tickets early.
First level for 3 day tickets are $99 all fees and taxes included.
2 day tickets start at $89 all fees and taxes included.
Single day tickets: Friday $40 plus fees – Saturday & Sunday $50 plus fees
Sean Duffy, owner of Last Rites Promotions and Management companies says “Our inaugural edition last year was a great success! Once again we are in the hip hood of Avondale, which Time Out says is one of the buzziest neighborhoods in the world. We are over the moon to welcome our headliners this year: Friday night is Chicago doom band Bongripper with a co-headline by a local band that will be unveiled on September 8th! Support comes from Wraith (record in the Billboard top 200), Avernus (first show in nine years and a new record) and Motherless (Atlas Moth).
Saturday’s headline rips with the almighty Earth Crisis with special guests Jasta & Legions Of Doom,Grindcore supergroup, EarthBurner, plusThe Crosses will be doing a special all “Die Kreuzen” set with the incredible Dan Kubinski on vocals (the only act we brought back from last year), a must see! Usurper are playing their first show in five years!
Sunday finishes strong with Cynic making their long awaited return for Chicago with special guests Toxic Holocaust! I promoted Cynic’s first several Chicago show’s back in the 90’s. It has come full circle for us. Black metal masters, Profanatica, play a rare set in the city. In October we will unveil a special guest that is buzzing right now and becoming local heroes! The Skull also return with a rare appearance and a special set for Trouble fans!
Dave Hornyak and I are the poster guys for “indie” people in the industry. ..the antithesis of Live Nation/AEG/JAM…two indie guys doing it for the passion and fun and to support the metal community. I started 40 years ago doing shows under Last Rites. This is the beginning of my 40th year. Over 4,700 shows booked and promoted here! Indie guy the whole time!! First Nirvana show, first six White Zombie shows, first five Pantera shows, first two Stone Temple Pilot shows, first three Type O Negative shows, Ministry, Machine Head, Helmet, Fear Factory, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Candlemass, plus shows with Anthrax, Misfits, Testament, Exodus, Dark Angel and many, many more. Dave Hornyak, creator of Live Wire Lounge, has been involved in the metal scene for 30+ years as both a drummer in numerous metal bands as well as hosting countless local and national acts at Live Wire since 2011. Over 70 years combined for the two of us!”
+ Don’t Miss The After Show Partyat Live Wire Lounge3394 N. Milwaukee Avenue!
Oklahoma City noise rock quartet Chat Pile have returned with their follow up to 2022’s breakout album God’s Country with Cool World, the new 10-song LP set for release on October 11th via The Flenser [pre-order].
Besides being the name of a largely forgotten (and panned) 90s film, Cool World makes for an apt title of Chat Pile’s sophomore full-length record. In the context of a Chat Pile record, the words are steeped in a grim double entendre that not only evokes imagery of a dying planet but a progression from the band’s previous work, moving the scope of its depiction of modern malaise from just “God’s Country” to the entirety of humankind. “’Cool World‘ covers similar themes to our last album, except now exploded from a micro to macro scale, with thoughts specifically about disasters abroad, at home, and how they affect one another,” says vocalist Raygun Busch. “If I had to describe the album in one sentence,” Busch continues, “It’s hard not to borrow from Voltaire, so I won’t resist – ‘Cool World‘ is about the price at which we eat sugar in America.”
Today, album opener “I Am Dog Now” arrives with a music video directed by Will Mecca. Stin (bass, Chat Pile) says, “Will’s vision captures the essence of ‘I Am Dog Now’ by channeling his specific style of low-fi, exploitation cinema aesthetic into a dusty, religious bad-trip exclusive to the southern plains of America. Eagle eyed viewers may actually notice shots of the literal chat piles from which we take our name.”
Like the towering mounds of toxic waste, the music of Chat Pile is a suffocating, grotesque embodiment of the existential anguish that has defined the 21st Century. It figures that a band with this abrasive, unrelenting, and outlandish of a sound has stuck as strong of a chord as it has. Dread has replaced the American dream, and Chat Pile’s music is a poignant reminder of that shift – a portrait of an American rock band molded by a society defined by its cold and cruel power systems.
Though very much on-brand with Chat Pile’s signature flavor of cacophonous, sludgy noise rock, the band’s shift to a global thematic focus on Cool World not only compliments the broader experimentations it employs with their songwriting but also how they dissect the album’s core theme of violence.
Melded into the band’s twisted foundational sound are traces of other eclectic genre stylings, with examples of gazy, goth-tinged dirges to abrasive yet anthemic alt/indie-esque hooks and off-kilter metal grooves only scratching the surface of what can be heard in the album’s ten tracks. “While we wanted our follow-up to ‘God’s Country’ to still capture the immediate, uncompromising essence of Chat Pile, we also knew that with ‘Cool World,’ we’d want to stretch the definition of our ‘sound’ to reflect our tastes beyond just noise rock territory,” reflects bassist Stin. “Now that we had some form of creative comfort zones in place after hitting that milestone of putting out a full-length record, album #2 felt like the perfect opportunity to challenge those limits.” Besides stylistically stretching the boundaries of the Chat Pile sound, Cool World is also the band’s first record to have someone else handle mixing duties, with Ben Greenberg of Uniform (Algiers, Drab Majesty, Metz) capturing and further amplifying the quartet’s unmistakably outsider and folk-art edge.
The proverbial thread tying all of the experimentation on Cool World together is the depth to which Chat Pile dissects the album’s theme of violence, and the record itself is apocalyptically bleak. Sure, Chat Pile’s debut album was plenty disturbing with its B-movie-inspired interpretation of a “real American horror story”; what Chat Pile depicts on Cool World is unsettling not just from its visceral noise rock onslaught, but from depicting how all sorts of atrocities are pretty much standard parts of modern existence.
Cool World will be released via The Flenser on October 11, 2024. See Chat Pile on the road this November with label mates Agriculture and Mamaleek in select markets – tickets are available at chatpile.net/shows.
Chat Pile, on tour:
November 1 Oklahoma City, OK – 89th Street % November 2 Columbia, MO – The Blue Note % November 3 Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room % November 5 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall % November 6 Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line % November 8 Lakewood, OH – Mahall’s % November 9 Detroit, MI – The Majestic Theatre % November 11 Toronto, ON – The Concert Hall % November 12 Montreal, QC – Théâtre Fairmount % November 14 Burlington, VT – Showcase Lounge @ Higher Ground ^ November 15 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church ^ November 16 New York, NY – (Le) Poisson Rouge ^ November 17 Boston, MA – The Sinclair ^ November 19 Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery * November 20 Richmond, VA – The Broadberry * November 21 Greensboro, NC – Hangar 1819 * November 22 Nashville, TN – The End *
% with Agriculture, Porcelain ^ with Mamaleek, Traindodge * with Mamaleek, thirdface
I think it’s a given that if you find an Electric Wizard album for five bucks, you put down five bucks. That’s what I did when I found their classic third album, Dopethrone, in a Columbus, Ohio record store a couple weeks ago.
The album’s back story is full of drugs, booze, H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard stories, and arguments over which direction the band would take on their newest record. Believe it or not, there were discussions among some band members about trying to sound more like Nirvana or Linkin Park (complete with record scratching – How much drugs were they doing?).
Thankfully, their stuck to their doom roots and created what is now considered a doom / stoner metal classic. The album opens with a sample of someone talking about being able to escape satanic cults only by death or residency in a mental institution before they unload “Vinum Sabbathi” – a sludgy song about drug addiction (“Now I’m a slave to the black drug, forced to serve this black god.”) that almost defies description. Tim Baghsaw‘s bass on it is so heavy it almost crushes you.
The switch to “Funeralopolis” makes you think they’re going to mellow out for a little while, but that thought is short-lived. Jus Oborn‘s guitars on it sound like a hundred buzz saws being operated by drunken orcs while he sings cheerful lyrics like “Millions are screaming, the dead are still living. This earth has died yet no one has seen.” and “Nuclear warheads ready to strike. This world is so fucked let’s end it tonight.” It’s not date night music…unless you’re dating an incubus or succubus, then by all means blast it.
“Weird Tales” is a three-part tale of creepy things and a tribute to Lovecraft and even Weird Tales magazine. Part one is “Electric Frost,” which name checks Yuggoth and Kadath from Lovecraft stories and pays tribute to them through powerful riffs that come at you like a tidal wave. Drummer Mark Greening has said in the past that he always felt the drums on Dopethrone and other Electric Wizard albums could’ve been bigger. That’s difficult to imagine, because his drums almost bludgeon you unconscious over the entire record. “Electric Frost” is a great example. The next two parts, “Golgotha” and “Altar of Melektaus,” are trippy instrumentals with smoky synths that slither like tentacles from shadowy places.
“Barbarian” is, appropriately, a song about Conan and pays great homage to him and his creator (Robert E. Howard) with its battle axe riffs and skull-smashing drums. “I, the Witchfinder” is as gritty and gruesome as its namesake, who delights in torturing maidens suspects of witchcraft. “We Hate You” is a tongue-in-cheek parody of Black Sabbath songs about loving one’s fellow man. The title track is a growling, snarling, savage thing all about…you guessed it, a throne made of weed upon which sit “three wizards crowned with weed.”
This album is about as heavy as a war hammer forged from lead. It’s a wild ride, at times spooky and other times groovy, but always, always heavy.
REZN – the Chicago-based band of Rob McWilliams (vocals, guitar), Phil Cangelosi (bass), Patrick Dunn (drums), and Spencer Ouellette (synth/saxophone) – announce their new album, Burden, out June 14thvia their new label Sargent House. In conjunction, they present its massive lead single/video, “Chasm.” Since their inception, REZN have mined the stark monochromatic depths of underground metal and fused them with the kaleidoscopic delights of psychedelia, prog rock, and shoegaze. With their latest album Burden, they plumb the deepest, bleakest trenches of their sound while retaining a lifeline into the cosmos. Staking a claim at the crossroads of the hazy dimensions of modern psych acts like Black Angels, the cavernous gloom and reverb-drenched guitar of bands like Spectral Voice, and the lurching low-end meditations of artists like OM, REZN have created Burden—an album of immense amp-worshipping weight and intoxicating instrumentation.
Burden was recorded simultaneously with their previous album Solace back in July 2021 at Earth Analog Studios in Tolono, IL by Matt Russell. Rather than release a double album, REZN divided the material into two separate records, each with its own distinct emotional timbre. Whereas Solace was meant to uplift and create a sense of narcotic dreaminess, Burden skews towards the themes of delirium, claustrophobia, and misery. Musically, Burden favors riffs over atmosphere, percussion over ether, dissonance over beauty, but there is still an undeniable cohesion between it and its predecessor. The marriage of brute force and sublime textures has always been a key tactic in REZN’s approach—a duality that may explain their touring history with fellow synesthesia-inducing metallurgists Elder and Russian Circles—but the spectrum of the band’s mercurial temperaments has never felt as clearly defined and fully explored as it does on Burden.
Burden’s artwork is a literal continuation of Solace’s landscape painting, showing the fiery depths at the foot of the mountain range. Even Burden’s most reserved moments feel like the calm before the storm, a gathering of momentum before the punishing closer and lead single “Chasm,” a megalithic weedian crusher further bolstered by a scorching guitar solo courtesy of Russian Circle’s Mike Sullivan. “We wrote ‘Chasm’ to depict the final phase of an existential descent, when you’re on the last few steps of the spiral staircase and realize there’s no going back,” says Rob McWilliams. “We wanted it to sound like walls closing in on all sides and you’re looking at the exit getting further and further away. Mike’s melodic finger-tapping style blurs the section into a kind of dizzying, infernal panic attack. In the final moment of the song you’re faced with the repetitive churning of a molten, fuzzed-out wall of sound that builds until the audio itself starts to singe and catch fire, then abruptly self destructs.”
As knowledgeable gear heads, experienced sound engineers, and seasoned DIY veterans, REZN were able to create an early body of work devoid of any sonic compromises in their speaker-rattling dirges and heady lysergic forays. Their four self-released albums—Let It Burn (2017), Calm Black Water (2018), Chaotic Divine (2020), and Solace (2023)—have all gone through multiple vinyl pressings without any distribution or retail presence, and the international underground heavy psych world has routinely selected the band for distinguished festival slots across North America and Europe. From their inception, REZN have been a fiercely independent band with a fully realized aesthetic and a fervent cult following. Now ready to take things even further, REZN have teamed up with Sargent House to release Burden unto the world.
This summer, REZN will tour across North America with Pallbearer. Following, they’ll tour in Europe with new label mates Russian Circles as well as performing at multiple festivals. A full list of dates can be found below and tickets are on sale now.
The Death Wheelers describe their sound on their Bandcamp page as “sleaze ‘n’ roll.” That’s perfect, and their newest album Chaos and the Art of Motorcycle Madness is a prime example of that sound.
Churning out a dozen instrumental stoner-doom jams (apart from some clever samples of dialogue from biker and horror films), The Death Wheelers get right down to dirty business (after the brief intro of “The Scum Always Rises to the Top”) on “Morbid Bails,” showing off deft shredding and growling bass thuds in the same track.
The voice of Scott Glenn in the movie Angles As Hard As They Come saying “I ride where I want, wear that I want, get stoned when I want,” starts off the wild, hammering “Les Mufflers Du Mal.” “Ride into the Röt (Everything Lewder Than Everything Else)” is both a fun Motörhead reference and a stoner-surf ripper (with a sample of Ernest Borgnine from The Devil’s Rain, no less).
“We want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man! And we want to get loaded!” yells a young man in the film Lucifer’s Bend at the start of “Triple D (Dead, Drunk, and Depraved),” which is a quick introduction to, no surprise, “Lucifer’s Bend” – a song about the devil’s long reach. “Brain Bucket” is a fun little track about a motorcycle crash that leads into the horror-surf of “Open Road X Open Casket.”
“Motortician” is, go figure, a track about tripping out and ultimately checking out on your bike. “Interquaalude” might be the best-titled track in a long while. “Sissy Bar Strut (Nymphony 69)” is a wild psychedelic jam that fades out because it appears to have no end in sight. “Cycling for Satan Part II” takes off with all pipes open and throttles jammed forward and roars to an abrupt, distorted end.
It’s another ripping album from The Death Wheelers, who don’t need vocals. Their riffs say it all.
Keep your mind open.
[Ride over to the subscription box while you’re here.]
I didn’t get to see as many bands last year as I would’ve liked thanks to many work conflicts and other travel that kept me away from music festivals, but there were some gems. Here’s the first half of the top ten.
#10: Mac Sabbath – The Vogue, Indianapolis, IN – October 18th
I’d been meaning to see Mac Sabbath for a couple years, and they finally came close by (relatively speaking), so a buddy and I went to see them in Indianapolis. I knew there would be lots of Black Sabbath parody songs, but I didn’t know there was going to be so much performance art and comedy. It was a fun mix, not unlike a Harlem Globetrotters show.
#9: King Buffalo – Bell’s Eccentric Café, Kalamazoo, MI – April 22nd
I don’t know how King Buffalo have the time to make new records because they always seem to be touring – giving Reverend Horton Heat a run for their money. Seeing them in a small venue like this is becoming rarer and rarer a treat, because they’re playing more festivals in the U.S. and Europe each year. Don’t miss them.
#8: The Well – Reggie’s, Chicago, IL – April 05th
Speaking of bands you don’t want to miss, The Well are among them. They never disappoint and always put down a heavy doom set. They also are always smiling whenever I see them play, clearly having a good time while playing songs about creepy things in the shadows, weird cults, and groaning spirits.
#7: Playboy Manbaby – The Vogue, Indianapolis, IN – October 18th
No one at the Vogue knew what to make of these guys as they began their set. Were they an emo band? A punk band? A new wave band? I still don’t know. I just know they were a blast and had the whole crowd engaged within three songs, even holding a small election at one point.
#6: The Cybertronic Spree– The Vogue, Indianapolis, IN – October 18th
The middle band of this triple bill turned out to have the best set, as these robots-in-disguise rockers shredded the entire time, leaving a lot of us slack-jawed with amazement. The lead guitarist played most of the set with one broken string, and barely anyone noticed. You have to be good to pull off a gimmick like this, and The Cybertronic Spree are very good, indeed.
Who made the top five? Come back to tomorrow and see!
