Subject: Metal and Hardcore

• Fat Chance

  January 20, 1994

• Live Shots

  April 14, 1994

• Rotations

  May 26, 1994

• Crit Picks

  August 4, 1994

• Live Shots

  August 11, 1994

• Thriving -- or Simply Surviving?

  March 23, 1995

• Losing the Beat

  December 14, 1995

• Rotations

  December 14, 1995

• Stupid Is as Stupid Sells

  January 4, 1996

• State-of-the-Art Ghouls

  February 15, 1996

• Straight Forward

  July 11, 1996

• Grunge Schmunge

  September 26, 1996

• Corrosive Talent

  April 24, 1997

• Same Old Crue

  November 6, 1997

• Bang with Brains

  December 18, 1997

• Rotation

  December 18, 1997

• Rotation

  March 19, 1998

• Steady Eddie

  May 7, 1998

• In The Dark

  January 21, 1999

• Rotation

  February 25, 1999

• Rotation

  August 17, 2000

• In Flames, All That Remains, Gojira, 36 Crazyfists

  November 27, 2008

• Harptallica

  October 4, 2007

• Les Claypool

  June 4, 2009

• How Classic Is Classic Rock?

  June 4, 2009

• Image of the Week

  August 10, 2006

• Bloodsoaked

  May 7, 2009

• Anvil! The Story of Anvil

  May 21, 2009

• Behind the Metal

  May 21, 2009

• Summer Sounds

  May 21, 2009

• That's the Spot

  June 11, 2009

• Talking With Air Guitar Master Bjorn Turoque

  For the past six years, Dan Crane, aka "Bjorn Turoque" has been the preeminent ambassador for the world of air guitar. He retired from competition in the Air Guitar World Championships in 2005 and made a lateral move to being the touring roadshow nightly MC - or the "Master of Air-emonies," as he calls himself. The world of competitive air guitar actually goes back to the early '80s in Sweden, when a few metal fans began performing in front of folks, and the phenomenon soon reached the States in

  June 12, 2009

• The Soundtrack of Our Lives: Local Musicians Pick a Love Song

  For every relationship, both failed and successful, there's a song that reminds you of that special (or not-so-special) person whenever it plays. Not to be used with the more cliched "our song," which is picked by both parties and can, most of the time, be repeated out loud with some pride. For the first installment of our new column about the songs that shape our lives, Rocks Off asked a few local musicians for a tune they associate with a past or present lover. Chris Wise, Buxton The Mountai

  June 23, 2009

• Straight from the Sole: Houston's Best Metal Bands

  You know Soledad. He's the vocalist from controversial Houston rap-metal act Daylight Coma. He's got a lot to say. Sometimes it's insightful, sometimes less so, but it's almost always said with conviction. This week, in honor of the fast-approaching HPMA, we asked him who he thinks are Houston's five best metal bands. Rocks Off: The Houston Press Music Awards are right around the corner. You being you, how about if you give us the five best metal bands in town? Surely no one will have a proble

  July 16, 2009

• Men of Steel

  July 23, 2009

• Inquiring Minds: Judas Priest's Rob Halford

   Tonight, Judas Priest, led by the inimitable metal god Rob Halford, hits the stage at Verizon Wireless Theate less than a year since the leathermen last graced Houston. They came to the shed out in the Woodlands last August, headlining the "Metal Masters" tour with Motorhead, Testament and Heaven & Hell. The band is currently on the road touring behind their fifth live album, A Touch Of Evil: Live, as well as celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the landmark British Steel release.

  July 24, 2009

• Aftermath: Judas Priest and Whitesnake at Verizon Wireless Theater

  Photos by Eric Sauseda​Rust never sleeps, and metal never ages. Not when it's being worked over by Judas Priest's hammer and tongs, anyway. Friday night at Verizon, the Birmingham blacksmiths smelted a sold-out, juiced-up, colors-sporting crowd - metal bands always have the best merch - with all of 1980's British Steel and a smattering of other alloys, from last year's earth-shifting "Nostradamus" to a pulverizing "Diamonds and Rust" (written by Joan Baez, if you can believe that) and, a

  July 27, 2009

• Crüefest

  August 6, 2009

• Slide Show: Albums That Went Darker

  ​ For most rock acts, the traditional way to deal with success is to rework their lyrics, image and sound to become palatable to a larger audience. Usually this means brightening the subject matter, cleaning up the bad words, softening the sharp edges on those power chords and getting haircuts that cost more than the previous album. This is a process commonly known as "selling out"; however, it doesn't always work that way. Sometimes, for whatever reason, the artist in question becomes angrier

  August 5, 2009

• Galactic Cowboys

  August 13, 2009

• Start the Guessing Now: Which Fun Fun Fun Fest Artists Will Also Play the Next Block Party?

  ​ Fun Fun Fun Fest, the scuzzier, noisier cousin to the Austin City Limits Music Festival, announced its lineup this afternoon. Held November 7 and 8 in Austin's Waterloo Park, FFFF is up to 91 artists this year, everyone from rappers the GZA, the Pharcyde and the Cool Kids to electronic/dance acts Broadcast, Ratatat and Yeasayer, power-pop (Destroyer) to hardcore (Fucked Up, Gorilla Biscuits), garage rock (Strange Boys, King Khan and BBQ), comedians (Brian Posehn) and lots of bands us thirtys

  August 25, 2009

• He Said She Said: Hot, Sweaty, Angry Workout Songs

  ​When it comes to exercise, men and women don't have many different reasons for doing it. Mainly, both genders want to look better naked if perchance they find themselves without clothes on around a stranger they want to sleep with. Life expectancy, general health, and mental well-being are all secondary to looking hotter for your mate or potential slutty karaoke night hook-up. That being said, most guys forgo the treadmill for free weights and the uneasy comaraderie between you and other dude

  August 27, 2009

• Monday Morning Metal: And So Motorhead Week Begins...

  Let this video serve as a reminder to everyone that possibly the world's coolest band hits Warehouse Live Friday night . Seriously, the Rolling Stones are bitchin' , the Beatles are timelessly stellar, and Metallica always gets us off, but Lemmy and company pretty much own us. We aren't sure if the show is sold out yet, but if it isn't Houston, you guys are treading on thin ice with us. Anytime you see Motorhead could be the last time you see Motorhead because Lemmy at anytime could go down in

  September 14, 2009

• Overkill? No Such Thing

  September 17, 2009

• Exterminated

  September 24, 2009

• Go Ask Alice: Shock-Rockers Who Can Hang With Mr. Cooper

  ​Before Lady GaGa, before Clay Aiken, before Marilyn Manson, the nation's ultimate ghastly shock-rocker and parent-baiting troublemaker was Detroit's own Alice Cooper. Cooper and his band weren't the first rockers to shock and frighten the masses with tales of ghouls and blood, but they were one of the best. Bands continue to steal from Cooper decades after his reign. Just take a listen to any Turbonegro album ever recorded; all have a delicate and loving homage to Cooper. Even lead singer Han

  October 9, 2009

• Season of the Witch

  October 22, 2009

• Artist of the Week: Ball-Busting, Dexter-Loving Metal Maniacs BloodVoid

  Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com.​ In all honesty, before we started working for the Press, we were by no means fans of heavy metal. We listened to Metallica a bit, but only when they'd come on MTV, and even then we did so mostly because we knew it kinda bug

  October 28, 2009

• What's In a Name? Hey, Look, It's 10th Gräde Cütie Again!

  It's a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off, we're trying hard to decode Houston's oddest monikers in order to find a little meaning. We mean this with affection and sincerity: 10th Gräde Cütie destroys everything they touch and should be booked only with the utmost caution. They've been banned from Super Happy Fun Land (recently lifted), Dan Electro's Guitar Bar and especially White Swan for a legendary physical altercation with the staff.

  October 29, 2009

• A Rocks Off Playlist: Halloween Songs That Don't Suck

  Yeah... screw this thing.​Let's face it: the Monster Mash blows. So do many of the songs we're forced to suffer through every Halloweentide. A couple of years ago, Rocks Off heard "One-Eyed One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater" on XM Radio's Halloween-themed channel, and wanted to sneak into a haunted house and hang himself just like that urban legend. We won't put you through that. Instead, we've compiled a playlist of a bunch of songs with spooky themes that won't make you want to hunt down

  October 29, 2009