Baroness — Stone
✦✦✧✧ At their best, Baroness approximates an unstable equipoise between Helmet, Intronaut, and The Decemberists. I don’t smoke nearly enough reefer to really enjoy them, but with this album, I can sorta see how you might.
✦✦✧✧ At their best, Baroness approximates an unstable equipoise between Helmet, Intronaut, and The Decemberists. I don’t smoke nearly enough reefer to really enjoy them, but with this album, I can sorta see how you might.
✦✦✧✧ If you’ve never heard Skindred before, this is as good an example as any: Welsh nu metal with a decided Jamaican flair (thanks largely to vocalist and keyboardist Benjy Webbe).
✦✦✦✧ A two-man side project offshoot of Scottish noise rock band Biffy Clyro, with guest drummer Dave Lombardo? Brace yourself for something in the neighborhood of Cave In, Fantômas, Glassjaw, and Old Man Gloom. Ferocious and unique!
✦✦✧✧ Holy crap, new Sadus! Not that I was asking, but this album finally settles the question, What would this band sound like without bass legend Steve DiGiorgio? Answer: not-as-interesting Bay Area thrash. That’s not to say it’s bad by any means, so if that’s your mood and you want something new-ish and shreddy, give this a listen!
✦✦✦✧ It doesn’t get more hardcore than this, Capra’s second album. This album may have a runtime of 31 minutes, but you definitely get your money’s worth here. Anyway, it’s hard to criticize anything on here, without feeling the guilt of spending time outside of the swirling circle pit that this music requires.
✦✦✧✧ Let’s call this radiocore, equal parts Panic At The Disco! and Stone Sour. I’m not sure who this is for (but it’s definitely not for me).
✦✦✧✧ Oh yeah, I totally forgot about this awaited sequel to 2014’s Phase I. All the various bits of the Scar Symmetry sonic palette are here, as are elements from almost any other Swedish melodeath band I can think of. That’s really my main complaint here: too much stuff, all very familiar, crammed together into a needlessly long runtime.
✦✦✦✧ Mein gott… this is some furious, nasty, grindy techdeath! The riffs come fast and furious, are really interesting and unique, and at times could even be described as “catchy.” Fans of Carcass, Archspire, and Gorguts will love this; anyone else will be too scared to complain. Ya gotta hear this at least once, and I do mean all the way through, but don’t think the 33-minute runtime means an easy listen.
✦✦✧✧ Relentless neoclassical speed metal feels good, man! So what if playing Paganini or Tchaikovsky on your high-gain guitar is hardly innovative. It’s still sweet, bro!
✦✦✧✧ This album has the same predilection for massive, plodding riffs, just like its companion piece Failure Will Follow. The difference is that, on this album, all but one track clocks in at under 3 minutes. The result is a collection of pieces that feel incomplete and fragmentary sketches. Perhaps this sort of thing will give metal new life on The Kids’ Social Media, but I find it harder to get into this particular material this particular way.