✦✦✦✧ Converge’s eleventh studio album is half pit-roiler, half moody reflection. The first four songs have the band moving from shredfest to breakdown to panic chords with impossibly smooth abandon. But the rest of the album is where the real emotional damage lands; brooding, patient, and yet just as brutal in its complexity. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ I give credit to LOG for pushing their envelope, even if I love their envelope just fine as-is, and even if it doesn’t always pay off (for me, anyway). Put another way: leave your preconceptions at the door, give the whole album a chance, and you’re likely to be pleasantly surprised when you least expect it. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ The band does an even better job fusing their varied moods on this, their eighth album. Part djent, part emocore singalong, part dripping synthwave, A Pale White Dot boasts the band’s shortest average track length in a decade. Also, they’re playing 6-string baritone guitars, and until Misha, Matt, or Jake tell me otherwise, I’m going to assume that changeup is contributing to the slightly more focused and honest feel of this album. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Dammit this should’ve been mine! On the off chance that you don’t know who these guys are, do yourself a favor and just listen to them immediately. This, the band’s second album, is every bit as mindwarpy as I’d hoped, equal parts Battles, The Jesus Lizard, and King Gizzard. You should know, however, that the points docked from a perfect score are baked into the premise of the band’s conceit: there are no real vocals to judge, there’s not much shredding here in a traditional sense (unless you count mental gymnastics, which I don’t), and once you recontextualize microtonal loop layering as your base camp, there’s not much incremental innovation here. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Megadeth’s final album is absolutely listenable. The shredding is beyond reproach, of course, and Teemu Mäntysaari does a great job filling Marty Friedman’s shoes. And I’ve gotta say, the album closer Ride The Lightning really does bring something extra to the Metallica classic, and may be my favorite thing on the whole album… but you ought to listen to the whole thing through, from start to finish. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ We need a name for this kind of metal-in-tone-only (MITO?). I mean, it’s fine, but it doesn’t really scratch any metal itches for me. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is a surprisingly engaging album of blackgaze-centered eclecticism, moving adroitly from hard rock to post metal and beyond. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on their sound, they go for something new, which makes for an intriguing and rewarding listen. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ 40 years in, and KMFDM continue their decade-long slide away from abrasive industrial noise and toward catchy industrial synthpop. Still, it puts a smile on my face that they’re just as committed to this underappreciated genre. And somehow they seem more vital and committed to it than Ministry. Not everything here works, and trying to listen to it in one go is tough… but definitely give it a listen, even if you’ve got you need to skip around. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ A consistently very good, sometimes great, new offering from my favorite Australian band. Not as progressive as its predecessor Asymmetry, its return to alleged accessibility is crunchy and snarly, but also atmospheric and sumptuous. It’s an impressive first listen, but I suspect this might be a grower of an album, such is its subtle meanderings. See the rest here
You’re putting your finger on something that I have to admit has plagued me about Testament for a long, long time. I think I kinda want to hate them just a little? And maybe always have?
Let me be clear: I’m not saying they suck in any measurable way. On the contrary: they’ve always excelled at whatever they choose to do (as you also point out). See the rest here
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