☆☆☆☆ Okay, here’s the thing: there are moments on this album that manage to elevate the entire proceeding above the weird Slipknot-meets-Santana-meets-Biohazard-meets-Attack!-Attack! mess of the whole thing. But to find the diamonds, you’ve gotta deal with the rough, and songs like the first track are really, really rough (although I do kinda like the congas on some of these tracks… but I am Latino, so your mileage may vary on that one). See the rest here
★☆☆☆ This is a weird djent-metalcore hybrid that never meshes well together, and never manages to be all that memorable. The pulse is there, but it’s faint. See the rest here
★★★☆ This album lives in a sweet spot halfway between The Melvins and Alice In Chains, but the end result is better than you could expect from that kind of description. Full of dark swagger, it’s an unusual record, and one that rewards a careful listen. You might not bang your head, but you’ll certainly snarl along when you listen to it. See the rest here
★★☆☆ An oddly compelling bit of beerhall folk metal, with a huge and awkwardly self-conscious emphasis on the band’s Helvetian roots. The Celtic fusion works pretty well, but overall the album still has a ho-hum pallor to it. See the rest here
★☆☆☆ This comes across more as a collection of concepts or outtakes from the Assassins or Addicts albums, than a wholehearted effort in its own right. Tired, uninspired, and chronically overlong. And don’t get me started on the muddier-than-usual production, even for Nachtmystium. See the rest here
★★☆☆ This album is a challenge to get into, largely because of the weird production values. Now, I’m real big on the idea of getting away from the Toontrackification of metal, but tell me it doesn’t sound like these guitars were recorded through Pignose amps, and with the internal microphone on a Macbook Pro. See the rest here
★☆☆☆ Amateurish doom sludge at best, and not very interesting to boot. I can tell that it’s lovingly made, for all its lo-fi pretentions, but beyond that it’s certainly not my cup of tea. See the rest here
★★☆☆ The debut album from a group of very talented veterans, making very anonymous clean-vocaled metalcore. See the rest here
★★☆☆ This album is equal parts Isis and A Perfect Circle. It’s a lovely blend, but as one might imagine given that kind of formula, the final result suffers from a lack of energy. See the rest here
★★★☆ Goddamn, but this album is fun. Our favorite Scottish pirate metal band do good on this one, with a perfect blend of frivolousness and serious riffs. It’s really hard note to smirk and imagine sloshing a frothy mug of beer to each tune. Even the Taio Cruz cover feels good to hear. See the rest here
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