★★★☆ This neo-thrash album walks a thin line between sounding pleasantly retro and interestingly modern. Either way, we all win. You’ll be able to make out the band’s DNA easily enough: Exodus, Overkill, Kreator. But Shrapnel (great name, by the way) manage to add something new to the mix. See the rest here
★★☆☆ Slightly more palatable and melodic black sludge that goes down smooth. And while it does suffer from the monochromaticism typical of the genre, it does also offer interesting sound choices (and is blessedly not overlong). See the rest here
As I continue to chew through my backlog of albums to audition for next year’s Arsies, I’ve finally come across the first album that I don’t want to stop listening to.
★★★☆ Wow. I’ll tell you that this bizarre album nods to the Dillinger Escape Plan, Mr Bungle, Between The Buried And Me, Skrillex, The Mars Volta, Green Jellö… but even all of that won’t really capture the nature of this hybridized beast. Nor will any of that tell you that, through whatever specific alchemy the band wield, it actually works surprisingly well. See the rest here
★★☆☆ Jazzier than your usual grindcore fare, but just as typical in its brevity, this 22-minute EP is a fun enough hit-and-run that you’ll nevertheless have a hard time remembering past the first few tracks. See the rest here
★★★☆ Steel Panther have elevated the act of crass party-time parody into high art. There’s a cognitive dissonance between, for example, between the near-perfect emulation of Journey’s brand of anthemic balladry and the lyrical content of “Bukkake Tears.” And so the whole album goes. The nonsense is right at the surface at all times, but the hair metal the band wields is expert enough to help you forget. See the rest here
That’s a tough one to answer, honestly. They’re all good, and all slightly different from each other. Worse, it’s not like the shifts from album to album are linear progressions, per se. Sworn To A Great Divide feels like the album that’s the closest to The Living Infinite in terms of their blend of metal and melody, but The Panic Broadcast is a great album in its own right (and more of a rager). See the rest here
★★☆☆ This album has some truly great moments, surrounded by truly unremarkable stretches. The Ahnold schtick has never sounded more tired, but the unavoidable skits are quickly forgotten in the face of all the different shredz. And yet, never has 46 minutes felt so long. Triple Brutal is worth a listen, if you are man enough to make it all the way through. See the rest here
★☆☆☆ I imagine that this is what Monster Magnet or Queens Of The Stone Age would sound like if they ever full-on committed to being a sludge-metal band. See the rest here
★★★☆ A fairly uneven, but wildly entertaining collection of post-death songs. During the moments that really work (which are at least half of the album), you’re treated to a Gorguts-style grossfest, but with Glassjaw-like deconstructionism. Definitely worth at least one listen, all the way through. See the rest here
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