Author & Punisher — Krüller
✦✦✧✧ Successfully moody, but fairly boring neo-industrial. It’s more Front Line Assembly than I remember A&P ever being in the past. A small step down from Tristan Shone’s recent work. See the rest here
Author Archives: arse
Voivod — Synchro Anarchy
✦✦✧✧ This is quite literally a continuation of 2018’s The Wake, mostly for the good. The pacing is curious: it feels like a long album, but I’ll be damned if I wasn’t intrigued the whole time. Even the potential complaint of having heard this kind of thing from Voivod before isn’t much of a criticism here, as the songs are all such great exemplars of the Voivod sound. See the rest here
Cult Of Luna — The Long Road North
✦✦✦✧ This album from Sweden’s kings of post metal builds on and refines the sound from its predecessor A Dawn To Fear. Their sonic palette is expanded and even moodier and more interesting, and the production affords the music more space to inhabit and breathe. If I imagine what Isis might have sounded like if they’d continued their ascendancy, this album is pretty close to it. See the rest here
Once Human — Scar Weaver
✦✦✦✧ I have somehow been snoozing on Logan Mader’s work after he left Machine Head. What a great time then to hop on Once Human’s bandwagon: this album feels like a wholly cohesive statement, yet not quite like anything else you can hear today. Lauren Hart’s vocals that remind of Chester Bennington as often as of Joe Duplantier, all to great effect. See the rest here
Amorphis — Halo
✦✦✦✧ A fairly heavy, if not too polished, album of lavish prog folk metal and a fitting continuation of the band’s evolution into being a spiritual if not literal eastern extension of the Gothenburg sound. Solid from start to finish, although I do yearn for a standout classic or two (although “Windmane” comes close). See the rest here
Rolo Tomassi — Where Myth Becomes Memory
✦✦✦✧ As ever, this band has two modes: sumptious gorgeousness and feral mathcore aggression. What’s new and noteworthy is how well those two threads can be woven together, and in how many different combinations they work in tandem, not quite as relegated to their separate corners as before. I’m hardpressed to think of another band that can pull this off so effectively. See the rest here
Saxon — Carpe Diem
✦✦✦✧ If there’s a surprise here, it’s only how fun this new slab of NWOBHM is. And if you’re truly surprised, that’s on you, buddy. Also, Biff Byford’s pipes sound fanfuckingtastic… but everyone here sounds great, thanks in part to the pristine mix courtesy of Andy Sneap. Just, ya know, fuckin’ listen to it already! See the rest here
Persefone — Metanoia
✦✦✦✧ This is the frontrunner for the best progressive metal album of 2022. It is an order of magnitude better than their previous album (which, as an Arsies contestant, was clearly no slouch). Seriously, it’s better in just about every way I can imagine. It shreds, but when it doesn’t shred, it emotes. See the rest here
Korn — Requiem
✦✦✦✧ Korn’s fourteenth studio album showcases a streamlined and mature band that have learned how to cherry-pick from their various tics, reinvesting in the ones that still bear fruit (e.g., a seemingly endless penchant for fun guitar tones) and distancing themselves from those that no longer do (Fieldy’s scalloped tone). It’s a shame that there are no real instant classics here, which would be a far more fitting reward for their evolution. See the rest here
Earthless — Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons
✦✦✧✧ Three tracks; 62 minutes! But don’t let that scare you off: this is a compelling trip. It’s also totally stoney as fuck. But it works for me! Also, where are my pants? See the rest here
