✦✦✦✧ This is Trivium’s best album in a decade. On top of everyone’s already ridiculous shredability, Matt Heafy’s vocals are vastly improved, if a little more metalcore than is strictly advisable — his low-rent Hetfieldisms only show up toward the end of the album, thank goodness. And the band’s trademark small-plates approach to metal remixing is more cohesive and sensible here than ever before. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is a slightly groovier and more midtempo offering from these melodeath stalwarts, a refinement that suits the band quite nicely. OG have always made a virtue of cleanliness and polish, and this album is no exception, but what is new is a greater sense of laidback self-possession. The album is also a great showcase of the band’s maturity, cohesion, and evolution, which is all the more impressive when you consider that it’s the debut of a brand new rhythm section. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is everything I’ve come to expect from American black metal, for good and for ill. I will say that these songs tend toward brevity, which is a very good thing. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ The good news: Jonas Björler’s songwriting is interesting and ambitious without losing the main thread of their ethos. Coupled with their customary crisp production, this album sounds like ATG has been listening to a lot of Opeth lately.
The bad news: what is up with Tomas Lindberg’s vocals? Also, this album is maybe 5 or 10 minutes too long. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is a fun and blisteringly shreddy album, landing somewhere between techdeath and melodeath. It’s also catchy and infectious, not just here or there but throughout the entire album. And rather than rely on gimmicky attempts to out-heavy the next band, this quarter focuses on fundamentals like technical prowess and strong songwriting. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Djenty metalcore at its finest, for what it’s worth. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is more like it! The album feels a bit more selective in its excesses than its predecessor Diluvium, which only serves to make the riffs and leads all the more special and memorable. It’s great to hear guitarist Christian Münzner’s energy and skill in this, his return to the band, as it is for bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling as well. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ While this is the first full-length featuring the post-hardcore legends as a trio minus Tom Capone, Quicksand’s trademark street-fight swagger is still all over the album. The broodier and more midtempo side of the band takes greater prominence here, but that’s been coming for a long time now (I’d say it was always here). See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is an adequate showcase for a Queensrÿche lead vocalist. Aside from that, there’s not a lot to get excited about here. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Ambitious and genre-defying, for good and for ill. RON are continuing their evolution from techdeath into full-on progressive high-concept auteurs. Without an outside editorial voice to help them keep focus, the resulting album feels uneven when taken as a whole. There are stellar moments here and there, and then there are moments that aren’t bad, but certainly feel like a setup to something else. See the rest here
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