Rammstein — Rammstein
✦✦✦✧ This is Rammstein at their most accessible. This is also Rammstein at their most serious and sinister. Don’t talk; just get in the car. See the rest here
Author Archives: arse
Witherfall — Vintage
✦✧✧✧ “Vintage” is right; this album feels stuck in time, comprised of a lot of ill-fitting parts. The slop-like production only makes things worse, but the bigger problem is a poor sense of pacing, seemingly in service of mood but actually the album’s biggest enemy. See the rest here
Call Of The Void — Buried In Light
✦✦✧✧ Circle pitttttt! And yet, the latest album from Denver grindcore purveyors COTV is more of a grower than a shower, especially when compared with the band’s catalog. It’s an enjoyable ride, and I especially like the moments of sludgy innovation and a noticeable deference to mood. See the rest here
Demon Hunter — Peace
✦✦✧✧ (See yesterday’s firstie on the companion album “War.”)
If you really liked “War” but wished it was less metal and more hard rock, this album is for you. Otherwise, this album is most certainly not for you. See the rest here
Demon Hunter — War
✦✦✧✧ Demon Hunter seem to be cribbing a page from Opeth’s playbook, releasing two albums this year which are thematically linked but sonically different. (We’ll have our first-listen feedback on the companion album, “Peace,” tomorrow.) Beyond that, this is fairly uninspiring, unless you’re a huge Stone Sour fan. See the rest here
Destrage — The Chosen One
✦✦✦✦ Once again, Destrage grace us with a wildly inventive collection of progressive metalcore songs. And yet, this EP is even more accessible and refined, for all its unpredictable craziness. It reminds of the best of Dillinger, Meshuggah, and Leprous: well-balanced, enthralling, energetic, and inhuman (even for all its listenability). A must-listen for sure, and the band’s best album. See the rest here
Týr — Hel
✦✦✧✧ Is Viking metal your thing?
If “yes,” then great; listen to this and smash some beer steins while you’re at it.
If “no,” I don’t know that this is the album that’ll change your mind.
The main problem here is that, while this music is absolutely 100% fitting with the subgenre (and with the band’s previous work), the songs are often not super compelling on their own, or they’re plagued by moments of awkward goofiness, or both. See the rest here
Moon Tooth — Crux
✦✦✦✧ Halfway between desert rock and prog metal, this reminds me as much of Good Tiger or Mutoid Man as it does Baroness or Mastodon. The band manage an interesting balancing act between heaviness and fun. They also feel a little too preoccupied with laying down chord progressions that defy prediction (which, as much as it pains me to admit, isn’t necessarily a good thing). See the rest here
Noisem — Cease To Exist
✦✦✧✧ Fast, aggressive noise metal that reminds me of an EP of metal bands covering punk songs. There’s almost nothing for your memory to cling to, so shut up and go along for the ride. See the rest here
Vale Of Pnath — Accursed
✦✦✦✧ Squeeeeeeze those invisible oranges, friends! Denver techdeath heroes Vale Of Pnath cram a full album’s worth of shredding into a 27-minute EP, at turns deft and epic and surprising, but always interesting. Don’t miss this one! See the rest here
