✦✦✧✧ There are a number of reasons to dislike this solo project from one of Lamb Of God’s guitarists. It’s fucking weird to start a 2019 album with a track sung by Chester Bennington (R.I.P.). It’s less weird to follow it up with vocalists from Papa Roach and Screaming Trees. But mostly, the album swings from metal to alt rock and back again, and the moves toward the latter rarely pay off for me. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Trvly emotive and moody, if not entirely memorable or innovative black metal. The piano and violin are welcome additions to Soar’s atmospheric style. And the vocals take a reasonable back seat to the rest of the proceedings. All in all, my favorite Soar album to date, for what that’s worth. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Welcome back to the Three Star club, boys! The band step back toward a sound reminiscent of “The Harvest Wombs” or “The Flesh Prevails”, and thankfully away from “Dreamless”‘s trancepop leanings. This is still atmospheric and moody, but also aggressive as it is technical. New singer Antonio Palermo brings a screechier clarity to the proceedings, which I think works well for the music here. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is somewhere between doom and death metal, but not fully either. This album somehow manages to sound familiar yet totally unique. But it’s also somewhat uneven when it comes to the songwriting; another editorial pass or two would have propelled this album to three stars, I’d wager. But do listen to it, and tell me what you think. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is just like Dream Theater, except better in virtually every way. That is to say, the cheese is the same, but the vocals and keyboards are a smidge more restrained. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This tech death band sound like… a lot of other tech death bands. That’s not to say they sound derivative; rather, you can hear a staggering number of influences in their sound. It’s truly impressive how much this band can cram into songs that don’t spill into 10-plus-minute territory. On the other hand, good luck trying to headbang in time to the music! See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ It’s an Overkill album. New Jersey’s most steadfast thrash organization gives us pretty much exactly what we want them to, god bless ’em. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is some very good prog metal. The band’s early influences-on-their-sleeves approach is more subdued here (although you can still hear glimmers of Tool, Opeth, and even latter-day Pink Floyd in the mix), and the result is patient yet plaintive, and more surefooted than ever. My main complaint? It’s a hard kind of music to get excited about. See the rest here
✦✧✧✧ What is this, Deafheaven? See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is somehow simultaneously vintage thrash and updated rethrash (imagine Exodus fused with hints of both Slayer and Gojira). Sadly, the subpar production distracts from some otherwise stellar moments. See the rest here
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