Rest in peace, Vince.
Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP
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Author Archives: arse
Micawber — Beyond The Reach Of Flame
✦✦✦✧ A subtly interesting album, evincing a rethrashed form of progressive tech death album, with hints of Revocation, Black Dahlia Murder, Job For A Cowboy, and even Control Denied. Just when you think you know where it’s going, it throws a curveball. If there’s a downside here, it’s that it trades immediacy for memorability. See the rest here
Five Finger Death Punch — And Justice For None
✦✧✧✧ This album of groove metal feels at least 15 years too late. Sure, the production is crisp, and there are some decent licks scattered about. And I do like the Kenny Wayne Shepard and Offspring covers. But even with all those wins, this album is chronically self-serious, dispassionate, and ultimately joyless. See the rest here
Derek Smalls — Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing)
✦✦✧✧ At long last, here is the first solo album from the loudest British metal band in history. TKTK See the rest here
De Profundis — The Blinding Light Of Faith
✦✦✦✧ This feels like an updated blend of Discarnate, Sadus, and Deicide. So obviously I dig it. The album does feel like it’s 2 hours long, however. See the rest here
Skindred — Big Tings
✧✧✧✧ This makes nu metal sound like Deathspell Omega by comparison. It’s actually impressive just how densely packed this Skindred album is with all of the most hated elements of music from the last 10 years. Cowbell! Claps! Girl chants! Reggaeton! Even the rare moment when the band approaches actual decentness is inevitably marred by their insipid “ragga rock” proclivities. See the rest here
Sevendust — All I See Is War
✦✦✧✧ After years of defending Sevendust, this album from them is finally a little more Nickelbackish than I’d like to admit. The big change is the swapping out of actual riffs for DR5-crushed walls of tone, which lays bare some fairly pedestrian songwriting otherwise. At least Lajon Witherspoon continues to deliver world-class vocals. See the rest here
Shred dad
I just discovered a man on Reddit who’d done the 80s hard rock lead guitarist thing, without commercial success, and lost the drive for it. Gave up guitar playing, settled down, had some kids. About a year ago, he was somehow inspired to come out of retirement for fun, to see if he could play a fairly advanced classical guitar piece. See the rest here
Parkway Drive — Reverence
✦✧✧✧ Everything goes well until the vocals start; the wah-wah just seals the nu-metal-core deal. In the album’s defense, there are some meaty riffs undergirding the whole affair. Unfortunately, they’re deployed in the service of an outmoded and adolescent sensibility. What a waste. See the rest here
Ihsahn — Ámr
✦✦✦✧ This is a subtler work from Ihsahn (which is funny, because the album starts out with this huge-ass synth patch that sounds anything but subtle). The epic power comes from the impeccable arrangements and production, featuring the lushest strings I’ve heard in metal in a long time. The songwriting is a bit “safer” than that on “Arktis,” but Ihsahn still delivers solid doubles throughout, if not actual home runs. See the rest here
