★★☆☆ Oh, here we go. Do yourself a favor and turn the volume way down for the first two unfuckinglistenable minutes of this half of OMG’s double album. Pandemonium holds dominion over this recording. What music is allowed to take root here is reminiscent of “NO,” but these moments exist only as a reprieve from a lurking cacophony. See the rest here
★★★☆ The first half of this double album finds Old Man Gloom in an even more experimental mood than ever before. Sure, we still here the crushing noisescapes that we heard on the group’s previous album, “NO,” but these are shorter now, as are the more “conventional” songs. Speaking of which, the band seem to be caught between different identities. See the rest here
★★★☆ If you love Isis or The Ocean, and you appreciated last year’s Gorguts juggernaut, then this album will likely make you very happy. The metal here is dark and moody and lush. It goes on a bit much (this is an hour that feels like two), but there’s plenty of meaty earcandy throughout. See the rest here
★★☆☆ I wouldn’t exactly call it metal — more like a sludge/QOTSA hybrid — but it’s a metalish supergroup nonetheless (Far, Dredg, The Trophy Fire), and it’s pretty rockin’… at times. It’s also melodic and full of atmosphere. It’s worth a peek through, and certainly useful if you’re trying to lure any normies to metal. See the rest here
★★★☆ This is JFAC’s most technical, ambitious, and impressive album to date, with the band sounding as much like BTBAM than BDM. For one thing, every performance is tight (special shoutout to Intronaut’s Danny Walker, who handles the drumming duties on this album, and elevates the entire proceedings). For another, Jason Suecof’s production is a perfect fit, and oh my god so much bass guitar all over this goddamned thing I love it! See the rest here
★★★☆ My very first thought was, “Ugh. What crappy production.” That thought lingered for about two minutes, before the rest of this impressive album carried me away. This is forty economically brütal minutes of modern death metal. And by that, I don’t mean a retread of well-traveled territory; even with all the blast beats, 32nd-note riffs, and artificial harmonics at their disposal, this band have crafted some truly non-derivative metal. See the rest here
★☆☆☆ Aside from the appropriately clean production, this symphonic metal album is fairly ho-hum. The riffs are standard operating procedure, the bombast not very triumphant. Honestly, this feels like an off-label Epica clone, with a touch of In Flames thrown in for good measure. See the rest here
★★★☆ The closest thing I can compare this to is Cynic’s “Traced In Air.” But I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention that this album reminded me of UK’s first album, and of BTBAM in one of their less carny moods. Here are a group that manage to intersperse violin solos and flamenco guitars with blast beats and furious palm-mute riffs in a way that feels organic and reasonable, as all of it combines to a lavish soundscape that’s hard to pin down. See the rest here
★★☆☆ This album starts out sounding like an amalgam of a few hallmark Machine Head albums (“Burn My Eyes,” “The Blackening”), Metallica’s black album, and latter-day Slipknot. And Hans Zimmer’s “Inception” soundtrack. And maybe a little Pink Floyd by way of Queensrÿche. Welcome to Robb Flynn’s continuing efforts to take the high road (or at least as high a road as you’re gonna find in the East Bay). See the rest here
★★☆☆ This album is all over the map. To their credit, the band is clearly highly skilled and seasoned at the various metal arts, and the kitchen sink you get is not the one you’d expect from members of SikTh and Gallows. But the band’s modes seem to cartwheel from Mastodon to Attila. See the rest here
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