Satyricon — Satyricon
☆☆☆☆ The idea of this album isn’t terrible, but its execution is so tedious that it can only be seen as a chore. See the rest here
Category: First Listens
Týr — Valkyrja
★★☆☆ This is pretty much exactly what you’d expect: Scandinavian folk metal done impeccably well, with hardly any surprises at all. See the rest here
Gwar — Battle Maximus
★★★☆ Three stars? Have I lost my mind?!
So here’s the thing: I generally douse Gwar in a shower of wound-stinging salt for being a too-long-in-the-tooth art project band. Their Scatterbrain-meets-Jello-Biafra vocals and spacey high-concept foolishness definitely inspire snobbery. But behind that, the band is just wailin’ all over the place on this album, like a more punk version of Slipknot with their tongues very firmly in their cheeks (or someone else’s). See the rest here
The Devil Wears Prada — 8:18
★☆☆☆ Not nearly as sophomoric as some earlier albums from TDWP, the band earns points for giving it a real effort. But my oh my is this an unenthusiastic album. I had to refrain from fast forwarding… not once, not twice, but 14 times during my first and only listen. See the rest here
Carcass — Surgical Steel
★★★☆ An excellent return to form, with a sound that places the band somewhere between “Descanting…” and “Heartwork.” It’s far more mature than either, and mostly devoid of the crassly overt commercialilsm of the latter. Despite the rumors of trouble during production, “Surgical Steel” does not disappoint. Also, I guarantee that you’ll be wanting to learn this chant: “6! See the rest here
Blood Red Throne — Blood Red Throne
★★☆☆ This album is a lot of things, least of which is: loud. It’s got a lot going for it, and evokes everything from DETHKLOK to Disincarnate… but there’s also an instant forgettability to the tunes. See the rest here
Cathedral — The Last Spire
★☆☆☆ This was the longest 6 hours of my young life. Good riddance. See the rest here
Gorguts — Colored Sands
★★★☆ A low three-stars for this album (which is still higher praise than I’d give any other Gorguts album). The technically excellent material does repeatedly suffer from its bridge-too-far scope demands. That said, “Enemies Of Compassion” is perhaps the most brutal 7 minutes of metal I’ve heard all year. See the rest here
Avenged Sevenfold — Hail To The King
★☆☆☆ What starts off as a fun game of “guess whom A7X are paying homage to now” quickly devolves into wholesale theft (with “This Means War” being the most egregious lifting I’ve heard in years). This album’s listenability is entirely based on a parlor trick, and not a particularly clever one at that. See the rest here
DevilDriver — Winter Kills
★★☆☆ Pretty powerful effort from DevilDriver. Sadly, the second half is more memorable and successful than the first… meaning, you’ve gotta wade through some lackluster filler to get to the goods. Also, that AWOLNATION cover does a decent enough job; it blows almost as hard as the original. See the rest here
