Mastodon — Hushed And Grim
✦✦✦✧ Mellower, more expansive, but also surefooted and intriguing. This is some of Mastodon’s riskiest stuff yet, and is a rewarding buffet of their growing appetites. See the rest here
Category: First Listens
Wheel — Resident Human
✦✦✦✧ If you’re impatiently waiting for the next Tool, Karnivool, and/or Porcupine Tree, listen to this and you’ll feel a whole lot better. See the rest here
Tomahawk — Tonic Immobility
✦✦✦✧ Is this even metal? No, it is not (which is a surprise, given that the group now consists of people from FNM, The Jesus Lizard, Mr Bungle, and Helmet/Battles). But it is imminently listenable, endlessly innovative, and just lots of fun. Mybe I’m just a sucker for Duane Denison’s inimitable guitar stylings propping up Mike Patton’s vocal madness. See the rest here
Gizmachi — Omega Kaleid
✦✦✦✧ I’ll confess that I completely forgot about Gizmachi, after glutting myself on their first major album on heavy rotation back in 2005. In retrospect, I think SikTh took up the space my brain had reserved for Giz. In retrospect, I should’ve just kept listening to The Imbuing and biding my time. See the rest here
Soen — Imperial
✦✦✦✧ This is an intriguing effort at accessibility, from a famously polymathic prog band who have been compared in the past to Tool, Opeth, and Leprous. While those touchstones are still discernible, Imperial finds the Swedes at last sounding more like their own thing than their influences. The only criticism I’ve got is that there’s maybe a little too much polish and sanding down of the rough edges (but that’s fairly typical of any prog band who tries to resonate with an audience, it seems). See the rest here
Asphyx — Necroceros
✦✦✧✧ I’ll be kind and call this retro Euro-style death metal. It’s not bad by any means; it’s just not particularly inspiring. I give it two out of 4 Obama-not-bads. See the rest here
Gatecreeper — An Unexpected Reality
✦✦✧✧ It is admittedly unusual to hear a band segregate their distinct influences, rather than try to meld them together. That what you’ve got here: Side A (grindy death core) vs Side B (doooooom). Both halves are competent, but I wish either side brought more originality to the mix. See the rest here
Ulcerate — Stare Into Death And Be Still
✦✦✦✧ Haunting and atmospheric technical death metal, somehow reminiscent of both Gorguts and latter-day Death. See the rest here
Cryptic Shift — Visitations From Enceladus
✦✦✧✧ These guys totally remind me of Thought Industry. Oh man, I fucking miss Thought Industry. Did I ever tell y’all they TI was my first ever fan mail exchange? True story. Anyway, enjoy this super-interesting piece of art noise. See the rest here
Pallbearer — Forgotten Days
✦✧✧✧ Like a vintage yet less evil Sabbath clone with worse production. See the rest here
