Yashira — Shrine
✦✦✦✧ This reminds me of Torrential Downpour, Norma Jean, Converge, Sumac, Rolo Tomassi, and a kick to the nuts. See the rest here
Category: First Listens
Kalmah — Palo
✦✦✧✧ COOOOOOKIEEEEEEEEEEE! All kidding aside, it was perhaps a tactical mistake for Kalmah to start their latest melodeath album with such a seemingly stereotypical beerhall tune, as that obscures the vitality and innovation found throughout the subsequent tracks. That said, the hits are also surrounded by a few duds and headscratchers. See the rest here
Panopticon — The Scars Of Man On The Once Nameless Wilderness, Pt. 1
✦✦✧✧ Oh, so wintry, blackest of metals, folksiest of dirges. Behold, the snow on the very cover. Observe, the hooting of a fucking owl.
This is not nearly as winsome as Panopticon’s previous album “Autumn Eternal.” At least it occasionally kinda shreds, but it wouldn’t kill Austin Lunn to use a tuner. See the rest here
Kamelot — The Shadow Theory
✦✦✧✧ Absolutely no surprises here: this is textbook power metal, with standout vocals from Tommy Karevik, of course, but not much else to stick in one’s memory. There’s nothing here that I would remotely think of as “bad”… also but nothing here to really stir anyone’s blood. See the rest here
Bleed From Within — Era
✦✦✦✧ Technical death metal in metalcore’s clothes. This has more in common with Machine Head and Gojira than Killswitch Engage, even as it evokes the best of all those bands. Nasty, surgical, full of swagger and juicy riffs. Most definitely a must-listen. See the rest here
Light The Torch — Revival
✦✧✧✧ Light The Torch (née Devil You Know) take a giant step toward metalcore mediocrity with this, ostensibly now just The Howard Jones Show. There’s almost no perceptible energy on this album whatsoever, and every single three-minute song is probably at least a minute too long. See the rest here
Augury — Illusive Golden Age
✦✦✧✧ Look, there’s no question that these guys shred. And you know how much I dig prominent fretless bass in metal. But aside from that, this is more or less a cautionary tale of post-Cynic metal musicianship gone entirely too far. See the rest here
The Absence — A Gift for the Obsessed
✦✦✦✧ Tasty and energetic melodeath, leavened with equal parts Revocation, Arch Enemy, and The Haunted. The music here is not exactly cutting edge, but that’s perhaps to be expected from a band who hasn’t released an album in eight years, and besides we all loved this sound back then well enough anyway. See the rest here
The Sword — Used Future
✦✦✦✧ This sixth album from The Sword continues the band’s progression from frantic Mastodon territory to more of a laidback Earthless vibe, while giving us the band’s most cohesive sonic landscape since 2010’s “Warp Riders.” If anything, “Used Future” marks a doubling down on the band wearing their 70s and 80s influences on their sleeves (there are obvious nods here to Santana, Skynyrd, John Carpenter, Pink Floyd, The Dead, etc.). See the rest here
The Crown — Cobra Speed Venom
✦✦✧✧ This feels like a cross between vintage ATG and vintage The Haunted: speedy, deathy, high-energy, and a bit dated, more stubbornly old-school thrash than rethrash. The riffs are, on the whole, as solid as the playing but far from memorable. Still, this’ll likely lure a begrudging headbob out of you. See the rest here
