✦✦✦✧ Mein gott… this is some furious, nasty, grindy techdeath! The riffs come fast and furious, are really interesting and unique, and at times could even be described as “catchy.” Fans of Carcass, Archspire, and Gorguts will love this; anyone else will be too scared to complain. Ya gotta hear this at least once, and I do mean all the way through, but don’t think the 33-minute runtime means an easy listen. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Relentless neoclassical speed metal feels good, man! So what if playing Paganini or Tchaikovsky on your high-gain guitar is hardly innovative. It’s still sweet, bro! See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This album has the same predilection for massive, plodding riffs, just like its companion piece Failure Will Follow. The difference is that, on this album, all but one track clocks in at under 3 minutes. The result is a collection of pieces that feel incomplete and fragmentary sketches. Perhaps this sort of thing will give metal new life on The Kids’ Social Media, but I find it harder to get into this particular material this particular way. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is The Acacia Strain’s Catch Thirty-Three. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Punchy and radio-friendly prog metal? Yes please! This is Soen sounding more than ever before like Porcupine Tree (or unlike Tool). The previous comparisons to Leprous still hold firm, only this music has more swagger. Interesting and fun! See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This once-metalcore once-supergroup throws just enough metal into their blatantly hard rock formula on this album to make me pay attention here. (Do I detect hints of thrash and death metal?) That said, there’s a notable lack of variation that makes it difficult for me to keep my focus on the music even while it plays. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ As tempting as it is to pigeonhole this album as post-mathcore, there’s clearly more going on here, with the band toying with listenability, hooks, and expectations. Don’t be surprised to hear synthwave cozying up to moments of shred, industrial, or even prog… there ain’t a dull moment on this one, folks, so strap in and enjoy this unique ride. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Keep in mind that when I say the track "LAND LORD" sounds like it was rejected for the Matrix soundtrack, I mean that with corrosive, fistpumping love. The problem with this industrial noisefest is one of consistency; when it works, it’s glorious, but when it misses, it feels like underdeveloped material. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ A suitably venomous album from these chronically displeased Northern Irish alt-rock bastards (their 16th). As ever, this sounds like five different bands simultaneously, but a mashup of contemporaries like Killing Joke, XTC, pre-fame Nirvana, and The Jesus Lizard is as compelling as ever. One of their strongest efforts in a decade. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Very well-crafted dark symphonic metal. Some of this feels a bit low-key and by-the-numbers, but the riffs are suitably heavy, and the scope feels nice and epic. Fans of Soilwork or Scar Symmetry should definitely check this out. See the rest here
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