✦✦✧✧ Not quite as compelling or driven as their previous brand of doom metal, this album shows the band seeming to be more content wallowing in the moments they’re creating. Compared to the delicate tightrope act of “Foundations Of Burden,” here the band bring in their ambitious arms, and are tripped up a bit by their own gravity, like a spinning top turning a bit too slowly to keep itself upright. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Djentcore lives on! Equal parts Periphery, Karnivool, Linkin Park, and Bring Me The Horizon. Sadly, it takes the band at least half an album to really find their footing, so if you’re particularly sensitive to awkward sequencing (or just wanna get to the really good stuff), focus on the last four tracks for ultimate justice. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Stoney sludgecore by the numbers. I’d try to pull similar sounding bands for reference, but this kind of music is impossible to fingerprint. That said, if this is your itch, you’ll likely be quite satisfied. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ FFAA (F2A2?) pick up where they left off 17 months ago with their Gojira+JFAC style of deathcore, adding more than a few touches of modern Meshuggah to their already potent witches’ brew. This is one heavy slab of music, and somehow it manages to convey an even more cohesive and unique sound than ever before. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Well, it does what it says on the box, at least. Everything feels a bit too much on the nose, even for Steel Panther. And a bit more tired. And their careerlong pastiche work is now full-blown “borrowing.” See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ You know, for a Kurt Ballou produced recording, this album has surprising depth behind its muscular aggression. It’s a spin on the band’s typical deathy metalcore-laden explorations that actually improves things. And just when you think you’ve got a handle on the compositions, Michael Carrigan’s leads come in and inevitably take things up a notch. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is definitely a step in the right direction (away from 2014’s “Inked In Blood”). There’s no new ground to break here, but if you’re cozy with good old-fashioned death metal, you’ll be sated by this. It’s great to hear Terry Butler’s rumbling bass (and that Spiritual Healing vibe is definitely welcome here). See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ A definitely improvement over the supergroup’s 2014 debut. This sounds much more like a fusion of King’s X and Lynch Mob, with a competent drummer (and fortunately no Kornisms sneaking in over the fence). Also, George Lynch can do no wrong. 66 minutes is at least 20 minutes too many, though. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This album starts out in a rough way… like the worst parts of Scatterbrain, Suicidal Tendencies, and Municipal Waste hogtied together. I’m very, very conflicted about the too-funky bass antics of Nick Schendzielos. Not at all conflicted about David Sanchez’s lyrics and vocals, which are as subtle as Dave Mustaine’s fever dreams. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ It’s been two years, almost to the day, since Junius stunned us with their doomed EP “Days Of The Fallen Sun.” As before, the band’s blend of The Ocean, Sleep, and VAST comes across as immense, intense, and lachrymose. What makes this album a progression is the sense of uneasy equilibrium that the music maintains, like the band could nail this tone all day long. See the rest here
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