✦✦✧✧ 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
✦✦✧✧ This album is a faithful paean to mid-80s Metal Blade thrash. ‘Nuff said. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is one goofy but well-intentioned shredfest that harkens back to the simpler times of Shrapnel Records and endless solos. The album is as much bluegrass as it is rock or metal, and definitely more Satriani or Stu Hamm than Marilyn Manson or Rob Zombie. On the whole, this is music designed to be heard and wowed over, if not actually listened to for any reason not related to guitarwankery. See the rest here
✦✧✧✧ Everything on this album clashes. The guitar riffs are the only familiarly competent element on the album, and even then they’re hamstrung a bit by the Psalm-69-style mix. The drums and bass are unconvincing. But above all, the vocals are garbage: muddy, uninspired, and distracting. They don’t work when the band are going full-throttle… but then you’ve got stripped down tracks like “The Separation Of Flesh And Bone,” wherein Chris Barnes’ vocals have more room to stink up the place. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ There is something both unabashedly old fashioned and cleverly fresh about this latest slab of death metal from Immolation. The sound here is nasty in that early-90s Deicide way, but also atmospheric in a way that leans almost progressive. See the rest here
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