✦✦✦✧ First off, I can’t in good conscience call this metal. That said, this is clearly one of the best metal albums of the year. The Armed are the closest group I can think of that truly treat the genre like it’s one equal color on their palette; they’re not metal-with-embellishments, and they’re not pop with high gain guitars. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This album’s all over the place, which is saying a lot for typically-already-batshit A7X. It’s a concept album. It’s nu metal. It’s pop. It shreds (but usually for no discernible reason). I dunno: it reminds me a lot of Destrage and Faith No More, only not in ways I actually enjoy? See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ High-octane hardcore/rethrash goodness! The back half has some odd experiments that may or may not win you over, but so what! Ten songs! Twenty five minutes! Pop it on when you’re driving, and get there faster! Blegh! See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is Mutoid Man’s most restrained effort, but it’s still energetic and catchy and raw. Stephen Brodsky just keeps aging like wine, as both a guitarist and vocalist. Ben Koller doesn’t miss on the skins. And High On Fire bassist Jeff Matz really shines. Also, it’s been a bit since I’ve heard Kurt Ballou’s production on something new. See the rest here
✦✧✧✧ Pissed-off groove metal that just throws aimless haymakers all day long. There are a lot of ideas on here that could use some more development, but most of it feels underdeveloped and underbaked. Volume 1 is the better half of the pair of albums. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is both the weirdest and heaviest thing that Sevendust have put out, both fresh and tired at the same time. Hey, at least it’s chock full of surprises! See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ You know what this reminds me of? VAST. It reminds me of a djentier, heavier VAST.
I fucking love VAST! See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ While not as experimental or envelope-pushing as previous albums, this is still a tasty slab of grindish thrashy metalcore. Half the many riffs here are groovy as hell, while the other half are just punishing. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is a frustrating mixed bag of an album, with passages of satisfying crunch tempered by synthpop-informed atmospherics and no real consideration for flow or momentum. Holocene is dogged by a pervasive feeling of building up for a climactic payoff that never comes. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is a goddamned winner, folks. Virtuosic technical death metal with surprisingly catchy hooks and even more unique cleans sprinkled tastefully throughout. I don’t know how they manage to sound dynamic while also keeping the foot on the gas. Innovative, groovy, just rad as hell. Also did I mention that Cattle Decap is as gross as ever? See the rest here
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