Category: First Listens

First impressions do count. Here are ours.

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Archspire — The Lucid Collective

★★☆☆ This sure is an impressive half-hour of Gorguts-style technodeath, with PTH-style production. Inventive, impossible to predict, and listen to that fretless bass! But it’s impossible to shake the feeling that the entire record is just being played at 1.5x speed, and that gets distracting after a while. That’s nowhere more apparent than with the drums, which most definitely sound like you just blew out your right tire while driving 70mph down the highway.

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Saor — Aura

★★☆☆ This is pretty good for what it is, which is Scottish black metal that sounds an awful lot like Godspeed You Black Emperor. That said, you’re pretty much along for the ride with this album, and as soon as it’s done, none of it sticks with you whatsoever. Also, “atmospheric” does not have to mean “awash in reverb.”

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Iron Reagan — The Tyranny of Will

★★☆☆ Given that this is from the guys who brought you Municipal Waste and Darkest Hour, this album is surprisingly (and unapologetically) punk. And for the most part, it really works. This album may not sound like it at first blush, but it’s got more in common with S.O.D. than with Rancid (or with Darkest Hour, for that matter).

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Ghost Brigade — IV – One With The Storm

★★☆☆ The various sounds on this album belie the split personality of Ghost Brigade, who are now borrowing as from Alice In Chains and Queensrÿche as they do from Katatonia and Soilwork. After the energetic opening track, what follows is a long progression of downtempo anthems. There are some compelling tracks (“Stone and Pillars” is a fantastic example), but the majority of the material here is hard to feel strongly about either way.

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