A Breach Of Silence — The Darkest Road
★☆☆☆ I’m not sure whether to call this powercore (as the band’s marketing materials would want), or bro-metal or what, but it’s unfortunately very lackluster and derivative. See the rest here
Category: First Listens
Cloudkicker — Little Histories
★★☆☆ This EP is not unlike taking a quick regional flight: you spend so much of your time getting to cruising altitude, that once you’re there it’s time to start your initial descent. The material here is good and lush and well-done, of course, but Cloudkicker music needs time and space to unfold into its ultimate form, and that means that there’s actually not a whole lot here. See the rest here
Torrential Downpour — Truth Knowledge Vision
★★★☆ Torrential Downpour are so wonderfully weird. They’re weird even for prog metal, which I gather is the only category crazy enough to accept this band. And this album is equal parts Battles, BTBAM, Mars Volta, UK, and Dillinger. The band rely a bit too much here on digital whammy and trebly screeching for my tastes, but aside from that, this album just begs for multiple listens. See the rest here
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. See the rest here
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.” See the rest here
Cannabis Corpse — From Wisdom To Baked
★★★☆ This is as much a love letter to Floridian death metal as it is a paean to pot. But beyond both those traits, it’s also an entertaining riff fest, short and sweet, somewhere between Death and Gorguts. Fans of Death will enjoy the numerous nods to Chuck, but otherwise it’s a fun album. See the rest here
Attila — Guilty Pleasure
☆☆☆☆ Take Marilyn Manson, Limp Bizkit, and Attack! Attack! and extrude them through a rusty meat grinder. That’d still be preferable to this album. See the rest here
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). See the rest here
Demon Hunter — Extremist
★☆☆☆ When Demon Hunter put their minds to it, they can really throw down some mean metalcore. The problem with this album is that the band seem much more inclined to devote themselves to schmaltzy power metal. See the rest here
Soulburn — The Suffocating Darkness
★☆☆☆ If you like sloppily-performed black metal with endlessly shifting tempos and more vocal reverb than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, this is the album for you! See the rest here
