★☆☆☆ Aside from the appropriately clean production, this symphonic metal album is fairly ho-hum. The riffs are standard operating procedure, the bombast not very triumphant. Honestly, this feels like an off-label Epica clone, with a touch of In Flames thrown in for good measure. See the rest here
★★★☆ The closest thing I can compare this to is Cynic’s “Traced In Air.” But I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention that this album reminded me of UK’s first album, and of BTBAM in one of their less carny moods. Here are a group that manage to intersperse violin solos and flamenco guitars with blast beats and furious palm-mute riffs in a way that feels organic and reasonable, as all of it combines to a lavish soundscape that’s hard to pin down. See the rest here
★★☆☆ This album starts out sounding like an amalgam of a few hallmark Machine Head albums (“Burn My Eyes,” “The Blackening”), Metallica’s black album, and latter-day Slipknot. And Hans Zimmer’s “Inception” soundtrack. And maybe a little Pink Floyd by way of Queensrÿche. Welcome to Robb Flynn’s continuing efforts to take the high road (or at least as high a road as you’re gonna find in the East Bay). See the rest here
★★☆☆ This album is all over the map. To their credit, the band is clearly highly skilled and seasoned at the various metal arts, and the kitchen sink you get is not the one you’d expect from members of SikTh and Gallows. But the band’s modes seem to cartwheel from Mastodon to Attila. See the rest here
★★☆☆ When this shoegazery doomsludge album works, it works very well. But there are two major problems with it, which drag the whole effort down. First: the songs are just a bit go-nowheresy, even by doom standards. That’s a minor quibble, compared to the second problem: the clean vocals are bad. See the rest here
★★☆☆ A zippy, oddly produced collection of songs that lift heavily from Arch Enemy, Megadeth, and a touch of DragonForce. But it’s got energy, and it’s fun, so I’m not gonna kick it out of bed. See the rest here
★★★★ This is the most emotionally complete prog metal album of the year. As was the case with the band’s debut album, Soen continue to wear their Tool and APC influences on their sleeves with this followup. But the overall sound is more nuanced now, more fleshed out and dynamic. (You’d be forgiven for thinking that this was a lost Opeth album, in fact.) See the rest here
★★☆☆ Put Leprous, Yes, Dream Theater, and Porcupine Tree in a blender, and you’ll get this EP. Solidly entertaining, but a bit derivative (which is surprising, considering how different this band and their sources are from the mainstays). See the rest here
★★★☆ In ways subtle and otherwise, this album feels like more of the spiritual successor to Decapitated’s “Carnival Is Forever” than that band’s followup album from this year. Beneath have produced a blistering barrage of technical death, tirelessly ferocious but with moments of almost progressive ambition. While there are perhaps not enough changes in dynamics and timbre to make this a masterpiece, it’s still sure to be a crowdpleaser: dark, surefooted, and a bona fide bile-raiser. See the rest here
★★★☆ I have been steadfast in my dismissal of all things Cavalera over the years, ever since “Roots.” But this album finally feels like it gets more things right than not. The detuning (both on the guitars and the vocals) combine with an unorthodoxically muddy mix to fit Max’s nihilistic ambitions while simultaneously putting him in his place: present, but not front and center. See the rest here
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