Rammstein — Rammstein
✦✦✦✧ This is Rammstein at their most accessible. This is also Rammstein at their most serious and sinister. Don’t talk; just get in the car. See the rest here
First Listens With Three-Star Ratings
Moon Tooth — Crux
✦✦✦✧ Halfway between desert rock and prog metal, this reminds me as much of Good Tiger or Mutoid Man as it does Baroness or Mastodon. The band manage an interesting balancing act between heaviness and fun. They also feel a little too preoccupied with laying down chord progressions that defy prediction (which, as much as it pains me to admit, isn’t necessarily a good thing). See the rest here
Vale Of Pnath — Accursed
✦✦✦✧ Squeeeeeeze those invisible oranges, friends! Denver techdeath heroes Vale Of Pnath cram a full album’s worth of shredding into a 27-minute EP, at turns deft and epic and surprising, but always interesting. Don’t miss this one! See the rest here
East Of The Wall — NP-Complete
✦✦✦✧ Lovely prog metal (emphasis on the ‘prog’). This is kinda what I really want to hear when I imagine Scale The Summit paired with an appropriate singer. (But there’s also echoes of Don Cab, Torrential Downpour, and Glassjaw.) Special shout out to Chris Alfano for pulling off the hat-trick of laying down bass lines that are simultaneously jazzy, muscular, and unique…. See the rest here
Fractal Universe — Rhizomes Of Insanity
✦✦✦✧ If I had to put a label on this, “Cynic-inspired progressive jazz rethrash” isn’t a bad place to start. I like that there’s no heavy reliance on blast beats and busy yet unintelligible riffs. Instead, the band find ways to stitch together lots of various styles, from tech death to groove to… flamenco? See the rest here
Ola Englund — Master of the Universe
✦✦✦✧ This solo debut cements Ola Englund as the torchbearer for modern guitar wankery. Imagine a Shrapnel Records vanity album, only by way of Sweden instead of California. (Jason Becker: still alive, gods love him!) Fans of The Haunted expecting more of the same will be disappointed, but keep your eyes on the prize: this album taps into lots of different metal styles, so there’s something here for everyone, even if it isn’t super memorable or emotive. See the rest here
Children Of Bodom — Hexed
✦✦✦✧ The band is focusing anew on technical ability; they’ve been practicing, and it shows. Thusly armed, CoB’s usual treacly nonsense is interspersed between truly shreddy moments. Even without the bonus tracks, the album drags, but it’s still one of the best things the band have ever made. See the rest here
Whitechapel — The Valley
✦✦✦✧ This album finds Whitechapel farthest afield from the deathcore of their formative years, to excellent effect. Sure, the band is still tuned down and know their way around a breakdown, but that’s all leavened by a complexity and progressiveness that I wasn’t entirely sure they had in them. Destined to make it onto lots of best-of lists in December. See the rest here
Omicida — Defrauded Reign
✦✦✦✧ Very good rethrash. So what if its idea of innovation is a bit of a retread of thrash’s rich history (this band clearly loves them some Slayer and Testament); it’s still gonna lure you into the nearest pit! See the rest here
Hannes Grossmann — Apophenia
✦✦✦✧ Grossmann’s third solo album starts out with its best track, the ten-minute blistering “Deep,” but has a hard time reaching back up to the same heights, despite guests Jeff Loomis, Marty Friedman, and Christian Muenzner. Even with that issue, the album is technically just about perfect. Crisp production, better-than-average pacing, and of course world-class musicianship make this one a must-listen. See the rest here
