Darkwater — Human
✦✦✦✧ This is just like Dream Theater, except better in virtually every way. That is to say, the cheese is the same, but the vocals and keyboards are a smidge more restrained. See the rest here
First Listens With Three-Star Ratings
Aenimus — Dreamcatcher
✦✦✦✧ This tech death band sound like… a lot of other tech death bands. That’s not to say they sound derivative; rather, you can hear a staggering number of influences in their sound. It’s truly impressive how much this band can cram into songs that don’t spill into 10-plus-minute territory. On the other hand, good luck trying to headbang in time to the music! See the rest here
Soen — Lotus
✦✦✦✧ This is some very good prog metal. The band’s early influences-on-their-sleeves approach is more subdued here (although you can still hear glimmers of Tool, Opeth, and even latter-day Pink Floyd in the mix), and the result is patient yet plaintive, and more surefooted than ever. My main complaint? It’s a hard kind of music to get excited about. See the rest here
Soilwork — Verkligheten
✦✦✦✧ Soilwork continue their explorations beyond their own formulaic confines which started with The Ride Majestic. The result is fresher, more lyrical, and surprisingly subtle for these melodeath champions of consistency. Definitely worth at least one listen. See the rest here
Jinjer — Micro
✦✦✦✧ Ukrainian djenty nu metal! That’s likely to evoke a bad reaction, but if you can look past your preconceptions, you’ll be left with a unique (and, at times, surprisingly heavy) EP that reminds me a bit of Torrential Downpour, Mudvayne, and SikTh. Tatiana Shmailyuk’s clean vocals work more often than not, but her gross vox are always great. See the rest here
Infernal Coil — Within a World Forgotten
✦✦✦✧ A particularly nasty bit of blackened death, this debut from a trio out of Idaho packs a lot of interesting riffage and punishment into its scant 35 minutes. It’s noisy and devastating, but beneath that offputting veneer lays a progressive beast of an album. Production values may hurt the band here, but either way I’m going to be keeping my eyes open for them in the future. See the rest here
Imperial Triumphant — Vile Luxury
✦✦✦✧ This is a really interesting slab of avant-garde grindy blackened deathy metal, reminiscent of Gorguts, Artificial Brain, Torrential Downpour, and Kronos Quartet. It’s insanely ambitious and highly inventive. The album loses points for its uneven production, however. While this is certainly not for everyone, if you’re the kind of metalhead who also likes jazz, this is a must-listen for you. See the rest here
Tomb Mold — Manor of Infinite Forms
✦✦✦✧ A nicely balanced bit of retro death metal, with touches of grindcore and… Converge? See the rest here
High On Fire — Electric Messiah
✦✦✦✧ This is Matt Pike et al at their most Motörheadesque. See the rest here
Sumac — Love in Shadow
✦✦✦✧ First off, don’t let the 4-song-66-minutes thing fool you: there are definitely sections and breaks in those tracks. That said, this feels like Sumac’s attempt at pulling a Catch Thirty Three. And the band pull it off a surprisingly high percentage of the time. Yet, this brand of post metal can’t seem to consistently bridle their experimentalism to the yoke of listenability. See the rest here
