Harms Way — Posthuman
✦✦✦✧ Goddamn, this industrialcore album is unapologetically nasty. There are fun and clever flourishes throughout, which only accentuate the otherwise singleminded pummeling on every track. See the rest here
First Listens With Three-Star Ratings
Good Tiger — We Will All Be Gone
✦✦✦✧ The supergroup’s sophomore album still has a lot of the magic as was evident in their 2015 debut “A Head Full Of Moonlight“, but the band’s musicality, emotionality, ambition, and strangeness are all dialed down a bit. This comes across more as a new maturity than any loss of momentum or inspiration, the result still captivating in its not-quite-*core pop-metal sensibilities. See the rest here
Krallice — Go Be Forgotten
✦✦✦✧ Take the band’s last release (the two-month-old “Loüm”) and blend it with… the Inception soundtrack? See the rest here
Sons Of Apollo — Psychotic Symphony
✦✦✦✧ This debut album pretty much comes from a parallel universe Dream Theater, along the way improving upon every complaint I’ve had about DT for years (with stronger vocals, less formulaic prog, real balls to the metal). Hell, even the three obviously-for-radio tracks are at worst inoffensive (take that, “Surrounded”). There’s also a delightful early-90s bum-shaking the permeates the whole thing… except for when it’s replaced with what I swear can only be homages to the band UK. See the rest here
Glassjaw — Material Control
✦✦✦✧ This feels like a progression and successor to the band’s previous album, 2002’s “Worship And Tribute.” It’s a testament to Daryl Palumbo and Justin Beck that they sound as potent, masterful, and energetic fifteen years down the line. Among other things, “Material Control” is a study in how far a band can stray from their own tropes and still sound like themselves. See the rest here
Ensiferum — Two Paths
✦✦✦✧ If you liked these Finns’ last folk metal album “One Man Army,” you’ll be equally delighted by this one. There are some questionable vocal moments (the clean singing is especially shaky at times), but that’s a fleeting misstep in an otherwise rambunctious Amon-Amarth-meets-DragonForce beerhall adventure. See the rest here
Krallice — Loüm
✦✦✦✧ Interesting, jarring, alien… in other words, business as usual for this band. They’re playing around with unheralded tempo changes more this time than I recall in previous releases. If you ever find yourself missing Gorguts, Torrential Downpour, and Don Caballero at the same time, this is your jam! See the rest here
Veil Of Maya — False Idol
✦✦✦✧ VOM have by now perfected their recipe for metalcore-anchored djent. Think TesseracT-meets-Vildhjarta-meets-All That Remains. It’s an intriguing yet unholy alliance, and the combinations miss the mark a nontrivial amount of the time. But there’s enough here, between the songwriting, musicianship, and surprising twists that it defies dismissal. Definitely worth a listen, perhaps as a consummate example of what’s possible in metal in 2017. See the rest here
Entheos — Dark Future
✦✦✦✧ My description from Entheos’ first album is equally applicable here, and the band continue to push the envelope of electronic-infused prog metal in twisted ways. If anything, their sophomore effort is even more ambitious, inventive, and above all alien. It’s so out there, in fact, that I find myself having a hard time relating to it on an emotional level. See the rest here
August Burns Red — Phantom Anthem
✦✦✦✧ ABR continues their epic quest to find new territory without spooking the metalcore natives. It shreds, it surprises, it’s full of energy. How they manage to make a progressive metalcore album is a kind of magic. This album should satisfy pretty much everyone who can be compelled to give it a listen, except for those who doggedly just want more of the same. See the rest here
