✦✦✦✧ This is perhaps AAL’s best album since their 2009 debut. The band take a more spartan, less-distorted approach to their fourth album, which pays off handsomely. AAL’s brand of metal has always been less about walls of overdriven sound and more about precisely frenetic rhythm, and that’s all the truer here, where clean strings are even more predominant. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Wow. This album defies categorization. You could, with equal precision and certitude, call it black metal, stoner metal, space psychadelia, prog metal, 70s prog rock, world music… I could keep going. It’s surefooted in its dominance, without being ostentatious about it. And it’s full of surprises. A fascinating must-listen, which reminds me of Ihsahn but with more ambition, if you can imagine such a thing. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is some highly polished stoner metal, equal parts Kyuss, King’s X, and latter-era AIC. But I mention all of that as a loose interpretation of what the band actually do with this album; the one universal thing you can say about it is that it’s unpredictable. I wouldn’t call it innovation, so much as avid remixing, but I give ’em plenty of props for keeping me guessing, and keeping me entertained throughout. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ If you’re already a PTH fan, this collection of songs will give you exactly what you already know to look for. Ridiculously blistering, convoluted riffs undergird Rody Walker’s distinctive and melodramatic vocals. And the musicianship is as flawless as ever, with new drummer Mike Ieradi and bassist Cam McLennan ably filling the busy shoes of Chris Adler and Arif Mirabdolbaghi, respectively. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This debut from underground noise rock darlings seems to hit all the right notes at first blush: feel-it-in-your-balls drums, screechy screams, maximized and compressed bass and guitar, tasty feedback doled out generously. There’s also a self-conscious and catchy winking quality here that occasionally threatens to undermine the band’s emotional effectiveness. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This album cements Kvelertak’s position as the new kings of the black ‘n’ roll subgenre. More than ever, the band establish an hitherto unrecognized middle ground between Emperor and Rush circa “Caress Of Steel.” On this, their third album, Kvelertak made the inspired choice of substituting producer Kurt Ballou with Nick Terry, which serves to lend a clearer focus to what the band’s all about. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is almost a very good album. You’ve got an intriguing blend of sounds here, from Deafheaven to Ufomammut to Indian to Isis to Zombi, and with a maximum track length of 5:30 you’d think that this would be the perfect sludge album for me. Sadly, the pacing here is a little too brief for my liking; promising ideas are not always given enough time to germinate, and song endings tend to come quickly and from out of nowhere. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ At first blush, this latest missive from Testicle is a slightly more polished retread of familiar Bay Area thrash territory. But it doesn’t take long into the first listen to realize that this is actually the sound of a band reinvigorated. Definitely the best thing that Testament has done in years (although the transition from Killer to Filler after track 6 could not be more obvious; skip that shit, unless you really, really want to voluntarily listen to a tune called “Canna-Business”). See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This album is so ambitious, coming up with descriptive comparisons is itself a daunting proposition. But here goes: take the constituent parts of this supergroup (namely, Animals As Leaders, The Faceless, Veil Of Maya, and Animosity), then pervert those elements with equal parts Intronaut, Meshuggah, Gorguts, and Disincarnate, and then sprinkle in a little EDM-inspired jazzmetal. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Everything that was ever great about Immortal can be found on this album. But it’s no mere retread or victory lap. Instead, you get a real sense of fun coursing through this tour of true (as opposed to trve) black metal. I couldn’t help but smirk appreciatively the whole time. See the rest here
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