Chelsea Grin — Suffer In Heaven
✦✦✦✧ Deathcore brutality par excellence. What it lacks in variety, it makes up for with clever sound sculpting, thoughtful brevity, and endless kicks to your teeth. See the rest here
First Listens With Three-Star Ratings
Katatonia — Sky Void Of Stars
✦✦✦✧ More settled than the 2020 predecessor City Burials, this album is surefooted, dynamic, and above all else, hauntingly emotive. So the band is less and less progressive with each album. And sure, it sounds like they’ve taken another step closer toward being Leprous (but that’s not much of a tragedy). See the rest here
Gorod — The Orb
✦✦✦✧ A dense techdeath masterclass, somewhere between Revocation and Gorguts. The musicianship on display is faultless, and the songwriting is surprisingly catchy and memorable. Did I mention that it’s also heavy? It’ll give you a good neck workout, headbangers. See the rest here
Dead Cross — II
✦✦✦✧ This is one of those relatively rare projects that features Mike Patton but isn’t entirely an exercise in unlistenable self-indulgence. And actually, the real star of the show here is guitarist Mike Crain, who is at least as focused on texture and noise than hardcore riffing. All for the good; even Dave Lombardo is less ostentatious, in service of the music. See the rest here
Slipknot — The End, So Far
✦✦✦✧ Experimental even by The Knot’s standards, this album aims to see how far the band can push their envelope and their famously rabid fanbase. To that end, while it’s likely 10 minutes too long, there’s plenty of ear candy throughout the album. (Spoiler: there’s a track midway through the album that reminds me of Tool inexplicably.) See the rest here
Arch Enemy — Deceivers
✦✦✦✧ This album showcases Alissa White-Gluz’s vocal virtuosity in a way that makes me forget once and for all that she wasn’t the band’s first vocalist. Hers is clearly the standout performance here… impressive, considering that the rest of the band also turn in some world-class performances. The songwriting is a smorgasbord of every way a band can be faithful to the European melodeath banner. See the rest here
Lamb Of God — Omens
✦✦✦✧ This is one tight album, a fact all the more impressive when you read that most of the instrumental work was tracked together as a band, and when you realize that this LOG album is the debut of the band’s new drummer Art Cruz (who does an excellent job ascending to his new throne). See the rest here
Machine Head — Øf Kingdøm And Crøwn
✦✦✦✧ This is the best Machine Head album of the last five years. So what if it’s ten minutes too long, and will simultaneously remind you of three other Machine Head albums so much that you’ll actually wonder if they’re covering themselves. It’s like a not-very-good pizza: it’s still pretty fucking good. See the rest here
Fallujah — Empyrean
✦✦✦✧ A highly anticipated prog metal album from Bay Area heroes does not disappoint. Newcomers to the band (and scene veterans) Evan Brewer on bass and Kyle Schaefer on vocals add a anchoring fullness to the sound, which is even shreddier than ever. And it’s nice to hear a return to a more dynamic sound. See the rest here
Wo Fat — The Singularity
✦✦✦✧ This is what I want a stoner album to be like: massive, patient, stanky, and heavy! Is 75 minutes too long? Fuck you! Or just wimp out before the final track, which clocks in at 16 minutes. See the rest here
