✦✦✧✧ I was prepared to thoroughly hate this, give FFDP’s most recent missteps. But this groove metal album is the least offensive thing the band has made in years! It’s too manicured to evoke real rage, but it’s appropriately big and epic, albeit overlong. Give it a shot, I say; you might be surprised! See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ It’s not fair to label something as rethrash when it comes from a 34-year-old thrash band, but the polish and crispness here definitely feels like it. If you’re in the mood for old-style thrash with a modern sheen, you may get a kick out of this. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This reminds me of that Roadrunner United album that came out in 2008. Not only is it full of uninspired songs as platforms for guest musicians, but the kind of metal here also feels at least 15 years past its prime. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ A clearly rëenergized Sep come out with an album that is paradoxically less exciting than its predecessor, “Machine Messiah” (and I’m not just saying that because I’m an unrepentant Yes fan). Hints of “A-Lex” and “Kairos” abound here, as well as the band’s lifelong devotion to their punk forebears. Also, the production is oddly mushy, and bums me out (a band this established and influential deserves a better mix; that it came from Jens Bogren is mystifying). See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Merry Christmas! I got you a present… assuming of course that you are a fan of cacophonous, shrill, self-indulgent lunacy. Liturgy’s avant-black-metal is tempered here with digital frippery and all manner of orchestral instruments (sampled or otherwise) that have no business near an amplifier. This album is just begging me to give it a 1-star review. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Black metal meets stoner metal meets industrial? I guess that sounds like a good idea on paper. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Your best bet is to pretend like this album came out in 1990. This hardcore album is so obstinately nostalgic that it rushes headlong past Charming and instead crashes right into So What. Good news, though: you get 14 songs in 30 minutes, making this my winner for More Concise Album Of The Year. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ A very consistent and satisfying slab of Egyptian-themed brütal tech death, which makes it an improvement over “What Should Not Be Unearthed.” Kudos in particular go to Mike Breazeale and Brian Kingsland, who ably fill the vocal and guitar voids respectively left by the departure of long-term mainstay Dallas Toler-Wade. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Putting aside the various controversies that have plagued Lucas Mann and Rings Of Saturn for years, this technical deathcore album on its own merits is… okay. The most impactful parts, of course, are the sources of said controversies: the (possibly literal) inhuman performances, the clear substitutions for software over musicianship, and the at-times all-too-familiar riffs. See the rest here
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✦✦✧✧ This is an improvement over Sunn’s previous album, “Life Metal,” only insofar as there is a hint of an actual performance on a real instrument about 26 minutes into the album. See the rest here
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