✦✦✧✧ It pains me to have to give this anything less than 4 stars at first blush. With that preface out of the way: this is very clearly the result of a band who have grown apart, evolved independently, and come back together to see how their disparate pieces might recombine anew. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Brutally heavy, thuggishly singleminded, and punishingly long. This is as much an Expressionist reinterpretation of blackened noise than it is an overt collection of songs, with the tracks vacillating between those two blueprints. As such, it’s extremely effective at setting its atmosphere of dark futility, but this is not the kind of album that imparts a sense of momentum or offers a glimpse of variety. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Here is an album that is trying its damnedest to get me to hate it immediately. The amateurish album art, the stubbornly raw production, the tired opening gambit… all of these are sure signs of tiredness, if not vacuity. But push past the first impressions, and you may be surprised by the latest from these Norwegian black metal legends. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Ah, Unsane. God bless ’em. They keep on dishing out the same nasty, corrosive brew; take The Jesus Lizard, replace bourbon with ketamine, and crank the volume. It’s still as compelling and effective as ever. And also as repetitive and self-referential as I remember. But you should listen to it. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Belphegor’s well-practiced style of blackened death metal finds a slightly clearer throat, thanks to Jason Suecof’s production values. That the album isn’t particularly varied could also be thanks to Suecof, but let’s be real: Belphegor ain’t the most subtle tool in the shed in any event. New drummer Bloodhammer does a great job pouring on the blast beats, which only undergirds the band’s efforts to sound like a steam locomotive about to blow up. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ A solidly consistent album that is more thrash than I would have expected from the band that brought us “Time And Trauma”; this one is more reminiscent of Prong or Nothingface than anything else. (The previous album’s CoC tendencies are in full control here.) The result is an album where every song feels like it should be an instant classic, a collection of emotionally raw songs… yet somehow isn’t. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Good news: Stray From The Path no longer sound just like a RATM clone! Bad news: they sound a little more like Limp Bizkit now. At least Drew York’s lyrical message is moderately less juvenile than that of Mr. Durst. And the band’s energy is undeniable. All in all, an enjoyable if nostalgic way to spend half an hour. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is at least more interesting than the band’s previous effort, “Emperor Of Sand.” By now, Mastodon have tunneled straight through their own Baroness ambitions, only to emerge in some alien post-metal proto-folkrock nowhere of their own making. So, you know, kudos for sounding unlike anything else. I’m just not entirely sure I dig it. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Exactly what you’d expect: Gothenberg-ish metal with an operatic female vocalist that hits all the checkboxes, yet still fails to effectively inspire. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ After a downright Otep-like opening, this album settles into an uninspired, wanky power metal mode that bears a vague resemblance to Arch Enemy albums of old. The band can still shred from time to time (and how could they not, with Jeff Loomis joining Mike Amott), but for the most part it sounds like they’re making sure this’ll sound good in the arenas that they’re filling up on the road. See the rest here
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