Power Trip — Nightmare Logic
✦✦✧✧ This album is a faithful paean to mid-80s Metal Blade thrash. ‘Nuff said. See the rest here
First Listens With Two-Star Ratings
John 5 And The Creatures — Season Of The Witch
✦✦✧✧ This is one goofy but well-intentioned shredfest that harkens back to the simpler times of Shrapnel Records and endless solos. The album is as much bluegrass as it is rock or metal, and definitely more Satriani or Stu Hamm than Marilyn Manson or Rob Zombie. On the whole, this is music designed to be heard and wowed over, if not actually listened to for any reason not related to guitarwankery. See the rest here
Suicide Silence — Suicide Silence
✦✦✧✧ This album, from a dyed-in-the-wool metalcore, is surprisingly nü-metallic. Eddie Hermida and the band sound like Jonathan Davis & Co. half the time. (The other times, they sound more like Slipknot.) But the riffs and rhythms are sufficiently blow-out-your-speakers mean to not dismiss the album outright. Mostly, this feels like a band having a hard time moving in a unified direction. See the rest here
Emmure — Look At Yourself
✦✦✧✧ Apparently, new blood (in the form of former members of TDTE and Glass Cloud) can improve things for Emmure. And yet, the fundamental problem exists: the band’s raison d’etre seems to be a misread of djent as merely an invitation for nu-metal to tune down lower. So, if your idea of a good time is a detuned Limp Bizkit, have I got an album for you. See the rest here
The Drip — The Haunting Fear Of Inevitability
✦✦✧✧ Grindcore leavened with equal parts Converge and Brujeria. The energy’s there, and it’s dark enough, but there’s something weirdly anonymized about the whole thing. Also, the drum triggers are so high in the mix as to be distracting, especially with Shane Brown’s penchant for fast syncopation. See the rest here
Kreator — Gods Of Violence
✦✦✧✧ Unabashed Eurothrash: speedy, earnest, goofy, powerful. This album chronicles the band in not quite as energized form as they were on Phantom Antichrist, and yet it scratches a very particular itch. See the rest here
Alluvial — The Deep Longing for Annihilation
✦✦✧✧ The debut (instrumental) album from a collaboration between Keith Merrow and Wes Hauch (The Faceless, Conquering Dystopia, Black Crown Initiate) has all the tasty shredding any modern guitarophile could ever want. It’s also got a mean attitude, which I like. It’s not the most memorable thing in the world, though. See the rest here
The Agonist — Five
✦✦✧✧ Pretty decent Euro-style melodic metal, and unsurprisingly there’s more than a few nods to Arch Enemy… but I’ve gotta say that I am not a fan of Vicky Psarakis’ vocal stylings here. They’re too loud, too grating. And that Hozier cover at the end of the album is just the pits. See the rest here
Nails — You Will Never Be One Of Us
✦✦✧✧ Straight-up convergecore. Raw energy, about as subtle as a money shot. If that’s what you’re in the mood for, it’ll do nicely. See the rest here
Lacuna Coil — Delirium
✦✦✧✧ Djenty emotechnocore. I don’t get what the fuss is all about. Evanescence is more interesting than this, honestly. (The title track is undeniably catchy, but I’m not entirely sure that’s in a good way.) See the rest here
