Sick Of It All — Last Act Of Defiance
★★☆☆ Yep. This is an SOIA album, alright. See the rest here
First Listens With Two-Star Ratings
As We Draw — Mirages
★★☆☆ This is a strong post-metal noisefest, a kind of Isis-by-way-of-Sonic-Youth exploration that is dark and compelling. At the same time, the almost aimless meandering does work against the listener’s need for a sense of purpose to the journey. And yet, the whole album features aural delights that are hard to stop listening to. See the rest here
Decapitated — Blood Mantra
★★☆☆ This is a challenging album to dig into, which is an odd thing to say about a band that were former Arsies winners. There are great concepts and moments all over “Blood Mantra,” but they invariably take work to find. The album’s second half is more engaging and interesting and captivating than its first half. See the rest here
The Contortionist — Language
★★☆☆ Look, I get that this is a highly anticipated piece of prog metal, and clearly the band put a lot of care and thought and musicality into making it. It makes for an interesting and unpredictable ride… but as much as I want to, I just can’t get too worked up about this album. See the rest here
Suicide Silence — You Can’t Stop Me
★★☆☆ This is pretty much exactly what you want from a deathcore band. Breakdowns and brutality are the meat and potatoes of this band, and this album delivers dutifully. Don’t expect any surprises or evolution and you’ll do just fine. See the rest here
In Flames — Siren Charms
★★☆☆ After a promising and surprisingly meaty opening track, this album quickly reveals an unevenness to its songs. A lot of the latter songs feature riffs and sections seemingly lifted from other European metal bands (I can hear Soilwork and Meshuggah in “Rusted Nail,” as just one example). In Flames occasionally succeed in their attempts here to expand their repertoire, with almost enough hits to justify the misses. See the rest here
Accept — Blind Rage
★★☆☆ As was the case with their previous album “Stalingrad,” Accept turn in a surprisingly potent and fresh collection of thrash tunes with their latest. At 58 minutes, however, the band do overstay their welcome a bit. See the rest here
Opeth — Pale Communion
★★☆☆ Opeth’s love affair with all-things-vintage-prog continues unabated, and de rigeur Leslie-rotor organ pads, Mellotron, and warbly monophonic keys are all accounted for, and there’s at least one section mid-album that evokes a 12-string guitar sound. So that’s all fun. But aside from the time warp, the compositions are all a bit ho-hum and unspecial. See the rest here
Sleeping Giant — Finished People
★★☆☆ This is very meat-and-potatoes detuned metalcore by the numbers. That said, rather than aiming for some kind of genre innovation, the band seem quite content to generally double down on pumping the album full of energy. It makes for an effective (if oddly adorable) half hour of moshery. One notable exception: the triumphant “Son Of God, Son Of Man” manages to lift the album around it with this memorable crescendo of rage. See the rest here
Eluveitie — Origins
★★☆☆ An oddly compelling bit of beerhall folk metal, with a huge and awkwardly self-conscious emphasis on the band’s Helvetian roots. The Celtic fusion works pretty well, but overall the album still has a ho-hum pallor to it. See the rest here
