✦✦✧✧ This album is perhaps the band’s catchiest. Relatively speaking. It’s still a feral dog of a sound, with production values that border on antisocial. But there’s an undercurrent of melody and progression that feels new. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Shake them buns! See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Pretty damned good tech death by Decapitated, which shouldn’t be a huge surprise to anyone who knows the band. I applaud their maturation and experimental bent, even if it doesn’t always work. Okay, it rarely works… but I still want to give them props for trying. (That track featuring Tatiana Shmailyuk from Jinjer is straight fire, tho… truly don’t-miss material.) See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is obviously a djentcore album, with equal parts SikTh and After The Burial. Beyond that, though, the band are not trying to escape or even redefine who they are. Rather, there’s more of a focus here on quality over quantity, and the relative restraint lends an air of self-assurance, such a rare find in a genre plagued by overcompensation. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Groovy German metalcore. It’s more effective as a collection of metal tones than as actual songs, but it’s fun enough to listen to while it’s playing. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ What happened?! Outstrider was such an interesting and promising evolution of the Abbath sound, itself a sweet culmination and furtherance of Immortal’s journey. And now, Abbath’s third album, feels both less experimental and yet even more detached from its forebearers. It’s also not very intense, if I’m being honest. Maybe this just an awkward teen phase, while the band and music morph into what I can only assume will eventually be a Norwegian black-rock Stooges cover band. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This album seemingly finds Rammstein in a slightly contemplative frame of mind. I say "slightly," because now as ever, the resulting music is such a polished product of the band’s formula — Germanic swagger rock that plays well in the giant arenas required for their pyrotechnic performance — that it’s all but impossible for Rammstein to really surprise or shock anymore. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ I’d call this rethrash, but if I’m being honest the only thing modern about it is the mix, and that’s only halfway reimagined. That’s not bad news, especially if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool thrash fan like I am. Just don’t expect much in the way of novelty or ingenuity. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ More than anyone or anything I can think of, the latest from Northlane really erodes the barrier between djent and dubstep, for good or for ill. I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would, although the music flirts with nu metal more often than I’m comfortable with. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ I’m sure my Meshuggah fanboyism is well established by now. Imagine then the pain I feel in having to give this album the lowest rating I’ve ever given the band.
The problem really comes down to the first three or four tracks, which establish a feeling for the album as a collection of B-sides, outtakes, and demos of guitar tone. See the rest here
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