✦✦✦✧ Let me just get this off my chest: THIS IS BARELY AN EP, DAMMIT. Still, you know I can’t deny Carcass. And I gotta say, this four-song collection feels just like the goregrind-defining material on Necroticism, the band’s 1991 objective masterpiece. And yet, these four tracks do a great job illustrating the breadth of Carcass’ influence on both grindcore and melodic death metal. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ I’d wager that when you read the words “Finnish folk metal,” some part of you is recalling the mental image of a wooden Viking ship. This album is like that connection: traditional, chilly, sensible, trve. Also, lots of fun. Special props to Pekka Montin on keyboards… and epicly heroic cleans! See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Another ABR record means that it’s time to see how far the band can experimentally lean out of their metalcore envelope and still deliver the goods. The good news is that the band still make threading that needle seem effortless and inevitable. The bad news is that some of the material here does feel a little unemotive and basic, even by metalcore standards. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This, Ozzy’s twelfth solo album, is immediately comparable to some of the high points of his solo career and even some earlier Sabbath albums. Kudos to his support band (featuring Duff McKagan, Chad Smith, and Slash!). The production is surprisingly muddy, but it works pretty well for Ozzy. I could do without the title track (featuring Elton John!), See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Somehow, this is both Katatonia at their most pop-oriented… and their most moodiest album since Dead End Kings. The production by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström is as lush and appropriate as ever, with a heightened focus on atmosphere and songwriting. Special shout out to lead single “Lacquer,” which uses electronica in a new (to this band) way to convey something unique, accessible, but oh so doomed. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ The band’s previous album Vector had me worried, but somehow the band correct for past sins here, without abandoning their trademark accessible eccentricity. Indeed, the band continue to wear their influences on their sleeves (Dream Theater, Devin Townsend, Leprous, SikTh, Karnivool, Porcupine Tree, Tool) while also managing to surprise and delight. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is definitely my preferred portion of the now collective 3 hours that make up the Phanerozoic suite. Seemingly more deliberate than Phanerozoic I: Palaezoic, Messrs. Staps et al find novel ways to express their creativity without sacrificing coherence or ferocity. Definitely listen to the whole album, as it looks to map the passage of geologic time, lyrically and musically, over a span of 250 million years… with accompanying genre shifts along the way. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This, finally, is an Enslaved album that I can enjoy without reservation. The pacing is great, bordering on psychic; the blending of styles (black metal, prog, beerhall, Viking, jazz) is tasteful, sensible, and pleasing to the ear. This is a Must Listen for sure, and my favorite Enslaved album ever. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Perhaps the most inscrutable, internally consistent album I’ve heard since The Mars Volta’s Amputechture. The band’s third album introduces a new element to their sound: throughout, there’s now a new sense of Something Gone Wrong here, which really hones the edge of their music’s inventiveness and unpredictability. Give it an honest chance; this album has surprises up its sleeve. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Delicious prog death! BCI’s sound is leaning now more in the prog direction. It’s also the most surgical and precise kind of brütal hëaviness I’ve heard in a long time, maybe ever. It’s quite an achievement. Also, I am loving the split vocal stylings of James Dorton (growls) and Andy Thomas (cleans). See the rest here
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