✦✦✦✧ Don’t be fooled by the album’s decidedly weak first minute: In Flames shred all over the place on this one. The band are no fools when it comes to delivering what their fans want, and “I, The Mask” is another in the unbroken line of the metal primacy of Gothenburg, may it never fade. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Welcome back to the Three Star club, boys! The band step back toward a sound reminiscent of “The Harvest Wombs” or “The Flesh Prevails”, and thankfully away from “Dreamless”‘s trancepop leanings. This is still atmospheric and moody, but also aggressive as it is technical. New singer Antonio Palermo brings a screechier clarity to the proceedings, which I think works well for the music here. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is just like Dream Theater, except better in virtually every way. That is to say, the cheese is the same, but the vocals and keyboards are a smidge more restrained. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This tech death band sound like… a lot of other tech death bands. That’s not to say they sound derivative; rather, you can hear a staggering number of influences in their sound. It’s truly impressive how much this band can cram into songs that don’t spill into 10-plus-minute territory. On the other hand, good luck trying to headbang in time to the music! See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is some very good prog metal. The band’s early influences-on-their-sleeves approach is more subdued here (although you can still hear glimmers of Tool, Opeth, and even latter-day Pink Floyd in the mix), and the result is patient yet plaintive, and more surefooted than ever. My main complaint? It’s a hard kind of music to get excited about. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Soilwork continue their explorations beyond their own formulaic confines which started with The Ride Majestic. The result is fresher, more lyrical, and surprisingly subtle for these melodeath champions of consistency. Definitely worth at least one listen. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ Ukrainian djenty nu metal! That’s likely to evoke a bad reaction, but if you can look past your preconceptions, you’ll be left with a unique (and, at times, surprisingly heavy) EP that reminds me a bit of Torrential Downpour, Mudvayne, and SikTh. Tatiana Shmailyuk’s clean vocals work more often than not, but her gross vox are always great. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ A particularly nasty bit of blackened death, this debut from a trio out of Idaho packs a lot of interesting riffage and punishment into its scant 35 minutes. It’s noisy and devastating, but beneath that offputting veneer lays a progressive beast of an album. Production values may hurt the band here, but either way I’m going to be keeping my eyes open for them in the future. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ This is a really interesting slab of avant-garde grindy blackened deathy metal, reminiscent of Gorguts, Artificial Brain, Torrential Downpour, and Kronos Quartet. It’s insanely ambitious and highly inventive. The album loses points for its uneven production, however. While this is certainly not for everyone, if you’re the kind of metalhead who also likes jazz, this is a must-listen for you. See the rest here
✦✦✦✧ A nicely balanced bit of retro death metal, with touches of grindcore and… Converge? See the rest here
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