✦✦✧✧ Crowbar’s founder and frontman finally puts out a solo album, to… free himself of the shackles of accessibility? I kid, because this is actually a really interesting and cohesive album that’s more experimental and emotionally well-rounded than you might expected, coming from a sludge standardbearer. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Be careful what you wish for: Seminar IX does indeed have less noise-filler and more musical content, but the songs here are not as solid as the ones on Seminar IX. It also feels less like OMG and more like, well, Mutoid Man or Cave-In, frankly. I can respect the band’s commitment to underdeveloped song ideas; it’s just not for me. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Seemingly reusing the same template that they used for The Ape Of God, OMG released a pair of companion EPs last week. Seminar VIII (the first of the pair) is both surprisingly listenable and excruciatingly tedious, with winsome songs bookended unnecessarily by noise that doesn’t seem particularly connected to the music. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Fairly standard fare for this deathcore outfit. If you were already into them, you should be relieved to know that this is a marked improvement from their previous album. If you’re not already into them, I doubt this would sway you, though. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ I was prepared to thoroughly hate this, give FFDP’s most recent missteps. But this groove metal album is the least offensive thing the band has made in years! It’s too manicured to evoke real rage, but it’s appropriately big and epic, albeit overlong. Give it a shot, I say; you might be surprised! See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ It’s not fair to label something as rethrash when it comes from a 34-year-old thrash band, but the polish and crispness here definitely feels like it. If you’re in the mood for old-style thrash with a modern sheen, you may get a kick out of this. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This reminds me of that Roadrunner United album that came out in 2008. Not only is it full of uninspired songs as platforms for guest musicians, but the kind of metal here also feels at least 15 years past its prime. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ A clearly rëenergized Sep come out with an album that is paradoxically less exciting than its predecessor, “Machine Messiah” (and I’m not just saying that because I’m an unrepentant Yes fan). Hints of “A-Lex” and “Kairos” abound here, as well as the band’s lifelong devotion to their punk forebears. Also, the production is oddly mushy, and bums me out (a band this established and influential deserves a better mix; that it came from Jens Bogren is mystifying). See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Merry Christmas! I got you a present… assuming of course that you are a fan of cacophonous, shrill, self-indulgent lunacy. Liturgy’s avant-black-metal is tempered here with digital frippery and all manner of orchestral instruments (sampled or otherwise) that have no business near an amplifier. This album is just begging me to give it a 1-star review. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Black metal meets stoner metal meets industrial? I guess that sounds like a good idea on paper. See the rest here
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