✦✦✧✧ Good news: Stray From The Path no longer sound just like a RATM clone! Bad news: they sound a little more like Limp Bizkit now. At least Drew York’s lyrical message is moderately less juvenile than that of Mr. Durst. And the band’s energy is undeniable. All in all, an enjoyable if nostalgic way to spend half an hour. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is at least more interesting than the band’s previous effort, “Emperor Of Sand.” By now, Mastodon have tunneled straight through their own Baroness ambitions, only to emerge in some alien post-metal proto-folkrock nowhere of their own making. So, you know, kudos for sounding unlike anything else. I’m just not entirely sure I dig it. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Exactly what you’d expect: Gothenberg-ish metal with an operatic female vocalist that hits all the checkboxes, yet still fails to effectively inspire. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ After a downright Otep-like opening, this album settles into an uninspired, wanky power metal mode that bears a vague resemblance to Arch Enemy albums of old. The band can still shred from time to time (and how could they not, with Jeff Loomis joining Mike Amott), but for the most part it sounds like they’re making sure this’ll sound good in the arenas that they’re filling up on the road. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Pathologically bombastic as always, although the extreme metal and symphonic passages are less disjointed on this album than they were on “Titan.” There are pleasant attempts here to push the band’s own envelope of creativity and experimentation, and Logan Mader’s production wisely emphasizes the actual band’s performances more than it did last time out. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Consistency seems to be the name of the game for this Brooklyn trio, and their latest slab of instrumental shoegaze metal can boast the same feats and fumbles as last time. This is engrossing and effectively moody, like the best parts of Isis and Deafheaven. At the same time, one gets the sense from the beginning that this isn’t stuff that’ll easily come to mind when the music stops. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Typically, one doesn’t listen to TAIM for subtlety, or innovation, or expansion of the genre. One listens when in need of a good beating. Well, on this album the Australian deathcore quintet give you that brütality in spades, and they successfully throw in just a little innovation to boot. Still, you can depend on blast beats and breakdowns to carry you through this frenetic fusillade. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is a thoroughly solid speed metal/melodeath album, with tasty riffs throughout, and top-notch shredding by everyone in the band (who, it should be stated, are the same people behind Dethklok). That said… while this could be thought of as an unlicensed Dethklok album (at least according to Brendon Small and Gene Hoglan), the name isn’t the only thing missing from this album. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ An old fashioned slab of music that splits its time between deathy thrash and energetic stoner metal, like a bunch of Slayer B-sides as if hastily mixed by Joe Barresi. The title track reminds me of a sloppier Slipknot. But I’m not harshing on this album with any real malice; it’s a fun enough time, in a barroom-brawler way. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ I’m sure there are great ways to avoid having Dead Cross sound like “Mike Patton, Dave Lombardo, and two other dudes.” This album, however, is not one of them. See the rest here
This work by Metalligentsia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.