Deep Purple — Infinite
✦✦✧✧ Crisp and clean swagger-rock, aged like a fine British wine. And yet, I cannot ignore the fact that this feels a whole lot like Spinal Tap’s “Break Like The Wind.” See the rest here
First Listens With Two-Star Ratings
Warbringer — Woe to the Vanquished
✦✦✧✧ Sweet neo-thrash from Southern California. Very Municipal Wastey, with just a hint of Andrew W.K. added for flavor. See the rest here
Mastodon — Emperor Of Sand
✦✦✧✧ What the hell is this.
No, really. What the actual fuck.
Hm. Okay, that’s more like it. Now if only they can… OH COME ON! See the rest here
Pallbearer — Heartless
✦✦✧✧ Not quite as compelling or driven as their previous brand of doom metal, this album shows the band seeming to be more content wallowing in the moments they’re creating. Compared to the delicate tightrope act of “Foundations Of Burden,” here the band bring in their ambitious arms, and are tripped up a bit by their own gravity, like a spinning top turning a bit too slowly to keep itself upright. See the rest here
Telekinetic Yeti — Abominable
✦✦✧✧ Stoney sludgecore by the numbers. I’d try to pull similar sounding bands for reference, but this kind of music is impossible to fingerprint. That said, if this is your itch, you’ll likely be quite satisfied. See the rest here
Steel Panther — Lower the Bar
✦✦✧✧ Well, it does what it says on the box, at least. Everything feels a bit too much on the nose, even for Steel Panther. And a bit more tired. And their careerlong pastiche work is now full-blown “borrowing.” See the rest here
Obituary — Obituary
✦✦✧✧ This is definitely a step in the right direction (away from 2014’s “Inked In Blood”). There’s no new ground to break here, but if you’re cozy with good old-fashioned death metal, you’ll be sated by this. It’s great to hear Terry Butler’s rumbling bass (and that Spiritual Healing vibe is definitely welcome here). See the rest here
Power Trip — Nightmare Logic
✦✦✧✧ This album is a faithful paean to mid-80s Metal Blade thrash. ‘Nuff said. See the rest here
John 5 And The Creatures — Season Of The Witch
✦✦✧✧ This is one goofy but well-intentioned shredfest that harkens back to the simpler times of Shrapnel Records and endless solos. The album is as much bluegrass as it is rock or metal, and definitely more Satriani or Stu Hamm than Marilyn Manson or Rob Zombie. On the whole, this is music designed to be heard and wowed over, if not actually listened to for any reason not related to guitarwankery. See the rest here
Suicide Silence — Suicide Silence
✦✦✧✧ This album, from a dyed-in-the-wool metalcore, is surprisingly nü-metallic. Eddie Hermida and the band sound like Jonathan Davis & Co. half the time. (The other times, they sound more like Slipknot.) But the riffs and rhythms are sufficiently blow-out-your-speakers mean to not dismiss the album outright. Mostly, this feels like a band having a hard time moving in a unified direction. See the rest here
