✦✦✧✧ The newest incarnation of Katatonia begs a few comparisons to Opeth (“Damnation,” anyone?). More pointedly, any vestiges of metal on this album are largely relegated to the status of ornamentation in service to a pervasively gothy form of prog. Look: props definitely due for the band burrowing deeper into their softer side. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Proving that they are still a band that marches to the beat of their own badly mixed drums, Metallica have filled this (their tenth studio album) with riffs and aggression “inspired” by their thrashier past. This is a welcome departure from the overarching theme of the band’s last few albums: ill-conceived experiments in audio engineering gone wrong. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ There’s a well-considered trajectory lurking within the formulaic confines of this sludgy album, almost bordering on the progressive side. Mostly, the plotted journey is a morose one, meandering awkwardly between Deafheaven and Isis. There are, however, tasty moments throughout that make it a worthwhile listen. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ You know, I don’t hate this! Jamey Jasta’s voice is irritating as always, but the music behind it is more interesting this time around (or at least less repetitive) than on their previous album. Of course, this is notably faint praise, which only gets you so far; in my case, it got me as far as the first 5 tracks. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ I really should stop listening to Opeth. This album is even further removed from progressive metal, and much closer to what I’d expect from Leprous or Ghost. Or the more expositional tediums of Dream Theater. It’s really not until “Will O The Wisp,” fourteen minutes into the album, that the band revisits familiar musical territory. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ There’s nothing complicated or earthshattering here… just good, old-fashioned, material for a good sweaty slamdance. The band are tighter than ever, and even Cyco Miko’s vocals sound a little more polished (but only a little). The album ends illadvisedly with two back-to-back ballads; I’d skip them if I were you. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ The gravitational pull of Wo Fat’s sludge on this album is apparently so immense that apparently the band stoned themselves into self-inflicted dispassion. It gets the job done, but there’s an uncharacteristic so-what familiarity that’s hard to shake. I can definitely imagining hearing this on the P.A. in between sets at a concert; if that’s the aim of the band, they knocked it out of the park. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This album is a vast improvement over the band’s previous album, “Lost Forever // Lost Together.” The excesses of that album have been reigned in, which alone is redemption enough. The production is also a notch better than last time, with the heavy parts really delivering. Admittedly, the cumulative effect can sound at times like a hybrid between TesseracT and Linkin Park. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ It’s melodeath, sounding like a fusion of… just about everything else. Very solidly okay metal. It’s not particularly imaginative or memorable, but it does what it says on the tin. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This album starts off feeling like a less compelling, emotionally vacant synth demo cover of Chimp Scanner. The chiptune stuff is at least different than what I’m used to hearing in our genre (which works, from a metalcore-adjacent standpoint). That said, and I never thought I’d say this: knowing upfront how electronic this work is… just makes the drums’ “virtuosity” feel completely pointless. See the rest here
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