Mutilation Rites — Harbinger
★★☆☆ Catchy aggressive sludge (with a smidge of noisecore thrown in for good measure), but the utter sameness and duration of the songs make this a hard album to get into. See the rest here
First Listens With Two-Star Ratings
Judas Priest — Redeemer of Souls
★★☆☆ Yep, this is a Priest album, alright. It’s fun, though. Not super special or an instant classic, but I’m not facepalming either. (Although, does it sound to you like Rob’s pipes are a little tired, or is that just me?) Okay then! See the rest here
Corrosion Of Conformity — IX
★★☆☆ The great news about the latest COC album is that their ever-sludge-as-fuck ethic is finally current, thanks almost entirely to the evolving scene around them (and not through any real diligence of their own). As a result, COC sounds more relevant than ever. Alas, there’s a whole lot of familiar self-indulgence on this album as well, not all of it successful or effective. See the rest here
Sabaton — Heroes
★★☆☆ Very middle-of-the-road beerhall metal. It’s fun, but the whole album sounds like you’ve heard it all before… because you have. See the rest here
Skinfather — None Will Mourn
★★☆☆ This is a lovely, gory blend of Entombed and “Scream Bloody Gore.” It does go on a bit monotonously, though… which is impressive for a 9-track, 30-minute album. See the rest here
Trash Talk — No Peace
★★☆☆ Once this short and sweet hardcore album starts out in earnest, you get an affable what-you-see-is-what-you-get slugfest that’s well-produced (for what it is) and generally smileworthy, if not exactly groundbreaking. On that subject, the opening ambient track is a complete red herring that has nothing to do with the rest of the album, and doesn’t serve the band at all. See the rest here
Arch Enemy — War Eternal
★★☆☆ Take heart: Alissa White-Gluz does a great job filling Angela Gossow’s formidable shoes in this, Arch Enemy’s latest album. And the musicianship is likewise bankably excellent from the rest of the band. But the songwriting is so slapdash and uneven that, at first, I was sorely tempted to give this album one star only. See the rest here
Trap Them — Blissfucker
★★☆☆ This grindcore album isn’t bad per se, but it’s definitely hobbled. The good news is that the aggression is definitely in effect throughout, and several songs feature little flourishes that remind me of Brujeria, Slayer, even The Jesus Lizard and Suicidal Tendencies. The bad news is that a lot of this record is mired down by the same old Midas touch of Kurt Ballou, so much so that the tracks often boil down to an epic struggle between forgettable sameness and the band’s ability to rise to distinction. See the rest here
Whitechapel — Our Endless War
★★☆☆ On the one hand, this is a step up for the band from their eponymous 2012 release. The songwriting is an evolution from their deathcore-by-the-numbers approach, at times evoking a Lamb Of God or even a latter-era Carcass. On the other hand, the band do still suffer a lot from large swaths of unmemorable flexing. See the rest here
Son Of Aurelius — Under a Western Sun
★★☆☆ On the one hand, this is a hefty platter of wall-to-wall guitar wankery, with a lot of riffs sounding like they came from the BTBAM playbook. On the other hand, the tracks are so meandering as to make it really difficult to latch on to or remember. A fun enough listen, but not one that’s going to stick with you. See the rest here
