Todd La Torre — Rejoice In The Suffering
✦✦✧✧ This is an adequate showcase for a Queensrÿche lead vocalist. Aside from that, there’s not a lot to get excited about here. See the rest here
First Listens With Two-Star Ratings
Rivers of Nihil — The Work
✦✦✧✧ Ambitious and genre-defying, for good and for ill. RON are continuing their evolution from techdeath into full-on progressive high-concept auteurs. Without an outside editorial voice to help them keep focus, the resulting album feels uneven when taken as a whole. There are stellar moments here and there, and then there are moments that aren’t bad, but certainly feel like a setup to something else. See the rest here
Cynic — Ascension Codes
✦✦✧✧ Moody, jazzy, unique… undeniably Cynic. Also, very navelgazey, twice as long as it needs to be, and (you had to know this was coming) barely metal. Seriously, this is in some ways pathologically anti- metal. Like, any time Paul Masvidal starts getting close to groove or a riff, the band has to stop, change the tempo and cut the volume. See the rest here
The Armed — Ultrapop
✦✦✧✧ Former Arsies winners The Armed return with yet another slab of performance art (noise) that is about as metal as The Mars Volta or Boris, which is to say: tangentially. Still, Ultrapop hits my ears as subjectively more interesting than its predecessor Only Love. Pitchfork loves this album, so there’s that. See the rest here
Ice Nine Kills — Welcome To Horrorwood
✦✦✧✧ I like the idea of a metal album inspired by a collection of horror flicks (Child’s Play, Hellraiser, Candyman) as much as the next guy. And I have a surprisingly high tolerance for radio-friendly melodic metalcore. Together, they feel at odds with each other, the music’s J-Pop tendencies clashing with and belying the subject matter’s demands for gross heaviness. See the rest here
Der Weg einer Freiheit — Noktvrn
✦✦✧✧ A weirdly accessible and effectively moody album from this well-beloved German black metal band, Noktvrn introduces experimental elements with mixed results. Even with their misfires, it’s a compelling album worth listening to. See the rest here
Jinjer — Wallflowers
✦✦✧✧ All of the trademarks you’d come to expect from this Ukrainian quartet are still here: the chaotic changeups, ferocious riffs, adept performances. But there aren’t many memorable moments, as opposed to the genre-shaking hits from Micro and Macro. See the rest here
Iron Maiden — Senjutsu
✦✦✧✧ I was going to come right out and heap praise on Bruce’s vocals, but honestly everyone sounds great here. Not a single member of the band are phoning it in. That said, 80 minutes is a big investment in an album that doesn’t offer many iconic moments or hooks. Also, is it a concept album about board games? See the rest here
Carcass — Torn Arteries
✦✦✧✧ Torn Arteries is fun enough, and yet it feels like a slight step downward from the more entertaining 2020 EP Despicable. All the elements you’d hope for are here: the dual vocals of Bill Steer and Jeff Walker, the deft guitars and rumbling bass, the clever riff salad. But there’s a laidbackness to the whole album, a simmer that never quite progresses to a full boil. See the rest here
Twelve Foot Ninja — Vengeance
✦✦✧✧ This is an ambitious yet ultimately upsetting album. I generally admire bands who make a practice of blending disparate styles together, although in retrospect the unspoken aim is usually for some kind of cohesion. Here, it feels more like self-indulgent whiplash for abuse’s sake, like a meaner Mr. Bungle. The music defies the listener to settle into any particular mood. See the rest here
