Album review
No Control
Bad Religion
Change of Ideas needs less than a minute to explain much of No Control. The guitars move quickly, the drums are sharp, and Greg Graffin gives a clear melody to words that refu…
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Album review
Days of the New
Days of the New
An acoustic guitar can still sound heavy. Days of the New build their debut around that idea, using repeated riffs, forceful strumming and a low, serious vocal from Travis Mee…
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Album review
You'd Prefer an Astronaut
Hum
The quiet voice inside You'd Prefer an Astronaut makes its enormous guitars feel even larger. Matt Talbott rarely tries to dominate the sound around him. He seems to be speaki…
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Album review
Orc
Thee Oh Sees
Orc lets Thee Oh Sees move in many directions without losing their rhythmic force. Guitars can sound hard and sharp, but organ, synthesizer and longer instrumental passages re…
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Album review
No More Tears
Ozzy Osbourne
There is more reflection in No More Tears than its loud guitars might initially suggest. Ozzy Osbourne still enjoys a big chorus and a theatrical threat, but the record also f…
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Album review
Manipulator
Ty Segall
The acoustic guitars on Manipulator matter as much as the distorted electric parts. Ty Segall keeps setting the two against each other. A softly strummed chord can open the sp…
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Album review
And Then Like Lions
Blind Pilot
Blind Pilot give grief a steady musical setting on And Then Like Lions. Israel Nebeker's writing follows loss without insisting that every song should reach a dramatic conclus…
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private music
Deftones
Deftones have a sound you can recognise very quickly. The low guitars, the space around Chino Moreno's voice, the way a song can feel calm and threatening at the same time. pr…
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Album review
Fear Inoculum
Tool
Fear Inoculum leaves the instruments a great deal of room to speak. Maynard James Keenan often steps back after establishing a song's emotional position, allowing guitar, bass…
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Periphery IV: Hail Stan
Periphery
The emotional directness of It's Only Smiles is one of the most effective surprises on Periphery IV: Hail Stan. Its bright guitar detail and clear vocal melody make an immedia…
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Album review
On the Impossible Past
The Menzingers
The Menzingers understand that remembering a good time can make the present feel worse. On the Impossible Past is full of people looking backwards while their lives continue t…
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Album review
Clandestine
Entombed
Clandestine gives Entombed's heavy death metal more room to move. The rough guitars remain, but the songs rely less on a continuous sprint. Slower riffs, changing structures a…
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Album review
Legacy
Ihlo
Legacy gives Ihlo's progressive metal a clear sense of scale. Heavy guitar patterns sit alongside bright synthesizers and expansive clean singing, with songs that build patien…
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Album review
No Rain, No Flowers
The Black Keys
No Rain, No Flowers is an easy record to spend time with. The Black Keys put warm melodies and steady grooves at the front, with fewer rough edges than some of their earlier w…
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Album review
Where Have I Known You Before
Return to Forever
Where Have I Known You Before makes room for both electric excitement and quieter reflection. Return To Forever introduce guitarist Al Di Meola alongside Chick Corea, Stanley …
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Wasting Light
Foo Fighters
Rope is a good reminder that a Foo Fighters song can be catchy without moving in a straight line. The guitar figure stops and starts, the rhythm keeps its balance and the chor…
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Album review
Koi No Yokan
Deftones
The transition from the quiet opening of Leathers into its full guitar attack is one of the strongest moments on Koi No Yokan. Deftones make the change sudden without making i…
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Album review
Error
The Warning
The bass line that starts “DISCIPLE” tells you plenty about Error. The Warning want these songs to hit hard, but they also want every instrument to have a clear job. Guitar, b…
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Album review
Amaryllis
Shinedown
Amaryllis aims its choruses high and usually gets them there. Shinedown's fourth album gives Brent Smith a large, clear setting, with the guitars, strings and backing parts al…
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Album review
Frogstomp
Silverchair
Silverchair were teenagers when they made Frogstomp, and the record has the confidence of a band who have found a loud guitar sound and would quite like to keep using it. Ther…
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Album review
Ultra Mono
IDLES
Ultra Mono enlarges everything that makes IDLES recognisable. The drums hit hard, the guitars make sharp noise, and Joe Talbot shapes his words into clear slogans. The band pl…
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Album review
Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?
Megadeth
Megadeth sound wonderfully unstable on Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?. The guitars twist through difficult patterns, the drums keep finding extra movement, and Dave Mustaine…
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Album review
水底 Underwater
Elephant Gym
Elephant Gym give their music more sides on 水底 Underwater. The bass remains an important centre, with guitars and drums moving precisely around it. Piano, electronic details a…
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Album review
Pretty. Odd.
Panic! at the Disco
The harmonies on Pretty. Odd. give Panic! at the Disco a different kind of confidence. The band trade much of their electronic urgency for acoustic guitars, orchestral colour …
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