Album review
Toxicity
System of a Down
Toxicity can change direction several times inside a short song and still leave you with a tune to remember. That balance is its great achievement. System of a Down makes stra…
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Reviews
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Album review
For All the Innocence
LITE
For All the Innocence sends LITE's restless guitar music in a different direction. Electronics become a much stronger presence, while the rhythms more often maintain a clear d…
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Album review
Above Cirrus
Pure Reason Revolution
Phantoms puts an unusually large amount of Pure Reason Revolution into a short space. An electronic pulse, close vocal harmonies and a sudden increase in guitar force all have…
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Album review
Riot!
Paramore
Hayley Williams gives Riot! a voice that can move from a sharp accusation to an open, soaring melody without losing its character. Paramore build the songs to meet that range.…
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Album review
ArmaHeaven
Smash Into Pieces
Smash Into Pieces have built quite a world around their music. ArmaHeaven continues its story of digital conflict and survival, but the songs don't require homework. The band …
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Album review
Seasons in the Abyss
Slayer
Seasons in the Abyss gives Slayer's different approaches enough room to strengthen each other. Fast songs sound more frantic beside the slower material, and the patient tracks…
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Album review
King Animal
Soundgarden
Been Away Too Long is a fairly blunt title for an opening song. Fortunately, Soundgarden play it with enough force to make the announcement useful. King Animal begins briskly,…
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Album review
Billy Talent II
Billy Talent
There is nothing tentative about Devil in a Midnight Mass. The opening song on Billy Talent II puts a tense guitar figure beside Ben Kowalewicz's sharp vocal, then makes the c…
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Album review
Spring Island
Delta Sleep
On Spring Island, Delta Sleep sound less eager to explore every possible direction within a song. The guitars still move around each other and the rhythms are full of small ch…
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Album review
Necropalace
Worm
Worm have never seemed especially interested in keeping things modest. Necropalace takes that approach and gives it an even bigger budget for keyboards, guitar solos and gener…
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Album review
As Daylight Dies
Killswitch Engage
The melody in As Daylight Dies is built into the guitars before Howard Jones begins to sing. Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel use bright, sustained lines around the heavier …
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Album review
Shake Hands With Shorty
North Mississippi Allstars
Shake Hands With Shorty gives old blues a lively and forceful new setting. North Mississippi Allstars make the roots clear, but treat the songs as material with plenty of poss…
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Album review
Misplaced Childhood
Marillion
Misplaced Childhood moves through regret as if one memory keeps opening the door to another. Marillion connect compact songs and longer sequences into two continuous sides, gi…
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Album review
We Are the Tide
Blind Pilot
We Are the Tide gains much of its character from knowing when the whole band should enter. Blind Pilot have a wide selection of acoustic instruments and warm supporting voices…
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Album review
Superunknown
Soundgarden
Black Hole Sun is an odd song to become a huge hit. The tune is inviting, the mood is deeply wrong, and Chris Cornell sounds perfectly at home in the middle of it. That combin…
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Album review
About Farewell
Alela Diane
About Farewell looks back on a relationship without turning every song into a confrontation. Alela Diane keeps her voice calm and the backing uncluttered. Acoustic guitar, pia…
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Album review
Iowa
Slipknot
Iowa makes Slipknot's aggression feel heavy before it feels fast. The guitars have a dense, low sound, the percussion occupies nearly every available gap, and Corey Taylor's v…
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Album review
The Unknown
The Vision Bleak
The Unknown uses The Vision Bleak's dark sound for a more personal kind of unrest. The German duo retain their deep singing, heavy guitars and theatrical arrangements while pl…
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Album review
Dust
Screaming Trees
Halo of Ashes has the weight of a hard-rock song and the movement of something far stranger. The guitars circle rather than simply charge, while Mark Lanegan gives the melody …
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Album review
Siren Song of the Counter Culture
Rise Against
Tim McIlrath has a voice that can make a simple melody sound like a difficult decision. On Siren Song of the Counter Culture, Rise Against use that tension to connect fast pun…
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Album review
Our Raw Heart
YOB
Our Raw Heart presents two of YOB's strongest sides. The guitars can push forwards with rough, slow weight, while melodies also have room to open the music out. Mike Scheidt's…
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Album review
Dust
Tremonti
Dust combines fast, substantial guitar playing with a more assured melodic voice. Tremonti keep the heavier attack close to the broad choruses, giving the music a clear appeal…
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Album review
Cartoon Darkness
Amyl and the Sniffers
Amy Taylor has no interest in making her point politely. "Jerkin'" opens Cartoon Darkness with insults and enough force to make the album's position clear: Amyl And The Sniffe…
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Album review
Time In Place
Mike Stern
Time In Place gives Mike Stern's electric guitar a strong connection to melody and composition. The sound has the force of rock, but the lines remain shaped by jazz. Saxophone…
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