Album review
Around the Fur
Deftones
Abe Cunningham's drums make the heaviness of Around the Fur feel unusually flexible. The snare has a sharp, immediate sound, while the groove keeps moving inside Stephen Carpe…
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Album review
The Sky, the Earth & All Between
Architects
Architects sound determined to get a reaction on The Sky, the Earth & All Between. The heavier songs push hard, the choruses reach for bigger spaces, and Sam Carter moves betw…
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Album review
Self Made Man
Larkin Poe
Self Made Man gives Larkin Poe's blues-based rock a strong melodic outline. Rebecca and Megan Lovell build the songs around clear rhythms, distorted guitars and voices that ca…
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Album review
Coal
Leprous
Coal makes repetition feel unstable. A vocal phrase may return several times while the rhythm beneath it shifts, changing the pressure without replacing the melody. Leprous us…
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Album review
The Empire Strikes First
Bad Religion
Bad Religion sound particularly focused on The Empire Strikes First. The familiar ingredients are all present: quick guitars, clear vocal harmonies and Greg Graffin delivering…
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Album review
All of This Life
The Record Company
All of This Life gives The Record Company's blues rock a fuller sound without losing the simple appeal of the trio. The bass and drums keep the songs moving, while Chris Vos a…
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Album review
The Poison
Bullet for My Valentine
The Poison makes its strongest impression through the guitars. Bullet for My Valentine combines fast, sharply articulated riffs with harmonized leads and vocal melodies that a…
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Album review
Neck Deep
Neck Deep
There is a lot to be said for a band remembering what it does well. Neck Deep's self-titled album gets straight back to fast drums, bright guitars and choruses that do most of…
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Album review
Solid Gold
Gang Of Four
Solid Gold keeps Gang of Four’s sharp edges but gives the rhythm section more weight. The guitar still sounds capable of cutting across a song at any moment. Underneath it, th…
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Album review
O Monolith
Squid
O Monolith gives Squid's unrest more room. The band sound more patient and let their melodies come forward clearly, but the music remains full of unexpected movement. Guitars,…
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Album review
Clumsy
Our Lady Peace
There is a useful contradiction in Clumsy: the songs are easier to follow than Raine Maida's voice is to predict. Our Lady Peace write clear, memorable alternative rock, then …
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Album review
Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional
The Dear Hunter
Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional gives The Dear Hunter's theatrical rock a darker setting without reducing its melodic appeal. Orchestral passages, jazz colours and…
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Album review
Appeal to Reason
Rise Against
Rise Against sound more certain than their songs always justify on Appeal to Reason. The guitars are full, the rhythms are firm, and Tim McIlrath delivers the words with a fam…
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Album review
Decennium
Seven Kingdoms
A large chorus has little value if the music around it offers nothing. Seven Kingdoms understand that on Decennium. The singing is clear and catchy, but the guitars keep the s…
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Album review
Roots
Sepultura
The percussion is the most compelling voice on Roots. Sepultura give the drums enough presence to shape the whole record, while the lowered guitars provide weight and friction…
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Album review
Hex Enduction Hour
The Fall
Hex Enduction Hour makes rhythm the centre of the Fall’s unruly sound. Two drummers give the music unusual weight, while guitars cut across patterns that keep moving beneath t…
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Album review
Tsunami Sea
Spiritbox
Fata Morgana is a fairly blunt way to start an album. Heavy guitars, harsh vocals and very little interest in making a polite entrance. Then Courtney LaPlante switches to clea…
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Album review
Heavy Weather
Weather Report
Birdland makes Heavy Weather welcoming from the start. Joe Zawinul's keyboards, Wayne Shorter's saxophone and Jaco Pastorius' bass each have a recognisable role, but the tune …
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Album review
Dissolution
The Pineapple Thief
Dissolution gives The Pineapple Thief's sadness a sharper rhythmic edge. Bruce Soord's voice remains measured, but the instruments underneath it are often restless and insiste…
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Album review
Relatives In Descent
Protomartyr
Relatives In Descent gives Protomartyr’s post-punk more room to move. The playing remains forceful, but the arrangements change shape around Joe Casey’s voice. Greg Ahee’s gui…
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Album review
Division
10 Years
Division gives 10 Years more room to be melodic without removing the tension from their music. Jesse Hasek's voice remains the center, moving between a restrained, uneasy tone…
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Album review
God’s Country
Chat Pile
God's Country finds its threat in familiar things gradually losing their ordinary shape. Chat Pile use heavy grooves, abrasive guitars and a voice constantly moving between sp…
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Album review
Reign in Blood
Slayer
Twenty-nine minutes is enough for Slayer to establish a complete musical identity on Reign in Blood. The songs are short, the attacks arrive quickly and the recording gives ev…
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Album review
X’ed Out
Tera Melos
X’ed Out gives Tera Melos' melodies a firmer shape. The band still uses restless guitar figures and unusual rhythms, but builds more recognizable songs around them. The techni…
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