Album review
Sweet Oblivion
Screaming Trees
Mark Lanegan's voice is the first good reason to spend time with Sweet Oblivion. Rough, low and slightly worn, it gives even the most direct songs a sense that something has a…
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Reviews
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Album review
Fantastic Planet
Failure
Fantastic Planet makes its connections count. The short instrumental links, the recurring sounds and the way a song's atmosphere carries into the next all encourage a complete…
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Album review
A N D
tricot
A N D gives tricot's restless guitars a little more room. The bass sounds rounded, the drums pay attention to detail, and the production brings the different parts forward cle…
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Album review
How Did We Get So Dark?
Royal Blood
How Did We Get So Dark? is at its best when Royal Blood make their groove more flexible. The bass-and-drum attack remains the foundation, but harmonies, keyboards and changes …
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Album review
What Burns Never Returns
Don Caballero
Don Caballero make complicated music feel surprisingly loose on What Burns Never Returns. Guitars repeat short figures, drums keep changing direction and the bass has more to …
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Album review
S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
Incubus
The bass gets as much room to lead as the guitar on S.C.I.E.N.C.E. That is a large part of the album's appeal. Incubus make heavy music with a flexible centre, allowing the rh…
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Album review
The Way
Dorothy
Dorothy Martin has a voice that can make a fairly ordinary rock arrangement feel like an event. The Way gives her plenty of opportunities to do that. The guitars are large, th…
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Blood Mountain
Mastodon
There is very little level ground on Blood Mountain. Mastodon keep moving between fast metal, heavy grooves and stranger, more open passages, with each change introducing a di…
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The 1975
The 1975
The 1975's debut is very good at making uncertainty sound expensive. Drums land with a large, clear impact, synthesizers fill out the atmosphere, and guitar figures remain bri…
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Album review
Firepower
Judas Priest
Firepower gets considerable value from clear decisions. Judas Priest keep the songs focused, place the guitars firmly in front and give Rob Halford strong melodies to carry. T…
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Album review
Is This It
The Strokes
Is This It sounds relaxed, but its parts fit together with impressive care. The two guitars support each other, the rhythm section keeps the songs moving, and Julian Casablanc…
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Album review
Make Yourself
Incubus
Drive gives a slightly misleading first impression of Make Yourself. It is a good song, with an acoustic guitar part and a strong, direct vocal from Brandon Boyd, but Incubus …
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Album review
Gold Cobra
Limp Bizkit
Gold Cobra returns Limp Bizkit to their familiar combination of heavy riffs, hip-hop rhythms and Fred Durst's challenging voice. The band sound notably certain of their playin…
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Album review
obZen
Meshuggah
It is possible to follow the beat on obZen and still feel repeatedly thrown off balance. Meshuggah build guitar patterns that pull against Tomas Haake's steady pulse, making t…
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Album review
The Lurch
Yautja
The Lurch shows how much movement a heavy riff can contain. Yautja combine sludge's low weight with the aggression of hardcore and grindcore, but the rhythmic approach mainly …
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Album review
The Mountain
Haken
Cockroach King gives The Mountain an unmistakable personality. Its close vocal patterns, uneasy humour and sharply changing instrumental parts make Haken sound delighted by th…
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Album review
Vikingligr Veldi
Enslaved
Vikingligr Veldi immediately gives Enslaved a notably broad approach. The guitars and drums have early black metal's aggression, while melodies and keyboards expand the sound.…
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Album review
New Surrender
Anberlin
New Surrender is a confident album with several different ideas about what confidence should sound like. Anberlin can open with an aggressive riff, move into a carefully arran…
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Album review
Invincible Shield
Judas Priest
The opening keyboards on Panic Attack briefly suggest that Judas Priest might have taken a different route. Then the guitars arrive, Rob Halford starts singing, and the situat…
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Album review
Caustic
Primitive Man
Caustic turns heaviness into a setting that is difficult to escape. Primitive Man distort the guitars intensely, keep rhythms low and slow, and place a deep, harsh voice again…
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Album review
Themata
Karnivool
Ian Kenny gives Themata its most useful point of balance. His singing can rise above Karnivool's heavy, tightly patterned guitars without sounding detached from them. The melo…
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Album review
In the Shadow of the Holy Mountain
Blind Pilot
The best songs on In the Shadow of the Holy Mountain find energy through small changes in rhythm and vocal company. Blind Pilot keep their gentle melodic identity, but the arr…
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Album review
Ah Via Musicom
Eric Johnson
Ah Via Musicom makes a strong case for guitar music that puts melody first. Eric Johnson can move through a fast passage with remarkable ease, but he also knows when a simple …
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Album review
Fatalism
Polaris
Fatalism has a forceful guitar sound, but its most effective moments depend on what happens around that weight. Polaris gives melodies enough room to establish themselves, let…
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