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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Reviews
1631 found · Page 33 of 68
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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Album review
Coda
Novelists
A new singer can change a band quite a bit. On Coda, Camille Contreras gives Novelists a much wider range of options, and they seem happy to use them. There are still heavy ri…
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Album review
American Don
Don Caballero
American Don gives Don Caballero a cleaner guitar sound without making their music simple. Distortion plays a smaller part, leaving more room to hear the separate guitar lines…
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Album review
Ænima
Tool
The bass line in Forty Six & 2 does more than introduce a memorable song. It gives Tool a pattern they can keep turning over, changing the pressure around it while its identit…
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Album review
Our Mother the Mountain
Townes Van Zandt
Our Mother the Mountain places Townes Van Zandt's dark songwriting inside arrangements that can both deepen and distract from it. Strings, flute and other instrumental details…
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Album review
Chuck
Sum 41
Chuck finds Sum 41 taking their heavy music seriously. The guitar parts have more force and definition, and the songs carry a level of anxiety that leaves little room for thei…
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Album review
Issues
Korn
Issues builds a room you might not want to remain inside. Short interludes, low guitar textures and Jonathan Davis's uneasy melodies make the album feel connected even when th…
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Album review
Even in Arcadia
Sleep Token
Sleep Token make it fairly difficult to have a quiet opinion about them. Even in Arcadia is full of big emotions, smooth vocals, electronic beats and sudden heavy guitars. It …
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Album review
Mental Jewelry
Live
The bass tells you quite a lot about Mental Jewelry before Ed Kowalczyk has finished the first verse. Live's debut has a spring in its rhythm that is easy to miss if you know …
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Album review
What Does Anything Mean? Basically
The Chameleons
What Does Anything Mean? Basically gives the Chameleons’ guitars a larger, more heavily treated setting. Keyboards and layers of delay make the music feel enclosed, but the rh…
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Album review
Everyone into Position
Oceansize
Music for a Nurse gives Everyone into Position its most beautiful moment by allowing the guitars to move slowly around a small emotional centre. The voice is part of the atmos…
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Album review
The Strength to Dream
Warning
The Strength to Dream presents a band who have found their character but are still learning how to deliver it. Warning play slow doom metal with few decorations. The guitars h…
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Album review
Ascendancy
Trivium
The guitar melodies on Ascendancy have as much importance as the heavy riffs. Trivium makes fast picking, harmonized leads and broad vocal choruses part of the same musical la…
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Album review
Two Hunters
Wolves in the Throne Room
Two Hunters builds its strength through the difference between calm and full attack. Wolves in the Throne Room brings guitars, drums and keyboards into a broad sound while pre…
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Album review
Break the Cycle
Staind
It's Been Awhile works because Aaron Lewis sounds tired before the chorus has even arrived. The song doesn't need a dramatic explanation of its mood. The acoustic guitar and r…
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Album review
Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave
Witch Vomit
Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave leaves little room for detours. Witch Vomit keep their songs short and give the riffs enough character to work immediately. The album sounds …
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Album review
Of Valleys and Mountains
Pull Down the Sun
Of Valleys and Mountains gives Pull Down the Sun a strong foundation for their progressive metal. The New Zealand band combine heavy, sharply accented riffs with clean singing…
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Album review
Chameleon
Trauma Ray
Chameleon works through the pressure of layered guitars. Trauma Ray build their debut album around a heavy shoegaze sound, with melodies rising through distortion rather than …
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Album review
Mournful Cries
Saint Vitus
Mournful Cries is a short record with heavy moods. Saint Vitus need only six songs to fill the room with distorted chords, firm bass and Wino's worn voice. There is more movem…
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Album review
Dust and Disquiet
Caspian
Dust and Disquiet gives Caspian plenty of room to use their full range. The band move from softly picked guitar to much heavier passages, but the record's appeal goes beyond t…
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Album review
Shades
Doyle Bramhall II
Shades finds Doyle Bramhall II giving his attention to more than guitar alone. The Texas musician combines blues, soul and a touch of psychedelia in carefully arranged songs. …
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Album review
Life in the Wires
Frost*
Frost* give their melodies plenty of space to develop on Life in the Wires. The British band’s fifth album is a long, ambitious double release, with guitar and keyboard solos …
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Album review
Wildlife
La Dispute
Wildlife gives La Dispute's restless post-hardcore a strong narrative focus. Jordan Dreyer moves between spoken delivery and a strained shout, telling stories that connect pri…
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