Album review
The Bedlam in Goliath
The Mars Volta
The Bedlam in Goliath starts at full force and rarely lets up. The Mars Volta’s fourth studio album brings its ideas into shorter pieces than the huge suites of earlier record…
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Reviews
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Album review
The Phosphorescent Blues
Punch Brothers
The Phosphorescent Blues does not begin with a brief introduction. Familiarity takes more than ten minutes to develop its ideas. Quiet singing, changing rhythms and detailed e…
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Album review
Only Constant
Gel
Only Constant gets considerable energy from a small amount of space. Gel's hardcore is abrasive and fast, but the songs also have clear rhythmic hooks that make the force feel…
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Album review
Heart of Oak
Anciients
Heart of Oak brings several kinds of heavy guitar music into a convincing whole. Anciients use the drive of stoner rock, the force of sludge and more elaborate progressive arr…
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Album review
Origine
Ancient Bards
Origine lets Ancient Bards build their symphonic power metal firmly around Sara Squadrani's voice. Her singing has strength but can also make a melody smooth and accessible. G…
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Album review
I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven
The Callous Daoboys
The Callous Daoboys have found more room for songs inside their chaos. I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven moves through jagged metalcore, pop melodies, jazz and softer electron…
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Album review
Skinty Fia
Fontaines D.C.
Skinty Fia makes Fontaines D.C.'s sound darker and broader. The guitars more often sit within a haze, the bass draws clear lines, and Grian Chatten uses his voice with greater…
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Album review
The Space
Somali Yacht Club
The Space gives its songs enough room to grow. Across six tracks, Somali Yacht Club combine thick guitar riffs with softer melodies, patient rhythms and vocals that often sit …
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Album review
World Coming Down
Type O Negative
World Coming Down sounds as though Type O Negative have moved their smile further into the background. Guitars and bass are heavily distorted, the pace often falls very low an…
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Album review
Nightroamer
Sarah Shook & the Disarmers
Nightroamer opens Sarah Shook & the Disarmers' country sound towards cleaner rock and pop melodies. The pedal steel and drawling voice still give the music its roots, while pr…
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Album review
They Fear Us
Ithaca
They Fear Us gives Ithaca a wider emotional range without removing the force of their heavier music. Djamila Azzouz's singing is central to that change, moving between fierce …
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Album review
Watching from a Distance
Warning
Watching from a Distance needs no complicated decoration to make a heavy impact. Warning use slow guitars, a controlled rhythm section and a voice which never tries to hide it…
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The Room's Too Cold
The Early November
The Room's Too Cold gives The Early November a wider musical range than a simple sequence of loud guitar songs. Acoustic parts, strings and open arrangements sit beside energe…
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Album review
Jar
Superheaven
Jar makes its heavy guitars feel personal. Superheaven, who originally released the album as Daylight, draw on grunge and alternative rock while keeping the directness of thei…
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Album review
Follow Me Down
Sarah Jarosz
Follow Me Down finds Sarah Jarosz looking beyond her bluegrass foundation. Banjo, mandolin and guitar remain important, but the songs can just as easily move towards folk, pop…
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Album review
Find a Light
Blackberry Smoke
Find a Light moves easily between the harder and gentler sides of Blackberry Smoke. The guitars have weight when the songs need it, but country melody and acoustic playing are…
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Album review
Watch Me Fall
Jay Reatard
Watch Me Fall makes Jay Reatard's melodic side much clearer. Guitar parts gain definition, acoustic sounds move forward and the voice sounds less constantly on edge. The restl…
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Album review
Be Right Here
Blackberry Smoke
Be Right Here gives Blackberry Smoke's familiar sound enough small changes to keep it lively. The songs draw on rock, country and soul, with the guitars sharing space with cle…
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Album review
Here Are the Sonics
The Sonics
Here Are the Sonics makes its point directly. Drums hit hard, guitars sound dirty, and Gerry Roslie sings as though an ordinary voice simply would not be enough. Recognisable …
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Album review
Time & Space
Turnstile
Time & Space gives Turnstile's hardcore a wider range of colours without removing its force. The riffs remain substantial and the rhythms have a strong bounce, but melody and …
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Album review
Weighted Mind
Sierra Hull
Weighted Mind makes a small group of instruments feel like a complete world. Sierra Hull places her voice and mandolin beside Ethan Jodziewicz's double bass, allowing every ch…
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Album review
Apex
Unleash The Archers
The bass and drums give Apex a firm foundation straight away. Above them, Brittney Slayes can let her voice expand without reducing the rest of Unleash The Archers to backing …
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Album review
Teeth Marks
S.G. Goodman
Teeth Marks gives S.G. Goodman's personal writing a broad and sometimes forceful sound. The Kentucky songwriter can sit close to a folk melody or let the guitars become roughe…
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Album review
V
Spock's Beard
V finds Spock's Beard building large arrangements around clear, memorable melodies. Keyboards and guitar move between gentle passages and heavier rock, with an active rhythm s…
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