Album review
Dark Passion Play
Nightwish
Anette Olzon does not need to sound like her predecessor on Dark Passion Play. Her lighter, more pop and rock based voice gives Nightwish a different colour, while the band co…
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Reviews
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Album review
Stasis
Hippotraktor
Stasis puts Hippotraktor's sharp rhythmic playing beside softer guitars and contrasting voices. The Belgian band can make a riff feel heavy through its stops and accents, then…
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Album review
Homey
Chon
Homey brings a bright, relaxed mood to Chon's intricate guitar music. The songs are short enough to stay approachable, even when the playing becomes highly detailed. Clean gui…
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Album review
Infernal Decadence
Spectral Wound
Infernal Decadence shows how much force a familiar approach can retain when the riffs are good enough. Spectral Wound play fast black metal with sharp vocals and little intere…
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Album review
Ours Is Chrome
Superheaven
Ours Is Chrome makes a strong case for a familiar sound. Superheaven take thick, distorted guitars and quiet vocal melodies, then build songs that give both enough room. The p…
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The Angel and the Dark River
My Dying Bride
The Angel and the Dark River leaves the growls behind without making My Dying Bride's music lighter. Aaron Stainthorpe sings cleanly, low and often with obvious strain. Around…
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Album review
Meridian
Hippotraktor
Meridian makes a strong case for heavy progressive music that still gives listeners a clear way into the songs. Hippotraktor use tightly controlled rhythms, thick guitar parts…
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Album review
Kodama
Alcest
Kodama brings a strong sense of movement to Alcest's mixture of soft melody and heavy guitar. The French duo allow the quieter music to develop at its own pace, while harsh vo…
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Album review
Breezin'
George Benson
Breezin' makes George Benson easy to follow. His guitar is fluid, the rhythms have a clear groove and strings provide a soft setting. That approachable sound leaves room for h…
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Album review
Nothing More
Nothing More
Nothing More put considerable effort into making their heavy rock sound larger than a simple sequence of riffs and choruses. The guitars are substantial and the hooks clear, b…
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Album review
Youth
Citizen
Youth makes its point with a small set of well-used tools. Citizen bring quiet guitar passages, heavier bursts and Mat Kerekes' exposed singing together in songs that rarely n…
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Album review
Here Be Monsters
Motorpsycho
Here Be Monsters explores a gentler side of Motorpsycho without removing the tension from their music. Warm bass, layered guitars and vocal harmonies create a patient psychede…
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Album review
Melancholy
Shadow of Intent
Melancholy gives Shadow of Intent a huge sound without sacrificing the guitars to the symphonic layers. Riffs keep pulling the songs forwards while keyboards and orchestral te…
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Bronze
Crippled Black Phoenix
Bronze combines substantial guitar riffs with quieter, more theatrical passages. Crippled Black Phoenix give the music a broad sound, using different voices and orchestral col…
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Album review
Day of Reckoning
Pentagram
Day of Reckoning has more drive and variety than Pentagram's dark image might suggest. The band stay close to the blues and hard rock from which doom metal developed. This sti…
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Album review
Sound & Fury
Sturgill Simpson
Sound & Fury puts distorted guitars and synthesisers in charge of Sturgill Simpson's music. The country voice remains recognisable, but the setting is a loud mixture of hard r…
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Album review
Trash Generator
Tera Melos
Trash Generator gives Tera Melos' restless playing a clear overall shape. The guitars still move in unexpected directions, the rhythms keep changing and the sounds remain unus…
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Album review
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam's self-titled album brings their harder rock playing into a more direct sequence of songs. There is less room for unusual detours, and the guitars stay close to the …
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Album review
Pawns & Kings
Alter Bridge
Pawns & Kings puts Alter Bridge's heavier guitar playing firmly in the foreground. The melodies remain broad and the singing highly expressive, but the riffs give the record a…
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Album review
Revolution
Miranda Lambert
Revolution gives Miranda Lambert's country songs a large, rough guitar sound. The drums hit hard, the louder arrangements can become crowded and her voice has plenty of force.…
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Album review
Hour Of The Nightingale
Trees of Eternity
Aleah Stanbridge does not need to raise her voice to carry this music. On Hour of the Nightingale she sings softly and clearly while heavy, slow guitars move around her. Trees…
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Album review
Heavy Load Blues
Gov't Mule
Heavy Load Blues makes a strong case for letting Gov't Mule work within a narrower frame. The band have always carried blues through their rock music, but this set puts the st…
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Album review
Kingfish
Christone "Kingfish" Ingram
Kingfish introduces Christone “Kingfish” Ingram as a blues musician with more to offer than a quick display of guitar speed. His debut has plenty of strong playing, but the so…
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Album review
Visions
Haken
Visions asks for a considerable amount of time, then makes a good case for taking it. Haken's second album is full of long songs, changing rhythms and detailed instrumental pl…
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