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
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
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
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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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
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
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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Album review
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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Album review
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
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
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 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
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
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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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
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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