Album review
Blackbird
Alter Bridge
The title track on Blackbird is almost eight minutes long. Alter Bridge use that space well: a gentle opening, a chorus with real emotional weight and a pair of guitar solos t…
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Reviews
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Album review
Clarity
Jimmy Eat World
Clarity begins quietly enough to make you lean towards it. An organ tone, measured drums and the gradual arrival of voices give Table for Glasses a sense of careful attention.…
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Album review
Om hundrede år
Afsky
Om hundrede år lets Afsky do more with black metal than express anger. The raw voice and fast guitars remain fierce, but the melodies also offer warmth and sadness. Ole Luk's …
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Album review
Highly Irresponsible
Better Lovers
Highly Irresponsible makes a strong case for familiar musicians finding a useful new combination. Better Lovers bring abrasive hardcore riffs, active drums and Greg Puciato's …
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Album review
The Joy of Motion
Animals as Leaders
The groove in Physical Education gives The Joy of Motion an immediate point of entry. Animals as Leaders make the guitar feel percussive without losing its melodic role, using…
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Album review
Funeral Sanctum
Witch Vomit
The melodies on Funeral Sanctum matter almost as much as the heavy riffs. Witch Vomit stick with deep growls, rattling drums and the rough sound of old-school death metal, but…
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Album review
Dark Matter
Pearl Jam
The drums make the first argument on Dark Matter. Matt Cameron gives the title track a hard, forward push, and the guitars answer with the sort of riff that seems designed to …
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Album review
No Place Like Home
Badflower
Badflower are most interesting when the uncomfortable details make it into the song. No Place Like Home has plenty of those details: grief, imagined escapes, family fears and …
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Album review
Past Lives
Against the Current
The clearest decision on Past Lives is to put Chrissy Costanza's voice at the center. Against the Current lean into synthesizers, programmed rhythms and the clean shapes of po…
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Album review
Slowdive
Slowdive
The songs remain clearly visible between the guitar layers on Slowdive. The band lets sounds linger while giving bass, drums and voices enough space of their own. That makes t…
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Album review
The Shape of Colour
Intervals
Aaron Marshall gives the guitar a clear speaking voice on The Shape of Colour. The melodies are bright and direct, while the faster passages extend their character instead of …
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Album review
Love, Fear and the Time Machine
Riverside
Riverside give their melodies an unusually clear view on Love, Fear and the Time Machine. The guitars retain their expressive detail, but Mariusz Duda's voice carries more of …
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Album review
Hidden History of the Human Race
Blood Incantation
Hidden History of the Human Race fulfils its large ambitions through music that also works in smaller details. The riffs are heavy and active, the drums keep surprising, and m…
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Album review
God of Angels Trust
Volbeat
Volbeat sound willing to disturb their own routine on God of Angels Trust. The familiar melodies are still there, and Michael Poulsen remains impossible to mistake for anyone …
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Album review
This Is How the World Ends
Badflower
The quiet opening of This Is How the World Ends gives Badflower room to sound uncertain before the volume arrives. “Adolescent Love” uses an acoustic setting and a restrained …
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Album review
Countdown to Extinction
Megadeth
The strongest riffs on Countdown to Extinction do not need many notes to leave a mark. Megadeth simplify their arrangements, put the choruses closer to the front and let the r…
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Album review
Drive
Béla Fleck
Drive places Béla Fleck within a strong acoustic ensemble. His banjo sits among mandolin, dobro, guitar, bass and fiddles. The music connects traditional bluegrass with carefu…
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Album review
Forest of Equilibrium
Cathedral
Forest of Equilibrium makes slowness uncomfortable. Cathedral are not playing relaxed music that happens to be heavy. The guitars drag, the drums seem to arrive from a distanc…
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Album review
A Crow Left of the Murder...
Incubus
Megalomaniac gives A Crow Left of the Murder... a restless opening. Its shift into a hard guitar song feels confrontational, and Brandon Boyd uses a sharper edge in his voice …
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Album review
Throwing Copper
Live
Ed Kowalczyk rarely sounds half-interested in anything on Throwing Copper. A quiet verse can suddenly turn into a full vocal outburst, and even the gentler songs seem to be re…
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Album review
Arabia Mountain
Black Lips
Arabia Mountain makes the Black Lips' songs easier to see. Drums have more force, guitars sound clearer, and voices come further forward. Production tidies up without putting …
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Album review
Feeding the Wolves
10 Years
Feeding the Wolves aims straight at the chorus. 10 Years give the guitars a cleaner punch, tighten the arrangements and keep Jesse Hasek's voice close to the front. The approa…
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Album review
Exclamation
Chin Up!
Chin Up! describe themselves as "a positive-pop-punk band". I'm not entirely sure about the pop-part, but it's definitely punk. They say: "We're all about spreading positivity…
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Album review
Handmade Cities
Plini
A short clean guitar pattern opens Electric Sunrise, and Plini quickly makes it feel like the beginning of a larger place. The rhythm has an uneven turn, but the melody remain…
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