Album review
Terminal
Bongripper
Terminal remains extremely heavy, but Bongripper use their time more purposefully here. The instrumental music develops slowly and allows guitars to ring out. A clear movement…
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Reviews
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Album review
Explosions
Three Days Grace
Explosions keeps Three Days Grace's direct guitar rock intact while making more room for changes of mood. The strongest songs pair forceful playing with a clear melody, and Ma…
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Album review
One Day Remains
Alter Bridge
Myles Kennedy's voice gives One Day Remains a different kind of lift. He can rise above a heavy guitar part without making the song feel strained, and that ability changes the…
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Album review
Supercharged
The Offspring
Supercharged is a fairly sensible name for an Offspring record. It suggests speed, loud guitars and very little need to check the instruction manual. The band deliver plenty o…
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Album review
Worry.
Jeff Rosenstock
Worry. understands how quickly a good night can turn into an inventory of everything that might go wrong. Jeff Rosenstock writes about that mental change with humor, irritatio…
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Album review
EndEx
3TEETH
EndEx gives 3TEETH more room to work with tension. Heavy guitars and mechanical rhythms remain central, but the band also use quieter passages, changing vocal approaches and p…
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Album review
The Gallery
Dark Tranquillity
The Gallery keeps changing the relationship between its melodies and its aggression. Dark Tranquillity allows a song to move through several distinct feelings, with the guitar…
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Album review
Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch
Our Lady Peace
The rhythm section makes Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch more interesting than its familiar guitar sound first suggests. Duncan Coutts' bass and Jeremy Taggart's…
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Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
Return to Forever
Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy gives Return To Forever a harder, more electric sound. Chick Corea's keyboards remain central, but Bill Connors' guitar adds a rough edge that pulls…
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Album review
Here Be Dragons
Avantasia
Tobias Sammet has never needed much encouragement to make a song bigger. Here Be Dragons continues Avantasia's combination of power metal, theatrical rock and guest singers, w…
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Album review
Life's Not Out to Get You
Neck Deep
Life's Not Out to Get You is at its best when encouragement becomes a physical thing. The drums push, the guitar parts spring upward, and Ben Barlow throws himself into chorus…
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Album review
The Black Halo
Kamelot
The Black Halo opens with a threat that Kamelot maintain effectively across the record. March Of Mephisto builds slowly and heavily, with rough guest vocals adding another sou…
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Album review
The Jester Race
In Flames
Moonshield opens The Jester Race with an acoustic melody that remains important after the heavier instruments arrive. The contrast establishes In Flames' central strength: the…
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Album review
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
Dream Theater
Scenes from a Memory works best as a continuous musical drama. Dream Theater give recurring ideas different emotional settings, allowing an instrumental phrase to carry a memo…
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Album review
Temple of the Dog
Temple of the Dog
Hunger Strike is a fine reason to find this album. Chris Cornell's higher voice and Eddie Vedder's lower register fit together so naturally that the duet can feel obvious, eve…
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Album review
Bloody Kisses
Type O Negative
Bloody Kisses makes heavy music strikingly melodic. Type O Negative combine slow, distorted guitars with keyboards and choruses that sit closer to pop than the dark presentati…
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Album review
Hit Me Hard and Soft
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish's Hit Me Hard and Soft is like catching up with an old friend who's finally learned how to wear heels without wobbling. It's polished, mature, and quietly sophis…
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Album review
Morbid Stuff
PUP
“Scorpion Hill” gives Morbid Stuff its strongest argument. The song follows a life coming apart after the loss of a job, moving from an almost companionable opening into somet…
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Album review
Lost Forever // Lost Together
Architects
Lost Forever // Lost Together puts a clear voice at the center of complicated rhythmic music. Sam Carter's scream often carries a recognizable melodic contour, giving the list…
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Album review
Blood Offerings
Necrot
Blood Offerings keeps its approach clear: heavy riffs, a firm groove and a voice which leaves little room for doubt. Necrot play death metal with few decorations, but that nev…
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Album review
Parasites & Butterflies
Nova Twins
Georgia South gets an extraordinary range of sounds out of a bass guitar. On Parasites & Butterflies, those sounds help Nova Twins move between heavy rock, dance rhythms and s…
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Album review
Kaleidoscope
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Kaleidoscope broadens Siouxsie and the Banshees’ sound while keeping its uneasy character. The music is often lighter and more melodic than before, with keyboards and carefull…
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Album review
Deadwing
Porcupine Tree
Deadwing gives its quieter songs as much authority as its heavy ones. Lazarus does not feel like a pause inserted between guitar workouts. Its melody and delicate setting prov…
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Album review
I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It
The 1975
The long title is an honest indication of how much space The 1975 intend to take. I Like It When You Sleep is full of sharp funk-pop songs, slow electronic passages and unusua…
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