Album review
The Black Parade
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance approach death with an unusual amount of enthusiasm on The Black Parade. The record contains fear, grief and self-disgust, but the performances are too liv…
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Reviews
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Album review
Skeletá
Ghost
Ghost still dress like the most dangerous band at the party and write choruses that your neighbours could sing. Skeletá leans further into that combination, with Tobias Forge …
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Album review
The Perfect Element, Part I
Pain of Salvation
Daniel Gildenlöw gives The Perfect Element, Part I a voice capable of making an arrangement change direction almost instantly. He can sound confrontational, tender or desperat…
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Album review
Far Beyond Driven
Pantera
Pantera push their harshest instincts further on Far Beyond Driven. The guitar tone is abrasive, the drums strike with very little softness and Phil Anselmo frequently sounds …
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Album review
Sinners Never Sleep
You Me at Six
Sinners Never Sleep is pulled between two appealing versions of You Me at Six. One wants a heavier guitar attack and a more hostile voice. The other trusts Josh Franceschi's m…
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Album review
Applause of a Distant Crowd
VOLA
Ruby Pool is a useful measure of VOLA's confidence on Applause of a Distant Crowd. Piano, gently picked guitar and a clear vocal can carry a complete song without waiting for …
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Album review
Futique
Biffy Clyro
There is something reassuring about Biffy Clyro making a song called Friendshipping. The title is a little awkward, but the feeling behind it is easy to understand. Futique sp…
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Album review
Crack the Skye
Mastodon
The voices provide the clearest route into Crack the Skye. Mastodon build their arrangements around melodic exchanges between Brann Dailor, Troy Sanders and Brent Hinds, givin…
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Album review
The '59 Sound
The Gaslight Anthem
Brian Fallon sings about old songs as though they are people he can still telephone. On The '59 Sound, that attachment gives The Gaslight Anthem's romantic rock a clear emotio…
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Album review
Shangri-La Dee Da
Stone Temple Pilots
Shangri-La Dee Da has enough good melodies to make its occasional uncertainty frustrating. Stone Temple Pilots can still move easily between a bruising riff and a beautifully …
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Album review
Cities
Anberlin
Stephen Christian's voice gives Cities a strong identity before Anberlin start trying anything especially unusual. Clear, high and full of urgency, it can lift a straightforwa…
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Album review
City of Evil
Avenged Sevenfold
City of Evil enjoys the possibilities of a large heavy metal arrangement. Avenged Sevenfold fills its songs with harmonized guitars, busy drums, strong vocal hooks and occasio…
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Album review
OK, I'm Sick
Badflower
OK, I'm Sick makes discomfort difficult to ignore. Badflower bring anxiety, abuse and self-destructive thoughts into songs with clear hooks and a rough alternative-rock sound.…
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Album review
Sound Awake
Karnivool
Sound Awake makes its bass and drums impossible to treat as background. They give Karnivool's songs movement, colour and tension, often providing the part that first catches t…
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Album review
Krushers of the World
Kreator
Kreator have become very good at making thrash metal for large crowds. Krushers of the World has the fast riffs and harsh vocals you'd expect, alongside choruses designed to b…
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Album review
Sundowning
Sleep Token
Sundowning makes its heavy passages wait. Piano, processed beats and Vessel's expressive singing occupy much of the album, allowing the low guitar attacks to arrive as changes…
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Album review
Mister Asylum
Highly Suspect
“Lydia” gives Mister Asylum a strong emotional center. Its verses have a firm groove, but Johnny Stevens makes the chorus sound as though the feeling has become too large for …
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Album review
Yield
Pearl Jam
There is something disarming about Wishlist. A simple guitar figure, a measured vocal and a little patience are enough. Yield does not need Pearl Jam to sound permanently trou…
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Album review
Heaven :x: Hell
Sum 41
Sum 41 divide Heaven :x: Hell into two clear halves. The first goes back to fast, melodic pop-punk. The second gives their heavier influences more space. For a final album, it…
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Album review
Normal Isn’t
Puscifer
Normal Isn’t gives Puscifer’s strange ideas a firm musical base. The trio of Maynard James Keenan, Carina Round and Mat Mitchell bring post-punk, electronic sounds and darker …
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Album review
Red
King Crimson
Red gives heavy music an unusually alert sense of space. King Crimson can make a repeated guitar figure feel enormous, then leave a small sound exposed long enough for it to b…
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Album review
Alien
Northlane
Alien makes electronic sound part of Northlane's weight. Distorted pulses, synthetic rhythms and low guitar notes often occupy the same space, making it difficult to separate …
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Album review
Full Circle
Pennywise
Pennywise do not respond to pain by becoming quieter on Full Circle. The album is fast, forceful and often openly encouraging, with Jim Lindberg singing as though keeping the …
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Album review
Ten
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam went big on their first album. Big guitars, big emotions, big choruses. Ten doesn't spend much time pretending that it would rather be somewhere else. It wants to re…
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