Album review
Diamond Eyes
Deftones
The title track of Diamond Eyes gives Deftones a clear melodic centre without reducing the weight around it. A low, deliberate guitar figure leaves room for Chino Moreno's voi…
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Reviews
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Album review
Contraband
Velvet Revolver
The bass entrance to Slither is one of Contraband's smartest decisions. It gives the song somewhere to go before the full guitar riff arrives, creating tension that the chorus…
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Album review
Leviathan
Mastodon
Mastodon make the sea feel unstable on Leviathan. The guitars surge forward, the drums move restlessly underneath, and the vocals sound strained by the effort of staying above…
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Album review
The Colour and the Shape
Foo Fighters
Everlong is a very good reason to make an album. Fortunately, The Colour and the Shape has plenty of other reasons too. Foo Fighters' second record takes Dave Grohl's straight…
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Album review
...And Out Come the Wolves
Rancid
Matt Freeman's bass solo in Maxwell Murder is an entertaining way for Rancid to announce that simple punk songs can contain some very busy playing. The opening track races pas…
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Album review
No. 4
Stone Temple Pilots
Down leaves very little doubt about Stone Temple Pilots' intentions on No. 4. The guitar is thick, the rhythm is blunt and Scott Weiland sounds ready to meet both head-on. Yet…
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Album review
Slipknot
Slipknot
There is more going on in Slipknot's self-titled album than its blunt aggression first suggests. Samples scrape across guitar riffs, turntables interrupt the beat, and extra p…
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Album review
Goliath
Exodus
Rob Dukes is back, and Goliath gives him plenty to shout about. Exodus' latest album has the speed, aggressive guitar work and ugly sense of humour that belong with the name. …
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Album review
Dookie
Green Day
The bass line in Longview tells you plenty about Dookie. Green Day can write a simple song without making every part simple. Mike Dirnt slips around the beat, Tré Cool keeps t…
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Album review
The Distance to Here
Live
Live make a fairly clear choice on The Distance to Here: give the melodies more room and let the choruses do their work. The darker guitar atmosphere of Secret Samadhi gives w…
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Album review
Transcendence
Devin Townsend Project
The guitar solo in Failure provides one of the clearest moments on Transcendence. After the dense rhythm and layered singing, its searching phrases create a more exposed emoti…
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Album review
Never Enough
Turnstile
Turnstile don't seem especially worried about where hardcore is supposed to stop. Never Enough has heavy guitars, electronic passages, bright pop melodies and enough changes o…
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Album review
The Sufferer & the Witness
Rise Against
The Sufferer & the Witness gains much of its force from how quickly Rise Against can change the pressure of a song. The band move from restrained verses into racing choruses w…
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Album review
Bubblegum
Mark Lanegan
Hit the City makes a strong case for putting Mark Lanegan's voice somewhere noisy. The organ and guitars supply a rough forward motion, while PJ Harvey's vocal adds a presence…
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Album review
A Thousand Suns
Linkin Park
A Thousand Suns asks to be heard as a sequence. Short passages, sampled speeches and changing electronic textures connect the full songs, making the spaces between them part o…
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Album review
3 Rounds and a Sound
Blind Pilot
3 Rounds and a Sound is a gentle record, but the songs have more purpose than that description might suggest. Blind Pilot work with acoustic guitar, a light rhythmic touch and…
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Album review
I Want to Disappear
The Story So Far
There is hardly a spare second at the start of I Want to Disappear. “All This Time” arrives with a sharp drum attack and Parker Cannon already pushing his voice forward. The S…
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Album review
Naveed
Our Lady Peace
Naveed has a voice that is difficult to mistake for anyone else's. Raine Maida bends and strains his lines, often making a melody feel as though it might suddenly break free o…
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Album review
The Death of Me
Polaris
Pray For Rain begins The Death of Me with an effective sense of anticipation. Echoing guitar notes leave room for Jamie Hails's voice before the rhythm becomes more physical. …
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Album review
The Finer Things
State Champs
Derek DiScanio is the reason The Finer Things rises above a crowded style. He gives State Champs' bright, fast songs a voice that can move from a rough edge to an open melody …
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Album review
The End
Mammoth
Wolfgang Van Halen does a lot on The End. He writes the songs, sings and plays the instruments, including the drums. The impressive part is how rarely the record feels like an…
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Album review
Metal Fatigue
Allan Holdsworth
Metal Fatigue combines a hard rock attack with guitar playing that moves far beyond familiar blues patterns. Allan Holdsworth's lines are fast and fluid, but the harmony is ju…
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Album review
Distant Satellites
Anathema
Distant Satellites changes its method partway through. Anathema first work with the open voices, piano and rising guitar arrangements that suit them so well, then let electron…
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Album review
Singularity
Northlane
Singularity gives its tightly repeated guitar figures room to breathe. Northlane surrounds the low rhythmic attacks with clean melodies and atmospheric passages, making the mu…
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