Album review
Deep Blue
Parkway Drive
The drums on Deep Blue have a large, physical presence. Their room sound gives Parkway Drive's precise playing a little more air, while the low guitars and bass make the whole…
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Reviews
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Album review
Fission
Dead Poet Society
Fission turns personal uncertainty into music with a very firm physical presence. Dead Poet Society give the guitars a thick, distorted edge and keep the bass moving underneat…
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Album review
Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd
The opening of Shine On You Crazy Diamond allows a few guitar notes to carry an extraordinary amount of feeling. Pink Floyd leave enough space around them for the sound to see…
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Album review
Who Will Look After the Dogs?
PUP
PUP sound like they have had a very bad week. Fortunately, they have brought some good songs along. Their fifth album, Who Will Look After the Dogs?, is full of damaged relati…
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Album review
Master of Reality
Black Sabbath
Master of Reality feels heavy before it feels fast or loud. The lowered guitar and bass tones give Black Sabbath's riffs an unusually dense body, but the playing never becomes…
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Album review
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
My Chemical Romance
Gerard Way sounds as though every song on Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge has reached a moment of crisis. He gasps, sings, shouts and occasionally seems to laugh at the scale o…
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Album review
Bloom
Caligula's Horse
Bloom makes a gentle opening feel like the start of something larger. Jim Grey sings over acoustic guitar with enough warmth to make the smallest details matter, and the gradu…
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Album review
The Screaming of the Valkyries
Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth have reached the point where the excess is part of the appeal. The Screaming of the Valkyries has theatrical vocals, fast guitars and enough gothic drama to fi…
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Album review
Burn My Eyes
Machine Head
The opening of Burn My Eyes is built around a particular kind of impact: a guitar figure stops, a sharp harmonic cuts through the gap, then the whole band land together. Machi…
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Album review
Cauterize
Tremonti
Cauterize makes the heavier side of Tremonti's music more prominent while keeping the melodies easy to follow. Fast riffs, active drums and substantial bass playing give the s…
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Album review
Insomniac
Green Day
There is very little room to relax on Insomniac. Even when Green Day slow down, the guitars feel tense and Billie Joe Armstrong sounds as though an argument is still running i…
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Morning View
Incubus
Morning View is comfortable with open space. Incubus can still make a guitar riff hit hard, but they also allow a song to settle into a mood without demanding a dramatic inter…
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One-X
Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace use plain language on One-X, and it suits them. Adam Gontier doesn't hide the frustration or dress every feeling in a complicated image. The guitars give the …
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Album review
Addicted
Devin Townsend Project
Enthusiasm is a serious musical choice on Addicted. Devin Townsend builds large, bright choruses over heavy guitar rhythms, then lets Anneke van Giersbergen's voice open the s…
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Album review
An Audio Guide to Everyday Atrocity
Nothingface
An Audio Guide to Everyday Atrocity gives Nothingface's heavy sound a useful melodic edge. The riffs and drums provide plenty of force, but Matt Holt's voice can move into a s…
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Album review
Louder Now
Taking Back Sunday
Taking Back Sunday make an unusually strong entrance on Louder Now. What's It Feel Like to Be a Ghost? begins with a clipped guitar figure, then grows into a controlled burst …
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Album review
Whiskey for the Holy Ghost
Mark Lanegan
A voice this distinctive could easily make every arrangement feel secondary. Whiskey for the Holy Ghost avoids that trap. Mark Lanegan's singing remains the centre, but the in…
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Album review
Light 'Em Up
The Dead Daisies
John Corabi's return gives The Dead Daisies plenty to work with on Light 'Em Up. His rough, bluesy voice fits this band's straightforward hard rock very well. The songs give h…
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Album review
Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park
Hybrid Theory rarely lets a musical idea sit unused. A piano figure becomes the center of a chorus, a scratch fills the space between vocal phrases, and a guitar attack arrive…
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Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
This Is a Call sounds like someone discovering that a simple tune can take a great deal of noise. The opening song on Foo Fighters' debut puts a bright melody inside distorted…
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Album review
Unself
Conjurer
Conjurer make the quieter parts count on Unself. The Rugby band’s third album still has the thick riffs, harsh voices and sudden changes of speed expected from their heavy sou…
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Album review
Americana
The Offspring
There are two good reasons to look beyond Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) on Americana. One is that The Offspring have sharper songs here. The other is that the album eventually …
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Album review
I Want Blood
Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Cantrell's guitar tone and vocal harmonies can make a song feel uneasy before the words have really started. I Want Blood puts those strengths back into a heavier settin…
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Album review
New Levels New Devils
Polyphia
The guitar lines on New Levels New Devils often behave like a lead vocal cut into small pieces. Polyphia place short melodic figures over trap-influenced drums and deep bass, …
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