Album review
14 Shades of Grey
Staind
So Far Away is a useful surprise on 14 Shades of Grey. Aaron Lewis sounds willing to recognise some progress, and the melody gives that feeling a clear, accessible shape. Stai…
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Reviews
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Album review
God Has Failed
RPWL
God Has Failed offers a warm, melodic introduction to RPWL. The German band's debut draws heavily from Pink Floyd, particularly the spacious guitars and relaxed vocals of thei…
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Album review
Brand New Eyes
Paramore
Paramore spend much of Brand New Eyes trying to make difficult feelings impossible to avoid. The guitars sound tense, Hayley Williams sings with a sharper edge, and even the b…
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Album review
American III: Solitary Man
Johnny Cash
American III: Solitary Man finds a useful balance between Johnny Cash alone with his guitar and a more welcoming group of supporting musicians. Rick Rubin keeps the arrangemen…
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Album review
Candlebox
Candlebox
Candlebox put a bluesy hard-rock voice inside a thick nineties guitar sound, and their debut gets a lot of mileage from that combination. Kevin Martin can sing with a rough ed…
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Album review
I Let It In and It Took Everything
Loathe
The quiet music on I Let It In and It Took Everything can feel as disorienting as the heaviest passages. Loathe lets soft guitar tones blur at the edges, places voices at diff…
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Album review
Inmazes
VOLA
A soft vocal can make a very heavy riff sound stranger. On Inmazes, VOLA repeatedly place calm, inviting melodies against guitars that hit with a blunt, mechanical force. The …
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Album review
Burn It Down
The Dead Daisies
Burn It Down has a convincing weight in the space between its instruments. The Dead Daisies give the riffs room to settle, let the drums land firmly and leave John Corabi enou…
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Album review
Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs
Alkaline Trio
Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs has a reassuringly unpleasant title. Alkaline Trio haven't become a particularly cheerful band, but the music is full of life. Matt Skiba and Dan And…
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Album review
White Pony
Deftones
The opening of Digital Bath makes a small amount of sound feel remarkably deep. A measured drum pattern and softly detailed guitar create an uneasy space, then Chino Moreno's …
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Album review
Insurgentes
Steven Wilson
Insurgentes is full of beautiful sounds that refuse to stay comfortable. A melody can establish a calm surface, then distortion or a low, persistent texture starts to change t…
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The Strange Case Of...
Halestorm
Four songs into The Strange Case Of..., Halestorm have already made a convincing argument for excess. The guitars are forceful, the drums leave little room for hesitation, and…
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Album review
The End Will Show Us How
Tremonti
Mark Tremonti's name on an album gives you a fairly good idea of where the guitars will sit. The End Will Show Us How has plenty of large riffs and demanding playing, but some…
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Ghost Reveries
Opeth
A keyboard can change the temperature of a heavy song without becoming its main attraction. Per Wiberg's playing does that repeatedly on Ghost Reveries, adding organ, atmosphe…
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Album review
Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop
Stone Temple Pilots
Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop is a wonderfully odd title for an album that makes so much of its music immediately approachable. Stone Temple Pilots fill these…
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Album review
No Joy
Spanish Love Songs
The title No Joy sets up a harsher experience than Spanish Love Songs actually deliver. Their writing still has plenty of dread, but the music opens windows around it. Synthes…
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Album review
The End of Heartache
Killswitch Engage
Howard Jones gives The End of Heartache a striking vocal center. His clean singing has a broad, rounded power, while his harsher delivery remains severe enough to match the gu…
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Album review
Karma and Effect
Seether
Remedy is a very efficient Seether song. A firm riff, Shaun Morgan's strained voice and a chorus that arrives with enough lift to make the frustration feel almost enjoyable. K…
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Album review
Thirteenth Step
A Perfect Circle
Thirteenth Step understands the tension in a quiet voice. Maynard James Keenan often sings close to a whisper, but the music around him makes that restraint feel charged. A Pe…
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Album review
Progress
Ultraspank
Progress gives Ultraspank's heavy guitar sound a strong melodic centre. Pete Murray's singing can rise above the substantial riffs, while smaller electronic touches add atmosp…
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Album review
-!-
Dead Poet Society
Dead Poet Society build much of -!-'s appeal around a striking difference in register. Jack Underkofler can move easily into a high falsetto, while the low-tuned guitar parts …
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Album review
You Are We
While She Sleeps
The title track of You Are We makes its intention clear through the voices. Harsh lead lines, rough melodic hooks and collective shouts all take part in the same argument, giv…
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Album review
Guided Tour
High Vis
High Vis make an interesting kind of invitation. The guitars on Guided Tour can be bright enough to welcome almost anyone in, while Graham Sayle sounds like he has an urgent p…
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Album review
Lightbulb Sun
Porcupine Tree
A song as restrained as Feel So Low can be a more unsettling ending than a grand finale. Lightbulb Sun closes by reducing its scale, letting a damaged relationship hang in the…
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