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5 classic

At the Drive-In In / Casino / Out

Joan of Arc Live In Chicago, 1999

Tera Melos Tera Melos

Tera Melos is slowly becoming my favorite band, but after seeing them live for the first time on October 14th, I can't listen to the album anymore without thinking that it lacks energy. This is a great album, one of the best of recent times, most things are flawless, but this cannot be compared to their live show.

The Mars Volta Frances the Mute

Although "De-Loused in the Comatorium" is horribly overrated and over hyped, the Mars Volta really did create a work of genious with "Frances the Mute". With five (six if you count the decoder track) completely different "movements" that have nothing in common but flow perfectly, the greatness of this album lies mostly in the concept and flow of the album (although the music is top-notch, too). With ambient pieces between "movements" to set the mood for the epic that follows, this album has layers of atmosphere and is full of emotional purity.

4.5 superb

and a few to break Procession

At the Drive-In Vaya EP

Hella The Devil Isn't Red

Madvillain Madvillainy

Maps and Atlases Tree, Swallows, Houses

One day while surfing myspace for new music, I fell in love. On the top 8 of some mediocre indie band was a band called Maps and Atlases, with a picture of some dude with an acoustic guitar and glasses jamming it out with his other bandmates and a Ray Charles lookalike in the crowd. I started listening to "Every Place Is a Hous", and the rest was history. Though Maps and Atlases awe with their harmonic tapping guitars and indie and folk-like melodies, it was not until seeing the band open for another favorite of mine, Tera Melos, in San Fransisco last week that I realized that the core of the band is their fantastic drummer, who plays with amazing, Zach Hill-esque technicality all while playing mallot parts for most of the songs. He is the backdrop for this very percussive band. This is a must-have for fans of both math-rock, indie, and psych-folk alike.

mewithoutYou Catch for Us the Foxes

mewithoutYou's music is very inspiring. Vocalist Aaron Weiss' vocal delivery is powerful and emotional, he conveys his message very well. Though relatively simple, the instrumentation fits the mood of the songs well, and just adds to the sincerity of the album. Although mewithoutYou has room for improvement, this is a great album. Expect great things form this band in the future.

Owls Owls

Stand Before the Firing Squad Noise Machine

Tera Melos Drugs to the Dear Youth

Tera Melos has changed a lot since their 2005 untitled debut album. The "Drugs to the Dear Youth" EP is almost showcasing a new genre of it's own, with the band losing quite a bit of the jazz qualities on their debut and replacing them with crazy synthesizers, wacky effects, and quirky drum loops. The departure of guitarist Jeff Worms greatly attributes to this, as the trio has calmed down a bit live and focused more on creating tight, ritalin-like soundscapes with so much detail it is hard to consume all at once. Although the band has matured in a live sense, they have "regressed" musically. Although the technicality and song structure is better on "Drugs", there are a lot more samples and effects than on the last record, giving it a nice quirky feel, making immaturity not so bad. The album is really only 3 tracks long, with the first three all being parts of the infamous live epic "40 Rods to the Hog's Head", another being "A Spoonful of Slurry is Good For What Ails You" (The only "full" single track on the album), and the last two tracks, "The Werewolf and Ben" and "Is Good For What Ails You" being two parts to the same song. Overall, this is a vast improvement for the group, with vast technicality from all three members rarely being too overbearing.

The Fall Of Troy The Fall Of Troy

The Locust Plague Soundscapes

I want this album to be played at my wedding and funeral.

4 excellent

At the Drive-In Acrobatic Tenement

Bear vs. Shark Terrorhawk

Between The Buried And Me The Silent Circus

Circle Takes The Square As The Roots Undo

Daughters Hell Songs

And now for something different. With "Canada Songs", the former members of As the Sun Sets had started to stray from typical grind and indulged in a more noisy, experimental sound with high-pitched guitars that could be mistaken for synths. They have almost completely abandoned their grindcore roots with "Hell Songs", trading throat-ripping screaming for trippy Jack White-ish vocals. The guitarists have gotten more comfortable with their new stylings, and the rhythm section is fabulous, with hyper-technical drumming usually being accompanied by a nice rolling bassline. Daughters have taken a step further in to the world of noise rock, and it is a splendous treat to listen to.

Fear Before Odd How People Shake

Hot Cross Cryonics

O LUCKY MAN! when I was young I would type your name just to s

Portugal. The Man Waiter, \"You Vultures!\"

The Blood Brothers Crimes

The Mars Volta Tremulant

The Number Twelve Looks Like You Nuclear, Sad, Nuclear

The Number Twelve Looks Like You Mongrel

Yowie Cryptooology

3.5 great

Algernon Cadwallader Some Kind of Cadwallader

An Albatross Blessphemy (Of The Peace-Beast Feastgive

An Albatross' first full-length album is a overall step forward for the band. Magnifying the hint of 70's organ rock displayed on their previous EP "We Are The Lazer Viking", An Albatross are more of a straight-up rock band with grind/noise rock tendencies now, as opposed to being catchy grind on their previous efforts. Though the album gets a little over-pretentious at times (see tracks "Sacred Geometry" and "Profane Illumination"), "Blessphemy" is an overall enjoyable album for fans of the grind/noise rock, or for people looking for something a little different.

Anatomy of a Ghost Evanesce

At the Drive-In Relationship of Command

Hella Hold Your Horse Is

Hella There's No 666 In Outer Space

Jedi Mind Tricks Visions of Gandhi

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Vol. 1

Portugal. The Man Church Mouth

Some Girls All My Friends Are Going Death

SWIMS SWIMS EP

The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium

As I listen to this album now, I realise how horribly overrated it is. A year and a half ago, I would have told you that "De-Loused" was pure genious, and that no piece of music could ever reach the level that The Mars Volta had reached with this. I realise now that there are a lot of artists out there that surpass The Mars Volta by miles, but I am eternally thankful that this album entered my life, this has opened my eyes to a lot of great music out there under the radar. In conclusion, "De-Loused" is a great album by mainstream rock standards, but it does not live up to the massive hype surrounding it.

The Number Twelve Looks Like You Put On Your Rosey Red Glasses

The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower Dissertation, Honey

3 good

An Albatross We Are The Lazer Viking

At the Drive-In This Station is Non-Operational

Heavy Heavy Low Low Everything's Watched, Everyone's Watchin

Jedi Mind Tricks Legacy of Blood

Some Girls Heaven's Pregnant Teens

The Blood Brothers Young Machetes

The Field From Here We Go Sublime

The Great Redneck Hope Behold The Fuck Thunder

The Mars Volta Scab Dates [Live]

2.5 average

HORSE The Band The Mechanical Hand

The Blood Brothers Rumors Laid Waste

Though not as original or advanced as later Blood Brothers' material, Rumors Laid Waste is a good hardcore album. Very energetic, it is fun to see where the band came from. There are hints of the experimentation that would break through on later albums, but overall this is pure hardcore punk. Though fun, the album is short and songs are all very similar to eachother. A must-have for any Blood Brothers fan, but other then that, I wouldn't reccomend this.

The Fall Of Troy Ghostship Demos

The Fall Of Troy Doppelganger

This album is what got me in to grindcore and metalcore, it is a good gateway for people wanting to indulge in heavier and/or more technical music. Last year, I was in awe by the pure craziness of this album. But as I listen to it now, I find it very boring. Not as original or technical as people make them out to be, The Fall of Troy is very sub-par. Though better than most bands in the genre, I can't find much "greatness" here, just average musicianship.

The Locust New Erections

2 poor

Panic! At the Disco A Fever You Can't Sweat Out

The Mars Volta Amputechture

1.5 very poor

A Skylit Drive She Watched The Sky

Test Icicles For Screening Purposes Only

1 awful

As I Lay Dying Shadows are Security

Avenged Sevenfold City of Evil