| &U&I Kill The Man That Shot That Man | 2.5 |
| 35007 Phase V | 4.0 |
| Very similar to Liquid with lots of themes that repeat: instrumental spacey jams consisting of keyboards, bass, drums and guitar. Slightly less heavy then before but the melody bounces off the excellent rhythm section which psychedelically flows for over 40 mins. |
| 35007 Liquid | 4.5 |
| With 35007's third full-length release they present four instrumental aural seascapes. A concept album about water starting with the uber-heavy 11-minute opener "Tsunami" to the spacey psychedelic "Crystalline" and "Evaporate", closing with the 14-minute "Voyage Automatique". All songs slowly merge together to give the impression of one coherent 40 minute song. Like post-rock? Listen to this. Like post-metal? Listen to this. Like space-rock? Listen to this and your mind will explode! |
| 35007 Sea Of Tranquility | 4.5 |
| This opulent, very spacey first all-instrumental release was a warm up for the masterpiece "Liquid". Every track is excellent. |
| Baroness Yellow and Green | 3.0 |
| Beak> (UK) > > | 3.0 |
| Black Math Horseman Wyllt | 4.5 |
| This, their first album, produced by Scott Reeder (Kyuss) is an amazing mix of retro doom. They?ve managed to distil the best parts of Sabbath and Zeppelin along with the raw sound of more modern day bands such as Isis to form their own unique minimal but layered and complex sound. The pick of the album has to "Bird of All Faiths and None/Bell from Madrone" which is an 11-minute epic. Massively recommended. |
| Black Moth The Killing Jar | 4.0 |
| Broadcast Berberian Sound Studio | 2.5 |
| Burial Kindred | 2.0 |
| Caspian Waking Season | 3.5 |
| With this release Caspian retain the core melodic, layered sound of previous releases but attempt to push the post-rock genre to a new level. Their previous releases were self-produced efforts and while still decent enough getting producer Matt Bayles involved who has previously worked with Isis gives the band a new purpose and sense of direction. |
| Collapse Under the Empire systembreakdown | 3.0 |
| Collapse Under the Empire The Sirens Sound | 3.0 |
| Collapse Under the Empire Shoulders and Giants | 3.0 |
| Collapse Under the Empire Find A Place To Be Safe | 3.5 |
| Collapse Under the Empire Fragments Of A Prayer | 4.0 |
| A rich, wonderful and captivating album from the Hamburg duo, founded by Chris Burda and Martin Grimm. This release has unrestrained musical arrangements focused though the lens of intense instrumental post rock. This is brilliantly crafted stuff which is complemented by wonderful production. |
| Colour Haze She Said | 3.5 |
| This 82 minute long album was originally planned for release February 2011 but word got out that indicated that the band would have to effectively re-record the album again!rThe first track sets the tone: it?s 18 minutes long and brilliant stuff. While the band set-up is simple: guitar, bass, a few vocals here and there and drums the sum of the individual parts creates and expansive while. Across the whole album the band presents a rich sound that manages to emotionally invoke images in your minds-eye without the need for illegal psychedelic substances. Some nicely complex, melodic and layered arrangements make this release a must listen. |
| Daylight Dies A Frail Becoming | 2.5 |
| Deftones Koi No Yokan | 2.5 |
| Errors New Relics | 3.0 |
| Fang Island Day of the Great Leap | 3.0 |
| This release is full of mostly guitar-oriented buoyant, exultant instrumental tunes which are brief and to the point; eschewing repetition the band combines various genres: math-rock, indie, metal and pop without making the songs sound like an awful mash-up of varying influences. From time to time the band thinks its necessary to initiate a The Futureheads style of harmony, this is slightly annoying (well it was to me anyway). Whilst theres nothing amazingly brilliant here its nevertheless enjoyable stuff with the standout track being: Asunder. Definitely worth a listen, although it?s unlikely that you?ll experience any long-lasting eargasms. |
| Foxygen Take The Kids Off Broadway | 2.0 |
| Frames In Via | 4.0 |
| Frames present an Avant-Garde all-instrumental tranquil soundscape across ten songs. A loud/soft mixture of prog and post rock reminiscent of Pelican and Isis. The songs are of a decent length, have the right guitar structures, spacey elements and level of aggression balanced with an adequate amount of atmosphere. If you want something familiar yet sufficiently distinctive then In Via is definitely worth checking out. |
| Ghost (SWE) Opus Eponymous | 5.0 |
| The greatest 1970s Apocalyptic offering to Satan ever: unleash the infectious doom laden horror and darkness! |
| God Is an Astronaut All Is Violent, All Is Bright | 4.5 |
| God Is an Astronaut Far from Refuge | 4.5 |
| God Is an Astronaut God Is an Astronaut | 4.5 |
| God Is an Astronaut Age of the Fifth Sun | 4.5 |
| God Is an Astronaut The End of the Beginning | 5.0 |
| Iron Maiden The Final Frontier | 3.0 |
| Iron Maiden Powerslave | 3.5 |
| Iron Maiden Piece of Mind | 4.5 |
| Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast | 5.0 |
| Kylesa Spiral Shadow | 4.0 |
| Spiral Shadow was one of the albums of the year for me. The choruses, the effects, the riffs, the vocals, everything is excellent. The mix is resonant and expansive with the instruments complementing each other to make a cohesive whole. It respects its past but moves the band on to win new fans. 78 minutes of quality. |
| Kylesa From The Vaults Vol. 1 | 4.0 |
| Georgia's finest purveyors of psychedelic sludge give us an excellent collection of unreleased work and cover versions which recognise past glories while suggesting new landscapes. These tracks just add to the expanding and impeccable catalogue of exciting metal from one of the best bands currently in existence. |
| Latitudes Bleak Epiphanies In Slow Motion | 4.0 |
| Latitudes Individuation | 4.0 |
| Latitudes Agonist | 4.5 |
| Mastodon Leviathan | 3.5 |
| Mastodon Crack the Skye | 4.0 |
| Mastodon are well named. This release is huge and relentless once it gets going. But unlike the animal, on the basis of this album Mastodon aren't heading for extinction. I think this is another concept album? I read interviews with the band where they attempted to describe the story presented here: something about a experimentation with astral travel, meeting Rasputin, wormholes, etc. I'm not sure. But to be honest this is a leap forward in terms of its sheer inventiveness and brutality. It's an uncompromising release which hits hard with its meandering mid-tempo epics. A progressive, heavy, sludgy masterpiece. |
| Mastodon The Hunter | 4.0 |
| With Mastodon's fifth album you get a a release which is longer than Crack the Skye but doesn't feel that way. The massive epic songs are gone with the longest track on this release being "only" five and a half minutes long. The experimentation of the band shows and you end up with an impressive radio-friendly release which ultimately will further propel them into becoming the metal superstars they deserve. |
| Metallica St. Anger | 1.5 |
| Metallica Reload | 1.5 |
| Metallica Load | 1.5 |
| Metallica S&M | 2.0 |
| Metallica Metallica | 2.5 |
| Metallica ...And Justice for All | 3.0 |
| Metallica Death Magnetic | 3.0 |
| Metallica Master of Puppets | 3.5 |
| Metallica Ride the Lightning | 3.5 |
| Metallica Live Shit: Binge & Purge | 4.0 |
| Metallica The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited | 4.0 |
| Metallica Garage Inc. | 4.0 |
| Metallica Kill 'Em All | 5.0 |
| mind.in.a.box Revelations | 2.5 |
| This release continues where their earlier release Crossroads left off. It?s dark and melodic but without any songs that immediately stick due to their being no real hooks to speak of. A reasonable effort but disappointing if compared to R.E.T.R.O. |
| Monkey3 Undercover | 4.0 |
| A selection of classic rock covers: Numb by Archive, Watching You by Kiss, One Of These Days by Pink Floyd, Kashmir by Led Zeppelin and Burn by Deep Purple all injected with a heavy dose of prog-space-rock sound. What?s a bit different from other releases is the use of a couple of guest vocalists John Garcia and Tony Jelencovich. Highly enjoyable and a great addition to their discography. |
| Moonwagon Foyers of the future | 3.0 |
| Moonwagon are my favourite Finnish instrumental progressive space-rock quartet. In fact, they?re the only ones (if I?m honest). In this, their second offering, we get 62 minutes of opulent psychedelia. Definitely worth keeping an eye on for the future. |
| Necro Deathmort Music Of Bleak Origin | 4.0 |
| Necro Deathmort The Colonial Script | 4.5 |
| A new benchmark of aural pain and distress: Necro Deathmort returns to vomit out their own particular brand of melancholy wretchedness upon us all. More charred and desolate apocalyptic noisescapes combine with cruelly refracted electronics to generate a follow-up record which is even better than the completely awesome ?Music of Bleak Origin?. When listening to this you have to question just what goes on in the claustrophobic twisted minds of AJ Cookson and Matthew Rozeik? They?ve managed to create such a bone crushingly harrowing release which transports you to a forgotten and forsaken planet ravaged by terrible satanic visions made real.rMuch more structured (in my opinion) than previous albums this is the sonic equivalent of the shadowy monsters that lived under your bed when you were a child. But in this case the monsters are horrifically real and will inhabit your nightmares and will make you wet the bed until you?re at least in your mid-40s. It?s metal, electronic, drone, doom, industrial ? hell, I don?t know. It?s just gloomy, bleak and frightening. Think Godflesh mixed with Swans, Sunn O))) and Khanate with a dash of Kraftwerk. All of these influences combine to create a fatally sinister set of songs which are specifically designed to stimulate distress in every sinew of your body, trigger and anxiety attack and then crush your very essence as the daylight slowly fades and dies. Just like your soul.rPS. None of these tunes will ever feature on Glee or the X-Factor. Guaranteed. |
| Orange Goblin A Eulogy for the Damned | 3.5 |
| In this their seventh full-length release the band the band present a solid and uncomplicated sound. Sludgy riffs merge well with the rhythm section, churning out a surprisingly melodic sound. Couple that with the growl of Ben Ward and you?ve got a winner. This release dosen?t try something new and experimental, like Yellow & Green, but that?s not a bad thing. A Eulogy for the Damned is one of the best releases to date from this act and one which will keep their fans very, very pleased indeed. |
| Parquet Courts Light Up Gold | 2.0 |
| Pere Ubu Lady From Shanghai | 2.0 |
| Polinski Labyrinths | 4.5 |
| Paul Wolinski takes time off his day job from [Artist45069] to release a cheeky and praiseworthy euphoric electro-instrumental experience. Whilst only seven tracks long you get the impression that going solo allows for a real exploration into the electronic landscape, expanding on the ideas in say Tiger Girl ([Album2734239]). Massive rhythms merge with exultant trance beats which in turn twist around unusual tones. One of my personal favourites of the year. |
| Sigha Living With Ghosts | 1.5 |
| Stars of the Lid The Ballasted Orchestra | 2.0 |
| Talk Normal Sunshine | 2.0 |
| The Evens The Odds | 2.5 |
| The Soft Moon The Soft Moon | 3.5 |
| The Soft Moon Total Decay EP | 4.0 |
| The Soft Moon Zeros | 4.0 |
| Toundra Toundra (II) | 4.5 |
| Formed in 2007 in Madrid, Spain this instrumental post-rock/post-metal group keeps things simple using just guitars, bass and drums to create a rich layered soundscape. The band assembles all the right constituent parts from the all the best groups in the genre: think Mogwai, Russian Circles, Isis, Neurosis and Pelican. However, they are not mere replicants or clones ? the sound they create belongs to them and is all their own. They have a real aptitude for first-rate songwriting generating crisp, meticulously arranged (and mind-blowing) riffs and melodies. The commanding production values flawlessly emphasize the musicians? sublime abilities and talents.rHighly recommended. |
| Toundra III | 4.5 |
| This is the Spanish instrumental prog post-rock (or perhaps heavy metal) groups third full-length album release - hence the title: (III). Each song is constructed majestically with philosophies that explore existence and demise being woven into their structures. The lack of vocals dosen?t detract from the melodies and excellent songs in this exhilarating, roaring, and austere album. |
| Turing Machine A New Machine for Living | 3.5 |
| The New York trio deliver seven very listenable tracks of sharp and technically flawless instrumental post rock. Raw warped guitars (along with the occasional nicely layered keyboard) wrap themselves around drums beating out unusual time signatures making this a pretty respectable release. |
| Turing Machine What is the Meaning of What | 3.5 |
| This release by Turing Machine mixes musical styles and influences, swapping melodies and combining human and machine based sounds which makes you feel like this is what a robot would choose to dance to. The enjoyment of What Is The Meaning Of What is dulled by the knowledge that their drummer Jerry Fuchs was killed before the album was finished. Nevertheless, an unrelenting, directed and hypnotically focused effort. |
| Turing Machine Zwei | 4.0 |
| Ultravox U-Vox | 2.5 |
| Ultravox Lament | 3.0 |
| Ultravox Quartet | 4.5 |
| Ultravox Vienna | 5.0 |
| Ultravox Rage In Eden | 5.0 |
| Wooden Wand Blood Oaths of the New Blues | 2.0 |
| Young Smoke Space Zone | 2.5 |
