| Benighted Ekbom | 3.5 |
| mgk and Trippie Redd Genre : Sadboy | 1.0 |
| Score : Awful |
| Sadistik and Maulskull Oblivion Theater | 3.5 |
| Chapel of Disease Echoes of Light | 4.0 |
| Pitbulls in the Nursery Lunatic | 4.0 |
| This album was waaaaay head of its time. Has major Gorod vibes, for sure, but they have a sonic identity that is entirely their own. |
| Upon Stone Dead Mother Moon | 4.0 |
| Dissimulator (CAN) Lower Form Resistance | 4.0 |
| death and thrash with waaaaaay more of an emphasis on the thrash, which makes for a surprisingly refreshing listen |
| Vemod Venter pa Stormene | 4.5 |
| Vemod The Deepening | 4.0 |
| Vemod delivered the goods on this thing. Their debut was truly special, and somehow, after all this time, they've managed to create a very similar spark. |
| Polkadot Cadaver Echoes Across The Hellscape | 3.5 |
| CZARFACE Czartificial Intelligence | 3.5 |
| GridLink Coronet Juniper | 4.5 |
| Helga (SWE) Wrapped in Mist | 4.0 |
| Xoth Exogalactic | 3.5 |
| Doesn't quite hit the same peaks as the previous, but still a really strong record that shows exactly why this band is special |
| Suffocation Hymns From the Apocrypha | 4.0 |
| Significantly better than expected |
| Afterbirth In But Not Of | 2.5 |
| Arghoslent Resuscitation of the Revanchists | 3.5 |
| metalsucks journos jumpin on desks rn thanking the gods above for more melodic bigotry to post about |
| Moonlight Sorcery Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle | 4.5 |
| Tideless Eye of Water | 4.0 |
| Night Verses Every Sound Has a Color...: Part I | 4.0 |
| I didn't LOVE this like the previous record, but it's certainly a high quality release, and continues their phenomenal streak of records since becoming an instrumental act |
| Baroness Stone | 3.5 |
| Sylosis A Sign of Things to Come | 2.5 |
| Dismember Where Ironcrosses Grow | 3.5 |
| honestly one of the most consistent records of the band's career |
| Spirit Adrift Ghost At The Gallows | 3.5 |
| Still doesn't hit like their older albums, but at least it's better than their last record |
| Warmen Here for None | 3.0 |
| TEETH The Curse of Entropy | 4.0 |
| Blut Aus Nord Disharmonium – Nahab | 4.5 |
| Crypta Shades of Sorrow | 2.5 |
| do u think this would have been better if their singer had gotten the fridge she wanted |
| Blackbraid Blackbraid II | 4.5 |
| This is the most engaged I've been by a black metal album all year |
| Nithing Agonal Hymns | 4.0 |
| Serpent of Old Ensemble Under The Dark Sun | 3.0 |
| Mental Cruelty Zwielicht | 3.5 |
| two albums into the damn they would be a hella excellent black metal band if theyd just drop the breakdowns argument |
| Vomitory All Heads Are Gonna Roll | 4.0 |
| Kalmah Kalmah | 4.0 |
| Legion of the Damned The Poison Chalice | 2.5 |
| Thantifaxath Hive Mind Narcosis | 4.5 |
| Haunt (USA-CA) Golden Arm | 2.5 |
| Obligatory yearly Haunt album |
| Billy Woods and Kenny Segal Maps | 4.5 |
| On first listen this might actually be better than Hiding Places, which was already a hella stacked album |
| Angus McSix Angus McSix and the Sword of Power | 3.5 |
Despite feeling undeniably rushed, there's a veritable, fervent energy that runs throughout
every track on the album, and it further cements the idea that Thomas was not just a simple
vocalist in the Gloryhammer canon, capable of being quickly and simply replaced.
A couple of small notes:
As much as I'd like to disconnect this project from the GH machine, there's no denying WHY it
worked. Storytelling throughout their albums' runtimes kept the listener engaged, while also
further incentivizing checking out the next album. On that front, AMatSoP doesn't quite offer
that level of storytelling, or storytelling *finesse*. There's no doubt GH's first album was
more concerned with setting up the characters at play rather then the drama at hand, but it
still managed to make most aspects, otherwise, a lot more clear. AMatSoP definitely struggles
to keep the narrative thread untangled, which is a shame.
The focus on characters feels a bit unbalanced, though I understand the need for a "victory
lap", as well. Thomas has an especially stacked roster of musicians at his disposal, but it's
difficult to get a gauge on their personalities; either through the songwriting or the
storytelling. Again, I understand the need to return with as much pomp and drama as possible,
but the rest of his band feels a touch underutilized, as a result.
I'm hoping, all in all, that these issues will be addressed as they take a bit more time on a
follow-up. This is a solid base, and it really just needs to be reiterated upon. Fun for
sure. |
| Spaceships Ruins | 4.0 |
| Gorod The Orb | 4.0 |
| The Project Hate MCMXCIX Of Chaos and Carnal Pleasures | 2.0 |
| Lovebites Judgement Day | 3.5 |
| It's impossible not to have fun w this record |
| Entheos (USA) Time Will Take Us All | 4.0 |
| I think I like the members of Entheos more than I like Entheos but that's fine bc the music here is still pretty good |
| Majesties Vast Reaches Unclaimed | 4.5 |
| One of the best melodeath records I've heard in years. What seals the deal for me is the production isn't this ultra-glossy, plastic-y composite that removes most of the punch from the songwriting. |
| Hellripper Warlocks Grim and Withered Hags | 4.5 |
| Oak (PT) Disintegrate | 4.0 |
I feel like the compositional logistics of making a 45 minute, one track death doom record
might have made the moment to moment melodies a little more humdrum than I would have liked,
but as a whole piece, there's no doubt it's cohesive, focused, and one of the most ambitious
records to drop this year. |
| Xuthal The Reclusive Dynasty | 3.5 |
| Volahn Aq' Ab' Al’ | 4.0 |
| Inherits the Void The Impending Fall Of The Stars | 4.5 |
| Mix is a little stuffy, but if you can look past a pretty minor snafu you'll find a rich and rewarding melodic black metal record that reads like a labor of love for the genre's rich and varied past. Definitely a rec for fans of the style, or more melodic metal at large. |
| Anachronism Meanders | 4.5 |
A strong successor to a strong successor.
Meanders builds on the dissodeath, meat
and potato tactic that Orogeny seemed to
patently perfect, by just marginally
tweaking their structures and general
sound to a more interesting effect.
What you get is easily one of the
strongest albums in this style to drop
this year |
| Nothingness Supraliminal | 4.0 |
| bound to be one of the most underrated death metal records of the year |
| ...and Oceans As in Gardens, So in Tombs | 4.0 |
I think that, if you were to go into this record looking for the same unrelenting
aggressiveness that ...and Oceans' recent comeback record, 'Cosmic World Mother' seemed to
shovel out constantly, you might be a touch disappointed.
That said, this seems to tweak the formula moderately to good effect, and I think that goes a
ways toward giving it some additional longevity. Imagine if this WAS just a carbon copy of
the previous record...wouldn't that feel tiring?
Ultimately, I think the band made a smart move altering their course here, because they made
the changes intelligently. My only caveat would be the length. Truthfully, it's just too
fucking long. No black metal record needs to be 50 minutes. But that's my only serious issue
with it, thus far. |
| Mansion Second Death | 4.0 |
| Vimur Transcendental Violence | 3.0 |
| The writing on this is just not remotely what it needs to be. Certainly has some rock solid leads peppered throughout, but certainly not the cohesion necessary to sustain the songwriting. |
| Extol Extol | 4.0 |
| Ahab The Coral Tombs | 4.5 |
| Obituary Dying Of Everything | 2.0 |
| featuring that one song that is 1 riff and their vocalist going hard as fuck to no effect |
| Satanic Warmaster Aamongandr | 4.0 |
| nah its p good |
| Misthyrming Með hamri | 4.5 |
| Astral Tomb Soulgazer | 4.0 |
| Probably one of the most interesting death metal records to release this year |
| Fievel Is Glauque Flaming Swords | 4.0 |
| Hammers Of Misfortune Overtaker | 4.0 |
| This is fucking wild. |
| High Command Eclipse of the Dual Moons | 4.0 |
| high fantasy Power Trip vibes |
| Mist of Misery Severance | 4.0 |
| Dream Unending Song of Salvation | 4.0 |
| Dragonland The Power of the Nightstar | 3.0 |
| honestly I expected much better from these guys |
| Ninth Realm A Fate Unbroken | 3.0 |
| Disillusion Ayam | 4.0 |
| Sumerlands Dreamkiller | 4.0 |
I think the people writing this off as an early-era Ozzy solo act tribute band are doing this
album a massive disservice. It certainly owes that era of rock a significant amount, but it
also stands on its own two legs as a separate and distinct entity that culminates multiple
influences into something unique and novel again.
If you appreciate the massive resurgence of traditional rock and metal that's pervaded the
underground circuits over the last decade and a half, this has a consistency and variety that
will definitely make it stick out. A surprise, sleeper hit of 2022 for me. |
| Grand Cadaver Into the Maw of Death | 4.0 |
| Enjoying this significantly more than the EP. I'd say anyone who found that one to be a little too unfocused and stuffed up with mid-tier riffs should give this a shot. Seems like it has a clearer aesthetic, marginally more clear-cut songwriting and, generally, a lot more quality arrangements. |
| Darkthrone Astral Fortress | 4.0 |
| Worm Bluenothing | 4.5 |
| The Prodigy No Tourists | 2.5 |
| The Prodigy The Day Is My Enemy | 3.5 |
| The Prodigy Invaders Must Die | 4.0 |
| The Prodigy The Fat of the Land | 5.0 |
| The Prodigy Music for the Jilted Generation | 3.5 |
| Ripped to Shreds 劇變 (Jubian) | 4.0 |
My main complaint with RtS, generally, is that while the energy is there, as well as those
absolutely incredible, memorable, melodic leads, the nastier, grindier style they balance it
out with has historically been a touch bland.
I can finally say, with Jubian those two halves are finally about even. Some really ugly ass
riffs on here, for sure |
| She Must Burn Umbra Mortis | 3.5 |
| Daeva (USA-PA) Through Sheer Will And Black Magic… | 4.0 |
| Faceless Burial At The Foothills Of Deliration | 4.0 |
| Mother of Graves Where the Shadows Adorn | 3.5 |
| KEN mode Null | 4.0 |
| Revocation Deathless | 4.0 |
| Freddie Gibbs Soul Sold Separately | 3.5 |
| This isn't as good of a project as it potentially could be, but that's not a reason to talk down one of the most consistent rappers and instrumental curators of the past two decades. Dude works way too hard for such a lazy dismissal |
| Denzel Curry Melt My Eyez See Your Future(The Extended Edition) | 4.5 |
This is probably one of the most unique "extended edition" type of albums I've heard. The
contrast between the originals is great, and the jazz rearrangements are very tasteful,
usually extremely smartly written, and definitely substantive enough to warrant another full
listen. Seems like a no brainer if you don't already have this. |
| An Abstract Illusion Woe | 4.5 |
| Just gets progressively better with every successive listen |
| Gaerea Mirage | 3.5 |
| Eucharist Mirrorworlds | 4.5 |
| For how little it was promoted (and clearly how little the their label paid for the production and recording), this album is just exceptionally written for a melodic death metal record. There's a reason why Dark Tranquillity consider this band to be one of their direct ascendants. |
| Revocation Netherheaven | 4.0 |
went to get my revocation cd at the music
shop in the local mall and they handed me
some kind of head-sized bag and told me
I'd need it wtf |
| Fallujah Empyrean | 4.0 |
| Aeternam Heir of the Rising Sun | 3.0 |
| the same old song and dance if the same old song and dance is especially safe orchestral metal with obligatory spoken word intros |
| Blind Guardian The God Machine | 4.0 |
A weirdly toothless production job mars what could be one of their most consistent records ever
composed
Edit: how the FUCK does the best vocalist in power metal this side of Roy Khan ruin the project |
| Brymir Voices in the Sky | 3.5 |
| It doesn't have a lot of tricks, but those it has it doles out spectacularly |
| Sigh Shiki | 4.0 |
| idk why the solos are so much better on this one than on any of the other ones but it is unreal how relentless and memorable they all are |
| Dawnwalker House of Sand | 3.5 |
| The Halo Effect Days of the Lost | 4.0 |
| Psycroptic Divine Council | 3.0 |
| Unfortunately just doesn't hit the same highs as ATKD, with a lot less of the surprises that made that album so welcome as well. |
| Ashenspire Hostile Architecture | 4.5 |
| Toxik Dis Morta | 2.5 |
| Moonshade As We Set the Skies Ablaze | 4.0 |
| Critical Defiance No Life Forms | 4.0 |
| Imperial Triumphant Alphaville | 4.0 |
| Imperial Triumphant Vile Luxury | 3.5 |
| Imperial Triumphant Spirit of Ecstasy | 3.0 |
| Xenoglyph Spiritfraud | 4.0 |
| Wormrot Hiss | 4.0 |
| Glass Shards is easily one of the best tracks I've heard all year it is absolutely fucking unreal |
| Imperial Circus Dead Decadence Kurooshiku Saita Seisan Na Mukuro Wa Kanaderu- | 4.5 |
| While She Sleeps Sleeps Society (Special Edition) | 2.0 |
| the only thing special about this is its a terrible album that mystifyingly got released two separate times |
| Municipal Waste Electrified Brain | 4.0 |
| ??? Tf is wrong w the art |
| Lupe Fiasco Drill Music in Zion | 4.0 |
| Alestorm Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum | 1.0 |
chris bowes is a massive pile of shit and were meant to accept that thats fine bc he throws zany
pirate parties where he blows up balloons and jigs on stage also beans lmao |
| Logic Vinyl Days | 2.5 |
| Logic writing bars about fantasizing about killing Anthony Fantano based on bad reviews is pretty fucking weird ngl |
| Exocrine The Hybrid Suns | 3.5 |
| Rings of Saturn Rings of Saturn | 1.5 |
| getting rid of Marco on drums was probably the biggest bruh moment of RoS's bruh moment of a career |
| Imperial Circus Dead Decadence MOGARI - Shi E Fukeru Omoi Wa Rikujoku Sura Kurai | 4.0 |
If you can get past how objectively cringe their album artwork is (and always has been) you'll
find one of the best Japanese exports in Metal today. ICDD manage to incorporate so many dissonant
parts smoothly, effortlessly and intelligently into a melodic and mean framework, and MOGARI is no
exception. It is admittedly a little on the long side, but has so few moments of weakness that it
is almost impossible to decide what to cut from the runtime.
As far as what you could compare the band to, they do lean on the symphonics relatively similarly
to Fleshgod Apocalypse, but their sound is certainly more digestible. I'd say they have a fair bit
in common with country-mates Shadow in the more melodic death metal sense as well, but the band
have a harsher, more aggressive general tendency.
In summary, this is a tough band to nail down, and a tough album to describe in general. It's
worth listening to, regardless, though. |
| Seventh Wonder The Testament | 4.0 |
| It's really nice to hear Tommy opening up and using his full range again. Dude is one of the best vocalist in metal and he essentially fronts one of the biggest power metal bands in the world as a cover singer |
| Origin Chaosmos | 3.0 |
| Suppression The Sorrow Of Soul Through Flesh | 4.0 |
| Artificial Brain Artificial Brain | 4.0 |
| Artificial Brain but now the technically astounding robot is leaking oil and stuttering as it crawls after you |
| Cave In Heavy Pendulum | 3.5 |
| Converge Bloodmoon: I | 4.0 |
| I think had this been billed as less of a Converge album and more of a culmination of both bands' styles this would have had a much more glowing reception. Certainly there was some foreshadowing of this sound on Converge's 'I Can Tell You About Pain' EP, as well as a handful of tracks off their previous LP 'The Dusk In Us' as well, but it feels like more than an evolution of just that one sound. It combines the slow and slithering, fogged out ethereal-work of Miss Wolfe with that barely containable rage that Converge are known for, and, in the process we get something crawling, bristled, erratic but overwhelmingly emboldened by two groups of musicians that clearly found a middle-ground where most people thought there wasn't one. |
| Black Star No Fear of Time | 3.0 |
Talib Kweli didn't go this hard for Mos Def to sound like he just got up at 3AM bc he was thirsty
Edit: fuck Talib for all his weird, aggressive rants at his own fanbase for not wanting to sign up
for a podcast service just to listen to this. His tangents are getting old |
| Sadistik x Kno Bring Me Back When the World Is Cured | 4.0 |
| Septicflesh Modern Primitive | 4.0 |
| Man I listened to this two times since midnight and I am pretty thrilled everything about this is all that exciting and original. I was kind of expecting a worse effort from these dudes |
| Blut Aus Nord Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses | 4.5 |
| Dog Fashion Disco Cult Classic | 3.0 |
| A Wilhelm Scream Lose Your Delusion | 3.0 |
| Mors Principium Est Liberate the Unborn Inhumanity | 2.5 |
Completely removes the atmospherics of some of the best tracks of that era in the search for a
heavier overall mix, which, ultimately, you never truly needed from this band. Just makes the comp
feel overall like a wasted effort, which is unfortunate. |
| Nite Voices of the Kronian Moon | 3.5 |
| Satan Earth Infernal | 4.0 |
| Ghost (SWE) Impera | 3.5 |
| Vio-Lence Let the World Burn | 2.0 |
| They really didn't need a comeback EP |
| Eight Bells Legacy Of Ruin | 4.0 |
| Allegaeon Damnum | 4.0 |
| my man really wasted his comment talking about bratwurst |
| Immolation Acts of God | 4.0 |
| Cult of Luna The Long Road North | 5.0 |
| seems fine |
| Tomb of Annihilation End of Time | 3.5 |
| Armand Hammer Paraffin | 4.5 |
| Earl Sweatshirt Sick! | 4.5 |
| genuinely cant tell you what zooloperz is doing on vision |
| Folterkammer (USA) Die Lederpredigt | 3.5 |
| I don't feel like it always works as intended but the concept is novel and sometimes that's just enough to extend this beyond the absolute quintillion other black metal acts all vying for attention |
| Der Weg Einer Freiheit Noktvrn | 4.5 |
| Mega Colossus Riptime | 3.5 |
| Dessiderium Aria | 4.0 |
| Abscession Rot of Ages | 4.0 |
| Khemmis Deceiver | 4.0 |
| Hyperdontia Hideous Entity | 4.0 |
| Cynic Ascension Codes | 4.0 |
| Stormkeep Tales of Othertime | 4.0 |
| Albums I Listened To Based On The Ridiculously Gorgeous Art Pt. 592 |
| Obscura A Valediction | 4.5 |
| Definitely my favorite since Cosmogenesis (though Akroasis certainly had a handful of career highlights). It's apparent to me, listening to the full release, what brought Munzner back to the fold, as the songwriting this time around feels super melodic while retaining just enough of their signature technicality and progressive edge. I wouldn't call it a lighter affair, but it certainly does come across as snappier and more direct, which, in all honesty, has always produced the best results for the band over the years (Incarnated comes to mind). It's good to see them follow it up in a full length offering. |
| Aesop Rock x Blockhead Garbology | 4.0 |
| The Silver (US) Ward of Roses | 4.0 |
| Sunless Ylem | 4.5 |
| Deceased Thrash Times at Ridgemont High | 3.5 |
| Omnium Gatherum Origin | 3.0 |
| Limp Bizkit Still Sucks | 2.5 |
| First Fragment Gloire Eternelle | 4.5 |
| Atmosphere WORD? | 2.5 |
| Deviant Process Nurture | 4.0 |
In a year where technical death metal has become something of a game of one-upmanship,
Deviant Process managed to, fortunately, release an album directly before those two pillar
releases (Gloire Eternelle, Bleed The Future), that decides not to play at all.
Nurture is an esoteric yet melodic offering of technical metal, offering the same rubix cube
quality that its genre conventions demand, yet infusing it with a a surprisingly fluid sense
of front flowing rhythm and grace that makes it a lot more listenable than perhaps it should
be.
And that matters. Because where the criticisms at the core of this genre stem from ear
fatigue via overload ad infinium, Deviant Process's stunning use of melody, groove and
overwhelming songwriting prowess seem to make this a non-issue altogether. While 2016's
'Paroxysm' was one of the most underrated efforts of the year, this one seems more so based
on circumstance alone. It doesn't have the absolute kitchen sink arsenal that First Fragment
does, and it doesn't have the warp drive capabilities that Archspire does, but, more
importantly than either, it has APPROACHABILITY, and in a sub-sect of metal that seems to
grow smaller every year, that'll be the part that matters the most, long-term. |
| KK's Priest Sermons of the Sinner | 4.0 |
| Unto Others Strength | 4.0 |
| Insomnium Argent Moon | 4.0 |
| Seven Spires Gods Of Debauchery | 3.5 |
So I have a couple thoughts:
Seven Spires' integration of melodeath to their symphonic metal blueprint really does
work to break up the monotony of their previous LPs. They don't have an original sound in
that vein, per se, but it does definitely make their consistent listening experience much
easier, for sure.
Lightbringer is awful. The chorus is awful. The execution is awful. Even the music video
is really really not good. It grinds the pace of the album to a halt and it's a huge
bottomless maw in their discography. Do yourselves a favor and skip it in an effort to
save your sanity.
This album is ambitious as hell, but ambition does not necessarily justify length. This
thing is long. 1 hour, 17 minutes. And they try especially hard to justify that runtime
but honestly even with them firing off every gun in the arsenal, you still feel that
length. And it hurts the quality of the project.
It is good though. It's a definite step-up from their past two projects, and, bar some
minor missteps, is definitely worth investigation. The band have had an interesting
singer in Adrienne Cowan for a while but the rest of the members are starting to hit that
high watermark as well, and it's nice to see fruition coming across the board. |
| Inferi (USA) Vile Genesis | 4.0 |
Very meat and potatoes but the meat and potatoes are being prepared by a michelin star
restaurant |
| Iron Maiden Senjutsu | 3.5 |
| Converge Beautiful Ruin | 3.5 |
| Converge I Can Tell You About Pain | 4.0 |
| Oublieth À l'Ombre du Royaume en Cendres | 4.0 |
| MGMT Little Dark Age | 4.0 |
| Boldy James and The Alchemist Bo Jackson | 4.0 |
| Aenigmatum Deconsecrate | 4.0 |
| Wolves in the Throne Room Primordial Arcana | 4.0 |
| King Woman Celestial Blues | 4.5 |
| Craven Idol Forked Tongues | 4.0 |
| Nas King’s Disease | 3.5 |
| Nas King's Disease II | 3.5 |
Nas Hype Cycle:
- Nas album drops
- People claim that Nas has finally returned to form and that the release is his best since
Illmatic
- Those same people listen to it more than twice
- They promptly move onto something else and forget it ever came out |
| Wizardthrone Hypercube Necrodimensions | 4.0 |
I have no idea where you guys are getting Children of Bodom vibes from lol. I definitely hear the
melodeath influence, but it sounds very symphonic black metal tinged as well, similar to the
concoction Wintersun peddled before Jari decided he needed a double-decker hot tub |
| Firienholt By the Waters of Awakening | 3.0 |
| Dungeon Serpent World of Sorrows | 3.5 |
| I'll listen to anything that cites Intestine Baalism as a primary influence tbh |
| Freddie Gibbs and Madlib Pinata | 5.0 |
| Ophidian I Desolate | 4.0 |
| Deafheaven 10 Years Gone | 4.0 |
| Deafheaven Black Brick | 5.0 |
| Deafheaven New Bermuda | 3.5 |
| Deafheaven Sunbather | 3.5 |
| At the Gates The Nightmare of Being | 4.0 |
| The Absence Coffinized | 3.5 |
| So much better than AGFtO. Seems like the little hang-ups that came with them losing their primary songwriter have mostly been resolved |
| Alustrium A Monument to Silence | 4.0 |
| Rota Fortunae Hinterland | 4.0 |
| Alluvial Sarcoma | 3.5 |
| Pretty decent, chunky prog death but god damn are the lyrics dumb as shit |
| DMX Exodus | 2.5 |
| Mental Cruelty A Hill to Die Upon | 3.5 |
feel like the black metal parts are far superior quality wise to the deathcore chugs they're
frankenstein'd on to but overall a pretty cool listen |
| Perturbator Lustful Sacraments | 4.0 |
| Bodom After Midnight Paint the Sky With Blood | 4.0 |
| Mare Cognitum Solar Paroxysm | 4.5 |
| Cryptosis Bionic Swarm | 4.0 |
| Lunar Shadow Wish to Leave | 2.5 |
what I imagine the songwriting process was like for this album
"ok so this is what we're good at"
"now hear me out"
"what if we did none of that for close to 40 mins"
*everyone nods in confirmation* |
| Enforced Kill Grid | 4.0 |
| Drake Scary Hours 2 | 1.0 |
| Stortregn Impermanence | 4.0 |
| Iotunn Access All Worlds | 4.0 |
| Black Hole Deity Lair of Xenolich | 4.0 |
| Concise, varied and littered with good riffs. Definitely worth a listen if you like your death dipping its toes in black metal. |
| Vektor / Cryptosis Transmissions Of Chaos | 3.5 |
| Stargazer (AUS) Psychic Secretions | 4.0 |
| Ad Nauseam Imperative Imperceptible Impulse | 4.0 |
| Tribulation Where the Gloom Becomes Sound | 4.0 |
| The evolution of this band has been such an entertaining adventure. Not a huge departure from the last album, but definitely a more daring one, for sure, with bigger risks that seem to pay off more often than not. |
| Lunar (USA-CA) Eidolon | 3.0 |
| Moor Mother and Billy Woods Brass | 4.0 |
| Respire Black Line | 4.0 |
| Zephaniah Reforged | 4.0 |
One of the most underrated US power metal albums of the past decade. Mix is spotty in parts, but
the core components are especially solid. Lots of good moving parts and change-ups from song to
song, with a clear and concise proof of concept. |
| Wombripper Macabre Melodies | 4.0 |
| Show Me A Dinosaur Plantgazer | 3.0 |
| Green Druid At the Maw of Ruin | 4.0 |
| Dark Tranquillity Moment | 4.0 |
| Akhlys Melinoe | 4.0 |
| Solstafir Endless Twilight of Codependent Love | 3.0 |
| Countless Skies Glow | 3.5 |
| The clean vocals are the best part of the album, what are you on about |
| The Unguided Father Shadow | 2.5 |
| I literally cannot think of a worse melodeath vocalist |
| Draconian Under a Godless Veil | 4.5 |
| Busta Rhymes Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God | 3.0 |
| Minenwerfer Alpenpässe | 4.5 |
| Manticora To Live to Kill to Live | 4.0 |
| Necrophobic Dawn of the Damned | 4.0 |
| This bumps a hell of a lot more than I thought it would. Kudos for the immense amount of variation they do on their signature sound here as well. Definitely keeps it interesting |
| Woodkid S16 | 2.0 |
This kinda absolutely sucks and I'm really irritable about it. Dude instantly found his niche with
these bombastic pop epics on his debut and he follows it up with a series of slow, meandering,
stripped back ballads. It's absolutely a chore to listen to in one sitting and none of it
plays to his strengths. |
| Hellripper The Affair of the Poisons | 4.0 |
| Inferi (USA) Of Sunless Realms | 4.0 |
| Six Feet Under Nightmares of the Decomposed | 1.0 |
| chris barnes please sell your vocal cords |
| Uada Djinn | 4.0 |
| Heathen Empire of the Blind | 1.5 |
| 2020 continues to spectacularly disappoint. I'm left astounded how a fairly technical thrash act can sound like boneless Exodus more than 30 years into their career |
| Anaal Nathrakh Endarkenment | 3.5 |
| Sunken Livslede | 4.5 |
| Deafheaven are too busy being an indie rock band so somebody had to step it up |
| Skeletal Remains The Entombment of Chaos | 4.0 |
| Judicator Let There Be Nothing | 3.5 |
| Unleash The Archers Abyss | 3.0 |
| Thunder metal. lmao |
| Colour in the Clouds Inosculation | 4.0 |
| This is a really beautifully detailed post-hardcore album. While I do think that some of the songwriting decisions are a little too on the nose, the overwhelming conviction involved helps to easily alleviate them. Definitely worth a listen for fans of the genre. |
| Atramentus Stygian | 4.0 |
| Ulver Flowers of Evil | 2.5 |
| Why this wasn't billed as a compilation as opposed to an entire full length is a little confusing. It more or less sounds like tracks intentionally removed from the previous LP; either because of inconsistencies in tone or just...songwriting quality. Nothing on here stands out as much as anything on that aforementioned LP, and definitely feels like an awkward stop gap as they, inevitably, drastically change styles again. |
| The Killers Imploding the Mirage | 2.5 |
| The Killers have done it again |
| Cytotoxin Nuklearth | 4.0 |
MASSIVE
DICK ENERGY
DETECTED |
| Black Crown Initiate Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape | 3.5 |
| Batushka Raskol | 2.5 |
| Bart finally perfects the process of scummily emulating a much more interesting composer. It's definitely fine when you don't squint too hard, but it still doesn't have the texture that that initial release had. |
| Gaerea Limbo | 4.0 |
| grumpy stop being grumpy |
| Havukruunu Uinuos Syömein Sota | 4.0 |
| I think the second one may stand as one of the tightest written viking black metal albums of all time, but this certainly adds a lot of interesting additional layers to that sound. Still digesting it in it's entirety but as it stands it's a worthy followup. |
| The Black Dahlia Murder Verminous | 3.0 |
| I've listened to this thing a total of four times and genuinely all I remember of it is the t/t. It's certainly well played but it's probably their least memorable album to date, outside of Deflorate. I do think Trevor's vocal performance continues to improve on every release though. Dude sounds better than ever. |
| Ensiferum Thalassic | 3.5 |
| It's not insultingly bad like the previous 3 have been and that's probably the first and most important thing you need to know |
| Run the Jewels RTJ4 | 4.0 |
| Convocation Ashes Coalesce | 2.5 |
| Exocrine Maelstrom | 3.5 |
| Iron Maiden The Final Frontier | 2.5 |
| Behold... The Arctopus Hapeleptic Overtrove | 1.0 |
| can someone please unleak this album |
| Armand Hammer Shrines | 4.0 |
| Backxwash God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of I | 3.5 |
| Alestorm Curse of the Crystal Coconut | 3.5 |
| Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist Alfredo | 4.0 |
| Beats on this are phenomenal and Freddie's flow has even more variety than normal. All the features are really electric as well, though, does anyone really NEED a Rick Ross feature? |
| Defeated Sanity The Sanguinary Impetus | 4.0 |
| This shit makes me want to tuck my son into bed and front flip off of my roof |
| Ulthar Providence | 4.0 |
| Vulkan Technatura | 4.5 |
| Firewind Firewind | 3.0 |
| Lor Edge of Eternity | 4.0 |
| Every bit as good as their debut. Shame the mix is so loud and...not good though. |
| Corelia New Wilderness | 3.5 |
This album is too good to have never made it to a proper mixdown. Fuck
Edit: there is an AI remastered version of these demos available and I highly recommend them.
Superbly listenable |
| Cryptic Shift Visitations from Enceladus | 4.0 |
| ...and Oceans Cosmic World Mother | 4.5 |
| The best melodic black metal album this year, and potentially the best album in their catalog. Produced perfectly, full of fantastic symphonic arrangements and organized especially well as well. Love how the album starts to emanate little industrial flourishes as it blisters quickly towards its ending. |
| Allelic À Contre Vent | 3.5 |
| Shards of Humanity Cold Logic | 4.0 |
| Drake Dark Lane Demo Tapes | 1.0 |
The softest gangster rapper alive returns from his attempts to date 15 yo girls long enough to
drop the lyrical equivalent of a frozen Salisbury steak meal over whatever-happens-to-be-trending-
at-the-moment type beats |
| Havok V | 2.5 |
When Dave Mustaine calls you a cunt than you've truly transcended this mortal plane of
douchebaggery
Album is fine but it's missing that massive, complex bass presence that gave the last album any
merit at all. All that's left now is a bunch of C grade 80s riffs and shouted, awkward political
rants
Weird to think how fun and lighthearted this band used to be |
| Aether Realm Redneck Vikings From Hell | 2.0 |
| All you need to know about the quality of this album can be well surmised by the title of it |
| Vader Solitude in Madness | 3.0 |
| Chopping Mall Mauled by a Magical Bear with Scalding Hot Liquid | 2.5 |
| Warbringer Weapons of Tomorrow | 4.0 |
| The mix on this is rad. Also really digging the bass arrangements |
| Ripped to Shreds 亂 (Luan) | 4.0 |
| Elder (USA-MA) Omens | 4.5 |
| R.A. The Rugged Man All My Heroes Are Dead | 2.5 |
| There are parts of this album that are absolutely amazing and there are parts that literally sound like the hip-hop equivalent of a christian rock album. I don't doubt his conviction but Jesus H Christ is it the corniest shit you have ever heard |
| Symbolik Emergence | 3.5 |
| Your resident enti-tech death critic will fucking hate this but for what it's worth it's nice to see this style done with more melody, despite a lot of it ending up feeling a bit too samey at times |
| Benighted Obscene Repressed | 3.5 |
| Conception State of Deception | 3.5 |
| I am so fucking glad to hear Roy Khan back out here belting this shit out |
| King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Infest the Rats' Nest | 4.0 |
| Thor's Hammer The Fate Worse than Death | 2.5 |
| One of the most moderately racist, semi-shithole albums of all time |
| Filthy Young Impalers Pattern Blue | 4.0 |
| Blut Aus Nord The Work Which Transforms God | 5.0 |
| Igorrr Spirituality and Distortion | 4.0 |
My first instinct was to say it didn't touch Savage Sinusoid, which is, in my opinion, Igorrr's
most complete work to date.
After five more listens, I would say that S & D clearly has other priorities, and the one first
and foremost is 'fun'. The musical chairs approach Gautier has always taken to songwriting seems
more melodic and straightforward in places, emphasizing the European folk melodies just a tad
more, driving home the themes that he seems to be indicating in the title.
While I would love to see more of Laurent Lunoir and her absolutely stellar operatic stylings, I
understand why Gautier took a step back, assessed and moved in a different direction. It certainly
makes for a more interesting listen, overall. |
| Sweven (SWE) The Eternal Resonance | 2.5 |
| Songwriting must be well above my intellect because it just sounds choppy and incoherent to me |
| White Stones Kuarahy | 4.0 |
| Imagine if you gave a shit about Opeth anymore |
| The Weeknd After Hours | 3.5 |
| YES A WEEKND SAXOPHONE SOLO |
| Afterbirth Four Dimensional Flesh | 3.5 |
| Invent Animate Greyview | 3.0 |
| The Night Flight Orchestra Aeromantic | 4.0 |
| Skyforest A New Dawn | 4.0 |
| Beneath the Massacre Fearmonger | 3.5 |
| As someone who has put BtM on blast for years for popularizing an entire strain of homogenous tech core wankery, this was surprisingly decent. Production is very clean but punchy and the compositions have more variety than previous works. |
| Xenobiotic Mordrake | 3.0 |
| Sightless Pit Grave of a Dog | 4.0 |
| Dzo-nga Thunder In the Mountains | 4.0 |
| Demons and Wizards III | 3.5 |
| Kvelertak Splid | 4.0 |
| Tyr Hel | 4.0 |
| Oak (PT) Lone | 4.5 |
| Sylosis Cycle of Suffering | 4.0 |
| Mitochondrial Sun Mitochondrial Sun | 3.5 |
| Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats Unlocked | 4.5 |
| Leeched To Dull the Blades of Your Abuse | 3.5 |
| Thy Catafalque Naiv | 3.5 |
| Sallow Moth The Larval Hope | 4.0 |
| bops |
| Midnight Rebirth by Blasphemy | 4.0 |
| Odious Mortem Synesthesia | 3.5 |
| The mix on this blows and it's disheartening bc they're really proud of it |
| God Dethroned Illuminati | 3.5 |
| One of their most varied works to date. They've lost the Slayer solos again (thankfully) and have added the keys back as well as a lot of the more traditional black metal riffage found on their earlier albums. Certainly a very different LP from anything off of their WWI trilogy, but also showing that the band are more than capable of altering their material to set the mood for the content. |
| Denzel Curry 13lood 1n + 13lood Out Mixx | 4.0 |
| Haunt (USA-CA) Mind Freeze | 3.5 |
| Alon Mor Lands of Delight | 4.5 |
| XXXTENTACION Bad Vibes Forever | 1.0 |
It's amazing how someone who lived a morally repulsive lifestyle and consistently released
underwritten (to the point that your posthumous releases still sound inline with the rest of your
discography) and otherwise badly composed hip-hop songs manages to still stay in the public eye
for this long.
You already know all the criticisms of this album, and you'll never have to listen to it. You
could call it "minimalist" but you know damn well that's the most flattering approach you could
take to his material. |
| Griselda WWCD | 2.5 |
| Shining (NOR) Animal | 1.0 |
| Lord Mantis Universal Death Church | 4.0 |
| Iapetus The Body Cosmic | 3.5 |
| The Drowning The Radiant Dark | 4.0 |
| Esoteric A Pyrrhic Existence | 4.5 |
| The Great Old Ones Cosmicism | 4.5 |
| Wilderun Veil of Imagination | 4.5 |
| Gang Starr One Of The Best Yet | 3.5 |
Almost as good as a posthumous release can get. DJ Premier has clearly spent an immense amount of
time taking what little remained from these original sessions and cleaning, retooling and
repurposing them to fit within the confines of this LP. For what it's worth, he gives you the best
possible impression of the late Guru. He sounds smarmy, smooth, intelligent, and strangely more
dexterous than ever. The features that fill the album out from EP length to full length are
equally solid (with the exception of Q Tip making weird sound effects and calling it a chorus) and
see most of the old squad return, with some interesting additions that fit the sound of the group.
What's really excellent about these features is their lyrical reverence for the late rapper, which
only enhance the emotional resonance of the project.
My only real issue with the album comes down to some less consistent tracks across the backend.
'Get Together' has a very ungenuine sounding arrangement, 'Business or Art' unfortunately feels
very cutting room floor towards the hook and 'Bring It Back Here' just shouldn't be on the album.
The beat is awkward, and the full song only lasts a good 50 seconds before just kinda giving up.
The album ends well with a final part to the Militia series, as well as a nice, subtle closer in
'Bless The Mic' (which loops the album smoothly) but overall 'One Of The Best Yet' stumbles
slightly in it's escapades towards the finale.
Overall though, this is still a must-listen for early hip-hop aficionados, as well as fans of the
group. It checks every box that it needs to, and though it is marred by some incongruities towards
the rear, it's certainly still a memorable sendoff to one of the most underrated lyricists in all
of hip-hop. |
| Anamanaguchi [USA] | 4.0 |
| USA! USA! USA! |
| Nile Vile Nilotic Rites | 4.0 |
| Fit for an Autopsy The Sea of Tragic Beasts | 3.5 |
| Jake Boner why are you so mad at Fit For An Autopsy |
| Alcest Kodama | 4.0 |
| Alcest Spiritual Instinct | 3.5 |
Remember when Neige put out multiple statements denouncing the white nationalist nonsense of the
bands he was just a marginal part of anyway? Why don't we jump ship from Metalsucks style,
clickbait soundoffs to actual discussions on the music in question?
It's solid, no doubt. It lacked definition on my first several spins, but it is turning out to be
an especially detailed album, and each incremental re-listen yields more and more reward overall.
The overarching concern of Nuclear Blast pushing the band into more mainstream territories might
have been warranted, but they almost certainly do the style with substance and grace. Another
excellent addition to their catalog. |
| Rings of Saturn Gidim | 2.5 |
| Album cover looks like someone pulled the cereal bag open way too fucking hard |
| BABYMETAL Metal Galaxy | 2.0 |
| Xoth Interdimensional Invocations | 4.0 |
| Mega Drive 199XAD | 3.5 |
| Dysrhythmia Terminal Threshold | 4.0 |
| Good, memorable prog songwriting, and a good mix by Colin Marston. Really simple formula for success with this one. |
| Toxic Holocaust Primal Future: 2019 | 4.0 |
| Exhumed Horror | 4.0 |
| clipping. There Existed an Addiction to Blood | 4.5 |
| Rap AOTY. Seriously. Incredible textures to the instrumentals and Daveed brings some of his most erratic, maniacal and straight insane verses to date. The last verse on 'Blood On The Fang' might be the best verse of the year. Highly recommended. |
| GosT Valediction | 2.5 |
'Valediction' or more commonly known as
"that time that synth wave act got signed
to a major label and immediately lost the
signature sound that made people
interested in them in the first place' |
| SeeYouSpaceCowboy The Correlation Between Entrance And Exit Wounds | 3.0 |
Did you enjoy the rather whimsical, lighthearted tone of SYSC's previous work? All gone for some
weird, surly, dark aesthetic trying way too hard to sound profound. I appreciate their
appreciation for early 2000s metalcore but I really wish they'd develop their original sound some
more :/ |
| In Mourning Garden of Storms | 4.0 |
| Critical Defiance Misconception | 4.0 |
| Creeping Death Wretched Illusions | 4.0 |
| Nothing innovative but hot damn are there some angry fucking riffs |
| Car Bomb Mordial | 4.5 |
| Opeth In Cauda Venenum | 3.5 |
| Opeth have gotten comfortably mediocre over the course of the past three albums and nothing that's been mentioned thus far leads me to believe this will be anything other than another 3.4/5 dadcore album. I love these guys but this is not their finest hour |
| Apocalypse Orchestra The End is Nigh | 3.5 |
| White Ward Love Exchange Failure | 4.5 |
| You know how Rivers of Nihil found varying degrees of success with integrating saxophone into every song on 'Where Owls Know My Name'? White Ward have solved that paradox. By mixing abstract black metal and more free form jazz, they've created the perfect staging ground for intoxicating sax lines. If Noire Black Metal probably wasn't already copyrighted by Neige, these guys would certainly get the sticker. |
| Exhorder Mourn the Southern Skies | 4.0 |
It's strange to think that Pantera completely dissolved after Dimebag's death, and all of the
surviving members moved into completely mediocre butt rock outfits while Exhorder, the band they
originally ripped off, comes back after like a 20 year hiatus and puts out an album that does
their formula better than any member of that band could hope to do. Exceptional stuff.
Lyrics are pretty cringe tho lol |
| The Number Twelve Looks Like You Wild Gods | 4.5 |
| Borknagar True North | 4.5 |
| Weeping Sores False Confession | 4.5 |
| JPEGMAFIA All My Heroes Are Cornballs | 4.0 |
| Sleep Terror Abreaction | 4.0 |
| Mizmor Cairn | 4.0 |
| Devourment Obscene Majesty | 3.5 |
This might be one of the best brutal death metal production jobs I've ever heard. Nothing
revolutionary songwriting-wise but hot damn does it sound vitriolic and disgusting. Word. |
| Disillusion The Liberation | 4.0 |
I kinda think it's humorous that the crux of the argument from the staff soundoff is that when you
put this side-by-side with their previous effort it somehow makes the quality so stark
The album was made to be played back to back with their previous, and it actually increases the
connectivity and meta-narrative, like
The previous record ends and this one literally begins. That ending track and this intro are one
solid movement |
| Mgla Age of Excuse | 4.0 |
| Tool Fear Inoculum | 3.5 |
| WRVTH No Rising Sun | 4.0 |
| Twilight Force Dawn of the Dragonstar | 3.5 |
| The Offering Home | 4.0 |
| Strung Out Songs Of Armor And Devotion | 3.5 |
| Drake Care Package | 2.0 |
| Care package? More like an enemy artillery strike. |
| Benny The Butcher The Plugs I Met | 4.0 |
| Lingua Ignota Caligula | 4.0 |
| Chance the Rapper The Big Day | 1.5 |
| Career suicide has never sounded this uninteresting |
| Ulthar Cosmovore | 4.0 |
| Dream Troll Second to None | 2.5 |
| Falls of Rauros Patterns in Mythology | 4.5 |
| Blood Stain Child Amateras | 3.5 |
| We really out here in 2019 making quality, electronica-influenced melodic death metal, huh |
| Solstice (UK) White Horse Hill | 4.0 |
It's unusual how far under everyone's radar this fell. Not only does it serve as an excellent
follow up to 'New Dark Age', one of the best new school doom metal records of all time, it
effectively replaces its original singer (crazy, because he was and still is the best of the best)
and alters their musical DNA in exciting and creative ways.
Don't think it has the creative peaks of 'NDA' but overall it is extremely consistent and a more
than worthy followup to that hyperbole-laced, 1998 epic. |
| Krzysztof Komeda Astigmatic | 4.5 |
| Elder (USA-MA) The Gold and Silver Sessions | 4.5 |
| Batushka Panihida | 4.5 |
| Batushka Hospodi | 1.0 |
| Blood Spore Fungal Warfare Upon All Life | 4.5 |
| The production on this is everything I want from an album in this genre and the compositions are so mean they might as well be boomer retail customers 4.5/5 would feel filthy again |
| Yellow Eyes Rare Field Ceiling | 4.0 |
| Kryptos Afterburner | 3.5 |
| Beastwars IV | 4.0 |
| Freddie Gibbs and Madlib Bandana | 4.0 |
| Neighbor aint runnin |
| Andrew W.K. You're Not Alone | 4.0 |
| Lunar Shadow The Smokeless Fires | 4.0 |
| Serpent Of Gnosis As I Drink from the Infinite Well of Inebriation | 4.5 |
| Slough Feg New Organon | 3.5 |
| Nucleus (USA-IL) Entity | 4.0 |
| Thank You Scientist Terraformer | 4.5 |
| Fetid Steeping Corporeal Mess | 3.0 |
| Baroness Gold and Grey | 4.0 |
| Gloryhammer Legends From Beyond the Galactic Terror. | 4.0 |
The Hootsman is a cyborg warrior as old as time itself (Also the King of California), powered by a
nuclear heart. In Space: 1992, he detonated it, sacrificing himself in a last ditch effort to
defeat Zargothrax, the dark wizard, therein destroying earth and opening a hole in the fabric of
reality.
However, it was all in vain, as Zargothrax escaped into the tear and began his dimensional
domination of all of existence.
Hope that helps, Mitch. |
| Vale of Pnath Accursed | 4.0 |
| Eternity's End Unyielding | 4.0 |
| Deathspell Omega The Synarchy of Molten Bones | 4.0 |
| Deathspell Omega The Furnaces of Palingenesia | 4.5 |
| Misthyrming Algleymi | 4.5 |
| Spires (MAN-UK) A Parting Gift | 4.0 |
| Nocturnus AD Paradox | 4.5 |
| Flying Lotus Flamagra | 4.0 |
| Mastodon Stairway to Nick John | 3.5 |
| Inanimate Existence Calling from a Dream | 2.5 |
| Inanimate Existence Clockwork | 4.0 |
| One of the most reliably solid tech death outfits active in the scene today drops another gem |
| Pumpkinhead Orange Moon Over Brooklyn | 4.5 |
| Dreadnought A Wake In Sacred Waves | 4.0 |
| Dreadnought Emergence | 4.5 |
| Full of Hell Weeping Choir | 4.0 |
| Arch/Matheos Winter Ethereal | 4.0 |
| Warforged I: Voice | 3.5 |
| Spirit Adrift Curse of Conception | 4.5 |
| Spirit Adrift Divided by Darkness | 4.0 |
| Trash Boat Crown Shyness | 4.0 |
| Unto Others Mana | 4.5 |
| Lurid Panacea The Insidious Poisons | 4.0 |
| Starts getting REALLY good around track 36 |
| Arch Echo You Won't Believe What Happens Next! | 3.5 |
| Epic Beard Men This Was Supposed To Be Fun | 3.5 |
| Ceremony Of Silence Oútis | 4.5 |
| Smoulder Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring | 3.0 |
| Hath Of Rot And Ruin | 4.0 |
| Slugdge have come back firing on all cylinders only a year after their roaring blackened death metal opus, 'Esoteric Malacology', sounding more powerful than ever before. The choral melodies are sharp, the riffs are eviscerating and the compositions are as tight as ever. It's disappointing to see a lack of slug-related content across the span of the full album, but the general consistency makes up for any disappointments therein. |
| Sadistik Haunted Gardens | 3.5 |
| I kinda expected more out of Cody than meandering apathy. It's certainly more inline with his earlier material than the absurdity that was 'Altars' but you can clearly tell he's holding back, constantly. |
| Warrior Path Warrior Path | 4.0 |
| It has the vocalist from Beast in Black and the guitarist from Firewind. I feel like you don't need to know much more than that. |
| Numenorean Adore | 3.5 |
| Inculter Fatal Visions | 3.5 |
| Oryx Stolen Absolution | 4.0 |
| Heavy As A Really Heavy Thing Pt. II: This Time Nobody's Balding |
| Inferi (USA) The End of an Era | Rebirth | 4.5 |
| Finally at the level of their last two releases. The production quality increase cements this as one of the sharpest tech death releases to come out all year. |
| Haunt (USA-CA) If Icarus Could Fly | 3.5 |
A solid followup to 'Burst Into Flame', filled with memorable harmonies, an energetic drum
performance and that same sense of snappy, traditionalist songwriting. One might get the
impression, however, that if Haunt's Trevor Church were to have taken a longer period of time to
let the ideas on here gestate, he might be looking at a much more potent product. Choruses can
occasionally feel underwhelmingly simplistic, and all of the compositions following the same exact
formula can also sometimes wear the album kinda thin.
Regardless, it's a fun album, worthy of a couple beers and a full rotation. |
| Haunt (USA-CA) Burst into Flame | 4.0 |
| Hellripper Black Arts and Alchemy | 4.0 |
| Billy Woods and Kenny Segal Hiding Places | 4.5 |
| Billie Eilish When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? | 1.5 |
| "The Gang Goes To The Suburbs" |
| Blu and Oh No A Long Red Hot Los Angeles Summer Night | 4.0 |
'A Tier' Blu performances over 'A Tier' Oh No instrumentals. Probably one of the best hip-hop
albums of the year so far. |
| Anonymuz There Is No Threat | 4.0 |
| Laura Stevenson The Big Freeze | 5.0 |
| Akasha Canticles of the Sepulchral Deity | 4.0 |
| Aephanemer Prokopton | 4.0 |
| Battle Beast No More Hollywood Endings | 2.0 |
| Battle Beast but this time it's more of a lovers quarrel and you're just kinda overhearing it as you eat a baguette at a bakery |
| Ringare Under Pale Moon | 4.0 |
| I'd buy it if they told me this was recorded in a woodshed fifteen hundred miles from modern civilization |
| Amon Amarth Berserker | 4.0 |
| Low-key one of their stronger albums. They're still varying it up just enough to keep the formula a hair away from full exhaustion. I am a little concerned they're running out of interesting Norse lore tho |
| Venom Prison Samsara | 3.5 |
| Really passionate deliveries from all the individual members add up to something just short of amazing. If they dropped the monotonous breakdowns they'd be a force to be reckoned with within the death metal community |
| The Comet Is Coming Trust in the Lifeforce of Deep Mystery | 3.0 |
| Contrarian Their Worm Never Dies | 4.0 |
This really surprised me. Their last LP felt aimless and overindulgent, and was hampered by a
pretty lackluster production job. This does not have any of those problems. The songwriting is
sharp, the production feels period specific, and the performances are really something. George
Kolias (Of Nile fame) gives a career highlight on drums, while Brian Mason lays down some eerily-
Schuldiner-esque guitar lines that sound both progressive and surgical in precision. Some will
call this derivative of early-era death metal, and specifically what both Death and Atheist have
laid down before, and while that's certainly true, it's also well played, well-constructed and
complimentary to any of those aforementioned bands. |
| Fallujah Undying Light | 3.0 |
"I don't know about that one Tim"
Al Borland on the new Fallujah LP |
| Children of Bodom Hexed | 3.0 |
| Contrarian To Perceive Is To Suffer | 2.0 |
| Equipoise Birthing Homunculi | 4.0 |
| Darkwater Human | 3.0 |
| Vimur Triumphant Master of Fates | 4.0 |
| I'm being told this album is incredibly straight |
| Equipoise Demiurgus | 4.0 |
| Noodles so hard the nation of Italy is looking for recompense |
| La Dispute Panorama | 4.0 |
| Genre: Adult Contemporary |
| Ithaca The Language of Injury | 4.0 |
| Brothers Of Metal Prophecy of Ragnarök | 4.0 |
| Wounds (USA-IL) Light Eater | 3.5 |
| Vanum Ageless Fire | 4.5 |
| "Ageless Fire" is a perfect description for this album |
| Czarface and Ghostface Killah Czarface Meets Ghostface | 4.0 |
| HEALTH VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR | 5.0 |
I'm 5ing this because Pitchfork have finally ascended from kneejerk reaction artists to fullblown
douchenozzles |
| Beast In Black From Hell With Love | 4.0 |
| Regurgitation Tales of Necrophilia | 4.0 |
| Saor Forgotten Paths | 4.5 |
| It does nothing different at all from the three albums past. The production is marginally better. |
| Astronoid Astronoid | 4.0 |
| Evergrey The Atlantic | 3.5 |
| Dire Peril The Extraterrestrial Compendium | 4.0 |
| Malibu Ken Malibu Ken | 4.5 |
| Kaelan Mikla Not Eftir Not | 3.5 |
| Dimmu Borgir Eonian | 1.5 |
| This demon burger must have come from Satan's McDonald's |
| Thrailkill Everything That Is You | 4.5 |
| All you really need to know about this band is that they were formerly Mammoth, the dudes who released the mindfuck of an album that was 'Deviations'. |
| At the Gates With the Pantheons Blind | 1.5 |
If you just want to hear the album tracks recorded with an inferior vocalist, this will certainly
be up your alley. The re-recorded version of 'Raped By The Light of Christ' is pretty solid, but
the rest of this material belongs in the recycle bin. |
| Born of Osiris The Simulation | 2.5 |
| Csejthe Reminiscence | 4.5 |
| Dirge (FR) Hyperion | 4.0 |
| Dirge (FR) Lost Empyrean | 4.0 |
| One of the most underrated post metal bands of all time drop another scorcher. Cut and dry. |
| Cronian Erathems | 4.0 |
| Lost in Thought Renascence | 4.0 |
| Soilwork Verkligheten | 3.5 |
Who tf liked StaGD and StD more than their
recent stuff
What dimension have I entered |
| The Off Daze Couple's Skate | 3.5 |
| I'm genuinely amazed at how good Deacon's production has gotten. He must be taking lessons from Kno because these are some of the best beats I've heard this year. On the vocal front, everything is fairly funky and upbeat, and there are some genuinely good bars traded between the three emcees. It all culminates very well into the best throwback hip-hop album I've heard since Avanddale Bowling Club's self-titled album. |
| Phlebotomized Deformation of Humanity | 3.5 |
| I didn't realize how much I've missed these guys |
| Shredder 1984 Nemesis | 3.0 |
| Sulphur Aeon The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos | 4.5 |
| Jason Becker Triumphant Hearts | 5.0 |
| Mandatory 5 for one of the greatest musicians alive who, despite not even being able to PLAY guitar because of chronic conditions, still manages to release better music than most of his peers |
| Cantique Lepreux Paysages Polaires | 4.0 |
Black metal with riffs?
What year is this again?? |
| Funeral Chic Superstition | 4.0 |
| The ratio of good to bad riffs here is absolutely absurd. It's definitely not doing anything new but hot damn is it all peaks and zero valleys |
| Black Thought Streams Of Thought, Vol. 2 | 4.5 |
| Coffin Birth (ITA) The Serpent Insignia | 3.0 |
| Chapel of Disease ...And as We Have Seen the Storm | 4.0 |
| The Onyx Collective Lower East Suite Part Three | 4.5 |
| Earl Sweatshirt Some Rap Songs | 4.0 |
| thank u based sweatshirt man |
| Noise Trail Immersion Symbology of Shelter | 4.0 |
| JID DiCaprio 2 | 4.0 |
| Currensy and Freddie Gibbs Fetti | 3.0 |
| The Underachievers After The Rain | 3.5 |
| Azusa Heavy Yoke | 4.0 |
| Conception My Dark Symphony | 4.5 |
| Unearth Extinction(s) | 2.0 |
| My ears are gay |
| Abstract Void Back to Reality | 3.5 |
Shoegaze-y black metal combined with synthwave. I expected this to sound horrendous but it's
blended relatively seamlessly. Surprisingly, they mesh almost perfectly. I'm kinda surprised this
is the first attempt at something like this. |
| Invocation (UK) Atlas | 2.5 |
| Mariah Carey Caution | 1.0 |
| Where were you when a Mariah Carey marketing team started 5ing her new album on an obscure music board? |
| Masta Ace & Marco Polo A Breukelen Story | 4.0 |
The skits are ludicrously badly acted (I'm talking Resident Evil 1 tier) but overall this is a
return to form for Ace after the relatively lukewarm 'The Falling Season', which saw Ace
floundering over the worst beats of his career.
That's not a problem with Marco Polo on the boards, who not only creates an instrumental set lead
by powerful drum work and soul samples, but also manages to ring every last ounce of passion out
of the aging emcee. Ace's feature on the producer's solo debut was no fluke; the two have a
powerful chemistry on record, and it's evident absolutely everywhere.
Favorite tracks: Sunken Place, Count Em Up, Three, Fight Song |
| Anderson .Paak Oxnard | 2.5 |
| It's fine! It's perfectly ok. It's not horrible at all. |
| Deceased Ghostly White | 3.5 |
| Sigh Heir to Despair | 4.5 |
| Moonshade Sun Dethroned | 4.0 |
| Oliver Hart The Many Faces Of Oliver Hart | 4.5 |
| How tf this only has a meager 3.8 average blows my pea brain. While Eyedea's entire discography is absolutely stunning, this is certainly his most potent work. A complete fucking shame that the world lost such an incredibly distinct voice in the hip-hop scene. |
| Mick Jenkins Pieces Of A Man | 4.0 |
| Cult Leader A Patient Man | 4.0 |
| Album title accurately describes the kind of person who will appreciate this the most. The compositions on here are multilayered and complex, and twist wildly from slow burners to barn burners, in just a matter of seconds. While it might take time to truly hook you, it's certainly worth the effort. |
| 1914 The Blind Leading the Blind | 4.0 |
| Lil Peep Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 2 | 2.0 |
| Psycroptic As The Kingdom Drowns | 4.0 |
| Their singer still sounds like how septic tanks smell but at least they have some fucking riffs again |
| URSA Abyss Between the Stars | 4.0 |
| Arsis Visitant | 3.0 |
| Currensy, Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist Fetti | 4.0 |
| Sacral Rage Beyond Celestial Echoes | 4.5 |
| Homeboy Sandman and Edan Humble Pi | 4.0 |
The beats on this are phenomenal. it's like Edan just dropped out of a warphole in time that
teleported him from his prime, 'Beauty And The Beat'-era work to now. HS sounds really
reinvigorated here as well, experimenting with his flow to deftly navigate the abstract
soundscapes that Edan conjures. My only real complaint is that the ratio of HS verses to E's are a
little off. I don't know if Edan is still easing back in or what, but everytime he shows up in a
song he's the absolute highlight, and his recent teamup with Wiki was no fluke. Definitely makes
you want more. |
| Shad A Short Story About A War | 4.0 |
| Un Sentiment | 4.5 |
| Probably the single most potent doom album to come out in 2018. Lots of variations to keep the monolithic track durations interesting, as well as some surprisingly catchy riffs. Production feels very form-fitting as well, making the beautiful moments feel all the more stunning while allowing the heavier passages to absolutely pulverize you. Not an album to miss. |
| Bloodbath The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn | 4.0 |
| On par with, if not better than 'The Fathomless Mastery'. Not the highest bar, but it is, finally, listenable again from front to back and, above all else, FUN. And that's something the band hasn't been since 'Nightmares Made Flesh'. |
| Coheed and Cambria Vaxis I: The Unheavenly Creatures | 4.0 |
| House of Atreus From the Madness of Ixion | 3.5 |
| In Human Form Opening of the Eye by the Death of the I | 4.5 |
| Tourniquet Gazing at Medusa | 4.0 |
| Esoctrilihum Inhüma | 4.0 |
| Open Mike Eagle What Happens When I Try to Relax | 3.5 |
| Gorod Aethra | 4.0 |
| Frontierer Unloved | 3.5 |
| Someone needs to tell Frontierer's producer to calm the fuck down with the brickwalling. This album is excellent but god damn is it tiring to listen to |
| Sargeist Unbound | 4.5 |
| Four Fists 6666 | 4.0 |
This has grown on me substantially since its surprise drop. When you get past the fact that two of
underground hip-hop's favorite alumni are putting out a joint album, you'll notice just how
expansive and adversarial these instrumentals are. They're aggressive, creative, varied, modern,
but never typical. They set the tone perfectly for the scorched earth approach to lyricism that
these two deliver on here. |
| Allfather (UK) And All Will Be Desolation | 4.0 |
| Allelic The Smoke of Atavistic Fires | 4.5 |
| The best 2.99 I've spent since Taco Bell had 1 dollar 5 layer burritos |
| Benighted Dogs Always Bite Harder than Their Master | 4.0 |
| Orden Ogan Ravenhead | 4.5 |
| Sheck Wes Mudboy | 2.0 |
| Gunship Dark All Day | 3.5 |
| Not as good as their first release, though not without some highlights. Some pruning could have seriously aided this album's flow, as there are far too many tracks operating at the same tempo, with a lot of the same melodies. Sure, most of it is consistent (bar the confusingly sparse cover of Cindi Lauper's 'Time After Time'), but 66 minutes and 33 seconds (as cool of a number as that is) is waaaaay too long for a nostalgiac 80s synthwave album. These dudes are not Perturbator. |
| Scorched (USA-DE) Ecliptic Butchery | 4.0 |
| Also known as Lord of the RIFFS: Return of the RIFF |
| Ironflame Tales of Splendor and Sorrow | 3.5 |
| Anaal Nathrakh Desideratum | 3.0 |
| Anaal Nathrakh The Whole of the Law | 4.0 |
| Holy Fawn Death Spells | 3.5 |
| The highs on this album are absolutely skyscraper high but sometimes I wish the songwriting was a little better |
| Revocation The Outer Ones | 3.5 |
| Lupe Fiasco DROGAS Wave | 3.5 |
| Aborted TerrorVision | 4.0 |
| Irreversible Mechanism Immersion | 3.5 |
Awaiting Blood Music's mandatory 5'ing
Essentially sounds like Fallujah's 'The Flesh Prevails', with some pieces rearranged and
reassembled, which, imo, is not a bad thing |
| Fit for a King Dark Skies | 3.5 |
| Avantdale Bowling Club Avantdale Bowling Club | 4.0 |
| Arcane Roots Landslide EP | 4.0 |
| This hurts more than that time my dad went out to get cigarettes and came back with a fallout boy album |
| Satan Cruel Magic | 4.0 |
| Phideaux Infernal | 4.5 |
| Omnium Gatherum The Burning Cold | 3.5 |
| Panegyrist Hierurgy | 4.0 |
| KEN mode Loved | 4.0 |
| Born to Murder the World The Infinite Mirror Of Millennial Narcissism | 4.5 |
| Enchanter Defenders of the Realm | 4.0 |
| Hermit and the Recluse Orpheus vs. The Sirens | 4.0 |
| This won't change anyone's opinion on Ka or his style, but this is the best set of beats the dude has ever rapped on, bar none. Definitely solid. |
| Leeched You Took The Sun When You Left | 3.5 |
| Innumerable Forms Punishment in Flesh | 3.0 |
| Alice in Chains Rainier Fog | 3.0 |
| Exocrine Molten Giant | 3.5 |
| Sinsaenum Repulsion for Humanity | 2.5 |
| Rebel Wizard Voluptuous Worship of Rapture and Response | 3.5 |
| The vocal mixing on here drives me fucking nuts but gat damn does it riff hard |
| Parius The Eldritch Realm | 3.5 |
| Pretty fun and non-pretentious prog/tech death. Still has plenty of catchy, melodic riffs with just enough angle to really give it some depth. |
| Runemagick Evoked From Abysmal Sleep | 3.5 |
| Ugly Heroes Everything in Between | 3.5 |
| Tides of Man Every Nothing | 3.5 |
| Manticora To Kill to Live to Kill | 3.0 |
| Makari Hyperreal | 3.0 |
| Wytch Hazel II: Sojourn | 3.5 |
| Epica Epica vs Attack on Titan Songs | 3.5 |
| idk why this is a thing but I'm more amused than I ought to be |
| Denzel Curry TA13OO | 4.0 |
| Khorada Salt | 3.0 |
| If you asked me, sincerely, what I remembered as defining moments on this album, I would probably be incapable of giving any sufficient examples. The songwriting runs the gamut from background noise to halfway pinnacles, seeming either confused or apathetic, and the production doesn't help; it takes all the edge out of the instrumentation, giving the proceedings a softness that seems unintentional. All in all, this was a disappointing listen, further hammered home by the sheer sonic potential of all personnel involved. |
| Mordant Rapture The Abnegation | 4.0 |
| Black Fast Spectre of Ruin | 3.5 |
| A solid if homogeneous effort. It maintains its veracity throughout with tight, razor sharp riffs and one of the best vocal performances of the young band's career, but you can't help but feel fatigue set in towards the halfway point. Each song exists in the same tempo, and SoR sees the band tone down on some of their proggier tendencies as well, so some of the songs end up feeling more aggressive, but less interesting as a result. Still a solid effort, but definitely not as potent as their last offering. |
| Burial Invocation Abiogenesis | 3.0 |
| Between the Buried and Me Automata I | 3.5 |
| Between the Buried and Me Automata II | 3.5 |
Imagine if their label weren't a bunch of greedy fuckheads and we got one moderately impressive
concept album instead |
| Skeletonwitch Devouring Radiant Light | 4.0 |
| Anachronism Orogeny | 4.5 |
| Deafheaven Ordinary Corrupt Human Love | 3.5 |
| The Night Flight Orchestra Sometimes The World Ain't Enough | 3.5 |
| Night Verses From the Gallery of Sleep | 4.5 |
| Impending Doom The Sin and Doom Vol. II | 2.0 |
| Hoth Astral Necromancy | 2.5 |
| I expected a lot more out of these guys. The production lacks all the grit that made their last effort so harsh and hostile, the tracklisting is so bloated it gives Jabba a run for his money, and some of the new additions, while interesting, don't really deliver on their promises. It would be easy to forgive these dudes considering it's an indie production, but their previous release was going toe to toe with major label releases. This one is making excuses just to get out of the gate. |
| Jay Rock 90059 | 4.0 |
| Jay Rock Redemption | 2.0 |
| I hate this album because of the songs geared towards the mainstream. |
| Chthe'ilist Passage Into the Xexanotth | 4.5 |
| Khemmis Desolation | 4.5 |
| Busdriver Electricity Is on Our Side | 4.0 |
| Taphos Come Ethereal Somberness | 4.5 |
| Nas NASIR | 2.0 |
| Cosmic Church Täyttymys | 4.5 |
| Ahtme Sewer Born | 3.0 |
| Tomb Mold Manor of Infinite Forms | 4.0 |
| Kids See Ghosts Kids See Ghosts | 3.5 |
| Lik Carnage | 4.0 |
| The best album Bloodbath never made. Full of ludicrous, over the top horrorshow lyrics, bombastic, whirling chainsaws for guitars and replete with an especially energetic drum performance. Production slaps too. |
| Boss Keloid Melted on the Inch | 4.0 |
| Ghost (SWE) Prequelle | 4.0 |
| Animal Flag Void Ripper | 3.0 |
| Wild Hunt Afterdream of the Reveller | 4.0 |
| Pusha T DAYTONA | 4.0 |
| Uada Cult of a Dying Sun | 3.5 |
| Uada's second album shows the band is more than capable of varying their sonic palette, though it doesn't seem to have that "it" factor their debut had. It could be the production, which just misses the mark, or the songwriting which approaches "aimless" at times, but this sits just a notch below that solid album. Give it to their vocalist, Jake Superchi though, he absolutely destroys at every single interval, somehow giving a standout performance on a black metal album. |
| The Glitch Mob See Without Eyes | 2.0 |
| Unprocessed Covenant | 3.0 |
| Gazpacho Soyuz | 3.0 |
| Amorphis Queen of Time | 3.0 |
| At the Gates To Drink from the Night Itself | 4.0 |
| KirbLaGoop Goop Life | 1.0 |
| Alkaloid Liquid Anatomy | 3.5 |
| Tropical Fuck Storm A Laughing Death in Meatspace | 4.0 |
| Sectioned Annihilated | 4.0 |
| Varathron Patriarchs of Evil | 3.5 |
| Post Malone beerbongs and bentleys | 2.5 |
| Also known as Fratraps and Thotwhisperers . |
| King Goat Debt Of Aeons | 3.5 |
| Warbreed History Undone | 4.0 |
One of the most underrated melodic death metal albums of all time. Imagine a more pissed off, war-
focused In Flames and you have a pretty dreary picture of Warbreed and their debut album, 'History
Undone'. Full of sharp, nasty riffs, vitriolic vocals and powerful historical portrayals, this has
stood the test of time as one of the best war-themed albums around, putting the group easily atop
the same plane as bands such as God Dethroned, Hail of Bullets or Bolt Thrower.
Recommended tracks: The Hour Of The Wolf, Rotterdam In Flames |
| Master Boot Record Direct Memory Access | 5.0 |
| Aorlhac L'esprit des vents | 3.0 |
| Sleep The Sciences | 4.0 |
| Inferi (USA) Revenant | 3.5 |
| Saba Care For Me | 4.0 |
| Aepoch Awakening Inception | 4.0 |
| One of the best debuts I've heard in the progressive death subgenre in some time. Aepoch manage to incorporate thrash, death, prog and black metal into an ultra slick and melodic framework, with blistering, elaborate solos and tasty and distinct bass passages. My only real issue with the album stems from its length; it's clear that the band had an immense amount of content they wanted to pack in, and because of the lack of any real pruning, it can tend to drag at parts. Still though, the amount of promise on-board is obvious from the jump, and further honing might lead them to a true genre classic further down the line. Got to give it to Canada once again for quirky, semi-buried gems such as these. |
| Our Place of Worship is Silence With Inexorable Suffering | 3.5 |
| Nekrogoblikon Welcome to Bonkers | 4.0 |
Probably their most varied effort to date, with tons of hilarious yet well composed detours
through different subgenres. I'd almost go so far as to call this avant-garde, because it expands
past melodeath for the majority of the run time. The gimmick of Nekrogoblikon might initially put
some off, but its the well composed, varied tracks, and weighed production that will cement this
particular album as something more. |
| Garroted Of Damnation and Abyssal Terrors | 3.5 |
| Spectrum of Delusion Esoteric Entity | 4.0 |
| Altars Of Grief Iris | 3.0 |
| Replicant Negative Life | 4.0 |
| Jean Grae/Quelle Chris Everything's Fine | 3.0 |
| Kamelot The Shadow Theory | 2.5 |
| Kalmah Palo | 3.5 |
| "That doesn't mean it's bad, though. It's still a fairly aggressive romp through the band's power metal/death metal hybrid, and is easily the second best album in Kalmah's discography."rThat's a hard nope there buddy |
| Barren Earth A Complex of Cages | 4.0 |
| Dr. Octagon Moosebumps | 3.5 |
| Iron Savior Condition Red | 4.5 |
| Augury Illusive Golden Age | 4.5 |
| Bog Wraith Omen | 2.5 |
| The Absence A Gift for the Obsessed | 3.0 |
| Apathy The Widow's Son | 3.0 |
| 50% hot battle bars, 50% Apathy jerking himself off for being a member of the Freemasons. I'm glad he's exploring outside his usual lyrical foray but damn does most of this come off as especially pompous |
| Monotheist Scourge | 4.0 |
| CZARFACE and MF DOOM Czarface Meets Metal Face | 4.0 |
| A pretty consistent listen from front to back. On the instrumental end, this is the most varied sonic work that the Tzar Keys have ever put forth, ranging from slow and atmospheric crawls to high energy, cartoon-ish romps. On the verbal portion, CZARFACE members Esoteric and Inspectah Deck sound more comfortable and fluid than ever, and, maybe because of this, DOOM manages to come out with more imaginative material than I've seen from him in quite some time. The only real negative to his performance is the amateurish production surrounding him; he's low, fuzzy and unintelligible at certain points on this album, and that's frustrating given that his style is 90% quotables. Still though, the energy is so tangible between the three members that it even rubs off on the guests: Open Mike Eagle gives one of the best verses of his career and Vinnie Paz manages to sound more cognizant than he has since 'Servants In Heaven...' era JMT. My only real complaint is that the album starts and ends rather disappointingly; The first real track, 'Meddle With Metal' plods more than it marches with it's odd Wu Tang melody, and 'Sleeping Dogs', the closer, doesn't even feel thematically connected. For an album loosely based on comic book creations, interspersed with various sketches relating these characters, there is a very disappointing lack of follow-through. That said, this is still one of the most unabashedly old-school and 'fun' hip-hop albums to drop in 2018, and it definitely deserves a listen. |
| On Thorns I Lay Aegean Sorrow | 4.0 |
| They really don't make sorrowful death doom albums like this anymore. Early-era Swallow the Sun definitely comes to mind, and fans of Paradise Lost will definitely have much to enjoy on here as well. |
| XXXTENTACION ? | 1.0 |
| An enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a coil of shit |
| My Chemical Romance Conventional Weapons | 4.0 |
| Rivers of Nihil Where Owls Know My Name | 4.5 |
| Imagine if Fallujah hadn't crawled so far up their own asses they were playing their colons like musical instruments and you've got Rivers of Nihil's 'Where Owls Know My Name'. Varied, sonically expansive and possibly the strongest material the band have ever put forth. |
| PRhyme PRhyme 2 | 3.0 |
| Judas Priest Firepower | 4.0 |
| Kicks ass . |
| Suffering Hour In Passing Ascension | 4.0 |
| ........................................................................what |
| Slugdge Esoteric Malacology | 4.5 |
Potential album of the year material here. Some especially tight songwriting on tap, highlighted
by a dynamic and vibrant production job. Slugdge have never released an album outside of the
'excellent' range, but this sits firmly at the top of the list.
Also it slugs hard |
| Letters From The Colony Vignette | 3.5 |
| All The Luck In The World A Blind Arcade | 4.0 |
| Carpenter Brut Leather Teeth | 3.5 |
| Destroyer 666 Call of the Wild | 2.5 |
| Horizon Ablaze The Weight Of A Thousand Suns | 3.5 |
| Alterbeast Feast | 3.5 |
'Feast' is well-crafted for sure, but ultimately it sounds so especially derivative of its band's
main influences that it's hard to truly give it any definition. It has riff work and vocal
approaches that are a dead-ring for The Black Dahlia Murder, it has solos that are lifted directly
from Necrophagist, and especially with one song literally being a Dissection cover, a handful of
black metal influences. When the band reaches out and abstracts their sound is where this album
shines, but it happens rarely, and can make for a very safe and unexciting listen. It's still a
solid second outing for the band, but you can't help but feel like by this point you should be
able to more easily describe the band's sound, and, unfortunately, you really can't. |
| Soundtrack (Film) Black Panther The Album | 3.5 |
| Necrophobic Mark of the Necrogram | 4.0 |
| Escape the Fate I Am Human | 2.0 |
| Angra Ømni | 3.5 |
| This is fine but boy do I really miss their original guitarist (who's for some godawful reason playing for Megadeth). His absence is definitely felt in the underwritten guitar leads. |
| Pianos Become the Teeth Wait For Love | 2.5 |
| I honestly don't care that it doesn't sound like 'The Lack Long After', it's just not that interesting, hth |
| Senses Fail If There Is Light, It Will Find You | 3.0 |
| Sentenced To Burn The Seven Layers of Skin | 2.5 |
| Therion Beloved Antichrist | 2.0 |
| Not even remotely close to being worth three hours. I'd wage there's about half a disc's worth of decent quality song writing between all three discs. This is what happens when pomp and ego overtake every other priority on an album. |
| Visigoth Conqueror's Oath | 3.5 |
| Rich Brian Amen | 2.5 |
| No Age Snares Like A Haircut | 4.0 |
| Orphaned Land Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs | 3.5 |
| Pretty solid in spots, but especially over-indulgent in others (In Propaganda's nasally lead vocal melody meandering on for far longer than anyone cares, Yedidi's distinctly ethnic but not especially well-composed intro riff), 'Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs' certainly does a lot right, but because of how mid-tempo and excessive the album can be it can make it difficult to parse. An improvement over 'All Is One', but any chance of another 'Mabool' seems decidedly in the rear-view mirror. |
| Mike Shinoda Post Traumatic EP | 2.5 |
| Bloodshot Dawn Reanimation | 2.5 |
| Portal ION | 3.5 |
| Everybody complained about how hazed their production was in the past so the members of Portal manage a mix that almost looks cleanly by comparison. Of course, the album is also their most challenging album to date, maybe intentionally to compensate for that. Several listens in and I'm finally starting to discern all the dissonant yet compelling layers, and I'm sure several more will be equally as rewarding. |
| JPEGMAFIA Veteran | 2.5 |
| Tribulation Down Below | 4.0 |
Tribulation have finally stopped toeing the line; this is full blown gothica, enveloped in
malevolent organs, shadowy choirs and insidious synths. The atmosphere that the band manage to
evoke is almost made corporeal. It doesn't feel like a band playing at an idea, it feels natural;
consistent in tone from beginning to end. While 'Down Below' certainly does feel low on individual
highlights ('The World' not withstanding), it more than makes up for it with its commitment to its
endgame, and it absolutely gets it from beginning to end. |
| Vexovoid Call of the Starforger | 3.0 |
| I really enjoy this but I can't help but feel like I could just be listening to Vektor and having a much better time. Like, it's almost the same guitar tone ffs |
| Typhoon (USA-OR) Offerings | 3.0 |
I feel really bad for the 9 other members that sat twiddling their thumbs for the vast majority of
this record. There's nothing wrong with some well-composed indie rock but all the reasons that I
loved White Lighter are inexplicably absent from this LP. |
| Corrosion of Conformity No Cross No Crown | 4.0 |
| Summoning With Doom We Come | 2.5 |
| Critics of Summoning often point to the bloated song structures that the band justify under the pretense of "epic orchestration". And while their previous releases have certainly found merit in that philosophy, 'With Doom We Come' proves their critics right. These songs are repetitious, floundering messes; never quite delivering the grandiose qualities that their finer works are known for. They plod on and on, almost seeming hesitant to capitalize on the immense potential found in each individual track and it's immensely disappointing as well as frustrating. There's nothing quite like listening to a 9 minute track that doesn't go anywhere. |
| Beast In Black Berserker | 3.0 |
| Cleric Retrocausal | 4.5 |
| The National Sleep Well Beast | 3.0 |
| King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Gumboot Soup | 3.0 |
| L'Orange The Ordinary Man | 3.0 |
| Settle down there L'Orange / |
| Pestilence Hadeon | 2.5 |
| Lykantropi Lykantropi | 1.0 |
| Sonic Forces Vocal Traxx | 1.0 |
| Binary Star Water World 3 | 1.0 |
| XXXTENTACION A GHETTO CHRISTMAS CAROL! | 1.0 |
| I especially liked the part where the album ended and he went inside a prison cell |
| N.E.R.D. NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES | 2.5 |
| Eminem Revival | 1.5 |
Essentially everything wrong with his return-era material lumped into one obnoxious release. The Rick Rubin produced hard rock-inspired tracks are tryhard garbage and Eminem needs to flatout fuck off with those, he has like six songs crying about women with some of the most insipid, copy/paste pop singer hooks that you could essentially interchange freely, and his flow has become so robotic and weird that it throws off the rhythm of a large majority of songs. Like seriously, why does he feel the need to enunciate literally everything? Did he take rapping lessons from Siri or something?
There are a couple tracks here worth a shit (Chloraseptic shows Eminem willing to try out modern rap conventions to good effect, while Framed and Offended offer a glimpse into what a modern day Eminem SHOULD sound like) but overall this is the easiest 'skip' in his discography. |
| Diablo Swing Orchestra Pacifisticuffs | 4.0 |
| Grave Pleasures Motherblood | 4.0 |
| I missed out on a lot of unnecessary drama since Beastmilk's Climax, having missed Dreamcrash and not even being aware that these were essentially the same members. That ended up being a good thing for me, because having listened to the in-between album, Motherblood feels like a much more energized and fluid transition. Essentially just a sequel to the aforementioned album, and that's a good thing. |
| Chris Stapleton From A Room: Volume 2 | 4.0 |
| Malokarpatan Nordkarpatenland | 4.0 |
| Aetherian The Untamed Wilderness | 4.5 |
| Morbid Angel Kingdoms Disdained | 3.0 |
| Morbid Angel do their best Hate Eternal impression while Erik Rutan nods his head in agreement in the corner desk chair producing the entire thing |
| Intervals The Way Forward | 3.0 |
| I don't know what's changed since their previous LP but it's not for the best. Interchange the band name with Polyphia or any number of instrumental prog acts and you have the entirety of 'The Way Forward'. Inoffensive and bland, to be sure. |
| The Faceless In Becoming a Ghost | 2.0 |
| Hollow Prophet Hellhole | 3.0 |
| Ghost Atlas All Is in Sync... | 3.5 |
| Acrania (MEX) An Uncertain Collision | 4.5 |
| This is so underrated it hurts. Imagine 'Elements'-era Atheist, then add in samba drums and a sporadic sax solo. I managed to stumble across them because of this ass-tier deathcore act with the same name, and it's the greatest mistake I ever made. |
| Chris Brown Heartbreak on a Full Moon | 1.0 |
| YLVA M E T A | 2.5 |
| King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Polygondwanaland | 3.5 |
| Talib Kweli Radio Silence | 3.5 |
| Godflesh Post Self | 4.0 |
| Inconcessus Lux Lucis The Crowning Quietus | 4.0 |
| The Unguided And The Battle Royale | 2.0 |
| Armand Hammer Rome | 4.0 |
| Elvenking Secrets of the Magick Grimoire | 4.0 |
| The Midnight Nocturnal | 2.5 |
| There are so many other acts doing a superior version of this synth driven pop sound and I'd highly recommend you listen to any of them first. Tim McEwan, the producer for most of this material manages to emulate his primary influences relatively well, but that's essentially where it ends. He fails at really elevating his work above fandom most of the time. Worse, Tyler Lyle, the vocalist behind this project doesn't get the emphasis he really needs to shine on most of the tracks presented here because the tracks just don't build the way they should. Which is strange, because most of the tracks are way too long. There are neat moments throughout, but not entire songs. Rarely do I feel engaged for more than a short period, and those durations are usually just the smooth ass sax solos, or a neat idea that never gets elaborated on. |
| Entheos (USA) Dark Future | 3.5 |
| The mixing on this is really mediocre. I really enjoy how they took their established sound and put it through the kaleidoscope here, while softening their sound just a touch (I'm sure the members of Scale the Summit and Animals As Leaders had a hand in that), but with everything sounding flat and lifeless it's just a bit disappointing. |
| Hail the Sun Secret Wars | 3.5 |
| Major Parkinson Blackbox | 4.0 |
| Cannibal Corpse Red Before Black | 3.0 |
| 'A Skeletal Domain' was one of the first CC releases in a very long time to feel completely different from what came before it. It was more technical, diverse and just plain more interesting. 'Red Before Black', however, strips back all of that straight out of the gate, and it's hard not to feel disappointed. This isn't a bad album by any stretch, but it's missing what drew me back to their sound in the first place. |
| Signs Of The Swarm The Disfigurement Of Existence | 2.5 |
| Excellent vocals layered over some pseudo-brutal death metal riffs and mind numbing breakdowns. When they start really ramping up the tempos it's excellent, but the band insists on crudely implementing the same chuggy monotonous breakdowns and it kills the momentum of almost every song. |
| Converge The Dusk in Us | 4.0 |
| Circuit Des Yeux Reaching For Indigo | 4.0 |
| Lor In Forgotten Sleep | 4.0 |
| If this wasn't mired in production problems I'd probably put it in the running for Album of the Year. As it stands, it's an exceptional release; a debut that reads like a veteran band's later progression (which makes sense considering how long the band has actually been around), with plenty of twists and turns that you probably won't see coming. It's hard to get the right mixture of folk and power metal, but Lor manages to somehow balance both of those with some light prog elements, and that's even more interesting. Definitely recommended. |
| Winds of Plague Blood of My Enemy | 2.5 |
| Big K.R.I.T. 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time | 4.0 |
| Lizzard Wizzard Total War Power Bastard | 2.5 |
| Vulture Industries Stranger Times | 3.0 |
| When did their singer become a cornier version of Glenn Danzig? This has to be the most "alright" album in their discography. |
| Oblivion Called to Rise | 4.0 |
| Sorrow Plagues Homecoming | 4.0 |
| Deviant Process Paroxysm | 4.5 |
| Apathy and O.C Perestroika | 3.5 |
| Hallatar No Stars Upon the Bridge | 4.0 |
| Spectral Voice Eroded Corridors of Unbeing | 4.5 |
| Ne Obliviscaris Urn | 4.0 |
| Is everyone ready for the front page review Xenophane's gonna poop out calling this thing pretentious because other people like it? |
| A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie TBA | 1.0 |
| PnB Rock GTTM: Goin Thru The Motions | 1.0 |
| All Pigs Must Die Hostage Animal | 4.5 |
| This band beat my ass and took my wallet. I received my album in the mail a week later. |
| A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie The Bigger Artist | 1.0 |
| Xanthochroid Of Erthe and Axen: Act II | 4.5 |
| Everything that Wintersun's 'The Forest Seasons' should have been and more. Eat a dick Jari |
| Daniel Cavanagh Monochrome | 2.5 |
| Reminds me of the soft, contemporary Christian rock that the "cool" churches all play, and that's not a good thing |
| Exhumed Death Revenge | 3.0 |
| The Doomsday Kingdom The Doomsday Kingdom | 4.0 |
| Samael Hegemony | 4.0 |
| Bell Witch Mirror Reaper | 4.5 |
| Coma Cluster Void Thoughts From A Stone | 3.5 |
A bizarre release to say the least. Even after a dozen listens I'm still not entirely sure where I
stand with this one, even with a solid grasp of their last full length, 'Mind Cemetaries'. Here's
what I do know though: CCV are looking to expand out their sound in ways that are probably going
to turn some people off, even the more dissonant-minded, Deathspell loving metalheads. That seems
totally alright with them though, and you have to give them props for real sonic experimentation.
With time, this could be a release that truly lands them in the category of bands such as Gorguts
and Demilich, but for now, it's definitely novel, and certainly one of the most interesting
releases of the year. |
| Enslaved E | 4.5 |
| In Times had me falling asleep, but this one definitely has a certain energy to it that gets you from the beginning to the end, with little to no down time. While the Opeth comparisons are fairly accurate, Enslaved manage to make their compositions much more than just odes to the 70s and 80s; incorporating these ideas into their original sound with very little being lost in translation. This thing is filled with variety and, above that, solid songwriting, so definitely check into this if you're looking for something a bit more colorful in your metal. |
| Blut Aus Nord Deus Salutis Meae | 3.0 |
| Primitive Man Caustic | 4.0 |
| CunninLynguists Rose Azura Njano | 3.5 |
| August Burns Red Phantom Anthem | 3.0 |
| Definitely more raw and aggressive than their previous, but rather monotonous in a lot of aspects as well. The proggier elements that helped diversify their previous couple releases seem to be really sparse this time around, and while a back-to-roots approach will definitely help keep their momentum going, it makes the album feel a little backwards. Nothing here is written particularly bad or anything, but it's clear that the band are at their best when they're pushing themselves in new directions. |
| Dyscarnate With All Their Might | 4.0 |
| Iglooghost Neo Wax Bloom | 4.0 |
| The Black Dahlia Murder Nightbringers | 4.0 |
| Injury Reserve Drive It Like It's Stolen! | 3.5 |
| Propagandhi Victory Lap | 3.5 |
| Lunar Shadow Far from Light | 4.0 |
| Mastodon Cold Dark Place | 2.5 |
| Nothing I enjoy about Mastodon, neatly wrapped into a 4 track EP. |
| Anonymuz Urameshi | 3.0 |
| Archspire Relentless Mutation | 3.5 |
| Anubis Gate Covered In Black | 3.5 |
| The Contortionist Clairvoyant | 3.0 |
| 4 listens in and the best thing I can say about it is it's good background music |
| Perturbator New Model | 4.0 |
Very close to my favorite release that Perturbator has dropped thus far. If Vantablack was
instrumental, I'd give it the edge, but as is, the vocalist is awful, the lyrics are bad and he
generally detracts from an incredibly atmospheric instrumental. Seems like James's guest singers
have always been very hit or miss, and this is definitely a miss.
Regardless, this is well worth a listen, being one of the most detailed, progressive outings in
his back catalog. He continues to evolve his music in new and unexpected ways, and if this is the
just the beginning, sign me the fuck up for the rest of that journey. |
| Septicflesh Codex Omega | 4.0 |
| Xanthochroid Of Erthe and Axen: Act I | 4.0 |
| This album really exceeded my expectations. Billed as the calmer, more somber part of a two piece concept album to be finished in October, its mastery of atmosphere and mood is quite something. It'll definitely be a bit of a surprise from fans expecting an exact replica of their previous release, especially with how much softer this album appears, but don't let the initial confusion put you off: this is a great release, filled with tons of interesting ideas and great performances. |
| Gang of Youths Go Farther in Lightness | 5.0 |
| Wiki No Mountains In Manhattan | 3.5 |
| Tera Melos Trash Generator | 4.0 |
| Dalek Endangered Philosophies | 3.0 |
| Strangely formulaic for a Dalek project. Beats don't seem as especially esoteric as their usual foray either. Don't know what to make of this one, honestly. |
| Akercocke Renaissance in Extremis | 4.5 |
"My real question is: how many of the people who have rated this album so highly are revisiting
these days?" Well I just listened to this front to back in my car yesterday so s my d |
| A Canorous Quintet Silence of the World Beyond | 4.0 |
| Brand New Science Fiction | 3.5 |
| Everybody and their mother have thrown their opinions in on this album, but as someone who has never really delved too deeply into their back-catalog, this is pretty decent, though it seems to have some issues here and there. It doesn't seem to know what it wants to be, first and foremost, swinging wildly between more modern song sensibilities and 90s alternate/grunge, and while this adds variety somewhat, it usually just gives it a lack of identity. It's all well-written, but it's missing focus, and that's made especially so when you notice how long this is. I get that this is a band with a lot to say and do, but 60 minutes is far too long when you aren't moving in one particular direction. I lose interest in this album about 3/4ths of the way through almost every time. And it's not that it's bad - quite the contrary, the songwriting is excellent on every cut - it's just that I have trouble seeing the end goal here, and while maybe repeated listens will clear this up (I've given it 6 - 7 spins) for now it just feels vaguely intentioned. Muddled, even. |
| ASAP Ferg Still Striving | 2.5 |
| Can't wait for that inevitable review summary that reads 'Still Striving For Mediocrity' |
| Inanimate Existence Underneath a Melting Sky | 4.0 |
| Leprous Malina | 3.0 |
| Temple of Void Lords Of Death | 4.0 |
| Nyn Entropy: Of Chaos and Salt | 3.5 |
| Lil Peep Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 1 | 1.0 |
| This guy needs to stop defaming the good name of America's greatest Easter marshmallow snack |
| Grizzly Bear Painted Ruins | 4.0 |
| I love how detailed and especially layered the songwriting is on here. While Grizzly Bear have always put out albums that grow out and expand over repeated listens, this one feels like the most extreme case of that yet. While my first couple of listens found it to be an album that was pretty decent, it wasn't until later that the various pieces started to truly form up into something extraordinary. |
| Lost Salt Blood Purges and Boring Bathtimes Yellow Fog Sword | 4.0 |
| Hundred Suns The Prestaliis | 3.0 |
| Cormorant Diaspora | 4.0 |
| An excellent addition to their already outstanding discography. The slower, somber, more doom-oriented riffs add extra dimensions to Cormorant's sound that I didn't think were possible, and though I still find that everything past Nigel's exit from the band is just a hair inferior, Migration may very well be one of the finest songs the band have ever composed. Good shit. |
| Thy Art Is Murder Dear Desolation | 3.0 |
| Pyrrhon What Passes for Survival | 4.0 |
| Marty Friedman Wall of Sound | 4.0 |
| Sean Price Imperius Rex | 3.5 |
| The Royal Dreamcatchers | 3.0 |
| Toxik Breaking Class | 2.5 |
| I kinda wish this didn't exist. Vocalist has nowhere near the range that he used to and their sound has become so homogenized that literally any thrash metal act could have put this out. I don't know what's happened to the band in the last two decades they've been absent but it's made them really boring |
| Dead Cross Dead Cross | 3.5 |
| Abhorrent Decimation The Pardoner | 4.0 |
| Afterbirth The Time Traveler's Dilemma | 4.0 |
| The Summoned Sessions | 4.0 |
| Pretty underrated. Somewhere in between The Dillinger Escape Plan and a whole slew of dissonant tech death acts. |
| Spite Nothing Is Beautiful | 2.5 |
| CunninLynguists The Azura EP | 4.0 |
| Superior to the first entry in this series, mainly on account of much more impassioned deliveries and instrumentals. The first entry in this series felt like the group re-applying their Dirty Acres sound, but this one feels much more comfortable; falling somewhere in between that album and their more recent outings. Both are free, so don't sleep on them if you haven't heard them. |
| Chelsea Wolfe Hiss Spun | 4.5 |
| This album beat my ass and took my lunch money... |
| The Perceptionists Resolution | 3.5 |
| Ne Obliviscaris Hiraeth | 4.0 |
| Hidden Orchestra Dawn Chorus | 3.0 |
| Execration (NOR) Return to the Void | 3.5 |
| Really decent spacey, proggy, Dismember-style death metal with a production that, despite it's best intentions, manages to make it sound roughly produced in all the wrong ways. While there are a ton of interesting ideas on here, and the songwriting is pretty sound, it's just hard to listen to a solid block that's produced in such a sterile manner. |
| Glass Bones The Same Stories That Never Get Old | 3.5 |
| I'm enjoying this but it really feels like their weakest release to date :/ |
| Decrepit Birth Axis Mundi | 3.5 |
A pretty humble record from one of the most interesting progressive death metal acts since
the genre's inception. The tech and prog aspects are scaled back just a touch, acting
more like flourishes on top of more aggressive, brutal riffs, and while I'd be
hard-pressed to call these songs "straight-forward" (hint: they're not), they definitely
feel more reigned-in; more concentrated, if you will. Fans of the band's debut will
definitely find much to enjoy here, as this album has quite a few similarities. This is
not to say they haven't learned a thing or two since Polarity (Spirit Guide has a distinct
Polarity influence), especially in some of the keyboard passages strewn throughout, as well
as some of the more melodic leads. Quite the contrary, Decrepit Birth are a band evolving
over time, and this is a measured change of sound to set the board back up.
Edit: the covers are bonus tracks for the digipack edition. Calm your shit people. |
| Rings of Saturn Ultu Ulla | 1.0 |
| Cytotoxin Gammageddon | 4.0 |
| This is going to get a knee-jerk reaction from a few people, mainly on account of the excessive amounts of sweep riffs that Cytotoxin employ. They'll get some comparisons to Rings of Saturn on immediate listen, but definitely don't give in to that statement. Cytotoxin have a deep understanding of how to write interesting songs; weaving these intricate passages into heavy and driving grooves like it's some mathematical formula they've finally perfected. Imagine the newest Dying Fetus album on adrenaline and you have a pretty good picture of 'Gammageddon'. |
| Picturesque Back to Beautiful | 3.0 |
| Enfold Darkness Adversary Omnipotent | 2.5 |
| Tyler, the Creator Wolf | 3.0 |
| Tyler, the Creator Cherry Bomb | 1.5 |
| Orden Ogan Gunmen | 4.5 |
| Shabazz Palaces Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines | 3.5 |
| Decapitated Anticult | 3.0 |
| Broken Social Scene Hug of Thunder | 4.0 |
| Malevolence Self Supremacy | 2.5 |
| Vintersorg Till Fjälls Del II | 3.5 |
If these singles are anything to go off of than this will be one of the best black/folk metal
albums in years. Something about the creation of this sequel has brought all the passion back to
their music.
Edit: Seems like the singles are definitely the best songs on the album, but there's really a lot
of downtime as well, which is disappointing. If this thing had been cut down to one disc's worth
of content I could see this being better. |
| Dying Fetus Wrong One to Fuck With | 4.0 |
| Billy Woods Known Unknowns | 4.0 |
| Much better than his previous, thanks to Blockhead managing to make his per usual esoteric verbal approach more tangible through a brighter series of instrumentals, as well as giving this more cohesion between the varied sounds found throughout the album. Billy doesn't change much, much like Ka or MF Doom, so what you know of his work will set the precedent for what's found on here. If you love him, you'll love this; if not, well, keep moving. |
| Aether Realm Tarot | 4.0 |
| Duskmourn Of Shadow and Flame | 3.5 |
| Vomitron No NES For The Wicked | 2.0 |
| Radiohead OKNOTOK 1997-2017 | 5.0 |
| Denzel Curry 13 | 4.5 |
| I don't know what the hell Denzel Curry is doing on Heartless but I love it |
| Vince Staples Big Fish Theory | 4.0 |
I was up late downloading
Counting up ratings by the thousands |
| Ex Eye Ex Eye | 3.5 |
| Igorrr Savage Sinusoid | 4.5 |
| Carach Angren Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten | 3.0 |
| CHON Homey | 3.0 |
| Remember when these guys had some of the most interesting leads in the post-hardcore landscape? Now they're barely putting together cognitive, coherent riffs over trap beats and awful r&b arrangements. I really like these guys but this is extremely underwritten. |
| Royal Blood How Did We Get So Dark? | 4.0 |
| Cytotoxin Radiophobia | 3.0 |
| Iced Earth Incorruptible | 2.5 |
Iced Earth have a distinctly different singer in ex-Into Eternity Stu Block, and that's why it's so fucking frustrating to hear Jon Schaffer continue to write tracks that force him to impersonate previous vocalist Matt Barlow on virtually every track on this album. Three albums deep and he still has literally no presence in this band.
As far as the MUSIC is concerned, this is Iced Earth on the autopilot-ist of autopilots. While some of their previous releases had some kind of conceptual bend that seemed to push them to experiment sonically (to varying degrees of success, but I digress) this one feels disappointingly straightforward. Coming off of their previous release, though, this will feel, unfortunately, like par for the course. |
| Gorod Kiss The Freak | 3.5 |
| Stevens/Dessner/Muhly/McAlister Planetarium | 4.0 |
| Brockhampton SATURATION | 2.5 |
| SZA Ctrl | 3.0 |
| The Comet Is Coming Death to the Planet | 4.0 |
| Eidola To Speak, to Listen | 3.0 |
| Maybe they can get a decent score this time without the help of an advanced marketing team???rYeah this is alright |
| Wode Servants of the Countercosmos | 3.5 |
| Ironflame Lightning Strikes the Crown | 4.0 |
| Unleash The Archers Apex | 2.5 |
| Unbelievably bland. Their vocalist is one of the most talented female leads in all of metal, but she's really wasted here. Every track essentially runs at the same tempo with just slight variations and it is monotonous as hell. I dare you to sit through this thing. It's literally an hour long. |
| Dog Fashion Disco Erotic Massage (Redux) | 4.0 |
| White Ward Futility Report | 4.0 |
| Sinjin Hawke First Opus | 4.0 |
| Sevdaliza Ison | 3.5 |
| Employed To Serve The Warmth Of A Dying Sun | 4.0 |
| Anal Cunt Picnic of Love | 5.0 |
| Municipal Waste Slime and Punishment | 3.0 |
| SikTh The Trees Are Dead and Dried Out, Wait for Something Wild | 4.0 |
| SikTh Death of a Dead Day | 4.5 |
| SikTh The Future In Whose Eyes? | 3.5 |
My immediate thought about halfway through my first listen was "This is Diet SikTh". The vocals are leveled needlessly high in the mix, and they're especially irritating when you realize they just do a worse job imitating the band's past vocalist, Justin Hill, with more of a flare for the typical metalcore clean vocal approach. The guitar work is more reigned in as well, with there being more of a focus on vocal harmonies and slower, chuggier riffs. The band has always had these, but they're much more prominent here, and lead to some of the tracks coming off as monotonous on occasion.
A couple listens in, however, and the full answer is this: SikTh are still SikTh, and even with a more serious, streamlined approach, there are still some noticeable highs here. Riddles of Humanity has one of the fastest, snappiest riffs in the band's discography, Ride the Illusion feels like a proper realization of the band's newest priorities, and the overall concept, bolstered by a series of spoken word interludes, really sets the tone as well as makes these tangent tracks feel more unified. While any trepidation will, to some extent, feel warranted here, this is still a solid album, and is worth a check for fans of more abstract metalcore. |
| Dog Fashion Disco Ad Nauseam | 4.0 |
| Dark Matter Secret Perfect World Creation | 4.0 |
| Instrumental tech death/prog metal with a nice, well-leveled production job and a strong sense of songwriting. While most tech metal acts are satisfied with writing a series of tangent riffs before, finally, abruptly ending, Dark Matter Secret understand the necessity of peaks and valleys; their leads ebbing naturally and rather coherently while also still surprising. For a debut project, this all feels rather veteran, with a lot of nuance to be found all over. Definitely check it if you're a fan of the genres. |
| Below Upon a Pale Horse | 3.0 |
| alt-J Relaxer | 4.0 |
| '68 Two Parts Viper | 3.5 |
This was more of a grower than their debut. I'm not fond of some of the occasional grunge
influences, but regardless it still has just as much tooth, nail and bile as their previous, with
a little more variation present between tracks. |
| Alestorm No Grave But the Sea | 3.0 |
| Anathema The Optimist | 4.0 |
| Elder (USA-MA) Reflections of a Floating World | 3.5 |
| 3TEETH shutdown.exe | 3.5 |
| Triumvir Foul Spiritual Bloodshed | 3.5 |
| Hellripper Coagulating Darkness | 4.0 |
| KRS-One The World Is Mind | 4.0 |
| Loss Horizonless | 4.0 |
| Arch Echo Arch Echo | 3.5 |
| Somewhere between Liquid Tension Experiment and Polyphia, Arch Echo are a rock solid instrumental prog outfit with a distinct, uptempo style underlying all of their compositions. While the songs here on their debut have a tendency to run together on occasion, they manage to avoid some of the pitfalls of the genre through intelligent songwriting. Definitely worth a checkout if you're a fan of similar acts. |
| Snoop Dogg Neva Left | 3.5 |
| Scale the Summit In a World of Fear | 2.5 |
| Never really been bored with a Scale the Summit release before, but this just feels dull. I could barely finish it. Seems like all the other band members took the charisma with them. |
| Solstafir Berdreyminn | 3.5 |
| The Monolith Deathcult Versus I | 3.5 |
| Interesting conceptually (relating to the Nazis research into the far flung science fiction realms and the mystical) and interesting structurally. The Monolith Deathcult don't write songs so much as they write sweeping, vast pieces; sometimes starting and stopping in completely different locales. The first half has quite a bit of industrial style sampling, much like their older stuff, but this trails off gradually in the second half as the symphonics escalate the general mood into full movie score. It has its share of negatives; Die Glocke's immediate sample is flatout cringey, badly utilized and constantly repeated, there are lulls strewn here and there throughout the sonic meshes they call songs, and the final track plods so hard here it feels like it's walking on two broken legs. Still though, the band have always had an interesting idea, and here they expand on it in unusual ways while not scaring away their core fan base. |
| Ulsect Ulsect | 3.5 |
| The Mountain Goats Goths | 3.5 |
| Voyager Ghost Mile | 3.0 |
| Mutoid Man War Moans | 4.0 |
| Their most hostile release to date, fully realized by an absolutely inhospitable production job courtesy of one Kurt Ballou. Mutoid Man's greatest strength has always been their adept navigation of tempos, structures and whole genres, and 'War Moans' is no exception. From schizoid, post-hardcore attacks, to Slayer-esque war-anthems, to straight, anthemic cock rock cuts, this is just another example of one of the most talented, least-categorizable groups around doing what they do best. |
| Inferno (CZ) Gnosis Kardias (Of Transcension and Involution) | 4.0 |
| Morbid Saint Destruction System | 4.0 |
| The Ruins of Beverast Exuvia | 3.5 |
| Fleet Foxes Crack-Up | 3.5 |
| Andy James Exodus | 3.5 |
| Ho99o9 United States Of Horror | 3.5 |
| While I wish they'd really hone in on their core sound a little bit, the scattershot approach to songwriting/genre-hopping does give the record quite a bit of variety, even if the lyrics come off as a little stock, or the atmosphere seems a bit tryhard at times. |
| SHVPES Pain. Joy. Ecstasy. Despair | 2.0 |
| Hideous Divinity Adveniens | 3.5 |
| King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Murder Of The Universe | 3.5 |
| Aesop Rock & Blueprint Vigilante Genesis | 4.0 |
| Necrowretch Satanic Slavery | 3.5 |
Well produced, well composed and, above all else, very true to its roots (those being the early death metal scene). The vocals feel especially unhinged, not being overly-processed like the majority of modern metal, and the guitar-work is excellent as well.
While I don't know you could even put 'original' in the same sentence as Satanic Slavery, you could definitely fit 'solid' in there somewhere with no real trepidation. |
| God Dethroned The World Ablaze | 3.5 |
I'm kinda underwhelmed by this. 'Annihilation Crusade' and the title track are absolute barn burners of tracks, but the album really flounders around for a really long period of time after that, finally redeeming itself with the closing track. I don't feel like this would be as big of an issue was the production not punchier; Dan Swano's melodeath-style clean up job here really takes the sharpness out of the band's riff-writing, and actually kind of deflates the band's intentions.
For what it's worth, though, I feel like this is still a solid, somewhat varied release, and a much-needed change of pace from the two schools of thought on death metal; those who do it melodically and those who absolutely do not. God Dethroned have been compared to Amon Amarth for years (just listen to 2014 for irrefutable proof) in the sense that they do both without sacrificing either too much, but with Amon Amarth moving more towards a softer, more heavy-metal influenced style, these guys (and maybe the Absence!) are about the only band doing it right. Hopefully this isn't the final album they've been suggesting, because I'd like to see this get expanded on in future releases. |
| Tetrafusion Dreaming Of Sleep | 3.5 |
I love a lot of the personnel on board this project, but I can't help but feel like the sum of it's parts don't always equal the whole. The vocals are adequate but don't really elevate any of the tracks, and there's a lot of needless meandering cast across the majority of these tracks; and at 60 minutes this definitely takes a toll.
I'd still check it out if you're a fan of prog, but it's not essential. |
| Havukruunu Kelle Surut Soi | 4.0 |
| A little one note but remarkably well-written throughout, enhanced by a solid, gritty production job and a distinct sense of genuineness. Even the album art builds on the texture here. Feels like a nice antithesis to Ghost Bath's vapid recent release. |
| At the Drive-In in•ter a•li•a | 3.0 |
| Shadow Of Intent Reclaimer | 3.5 |
| Ghost Bath Starmourner | 1.5 |
| Meandering black metal and folk passages awkwardly joined at the hip with major key riffs strangely reminiscent of the Sonic Adventure soundtracks, with unintelligible Silencer-esque wails layered over it all to create a cacophonous mess. Terrible songwriting and a mix so bad I'm questioning whether it was some kind of money laundering scheme instead |
| Ayreon The Source | 4.0 |
| Gonna need some time to digest, but I'm enjoying this a little more than his past two releases. Has some pop sensibilities to it that I actually enjoyed (Everybody Dies, for starters) as well as some Queen influences all over the place via some truly bombastic chorus arrangements that really set some of the songs off. |
| Artificial Brain Infrared Horizon | 4.5 |
| Nightbringer Terra Damnata | 3.5 |
| Kendrick Lamar DAMN. | 3.5 |
| Sadistik Altars | 3.5 |
Why would you drop your dream project on the same date as Kendrick's newest LP?
Regardless of any drop-date blunders, Sadistik is reliably solid, though he brings all his usual weaknesses into this new project too; some cringe-worthy vocal harmonies, some hokey instrumental choices as well as some other minor squabbles. This also has a little less variety than his usual foray, with it missing a massive climactic end-track like most of his projects do.
Still, Sadistik brings an unfiltered and unhinged persona here unlike any other in the rap scene, with dense word play, complex, spider-like flows and one of the most unorthodox approaches out there. None of that changes with Altars. |
| Ulver The Assassination of Julius Caesar | 4.0 |
| Satan's Hallow Satan's Hallow | 4.0 |
| Some really strong early Maiden influences on this one, with an energetic and strong female vocal performance, to boot. Riff work is sharp on almost every track, and the production finds a nice middle-ground between throwback garage rock and modern stuff. Definitely worth looking into if you appreciate the style. |
| Cellador Off the Grid | 4.0 |
| Better than their debut, which is pretty surprising considering its been ten years since they've put out a full-length |
| Replacire Do Not Deviate | 4.0 |
| A pretty immense improvement over their previous work. More pronounced songwriting, a better mixdown and far superior clean vox really bring this up to the upper echelons. Definitely worth checking into. |
| Wormwood Ghostlands - Wounds From A Bleeding Earth | 4.0 |
| Overly long, but definitely one of the best debuts I've heard in a while. Some solid black/folk with a strong sense of melody. Think Vintersorg or a more cleanly produced version of Bathory's 'Twilight of the Gods'. |
| Endon Through The Mirror | 4.0 |
| "Converge comparisons are more than apt, the production on this out-Jane-Does Jane Doe."rWell when Kurt Ballou does your mixing, yeah, that would make sense |
| Skeletal Dreadful Life | 4.0 |
| Joey Badass ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ | 3.0 |
| This will definitely get him a wider audience, but for the people who've stuck by him since he began way back with 1999, it feels surprisingly light on substance. The jazzy, funky instrumentals that run throughout are solid, and the tracks flow fairly cohesively, but you can't shake the sense that this is his weakest full-length to date. |
| Freddie Gibbs You Only Live 2wice | 3.0 |
| CunninLynguists The Rose EP | 3.5 |
| While there isn't much information related to the release of this and (allegedly) two other companion EPs, this seems to be an introspective series of tracks that'll surely draw comparisons to their earlier works like Piece of Mind and Dirty Acres. Very much based off of the current socio-political climate in the United States, with lyrics relating to racism, the presidential agenda, and, in general, the lower class. Definitely feels like the right move for the group at exactly the right time, and I can't wait to see what else they have coming. |
| Falls of Rauros Believe in No Coming Shore | 3.5 |
| Earth Rot Renascentia | 3.0 |
| Mastodon Emperor of Sand | 3.5 |
| The Flight of Sleipnir Skadi | 4.0 |
| BADBADNOTGOOD IV | 3.0 |
| IDLES Brutalism | 4.0 |
| Venenum Trance of Death | 4.5 |
| This gets a 4 for the last three tracks alone. The final riff looping into the beginning violin passage is incredible as well. |
| Junius Eternal Rituals For The Accretion of Light | 2.5 |
I don't understand how a band who wrote 'All Shall Float' could write this album, but here we are,
like a narcoleptic on a melatonin-benadryl bender, trying to stay awake. |
| Havok Conformicide | 4.0 |
| Fen Winter | 3.0 |
| Blanck Mass World Eater | 4.0 |
| sleepmakeswaves Love of Cartography | 4.0 |
| sleepmakeswaves Made Of Breath Only | 4.0 |
sleepmakeswaves have never been a band to operate outside of the standard post-rock archetype, but here they go just a smidge further than usual, with some instrumental prog arrangements (Polyphia come to mind, as well as more typical prog affair) as well as post-hardcore and electronica (somewhat reminiscent of genre stalwarts 65daysofstatic). These little adjustments to the formula do just enough to refresh, while little repeated musical motifs appear here and there to add a unified feel to the full album. All in all, consistency reigns supreme in the sleepmakeswaves camp, though, despite constant switch-ups, this does feel a bit too much like their previous.
Recommended tracks: Worlds Away, Tundra |
| Edan Beauty and the Beat | 5.0 |
| Gorephilia Severed Monolith | 4.0 |
Has a heavy Immolation influence hanging over it, despite the fact that the album name, artwork and track titles would seem to indicate deep, chasmous death metal of the ten minute affair (though this does have 1).
I think I personally prefer it to the previously mentioned band's newest, on account of some especially strong songwriting, and song construction in general. The riffs on here are not only unusually heady, but extremely varied as well, of vastly different tempos, techniques and with interesting transitions as well. Each instrument has an exemplar moment within the compositions (the drums having some particularly interesting fills and general patterns), but these leads absolutely steal the show.
My only real complaints with the album comes from A) the surprisingly formulaic vocal performance, and B) the inconsequential interludes, which add nothing of value to the album. Otherwise a standout album, and an early contender for death metal album of the year. |
| Witherfall Nocturnes and Requiems | 3.5 |
| Sunless Urraca | 4.0 |
| Another band out-Ulcerate-ing Ulcerate. Phenomenal fucking mixing, too. |
| Aeternam Ruins of Empires | 3.5 |
| Jonwayne Rap Album Two | 3.0 |
| Thundercat Drunk | 3.5 |
| King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Nonagon Infinity | 4.0 |
| Darkest Hour Godless Prophets and the Migrant Flora | 3.5 |
| Benighted Necrobreed | 4.0 |
| Rest assured, it's much, much better than Carnivore Sublime. Production really gives this a leg up on most of their earlier works, with chainsaw, Dismember-esque guitar tones that sound heavier and more aggressive than ever, and the songwriting helps in that aspect as well. These are some of the nastiest, most vitriol-encompassing tracks in the band's discography, blasting forward on the impeccable drums of ex-Necrophagist drummer Romain Goulon (!) as well as now ex-guitarist Liem "Litchy" N'Guyen's distinct riffage. While it's still too early to tell how this will stand in the lengthy Benighted discog, it is at least a sign that the band have stepped back and corrected course. |
| Tonedeff Polymer | 1.0 |
| Immolation Atonement | 3.5 |
Wholly enjoyable in parts, somewhat frustrating in others. Immolation's songwriting on here is inconsistent, with songs feeling rather piecemeal, ending on strange transitions or, even worse, fading out. And a band 30 years into their career shouldn't have to resort to that.
Still, it IS better than Kingdom of Conspiracy, with some especially standout moments (When The Jackals Come's mid-section slowdown, Fostering the Divide's blistering solo work that transitions into one of the best tremolo riffs of their recent career). It's just a shame that this level of consistency doesn't permeate throughout. |
| Power Trip Nightmare Logic | 4.0 |
| Vader The Empire | 2.5 |
| I've never been less excited about a Vader release and I think that's the biggest tell about this album's quality. Both of the singles were below standard, and, as far as I can tell, this had a few push backs just trying to get this out. Their last release was extremely competent, but this one feels sloppy, mismatched, poorly sequenced and generally badly written. Not sure what happened here but it's disappointing. |
| Tech N9ne The Storm | 2.5 |
| Paul White Accelerator | 4.0 |
| Accelerator is the better of the two tracks (Lion's Den being a rejected Atrocity Exhibition cut), but they're both very good examples of the overwhelming chemistry between the two parties. |
| A Sense of Gravity Atrament | 3.5 |
| A Sense of Gravity haven't quite found their sound yet, but nevertheless they've delivered one of the most challenging releases of 2016. There's some Protest the Hero in here, some Dream Theater, and an absolute assload of general prog, but scattered throughout are smaller explorations into other genres, as well. Very entertaining from front to back, only really diminished by some inconsistencies in songwriting here and there (though that seems to come with the territory). |
| Lupe Fiasco DROGAS Light | 2.5 |
| The Pablo Collective The Death of Pablo | 3.0 |
| Pillorian Obsidian Arc | 3.0 |
Doesn't really hit its stride until 'The Vestige of Thorns', but when it does, the songwriting becomes exponentially more interesting, challenging and varied. It's apparent that Agalloch founder John Haughm wanted to intertwine his previous band's long and sprawling songwriting with a darker and more insidious nature, and while he doesn't always hit the nail on the head, he more than lays the groundwork for far more fascinating material in the future. Worth checking into, though it does require some patience.
Recommended tracks: The Vestige of Thorns, A Stygian Pyre |
| Kreator Gods of Violence | 4.0 |
| Heaven and Hell The Devil You Know | 4.0 |
I'm reminded, after Black Sabbath's final concert, that 13 doesn't have to stand as the last "good" Sabbath album. After constant legal wars between the band and the Osbourne estate over using the fucking name, Dio and the 'Mob Rules' era Black Sabbath lineup brought Heaven and Hell together, in hopes of continuing that now defunct sound.
So how does it pan out? Quite well, actually. These are the heaviest tracks that Sabbath's ever released, and Dio sounds incredibly potent despite his advanced age, as well as deteriorating health. It wouldn't be long after this that he died fighting cancer, but you wouldn't know that listening to the material on here. It's a little too loud, and a little too long, but it's crafted with an attention to detail that's startling lacking on Sabbath's most recent releases, and stands as a strong debate point in the argument for best era in the band's long and storied career. It's an immense shame that this would be the only release to carry the moniker; regardless, this is a massive album and a worthy summary of Dio-era Sabbath. |
| Mors Principium Est Embers of a Dying World | 4.0 |
| Mors Principium Est maintain their supremacy in the melodeath genre with what may arguably be their best, most varied work since their breakout 2005 hit 'The Unborn'. Varied, impassioned and most definitely heady (both in the mix and otherwise) 'Embers of a Dying World' may not rewrite the playbook, but it sure as shit checks all the boxes and then some. |
| The Great Old Ones EOD: A Tale of Dark Legacy | 4.0 |
| Grip Grand GG DOOM! BUT HOW? | 4.5 |
| P.O.S Chill, Dummy | 3.5 |
Where was there to go after the bombastic electronics of 2012's 'We Don't Even Live Here'? On 'Chill, Dummy', P.O.S both reigns it in and extrapolates on that initial premise, with a mix of minimalist and maximalist instrumental designs. What really ties it all together is the gritty, borderline schizoid nature to the album, feeling off-the-cuff and borderline improv'd.
While I don't think this will be remembered as P.O.S's best record, it's good to see him not dead, and back at making head-on collisions with the current sociopolitical climate, as well as more intimate detailings of his person life. |
| Aversions Crown Xenocide | 3.5 |
| Zavala Fantasmas | 3.5 |
| Maze of Sothoth Soul Demise | 3.5 |
| Convulsing Errata | 4.0 |
| Lowkey one of the best metal albums released in 2016. |
| Uada Devoid of Light | 4.0 |
Nothing mindblowing, but well played, well crafted and definitely worth checking into for fans of
the genre. |
| Catacomb (FR) In the Maze of Kadath | 4.0 |
| Extremely underrated Lovecraftian death metal. It's held up really well over the years, too. |
| Saor Guardians | 4.0 |
| Flash Bang Grenada 10 Haters | 4.0 |
| It's not very often you hear a rap album that does comedy that doesn't feel like a gimmick, but Flash Bang Grenada is that rare beast. Super tongue-in-cheek with hyper-inflated egos and overblown synths, this was a year highlight for me when it debuted, and it's only gotten better with time. |
| Warmen Beyond Abilities | 3.5 |
His best effort by a long shot. Warmen might just be one of the most gifted metal keyboardists of
all time, and on here he really just amplifies his Children of Bosom efforts. Imagine a more
keyboard-focused, neoclassical power metal album, minus the vocals (more or less) and you've got a
fairly accurate picture. Shame he's completely wasted on CoB's more recent releases. |
| Oceans of Slumber Winter | 4.0 |
| Run the Jewels Run the Jewels 3 | 4.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails Not the Actual Events | 4.0 |
| 4/5 bangers aint bad. Appreciate that Reznor's immediate thought after releasing his softest, most pleasant release to date is to crank out a serious of schizoid, aggressive cuts. A good move, imo. |
| Virvum Illuminance | 3.5 |
| Anonymuz Vice City | 4.0 |
Incredibly satisfying, especially with repeated listens. 'Vice City' finds the Florida cult rapper
on his S game, with verbal gymnastics unseen in the vast majority of modern rap, as well as
detailed and particularly challenging lyrics. The instrumentals assembled are incredibly solid as
well, ranging from restrained and minimalistic to thunderous and crunchy. Definitely on a short
list for best rap album of the year, and an easy recommendation, for sure. |
| Setentia Darkness Transcend | 4.5 |
| Whores. Gold | 4.5 |
| Ab-Soul Do What Thou Wilt. | 3.5 |
| Imperfect, but all the better for it. 'Do What Thou Wilt.' finds the Black Hippy alumni off-kilter yet wholey on point, over a series of dark, brooding, and especially atmospheric arrangements. While the vaguely experimental nature of the album doesn't always pay off, it's still an incredibly interesting album, and one that'll be sure to see many top rap release lists come year's end. |
| Omegas Power To Exist | 2.5 |
| Witchery In His Infernal Majesty's Service | 3.0 |
| Common Black America Again | 3.5 |
| Bad Rabbits American Nightmare | 3.5 |
| Everytime BR release something I'm always marginally disappointed that they haven't really extrapolated on that 'Stick Up Kids' style. Still, this is solid. Very unique album with a load of highlights. |
| Behold... The Arctopus Cognitive Emancipation | 1.5 |
| I like masturbating too but I don't pay a studio three grand to record it |
| Trees of Eternity Hour of the Nightingale | 4.0 |
| What a depressing state of affairs. Such a unique voice within the Gothic/Doom Metal scene, snuffed out far too soon. This album is definitely a worthy legacy, though. |
| CZARFACE A Fistful of Peril | 3.0 |
| Not really feeling this like the last two. Seems like the energy just isn't there on Esoteric's side, and, strangely, aside maybe two tracks, the beats just aren't where they need to be. Maybe this'll grow on me; I know the other two did, but sitting at 4+ listens now and I'm not finding a lot of positives. Inspectah Deck seems more on point here than ever, sadly, but he's not enough to make this release stand out. |
| Metallica Hardwired...To Self-Destruct | 2.5 |
| Somebody combine the two discs, cut out all the obvious filler and mess with the mix. You'd have a solid 8/10 album. |
| A Tribe Called Quest We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service | 3.5 |
Better than anticipated, though not without some pretty major caveats. 'We Got It From Here' could easily be condensed down to about half its track total, with a good chunk being decent but, ultimately, irrelevant. Some of the features feel rather superfluous as well, though I feel their inclusion may have more to do with Phife's untimely demise before the finishing of production.
Regardless, there isn't an album this year that feels quite like this. Tribe's absence from the rap scene has been deeply felt, and even with a couple bum tracks, this has a very warm tone to it almost alien in nature in comparison to today's synthetic, keyboard-driven rap landscape. Recommended for sure. Rip Phife. |
| An Abstract Illusion Illuminate the Path | 3.5 |
| A lot of potential here, not yet to be fully realized. It's excessive in length, has really gaudy, borderline hokey keyboard riffs and some less than inspired vocal performances, but even so, it manages to create some truly inspiring moments throughout these vast, winding tracks. If you enjoy Ne Obliviscaris, or just a more prog-oriented death metal act, give these guys a shot. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about them really soon. |
| Mithras On Strange Loops | 4.0 |
"The songwriting is a bit wonky here and
there"
Do you even Mithras? |
| Hail Spirit Noir Mayhem In Blue | 4.0 |
| A pretty excellent release, with some particularly diverse tones. You've got nods to Ennio Morricone's Spaghetti Western sound, general psychedelia, surf rock and even a little Sinatra on the final track, and it's all knitted together rather cohesively. My only two gripes are rather minor: the first track sets the tone more in line with their other works, and what comes after really isn't the case. The second is that it ends pretty abruptly. Otherwise, this is an especially solid offering. |
| Madder Mortem Red In Tooth And Claw | 3.5 |
Would benefit greatly from a reduction in the number of slow, ballad-esque tracks, but it's still
an entertaining prog metal record with interesting and varied female vocals.
On a side-note: Give BATS back their album name |
| Avenged Sevenfold The Stage | 1.0 |
| Anciients Voice of the Void | 3.5 |
| Testament Brotherhood of the Snake | 3.5 |
| Definitely more varied than their more recent work, and ESPECIALLY more varied than 'Dark Roots of the Earth', AKA 'Ballads: The Album', 'Brotherhood of the Snake' finds Testament assembling concepts and song structures from all across their discography, while pushing out some new aspects as well. While the band stumbles occasionally and the production feels a bit too plastic, this is still a solid album, and a nice addition to an already impressive catalog. Good to see the death metal passages return as well. |
| Watchtower Concepts of Math: Book One | 4.5 |
| Disillusion Alea | 4.0 |
| Somewhere between 'Back to Times of Splendor' and 'Gloria' in terms of quality, 'Alea' suggests that Disillusion have found a way of incorporating that second album's groove into their first album's progressive packaging. While not quite back to those peak peaks, Disillusion have still managed to compose something wholly entertaining and entirely distinct, and well worth a listen. |
| Coma Cluster Void Mind Cemeteries | 4.0 |
| Brain Tentacles Brain Tentacles | 4.0 |
| Yellowcard Yellowcard | 2.5 |
| Insomnium Winter's Gate | 4.0 |
| Allegaeon Proponent for Sentience | 4.0 |
| clipping. Splendor and Misery | 3.5 |
| Necromancing the Stone Before the Devil Knows You're Dead | 2.5 |
| Necromancing the Stone Jewel of the Vile | 4.0 |
| As far as bands partially inspired by Michael Douglas action-vehicles go, this is p good |
| Skeletonwitch The Apothic Gloom | 3.0 |
| C. C. Munster The Freetrack Collection Vol. 2 | 3.5 |
| Revocation Great Is Our Sin | 3.0 |
| Blood Red Throne Union of Flesh and Machine | 3.0 |
| This album would be a mark better if it wasn't produced so shittily. All the instrumental layers sound muddled and incoherent, which is unfortunate because this contains some of their best material since 2005's 'Altered Genesis'. |
| Atmosphere Fishing Blues | 2.5 |
Inoffensive - like everything else Atmosphere has released since 'When Life Gives You Lemons'. Slug seems marginally less lazy with his flows, but overall this ends up being another full album of background music. Disappointing to say the least.
I will say Kool Keith's completely off-topic, off-beat rambling at the end of 'When The Lights Go Out' is at least amusing. |
| Blood Red Throne Altered Genesis | 4.0 |
| Aspherium The Fall of Therenia | 3.0 |
| Spires (MAN-UK) The Whisperer | 4.0 |
| Spires manage to break out of their Opeth cover group phase with a resoundingly intricate album, only barely marred by some jarring transitions. A hefty listen, but one that progressive metal fans will surely appreciate. |
| Fates Warning Theories of Flight | 4.0 |
| Astronoid Air | 4.0 |
| Vale of Pnath II | 4.0 |
| Masta Ace The Falling Season | 2.5 |
| Masta Ace deserves better instrumentation. He's absolutely legendary by this stage in his career, but these cheap loops just don't provide a sound enough foundation for his story-heavy lyrics. |
| Pusha T King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude | 3.5 |
| Mephistopheles Sounds Of The End | 4.0 |
Sounds of the End is a challenging, yet rewarding listen. While comparisons will always exist between Mephistopheles and Psycroptic in regard to both Chalky, who sang for the latter before leaving, and the sheer technicality that elevates both, this manages to escape the tech death comfort zone almost completely through innovative guitar work that shifts between varying ideas and genres, sometimes within individual songs. It's production can lend itself a little TOO well to the Willowtip roster, but even still, this is an easy recommendation.
|
| Silencer (SWE) Death - Pierce Me | 5.0 |
| If you enjoy hearing excited cat noises over somber black metal riffage than boy are you in for a real treat. Allegedly recording with a whole slew of wild, volatile cats assembled from the gnarliest cat clinics available, Silencer spent YEARS assembling them into coherent song structures. Believe the hype. The mewls are real. |
| Control Denied The Fragile Art of Existence | 4.0 |
| The Fall of Troy OK#2 | 3.5 |
| Native Construct Quiet World | 4.5 |
| Cyborg Octopus Learning To Breathe | 4.0 |
| First Fragment Dasein | 4.5 |
| Kvelertak Nattesferd | 4.0 |
| In Mourning The Weight of Oceans | 4.0 |
| Astronautalis Cut The Body Loose | 4.0 |
| Perturbator The Uncanny Valley | 3.5 |
| Perturbator Dangerous Days | 4.0 |
| Sithu Aye Set Course for Andromeda | 4.0 |
| Set Course for Andromeda or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love MS Paint |
| Vektor Terminal Redux | 4.5 |
| Messenger Threnodies | 3.5 |
| Niechec Niechec | 4.5 |
| Fallujah Dreamless | 3.5 |
| Aesop Rock The Impossible Kid | 3.5 |
Not in love with the muddy, minimalist instrumentals, but pretty pleased with Aes's general flow and (of course) lyricism. Nice to see an emcee known for his brickwall abstractions go for something a little more direct and much more personal.
Edit: Kirby's a slapper |
| The Fall of Troy OK | 3.0 |
| Torae and Marco Polo Double Barrel | 3.5 |
| Black Breath Slaves Beyond Death | 3.0 |
| Ouroboros Emanations | 4.0 |
THIS is how you mix and assemble orchestral death metal. While Fleshgod are content with pushing everything as far as possible (especially on the mixing side) Ouroboros manage to A) evenly pace both the orchestrations and the guitars and B) find a production style that understands the qualities of both styles, while never brickwalling (or at least not as frequently).
Overall this was a pleasant rediscovery. Really enjoyed "Glorification of a Myth" and was pleased to see how this turned out. Not what I expected, but definitely good. |
| Dalek Asphalt For Eden | 4.0 |
| Haven't enjoyed anything from Dalek post-Abandoned Language. Good to see that this is a solid revival LP, with more than enough apocalyptic hip-hop tracks to get them back up and running. |
| Ocean Wisdom Chaos 93' | 3.5 |
| Once you get over Ocean Wisdom's constant verbal acrobatics (which you eventually will) you're left to wonder how many songs he can possibly dedicate to how great he is. All jokes aside, this is solid brag rap with some equally solid instrumentals. Nothing with long lasting appeal, but good. |
| Polyenso Pure In The Plastic | 4.0 |
| Chelsea Wolfe Hypnos / Flame | 3.5 |
| Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas Mariner | 4.5 |
| Cobalt Slow Forever | 4.5 |
| Entheos (USA) The Infinite Nothing | 4.0 |
| Astronautalis The Mighty Ocean and Nine Dark Theaters | 3.5 |
| Iniquitous Deeds Incessant Hallucinations | 4.0 |
| Sunburst Fragments of Creation | 4.0 |
| Roy Khan-era Kamelot vocals with Symphony X style compositions. What more could you ask for? |
| Damn the Machine Damn the Machine | 3.5 |
Chris Poland has jumped between quite a few projects since his Megadeth days. Damn the Machine, a progressive rock act, stands as his most accomplished, though, with consistently interesting guitar craft (though the other components shine, as well).
The instrumental mixing is solid for as low-key as this truly is, and the vocals - a make or break mixture in prog - are fairly interesting. I'd say check this out if you're looking for some decent prog. |
| Protest the Hero Pacific Myth | 4.0 |
| Lil Ugly Mane Mista Thug Isolation | 3.5 |
| Lil Ugly Mane Oblivion Access | 4.0 |
| Amon Amarth Jomsviking | 3.5 |
| Denzel Curry Imperial | 3.5 |
| Denzel Curry Nostalgic 64 | 4.0 |
| The Project Hate MCMXCIX Armageddon March Eternal | 4.0 |
| Black Fast Terms of Surrender | 4.0 |
| Schuldiner-esque vocals, tech thrash constructions, and Erik Rutan production. A solid thrash time. |
| Destroyer 666 Wildfire | 3.5 |
About par for the course for Destroyer 666. Solid, no-nonsense blackened thrash, with impressive
solo work and cavernous, pitch-perfect production. No complaints, really.
On a side note: get the deluxe edition. Deathblow is a beast of a track. |
| Hyperion (SWE) Seraphical Euphony | 4.0 |
| Omnium Gatherum Grey Heavens | 2.5 |
| OG have been going this way for a while, but they've finally started encroaching on BORING. This album has autopilot written all over it. |
| Obscura Akróasis | 4.0 |
| Karnivool Asymmetry | 3.0 |
| The Contortionist Exoplanet (Redux) | 4.5 |
This is how you do a remaster; differentiate the instruments more, clean up the mixes and add in elements that flow organically with the originally established material.
If you were looking for an entry point to the Contortionist's discography, or just want to give it a re-listen, this will most definitely deliver. |
| Aversions Crown Tyrant | 2.5 |
| Shadow Of Intent Primordial | 3.5 |
Might be a little too masturbatory for some, but a pretty cool concept, nonetheless. Halo-themed
symphonic/technical death metal. Makes you wonder why somebody didn't already think of this. |
| Dream Theater The Astonishing | 2.5 |
| Mandroid Echostar Coral Throne | 3.5 |
ME's worst release is still an entertaining, if largely disjointed listen. Coral Throne shines a massive light on some of their largest weaknesses as a band, which pertains to song structures and transitions. That said, the individual pieces are still of a particularly high quality, so this is still worth a listen, if perhaps a cautionary one.
Also the vocals are adequate. Calm the fuck down. |
| The Contortionist Language | 4.0 |
| Megadeth Dystopia | 3.5 |
| Wormed Planisphaerium | 2.5 |
| Wormed Exodromos | 4.0 |
| Anderson .Paak Malibu | 4.0 |
| Beyond (DE) Fatal Power of Death | 4.0 |
| Sanzu Heavy Over The Home | 3.5 |
| Steven Wilson 4 1/2 | 4.0 |
| Sadistik Salo Sessions | 2.0 |
| This feels like Sadistik throwing all of his ideas against the wall and seeing what sticks. Turns out barely anything at all here. It feels chaotic, to be sure, but definitely not in a good way. Just check out 'Out the Dark' and call it a day. |
| Rav Beneath The Toxic Jungle | 3.0 |
| Ensiferum One Man Army | 2.5 |
| I think we can safely say that this band isn't shit without Jari. Victory Songs kept the band trudging along, but with these last two albums, Ensiferum have lost that air of distinction that kept them at the forefront of folk metal. One Man Army is perhaps better than Unsung Heroes, but that says very little between two extremely mediocre releases. |
| Priestess Hello Master | 4.0 |
| Leak Bros. Waterworld | 4.0 |
Esoteric but interesting production accompanies one of the most abstract hip-hop albums of all
time (and fittingly so, considering the source material, PCP). Cage and Tame One have a very
fluid, nonchalant back-and-forth, with album highlights split evenly between the two of them.
Definitely a recommendation for Cage fans, as well as hip-hop aficionados looking to explore
something a little bit more out there. |
| Baroness Purple | 4.0 |
| Pomegranate Tiger Boundless | 4.5 |
| Good Tiger A Head Full of Moonlight | 4.0 |
| Nujabes Luv(sic) Hexalogy | 5.0 |
| SikTh Opacities | 4.0 |
| Artillery By Inheritance | 4.5 |
| The Mire Vice Regalia | 4.0 |
| Logic The Incredible True Story | 4.0 |
| Intronaut The Direction of Last Things | 4.0 |
| Vehemence Forward Without Motion | 4.0 |
| A better successor to 'God Was Created' than their previous ever could have been. The songwriting is phenomenal throughout, though the patchy, rather muddy production can distract. Still though, 'Forward Without Motion' manages to answers the question of whether or not Vehemence can still create interesting and distinct death metal in the modern day with a resounding 'yes'. |
| In Twilight's Embrace The Grim Muse | 4.5 |
| On a short list for best melodeath album of the year. Well produced, well structured, and absolutely fuckin' rockin'. Album melodeath's so hard it was produced in Gothenburg. And it has Tomas Lindberg on it! |
| Lost Soul Atlantis: The New Beginning | 4.0 |
| Vhol Deeper than Sky | 4.5 |
| Gorod A Maze of Recycled Creeds | 4.5 |
| Might be my favorite Gorod album since Leading Vision. While perhaps not as immediate as A Perfect Absolution, this one is particularly weighty in the songwriting department. Also: it brings the fucking jazz. |
| Satan Atom by Atom | 4.0 |
| Deacon The Villain Peace or Power | 3.5 |
| Big Grams Big Grams | 2.5 |
| Children of Bodom I Worship Chaos | 2.5 |
| This album is so frustrating. They were so damn close to recapturing that early year energy with Halo of Blood, and then they randomly decided to detour through their more mediocre, slower tempo tracks with this one. Welp. Back to Kalmah. |
| Gloryhammer Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards | 4.0 |
| It's hard to be objective when the material is THIS entertaining. Is it derivative? Absolutely. Is it cliched? Oh, for sure. With determination. That's the enjoyment factor of Space 1992, though: it revels in the genre's storied history, with just enough self-awareness to pull it off. If you can detach yourself from your inner cynic, there's a gem to be found here, for sure. |
| Blackalicious Imani Vol. 1 | 4.0 |
| Better than The Craft, but not in the same atmosphere as Blazing Arrow (though I'm not sure anyone had that expectation). A surprisingly consistent return to form for a rap group out of time and out of place, but all the better for it. Blackalicious have premiered a solid set of old-school hip-hop tracks, full of charisma and genuine funk. |
| Scale the Summit V | 4.0 |
| Irreversible Mechanism Infinite Fields | 4.0 |
| Dreadnought Lifewoven | 4.0 |
| Iron Maiden The Book of Souls | 4.0 |
| This has all of the energy that Final Frontier was lacking. Front to back, 'Book of Souls' is one of the more consistent releases Iron Maiden have released in quite some time, and that's no small feat considering the sheer quantity of work on display here. Plus: cowbell. |
| A Loathing Requiem Acolytes Eternal | 4.0 |
| Rivers of Nihil Monarchy | 4.5 |
| Black Crown Initiate The Wreckage of Stars | 4.0 |
| Dead Letter Circus The Catalyst Fire | 3.5 |
| Dead Letter Circus This Is The Warning | 4.0 |
| Sadistik x Kno Phantom Limbs | 3.5 |
| An eerily concise, and thematic E.P., strangely punctuated by a posse cut that, while, phenomenal by its own merits, just confuses the track flow. Still, Sadistik is on point, and Kno brings his usual high-standing instrumentals. He even brings a solid set of bars (bizarre, right?). Not essential listening, but excellent nonetheless. |
| Kronos Colossal Titan Strife | 4.0 |
| Kronos Arisen New Era | 4.0 |
| Cattle Decapitation The Anthropocene Extinction | 4.0 |
| L'Orange and Kool Keith Time? Astonishing! | 3.5 |
| Ninja Sex Party Attitude City | 1.0 |
| bansheebeat Spiral Power | 4.0 |
| bansheebeat Lumine | 4.0 |
| Ghostface Killah Twelve Reasons to Die II | 3.0 |
| Mutoid Man Bleeder | 4.0 |
| Vince Staples Hell Can Wait | 4.0 |
| Failure The Heart Is a Monster | 4.0 |
| CZARFACE Every Hero Needs a Villain | 4.0 |
| Czarface fires back with an album much more consistent than their debut. The two emcees gel better in general, and the tones are more level across the boards. This finally feels like the project that it was meant to be: somewhere between MF DOOM's goofy cartoon approach and the super sobering underground battle rap circuit. |
| Between the Buried and Me Coma Ecliptic | 4.0 |
| Arcturus Arcturian | 4.0 |
| Leprous The Congregation | 4.5 |
| Nile In Their Darkened Shrines | 4.0 |
| Nile Annihilation of the Wicked | 4.5 |
| Valkyrie (USA-VA) Shadows | 4.0 |
| Kamelot Haven | 4.0 |
| Empyrean Sky Extending The Tangent | 3.5 |
| Sigh Graveward | 4.0 |
| The mixdown can be suspect at times (though with Sigh, this seems to be a deliberate measure), but otherwise Graveward stands as one of the more accessible, and especially cohesive albums that the band has put forth since their inception. A solid listen from front to back, which demands replays. |
| Toy-Box Fantastic | 4.0 |
| Sulphur Aeon Gateway to the Antisphere | 4.0 |
| Dance Gavin Dance Instant Gratification | 4.0 |
| Ne Obliviscaris Sarabande to Nihil | 3.5 |
| Alkaloid The Malkuth Grimoire | 4.5 |
| Action Bronson Mr. Wonderful | 3.0 |
| A Forest of Stars Beware the Sword You Cannot See | 4.0 |
| Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly | 4.5 |
| Freddie Gibbs Baby Face Killa | 4.0 |
| Carach Angren This Is No Fairytale | 3.0 |
| Ghost Bath Moonlover | 4.0 |
| Cannibal Ox Blade of the Ronin | 4.0 |
| Ghostface Killah and BADBADNOTGOOD Sour Soul | 4.0 |
| Juggaknots Re:Release | 4.0 |
| Purity Ring Another Eternity | 4.0 |
| Armageddon (SWE) Captivity and Devourment | 3.5 |
| Napalm Death Apex Predator - Easy Meat | 4.0 |
| Lupe Fiasco Tetsuo and Youth | 4.5 |
| Joey Badass B4.DA.$$ | 3.5 |
| Blind Guardian Beyond the Red Mirror | 4.0 |
| Until The Ribbon Breaks A Lesson Unlearnt | 4.0 |
| Anyone who has followed U.T.R.B..'s EPs will know that they've yet to make an uninteresting track, and so it comes as no surprise to anyone that their first full length album follows suit (even if they do recycle some of that EP material here). The diversity found herein is its greatest strength, with straight up electronica tracks ebbing and flowing with more hip-hop styled, breathe easy tunes. Overall it's just well produced and well organized, so check it the fuck out. |
| Bad Rabbits Stick Up Kids | 4.5 |
| Aesop Rock Cat Food | 4.5 |
| Rishloo Living as Ghosts with Buildings as Teeth | 4.0 |
| Fleshgod Apocalypse Mafia | 4.0 |
| Food for Animals Scavengers EP | 4.0 |
| Food for Animals Belly | 3.5 |
| I think that the best songs off of Scavenger trump any of the best songs off of this, but Belly finds Food for Animals creating more consistent soundscapes, across the spectrum of this release. What they have is an interesting sound, and with a little more polish, they could have some serious fire power on their hands. |
| The Grouch x Eligh x CunninLynguists The Winterfire EP | 4.0 |
| Mors Principium Est Dawn of the 5th Era | 3.5 |
| Hail Mary Mallon Bestiary | 4.0 |
| Much more consistent than their debut. Aes & Rob bounce off each other better than almost any other rap duo out there, and the beats are just incredible across the board. Time will tell how this holds up, but right now it's sitting solid. |
| Job For A Cowboy Sun Eater | 4.5 |
| Ne Obliviscaris Citadel | 4.5 |
| Ageless Oblivion Penthos | 4.0 |
| Logic Under Pressure | 3.5 |
| Logic still sounds like the sum of his influences, but his ear for incredible beats makes this one to look out for. Also: dat album cover |
| Run the Jewels Run the Jewels 2 | 4.5 |
| At the Gates At War with Reality | 4.0 |
| Beyond Creation Earthborn Evolution | 4.5 |
| Hard to say which is better, between this and The Aura. Both are equally excellent releases, so take this as you will. |
| Godflesh A World Lit Only by Fire | 4.0 |
| Tonedeff Hunter | 3.0 |
| Cannibal Corpse A Skeletal Domain | 4.0 |
| Trioscapes Digital Dream Sequence | 4.5 |
| Accept Blind Rage | 3.5 |
| Midnight No Mercy for Mayhem | 4.0 |
| Dog Fashion Disco Sweet Nothings | 4.0 |
| Overkill White Devil Armory | 3.5 |
| Within the Ruins Phenomena | 3.5 |
| Fallujah The Flesh Prevails | 4.5 |
A potentially game-changing album, marred by some of the most horrifically brickwalled production I have ever heard. Very tiring to listen to front to back.
My two cents? Get the vinyl version, or at least a vinyl rip. Much, much better sounding, and less plain LOUD. |
| Inanimate Existence A Never-Ending Cycle of Atonement | 4.0 |
| Opeth Pale Communion | 3.5 |
| 65daysofstatic One Time for All Time | 4.0 |
| '68 In Humor and Sadness | 4.0 |
| Origin Omnipresent | 4.0 |
| Lantlos Melting Sun | 4.0 |
| Hollenthon With Vilest of Worms to Dwell | 4.0 |
| Dot Hacker How's Your Process? (Work) | 4.0 |
| Sadistik Ultraviolet | 4.0 |
| Sadistik continues to improve in almost every area. The instrumentation is incredibly consistent all the way through, and each track flows especially well (besides the bizarre inclusion of Death Warrant). His delivery continues to evolve as well, and that's something to get excited about. He's always been a particularly stunning lyricist, but here his cadence is evolving; becoming far more organic. It's crazy to think that a year after his last incredible release we'd see one nearly as intense, but here's Ultraviolet, in all it's trippy glory. Check it out before the hype-train leaves the station. |
| Artificial Brain Labyrinth Constellation | 4.0 |
| Allegaeon Fragments of Form and Function | 3.5 |
| Allegaeon Elements of the Infinite | 5.0 |
| Septicflesh Titan | 4.0 |
| Hoth Oathbreaker | 3.5 |
| Youth In Revolt Love Is A Liar's Game | 3.0 |
| I was disappointed to hear that this was not in fact Michael Cera themed post-hardcore, but it's not terrible, for sure. 'Love Is A Liar's Game' is a fairly predictable venture, but one filled with solid twists and turns. |
| Secret Band Secret Band EP (Remastered) | 4.0 |
| Mastodon Once More 'Round the Sun | 4.0 |
| Equilibrium Erdentempel | 4.0 |
| Cyne All My Angles Are Right | 4.0 |
| clipping. CLPPNG | 4.0 |
| Son of Aurelius Under a Western Sun | 4.0 |
| The Atlas Moth An Ache for the Distance | 4.0 |
| Lychgate Lychgate | 4.0 |
| Strange Game $TRANGE GAME$ | 3.0 |
| Vader Tibi et Igni | 4.0 |
| Behemoth The Apostasy | 3.5 |
| Behemoth Evangelion | 3.5 |
| Behemoth Demigod | 4.0 |
| Noneuclid Metatheosis | 4.0 |
| Sage Francis Copper Gone | 3.5 |
| Messenger Illusory Blues | 4.0 |
| Nile At The Gate of Sethu | 3.0 |
| This would be infinitely better with a more coherent mix/mastering job. The songs themselves are fairly solid, but more often than not they sound flimsy and poorly rendered, like the band recorded them inside of a tin can. |
| The Roots ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin | 3.5 |
| It doesn't hit the highs of some of their previous works, but it is a daring and incredibly consistent piece of hip-hop, as self-aware and sociopolitical as it is unique, especially within their discography. |
| Abnormal Thought Patterns Manipulation Under Anesthesia | 4.0 |
| Spires (MAN-UK) Spiral of Ascension | 4.0 |
| Extremely underrated progressive death metal, hailing from the UK. They've got a pretty distinct style that culminates quite a few influences, but Mastodon and Opeth (as strange as that may sound) are the immediate ones. Highly recommended. |
| Black Monolith Passenger | 4.0 |
| Usipian Dead Corner of the Eye | 4.0 |
| Pretty distinct as far as death metal goes. Production is a little aggravating, but Usipian had an excellent concept of songwriting, and each song on here benefits from it. |
| Closure in Moscow Pink Lemonade | 3.5 |
| Dead Congregation Promulgation of the Fall | 4.0 |
| Killer Be Killed Killer Be Killed | 3.0 |
| Little People We Are But Hunks Of Wood | 3.0 |
| 1349 Hellfire | 4.0 |
| Son of Aurelius The Farthest Reaches | 4.0 |
| Atmosphere Southsiders | 2.5 |
| Underwhelming on first listen. Slug just feels listeless on here. |
| Aborted Global Flatline | 4.0 |
| Epica The Quantum Enigma | 4.0 |
| Dark Tranquillity The Gallery | 4.5 |
| Omnium Gatherum New World Shadows | 4.0 |
| Lo-Fang Blue Film | 3.5 |
| Until The Ribbon Breaks The Other Ones | 3.5 |
| Not quite the caliber of his first E.P., but still head and shoulders over his peers' works, 'The Other Ones' does not disappoint. The arrangements here are intricate and gorgeous, and are well produced, to boot, so be sure to snag the stream while it's still online. |
| Pryapisme Hyperblast Super Collider | 3.0 |
| Triptykon Melana Chasmata | 4.0 |
| Triptykon Eparistera Daimones | 4.0 |
| Reek Necrogenesis | 3.0 |
| The Seer Prologue | 3.5 |
| Dio This Is Your Life | 3.0 |
| Some of the covers are incredibly inspired (Metallica's medley, Anthrax's Neon Knights) while the others are either bland or just flat-out offensive. Nobody wanted Killswitch Engage's bastardized cover of Holy Diver, especially on a Dio fucking cover album. |
| Insomnium Shadows of the Dying Sun | 3.5 |
| Archspire The Lucid Collective | 4.0 |
| An Autumn For Crippled Children Try Not To Destroy Everything You Love | 4.0 |
| Menace Impact Velocity | 4.0 |
| The Great Old Ones Tekeli-Li | 4.0 |
| Helms Alee Sleepwalking Sailors | 4.0 |
| Aesop Rock The Blob | 3.5 |
| Onyx #WakeDaFucUp | 3.5 |
| Wasn't expecting much from this, honestly, but it kicked my ass regardless. Snowgoons know exactly how to elevate Onyx's overtly aggressive rap style, and in general the synergy is excellent. It's streaming at the moment, so give it a shot. |
| SOHN Tremors | 4.0 |
| BADBADNOTGOOD III | 4.5 |
| RATKING So It Goes | 3.5 |
| Polyphia Inspire | 4.0 |
| Meshuggah Best Of Meshuggah | 2.5 |
| Meshuggah needs a greatest hits album like Napalm Death needs a french horn section. |
| Lupe Fiasco Food & Liquor | 4.0 |
| Cormorant Earth Diver | 4.5 |
| CunninLynguists Strange Journey Vol. 3 | 4.0 |
Excellent album. The concept works extremely well, and the tracks are way more consistent
than on any of the other Strange Journey albums. Check it out.
|
| Hark Crystalline | 4.0 |
| Aura Noir Black Thrash Attack | 3.5 |
| Scale the Summit The Migration | 4.0 |
| Animals As Leaders Animals as Leaders | 4.0 |
| Animals As Leaders The Joy of Motion | 4.5 |
| Conan Monnos | 3.5 |
| Wintersun Wintersun | 4.5 |
| Nocturnal Breed Fields of Rot | 4.0 |
| Haggard Eppur si muove | 4.5 |
| Hannes Grossmann The Radial Covenant | 4.0 |
| Ashes of Ares Ashes of Ares | 3.0 |
| Noisem Agony Defined | 4.0 |
| Tribulation The Horror | 4.0 |
| Morbus Chron Sweven | 4.0 |
| Murmur (CHI) Murmur | 4.0 |
| GridLink Amber Gray | 4.0 |
| Monotheist Genesis Of Perdition | 4.0 |
| Shrapnel (UK) The Virus Conspires | 4.0 |
| Junius Reports From The Threshold of Death | 4.0 |
| Cheatahs Cheatahs | 3.5 |
| Talib Kweli Gravitas | 4.0 |
| What happened in between this and Prisoner of Conscious? While the latter had pacing issues and consistency squabbles everywhere, this is solid. I haven't enjoyed much from Kweli since Quality, but this stops the trend. |
| Corpsessed Abysmal Thresholds | 3.5 |
| Crosses Crosses | 3.5 |
| Vestiges The Descent Of Man | 4.0 |
| The Glitch Mob Drink the Sea | 4.0 |
| The Glitch Mob Love Death Immortality | 2.5 |
| Your disappointment was too short, it has to be at least 50 characters |
| Benighted Carnivore Sublime | 3.5 |
| One of the most consistent death metal bands around returns with another excellent and innovative slab of brutality in the shape of 'Carnivore Sublime'. Here, the band retains their signature off-kilter riffing style while pushing the envelope even further in any and all directions. Sure, the album can occasionally sound repetitive (there are riffs on here I'm sure I've heard on older albums), and the pig squeals can become grating due to their constant use, but overall this is an excellent album, defined by the band's unique compositions. Highly recommended. |
| Inferi (USA) The Path of Apotheosis | 4.0 |
| Being Anthropocene | 4.0 |
| Behemoth The Satanist | 4.0 |
| The Northern Imperium | 3.0 |
| Album would be immensely more rewarding without the bland deathcore grunts plastered across the top of the tracks, as well as the mindless chugs that crop up from time to time. The band has serious potential, but small grating issues like these bring down the EP. |
| The Kennedy Veil Trinity of Falsehood | 3.5 |
| Lazy Habits Lazy Habits | 4.0 |
| Mandroid Echostar Mandroid Echostar | 4.0 |
| Prostitute Disfigurement Descendants of Depravity | 3.5 |
| Misery Signals Absent Light | 4.0 |
| The Faceless Autotheism | 3.5 |
| Amesoeurs Ruines Humaines | 4.5 |
| Celldweller Celldweller | 4.0 |
| Hell (UK) Curse and Chapter | 4.0 |
| Mechina Empyrean | 4.0 |
| Alcest Shelter | 3.0 |
| Hail Spirit Noir Oi Magoi | 4.0 |
| Meshuggah I | 3.0 |
| Meshuggah Destroy Erase Improve | 4.0 |
| Meshuggah obZen | 4.0 |
| Meshuggah Koloss | 4.0 |
| Rivers of Nihil The Conscious Seed of Light | 4.0 |
| Kemba GNK | 4.0 |
| Emphatic Damage | 1.0 |
| Kamelot Silverthorn | 3.5 |
| Secrets of the Sky To Sail Black Waters | 4.5 |
| Tonedeff Demon | 4.0 |
| Rolling in right towards the end, Tonedeff's Demon is worth the forced, experimental electronica that plagued 'Glutton'. Though this one does share similarities with it, it uses the better portions of the genre to produce synth heavy, wavy instrumentals that only serve to highlight Tonedeff's incredible flow. This is an excellent release, and I highly recommend it for anyone looking to finish their 2013 'Best Rap Album' list. |
| Tonedeff Glutton | 2.5 |
| Avatarium Avatarium | 4.0 |
| Grave Miasma Odori Sepulcrorum | 4.0 |
| Deltron 3030 Deltron 3030 | 4.5 |
| Busta Rhymes and Q-Tip The Abstract & The Dragon | 3.0 |
| The Secret Agnus Dei | 4.0 |
| Armand Hammer Race Music | 4.0 |
| The true successor to Billy Woods's 'History Will Absolve Me' (with no offense to the excellent Elucid), Race Music is dense and eclectic, with the beats fully fleshing out the immense lyrical passages presented by the abstract duo. While 'Half Measures' was an interesting sonic experiment, it lacked cohesion, but showcased the two's massive potential in full collaboration. This, in its entirety, is it's fruition of form. |
| Childish Gambino Because the Internet | 3.5 |
| Haken The Mountain | 4.5 |
| Smut Peddlers Porn Again | 4.0 |
| Plini/Sithu Aye I | 4.0 |
| God Dethroned Passiondale | 4.0 |
| Oceans of Slumber Aetherial | 3.0 |
| Built to Fade To Dust | 3.5 |
| Kno adds his usual flair to the instrumentals, and the two singers here are pretty talented. This needs some serious growing time, but so far it's shaping up to be a pretty substantial release. |
| Unhuman Unhuman | 4.5 |
| This is the band that tech death bands recommend to other tech death bands. Unhuman have a definitive edge over their competition with their mastery of melody and technicality, and how they properly balance the two. It is incredibly impressive how memorable this album is, especially given that this is a debut. Highly recommended shit. |
| Rush Vapor Trails Remixed | 4.0 |
| The mastering on this is excellent. Vapor Trails was in and of itself a solid release, but it was incapable of showing off most of it's eccentricities due to the most muddled, deliberately poor production work I've ever heard. This release changes that. If you had any grudges against this release prior, give this a listen. |
| Exivious Exivious | 4.0 |
| Exivious Liminal | 4.5 |
| A Wilhelm Scream Partycrasher | 4.0 |
| Red Fang Whales and Leeches | 4.0 |
| This may not be the most consistent release of the year, but it sure is the most fun. Red Fang have perfected their formula here, finding the right balance in everything that made them so successful in the first place. |
| Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2 | 2.5 |
| Black Milk No Poison No Paradise | 4.0 |
| Warbringer War Without End | 4.0 |
| Ihsahn After | 4.0 |
| Kool Keith Magnetic Pimp Force Field | 2.5 |
| Cormorant Metazoa | 4.0 |
| A Lot Like Birds No Place | 4.0 |
| Pan.Thy.Monium Khaooohs And Kon-Fus-Ion | 4.0 |
| Blue Sky Black Death Glaciers | 4.0 |
| Toxic Holocaust Chemistry of Consciousness | 4.0 |
| Ihsahn Das Seelenbrechen | 4.0 |
| Lightfoot The Rudimentals | 4.0 |
| One of the more distinct instrumental hip-hop releases I've heard. Lightfoot's melding of funk, rap and just a sliver of electronica is mesmerizing, with it's atmospherics really shining through on particular tracks (Boom Bap Rat, for instance). He has the potential to carve out a niche unlike any other producer out there, so it's interesting to see how he explores this sound further. |
| Teeth Of The Sea Master | 4.5 |
| One of the most interesting post-rock albums of the year, through way of some truly original sonic experimenting. If this doesn't prove to be TotS's entry point into the big leagues than nothing will. |
| AFI Burials | 4.0 |
| Natti Still Motion | 4.0 |
| Aesop Rock None Shall Pass | 4.0 |
| Cage (USA-NY) Kill the Architect | 3.5 |
| Skeletonwitch Serpents Unleashed | 4.0 |
| Really loving the experimental elements incorporated into their compositions. When the soothing saxophone came in towards the end of 'Unwept' and broke through the cacophony of riffs, I was in awe. It was like a single haunting dove fluttering below a black and massive storm. Chills. Everywhere. And when the pan flute opened up 'Born of the Light that Does Not Shine', I was off my chair and dancing like some creature out of a Tolkien novel. Delightful. Really pleased to see Skeletonwitch showing us their softer side. |
| Protest the Hero Fortress | 4.5 |
| Protest the Hero Kezia | 4.0 |
| Protest the Hero Volition | 4.0 |
| Shad Flying Colours | 4.0 |
| Russian Circles Memorial | 4.0 |
| Theophany Time's End: Majora's Mask Remixed | 4.5 |
| Pusha T My Name Is My Name | 3.5 |
| Until The Ribbon Breaks A Taste of Silver | 4.0 |
| Four Fists Four Fists | 4.0 |
| This has an insurmountable amount of potential. P.O.S. plays an exhilarating counterpoint to Astronautalis's quiet and reasonable delivery, and it creates a very interesting dynamic in the music. |
| Melt-Banana Cell-Scape | 3.5 |
| Melt-Banana Fetch | 4.5 |
| Fleshwrought Dementia/Dyslexia | 4.0 |
| Danny Brown Old | 4.5 |
| Fates Warning Darkness in a Different Light | 4.0 |
| This is the most exciting Fates Warning has been in a long ass time. |
| Black Crown Initiate Song of the Crippled Bull | 4.5 |
| Alter Bridge Fortress | 4.5 |
| Deltron 3030 Event II | 4.0 |
| The 'Time' of hip-hop, except it doesn't suck shit |
| Unexpect In a Flesh Aquarium | 4.0 |
| Typhoon (USA-OR) White Lighter | 4.5 |
typhoon you have enraptured the oceans of my soul~
seriously tho this rules |
| 7L & Esoteric 1212 | 4.0 |
| Shadow of the Colossus End Game | 4.0 |
| Mortifera (FRA) Vastiia Tenebrd Mortifera | 4.0 |
| Cynthesis ReEvolution | 4.5 |
| Stake The Hutch | 4.5 |
| Pelican The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon... | 4.5 |
| Pelican Australasia | 4.0 |
| Goodie Mob Age Against The Machine | 2.5 |
| Age Against the Machine? More like Renegades Of Bunk... |
| Nine Inch Nails Hesitation Marks | 4.0 |
| Demigodz KILLmatic | 4.0 |
| Carcass Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious | 4.0 |
| Carcass Heartwork | 4.5 |
| The Faceless Planetary Duality | 4.0 |
| The Faceless Akeldama | 4.0 |
| Deceased Fearless Undead Machines | 4.0 |
| Denizen Kane Brother Min's Journey to the West | 4.5 |
| Qwazaar Bat Meets Blaine | 4.0 |
| Deltron 3030 City Rising From The Ashes | 3.0 |
The best track here is the title track, with the other two not quite keeping pace. 'The
Agony' is just a bad track, sounding stilted and particularly awkward in spots, and that's
what's especially unsettling about it; it's the most recent track, especially compared to
the other two. If this is what represents his present work, than I'm wary about Event II. |
| Intestine Baalism An Anatomy of the Beast | 4.0 |
| Toxic Holocaust An Overdose of Death... | 3.5 |
| Skeletonwitch Beyond the Permafrost | 4.0 |
| Fleshgod Apocalypse Labyrinth | 3.0 |
| Witherscape The Inheritance | 4.0 |
| Good to hear Swano's inhuman roars again. While this doesn't represent his peak works (I'm not aware of his partner's works), it does find itself a niche in the progressive metal genre as something very distinct and conceptual in nature. So overall, it still is solid, and every now and again the compositions will surprise. Definitely worth a listen. |
| Revocation Revocation | 4.0 |
| Funebrarum The Sleep of Morbid Dreams | 4.0 |
| Carcass Surgical Steel | 4.5 |
| Shadowrunners Cyberdine | 3.5 |
| Shadowrunners 808-Bit Revenge | 3.0 |
| The Reign of Kindo The Reign Of Kindo | 4.5 |
| The Reign of Kindo Play With Fire | 4.0 |
| The Reign of Kindo This Is What Happens | 4.0 |
| The Reign of Kindo Rhythm, Chord & Melody | 4.5 |
| Mors Principium Est ...And Death Said Live | 4.0 |
| Orphaned Land All Is One | 3.0 |
| Queens of the Stone Age Rated R | 4.0 |
| Sabaton Primo Victoria | 4.0 |
| Arcane Roots Blood and Chemistry | 4.0 |
| Blockhead Interludes After Midnight | 4.0 |
| Destroyer 666 Cold Steel...for an Iron Age | 4.5 |
| Destroyer 666 Phoenix Rising | 4.0 |
| Destroyer 666 Unchain The Wolves | 4.0 |
| Grits The Art of Translation | 3.5 |
| Enshine Origin | 4.0 |
| Billy Woods Dour Candy | 4.0 |
| Queensryche Empire | 4.0 |
| Autopsy The Headless Ritual | 3.5 |
| Queensryche Frequency Unknown (Tate's Queensryche) | 1.0 |
| Run the Jewels Run the Jewels | 4.5 |
| Amon Amarth Deceiver of the Gods | 4.0 |
| Sulphur Aeon Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide | 4.0 |
| Lovecraftian influenced, old-school death metal. What's not to love? The vocal effects give this an absolutely massive sound, and the hints at melody here and there break up the tedium pretty effectively. Not perfect, but a rock solid debut, for sure. Also: dat album cover. |
| Ugly Heroes Ugly Heroes | 4.0 |
| Septicflesh Communion | 4.0 |
| Queensryche Queensryche | 4.0 |
| I think it's pretty clear by this point who should have the Queensryche moniker. While Tate was using his band as a front for his childish insults, the other members were putting work into an actual album, full of interesting compositions that moved forward while finally remembering what made their older works interesting. So at the end of the day, while this isn't the second coming of Christ, it is definitive evidence that the Todd La Torre fronted Queensryche is the true Queensryche, at least in my book. |
| Children of Bodom Halo of Blood | 4.0 |
| Arkaik Metamorphignition | 4.0 |
| Kalmah Seventh Swamphony | 4.0 |
| Necrophagist Epitaph | 4.0 |
| Necrophagist Onset of Putrefaction | 4.5 |
| Vale of Pnath The Prodigal Empire | 4.0 |
| 65daysofstatic The Fall of Math | 4.5 |
| Black Sabbath 13 | 4.0 |
| The Black Dahlia Murder Everblack | 4.5 |
| Vornagar The Bleeding Holocaust | 4.5 |
| Techno Animal The Brotherhood of the Bomb | 4.0 |
| Chance the Rapper Acid Rap | 3.0 |
| Darkthrone The Underground Resistance | 4.0 |
| The Black Dahlia Murder Nocturnal | 4.0 |
| Alice in Chains Jar of Flies | 4.5 |
| Alice in Chains The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here | 4.0 |
| Dark Tranquillity Construct | 4.0 |
| J. Cole Friday Night Lights | 4.0 |
| Satan Life Sentence | 4.0 |
| Leprous Coal | 4.0 |
| Queens of the Stone Age Songs for the Deaf | 4.0 |
| Queens of the Stone Age ...Like Clockwork | 4.0 |
| The Uncluded Hokey Fright | 3.0 |
| Rush 2112 | 4.0 |
| TesseracT Altered State | 4.0 |
| Katalepsy Autopsychosis | 4.0 |
| Anciients Heart of Oak | 4.0 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Miss Machine | 4.0 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Ire Works | 4.0 |
| Shade Empire Omega Arcane | 4.0 |
| Anamanaguchi Endless Fantasy | 3.5 |
| Illogic and Blockhead Capture the Sun | 4.5 |
| 2013 continues on as the year of good music. 'Capture the Sun' marks a definite high point in both artists' careers, with top tier flows riding top tier beats, creating a consistency that I haven't seen in a hip-hop album in quite some time. While Illogic has had trouble in the past keeping his albums wholly involving, this doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Both come together to create deep and rewarding tracks, and for any forward-thinking hip-hop fanatic, this release should be a real gem. |
| R.A. The Rugged Man Die, Rugged Man, Die | 3.5 |
| R.A. The Rugged Man Legends Never Die | 4.0 |
| Probably the most consistent release of R.A.'s career. The beats are relatively consistent, and the flows are absolutely the best he's ever laid to record. I'd wager this is probably one of the better hip-hop albums released this year, so don't sleep on this. |
| Zero Hour The Towers of Avarice | 4.0 |
| Deafheaven Roads to Judah | 4.0 |
| Arsis Unwelcome | 4.0 |
| Ghostface Killah 12 Reasons To Die: The Brown Tape | 4.0 |
| While the original was a more complex and involving listen, this one is more in line with his older material, harkening back to classic Wu-beats. Definitely recommended for a different take on the material, as this is pretty much on par with that one. |
| Be'lakor The Frail Tide | 4.0 |
| Beastwars Blood Becomes Fire | 4.5 |
| Pyrithion The Burden Of Sorrow | 4.0 |
| Pretty excellent, although this does feel more like an Allegaeon EP than it does a full-on different band's. Production is good though, as are the riffs, so fans of said band should be pretty satisfied with this one. Lambesis manages to sound pretty damn good too, so hey, there's that. |
| Encircling Sea A Forgotten Land | 4.0 |
| Altar of Plagues Teethed Glory and Injury | 4.0 |
| Timeghoul 1992-1994 Discography | 4.0 |
| J. Cole Truly Yours | 3.5 |
| Streetlight Manifesto Keasbey Nights | 4.0 |
| Streetlight Manifesto Everything Goes Numb | 4.5 |
| Streetlight Manifesto Somewhere in the Between | 4.5 |
| Streetlight Manifesto The Hands That Thieve | 4.5 |
I ask myself how an album can justify six years of hype
And then I listen to this, and it feels like such a natural progression from the last, but
with more maturity and cohesion. Where the last left off, this one picks up, like they've
never been gone at all.
Man, I've missed Streetlight Manifesto. |
| Mestis Basal Ganglia | 4.0 |
| Metallica Death Magnetic | 3.0 |
| The Dynospectrum Dynospectrum | 3.5 |
| Amon Amarth Twilight of the Thunder God | 4.0 |
| Amon Amarth With Oden on Our Side | 4.5 |
| Amon Amarth Versus the World | 4.0 |
| The Doppelgangaz Beats For Brothels, Vol. 1 | 4.0 |
| The Doppelgangaz Beats For Brothels, Vol. 2 | 4.0 |
| Ghost (SWE) Infestissumam | 3.5 |
| Ghost (SWE) Opus Eponymous | 4.0 |
| Ghostface Killah Twelve Reasons to Die | 4.0 |
| Elzhi The Preface | 4.0 |
| Big K.R.I.T. King Remembered In Time | 4.0 |
| Thrawsunblat Wanderer on the Continent of Saplings | 4.5 |
| One of the most consistent folk/black metal releases in years, which isn't surprising considering the relation to Woods of Ypres. The material here is immediate, which is surprising given it's nature, but gives way to some impressive depths as well. If you've been looking for a solid folk release that holds more than a prance and a single glance, give this a shot. |
| Cannibal Ox Gotham | 3.0 |
| I feel very similar to how I felt after the recent Binary Star EP. It's a reclamation, for sure, but it isn't quite up to the standard of their older material. Hopefully the full length will set aside doubts here, but until then, this'll do the trick. |
| Dead Congregation Graves of the Archangels | 4.0 |
| Krisiun Southern Storm | 3.5 |
| Immolation Majesty and Decay | 4.0 |
| Cannibal Corpse Tomb of the Mutilated | 4.0 |
| Cannibal Corpse The Bleeding | 3.5 |
| Monstrosity Rise to Power | 3.0 |
| Odious Mortem Cryptic Implosion | 3.5 |
| Decrepit Birth Diminishing Between Worlds | 4.0 |
| Decrepit Birth Polarity | 4.0 |
| Watsky Cardboard Castles | 3.5 |
While there is still quite of bit of growth to be done here, George Watsky has the
potential, and that is what is put on display on 'Cardboard Castles'. His flow is definitely
fluid, and even when he stumbles, he still maintains an interesting lyrical setup to keep
things interesting. So overall, this is worth a listen, even if just to check out the
spectacular 'Tiny Glowing Screens, Pt. 2', which really defines him as a spoken word artist
turned hip-hop musician. |
| Fallujah Nomadic | 4.5 |
THIS SUMMER
GET READY FOR A STAFF REVIEW
THAT WILL CONTRADICT POPULAR OPINION
"FALLUJAH - NOMADIC REVIEW"
COMING TO A SPUTNIK NEAREST YOU |
| Kvelertak Kvelertak | 4.5 |
| DMX The Definition Of X: The Pick Of The Litter | 4.0 |
| Binary Star Light Years Apart | 4.0 |
| Kvelertak Meir | 4.0 |
| Bonobo Black Sands | 4.0 |
| Senses Fail Renacer | 4.0 |
| Altar of Plagues White Tomb | 4.0 |
| Danny Brown OD | 3.0 |
| The Doppelgangaz Lone Sharks | 4.5 |
| The Doppelgangaz HARK | 4.0 |
| Revocation Existence Is Futile | 4.0 |
| The Absence Riders of the Plague | 4.0 |
| Woodkid The Golden Age | 4.0 |
| While the singles already presented are for sure the best tracks on the album, the rest are of a similar quality, and are definitely worth checking out. Woodkid's concept of pop here is new and interesting, with gorgeous string arrangements as well as interesting drum patterns that do more than just keep pattern on the underside. Definitely recommended. |
| Intronaut Habitual Levitations | 4.0 |
| Intronaut Prehistoricisms | 3.5 |
| Intronaut Valley of Smoke | 4.0 |
| Woodkid Run Boy Run | 3.5 |
| Woodkid Iron | 3.5 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Option Paralysis | 4.5 |
| Clutch Earth Rocker | 3.5 |
| Coheed and Cambria No World for Tomorrow | 3.0 |
| Coheed and Cambria In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 | 4.0 |
| Coheed and Cambria From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness | 4.5 |
| Deceased As the Weird Travel On | 5.0 |
| CZARFACE CZARFACE | 4.0 |
| Bring Me the Horizon Sempiternal | 1.0 |
| Sadistik Flowers for My Father | 4.5 |
| Omnium Gatherum Beyond | 4.5 |
| Plan B Ill Manors | 4.5 |
| Converge You Fail Me | 4.0 |
| Astronautalis Pomegranate | 4.0 |
| Talib Kweli & Z-Trip Attack the Block | 3.5 |
| This is an unbelievably substantial mixtape. Kweli sounds more on point here than he has in years, and that's something to get excited about. The beats are equally qualitative, always highlighting the spirited deliveries on display, while standing on their own as powerful instrumentals in their own rights. So overall, this more than sets the stage for Kweli's new album drop this year, which is sure to be pretty darn solid. |
| Polyenso One Big Particular Loop | 4.5 |
| Bliss N Eso Flying Colours | 4.0 |
| Cult of Luna Vertikal | 4.5 |
| Raekwon Lost Jewlry | 4.0 |
| Voivod Target Earth | 4.0 |
| Wugazi 13 Chambers | 4.0 |
| Steven Wilson The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) | 4.5 |
| Coheed and Cambria The Afterman: Descension | 4.0 |
| The Project Hate MCMXCIX The Cadaverous Retaliation Agenda | 4.5 |
| Bad Religion True North | 4.5 |
| Cradle Orchestra Transcended Elements | 4.0 |
| A wonderfully warm hip-hop/soul CD with plenty of twists and turns along the way. While not a revelation of any kind, it is incredibly solid, and every song is consistent in the album's vision. Definitely worth a look, in my opinion. |
| Cult of Luna Somewhere Along the Highway | 4.5 |
| Quakers Quakers | 4.5 |
| OutKast ATLiens | 4.5 |
| OutKast Aquemini | 4.5 |
| OutKast Stankonia | 4.0 |
| Obsidian Kingdom Mantiis | 4.0 |
| Paul Wardingham Assimilate Regenerate | 4.5 |
| Soul Cycle Soul Cycle II | 4.5 |
| Pro Era PEEP: The APROcalypse | 4.0 |
| Eligh & Amp Live Therapy at 3 | 4.5 |
| Panacea (USA) 12 Step Program | 4.0 |
| Panacea continue their streak of consistency with another lively release. The beats are warm and endearing, the lyrics are well-spoken and at many times insightful, and the entire package comes together like few albums do. They're a group to be reckoned with, at this point, and their entire discography is worth a look into if you're a fan of rap. |
| Kno Kno vs. Hov: The White Albulum | 3.5 |
| Circle of Contempt Entwine the Threads | 4.0 |
| L'Orange The Mad Writer | 4.0 |
| Dabrye Two/Three | 4.5 |
| Murs The Final Adventure | 4.0 |
| Oh No Ohnomite | 4.0 |
| Arsis A Celebration of Guilt (Re-release) | 2.5 |
| This really didn't need a remaster, as the original had an absolutely perfect production job for the material. This just sounds...off. The material is still fantastic, but this doesn't need to exist at all. |
| Arsis United in Regret | 3.5 |
| Arsis Lepers Caress | 4.5 |
| And not a mention of tightropes anywhere. Ah yes, Arsis is right back on track. |
| Mastodon Remission | 4.0 |
| Mastodon Crack the Skye | 4.0 |
| Mastodon Blood Mountain | 4.0 |
| Mastodon Leviathan | 4.5 |
| Zeroh tape | 3.0 |
| Bop Alloy Bop Alloy | 4.5 |
| Captain Murphy Duality | 4.0 |
| My Chemical Romance The Black Parade | 3.5 |
| Father Befouled Revulsion of Seraphic Grace | 3.5 |
| Why does the cover remind me of Defeated Sanity? Regardless this is decent |
| A Loathing Requiem Psalms of Misanthropy | 4.5 |
| People Under the Stairs O.S.T. | 4.5 |
| Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician Wave Motion | 4.0 |
| David Dallas The Rose Tint | 4.0 |
| At the Drive-In Relationship of Command | 4.5 |
| The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium | 4.0 |
| Evile Enter the Grave | 4.0 |
| Anthrax Spreading the Disease | 4.0 |
| Anthrax Among the Living | 4.5 |
| Testament The Gathering | 4.5 |
| Testament The New Order | 4.5 |
| Testament The Formation of Damnation | 4.0 |
| Angel Vivaldi Universal Language | 4.5 |
| Soundgarden King Animal | 4.0 |
| Twelve Foot Ninja Silent Machine | 4.0 |
| Alice in Chains Dirt | 4.5 |
| Alice in Chains Black Gives Way to Blue | 4.0 |
| All That Remains A War You Cannot Win | 2.0 |
| Rings of Saturn Dingir | 3.0 |
| P.O.S Ipecac Neat | 4.0 |
| Being as an Ocean Dear G-d | 3.5 |
| Big Pun Capital Punishment | 5.0 |
| Blood Stain Child Idolator | 4.0 |
| Blood Stain Child Silence Of Northern Hell | 3.5 |
| Blue Sky Black Death Late Night Cinema | 4.0 |
| Cecil Otter Rebel Yellow | 4.0 |
| Megadeth Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! | 4.0 |
| Megadeth United Abominations | 3.5 |
| Megadeth Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? | 4.5 |
| Megadeth Rust in Peace | 5.0 |
| Megadeth Countdown to Extinction | 4.0 |
| Megadeth Endgame | 4.0 |
| Cenospecies Indefinition | 4.0 |
| It's interesting to see where P.O.S. more or less started. This is definitely different from his more punk-oriented solo albums, but it's more or less of the same quality. Definitely worth a look for fans of his, as well as rap fans in general. |
| Viraemia Viraemia | 3.5 |
| Brain Drill Apocalyptic Feasting | 2.0 |
| Cerebral Bore Maniacal Miscreation | 2.5 |
Cerebral Bore? More like Cerebral Bored lmao
Seriously this is bland |
| Shining (SWE) V - Halmstad | 4.5 |
| Vader De Profundis | 4.0 |
| Vader Impressions In Blood | 4.0 |
| Vader Litany | 4.5 |
| ShinSight Trio Shallow Nights Blurry Moon | 4.0 |
| Lowkey Soundtrack to the Struggle | 4.0 |
| Quo Vadis Defiant Imagination | 4.5 |
| Quo Vadis Day Into Night | 4.0 |
| Arsis A Diamond for Disease | 4.5 |
| Arsis We Are the Nightmare | 4.0 |
| Melechesh Emissaries | 4.0 |
| Professor Elemental The Indifference Engine | 4.0 |
| Mr. Lif I Phantom | 4.0 |
| Andy James Andy James | 4.5 |
| Mors Principium Est The Unborn | 4.5 |
| Between the Buried and Me Alaska | 4.0 |
| Between the Buried and Me Colors | 4.5 |
| K-Rino Solitary Confinement | 3.5 |
| Converge Petitioning the Empty Sky | 4.5 |
| RZA The Man With The Iron Fists | 4.0 |
| Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city | 4.5 |
| Kendrick Lamar Section.80 | 4.0 |
| Wintersun Time I | 4.0 |
| Album's been delayed indefinitely while the children of Finland take their summer vacation skiing the slope of Jari's big nose |
| P.O.S We Don't Even Live Here | 4.0 |
| When I first listened to this, I was not especially thrilled. I suppose I was expecting r'Never Better' 2.0, or at least something extremely similar. The more I listened to it, rhowever, the more I began to realize how much more focused this effort was compared to it's rpredecessor, and it has since grown on me quite a bit. rSo while I won't say it's equally as good as that other album, 'We Don't Even Live Here' is ra more consistent album, with more focus than anything else in his discography. And that's rdefinitely worth something. |
| Dethklok Dethalbum III | 4.0 |
| Genghis Tron Board Up the House | 4.5 |
| Liberteer Better to Die on Your Feet... | 3.5 |
| Sadistik The Balancing Act | 4.5 |
| Little People Mickey Mouse Operation | 4.5 |
| Anaal Nathrakh Vanitas | 4.0 |
| A return to form after the extremely lackluster 'Passion'. The melodies are phenomenal, the riffs are hard-hitting, and in general the production is excellent. It doesn't surpass some of their previous releases (Hell Is Empty, In the Constellation), but it's definitely in the same ballpark. |
| The Grouch and Eligh Say G&E! | 4.0 |
| Anberlin Vital | 4.0 |
| Eligh Grey Crow | 4.5 |
| Macklemore and Ryan Lewis VS. | 4.0 |
| Vision of Disorder The Cursed Remain Cursed | 4.0 |
| Macklemore and Ryan Lewis The Heist | 4.0 |
| Water's Edge An Abstract Collapse | 4.0 |
| Kamelot Karma | 4.0 |
| Kamelot Epica | 4.5 |
| Kamelot The Black Halo | 4.5 |
| Radiohead OK Computer | 4.5 |
| Death Individual Thought Patterns | 4.0 |
| Dj Muggs Vs. Ill Bill Kill Devil Hills | 4.0 |
| DJ Muggs Vs GZA Grandmasters | 4.5 |
| Blu and Exile Below the Heavens | 4.0 |
| Blu and Exile Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them | 4.0 |
| Best thing Blu's done since 'Below the Heavens', no joke. |
| Sylosis Monolith | 4.0 |
| Deicide The Stench of Redemption | 4.5 |
| Fair to Midland Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True | 4.0 |
| Fair to Midland Arrows and Anchors | 4.5 |
| Rush Moving Pictures | 5.0 |
| Coheed and Cambria The Afterman: Ascension | 4.0 |
| Between the Buried and Me The Parallax II: Future Sequence | 4.5 |
| Between the Buried and Me The Great Misdirect | 4.0 |
| Converge All We Love We Leave Behind | 4.5 |
| Smif-N-Wessun Dah Shinin' | 4.5 |
| Macklemore The Language of My World | 4.0 |
| Canibus Rip The Jacker | 4.5 |
| Enslaved RIITIIR | 4.5 |
| First listen reminds me of masterpiece progressive band Rush! Marvelous! Masterful! |
| Neuraxis Trilateral Progression | 4.0 |
| DangerDoom The Mouse And The Mask | 4.0 |
| Shadow Shadow | 4.0 |
| Hail the Sun Elephantitis | 4.5 |
| Muse Black Holes & Revelations | 4.0 |
| Doomtree No Kings | 4.0 |
| All That Remains The Fall of Ideals | 4.0 |
| Lupe Fiasco Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Pt.1 | 3.0 |
| Danny Brown Bruiser Brigade | 4.0 |
| Steve Harris British Lion | 2.5 |
| Listened through the whole thing a couple of times on the official stream, and I cannot comprehend how ridiculously bland it all is. Not only that, but the singer is atrocious. Oh well, I guess it isn't Iron Maiden. I guess that's a good thing. |
| Astronautalis This Is Our Science | 4.5 |
| Devin Townsend Project Epicloud | 4.0 |
| Souls of Mischief 93 'til Infinity | 5.0 |
| The title track is one of the best rap songs ever conceived. No hyperbole. |
| Genelec & Memphis Reigns Scorpion Circles | 4.0 |
| Beardfish Mammoth | 4.0 |
| Beardfish The Void | 4.0 |
| The Chariot One Wing | 4.5 |
| Diverse One A.M. | 4.0 |
| Diverse is a ridiculously talented emcee. His flow is absolutely incredible, while his lyrics are about on par, containing some deeper, thought provoking concepts. The beats that accompany his rhymes here are certainly on point, with J Dilla, RJD2 and Prefuse 73 creating some mesmerizing numbers worthy of their merits as producers. So overall, this is an album criminally underrated, given it's overall quality, and should not be slept on. |
| Swans The Seer | 3.5 |
| In Flames Whoracle | 4.0 |
| In Flames The Jester Race | 5.0 |
| Arch Enemy Burning Bridges | 4.0 |
| Kalmah For the Revolution | 3.0 |
| Kalmah 12 Gauge | 3.5 |
| Kalmah The Black Waltz | 4.0 |
| Kalmah Swampsong | 4.0 |
| Kalmah Swamplord | 4.0 |
| Kalmah They Will Return | 4.5 |
| Aesop Rock Daylight | 3.5 |
| Aesop Rock Labor Days | 4.5 |
| Monuments (UK) Gnosis | 4.0 |
| Katatonia The Great Cold Distance | 4.0 |
| Katatonia Night Is the New Day | 4.0 |
| Katatonia Viva Emptiness | 3.0 |
| While She Sleeps This Is the Six | 4.0 |
| Atmosphere God Loves Ugly | 4.5 |
| P.O.S Audition | 4.0 |
| Sacramentum Far Away from the Sun | 5.0 |
| Yellowcard Southern Air | 4.5 |
| Katatonia Brave Murder Day | 4.5 |
| Murder Construct Results | 4.0 |
| JJ DOOM Key To The Kuffs | 4.0 |
| Gaza No Absolutes in Human Suffering | 4.0 |
| Nachtmystium Assassins: Black Meddle Pt.1 | 4.5 |
| Complete Freedom Alpha | 3.5 |
| Kanye West The College Dropout | 4.0 |
| Nile Those Whom the Gods Detest | 4.0 |
| Storm Corrosion Storm Corrosion | 4.0 |
| The Left Gas Mask | 4.0 |
| Testament Dark Roots of Earth | 4.0 |
| Pierce the Veil Collide with the Sky | 3.5 |
| Sole and the Skyrider Band Plastique | 4.5 |
| Watchtower Control and Resistance | 4.5 |
| Arghoslent Galloping Through the Battle Ruins | 4.0 |
| Arghoslent Hornets of the Pogrom | 4.0 |
| Arghoslent Incorrigible Bigotry | 4.5 |
| John Frusciante Letur-Lefr | 4.0 |
| The Gigantics Die Already | 3.5 |
| Dark Time Sunshine ANX | 4.5 |
| Billy Woods History Will Absolve Me | 4.5 |
| Sylosis Edge of the Earth | 4.0 |
| Flametal The Elder | 4.0 |
| The Killers Hot Fuss | 4.0 |
| The Contortionist Intrinsic | 3.5 |
| Nas Life Is Good | 4.0 |
| Baroness Yellow and Green | 3.5 |
| Aesop Rock Skelethon | 4.5 |
| Turquoise Jeep Keep The Jeep Ridin' | 5.0 |
| Turquoise Jeep are the voice of every generation at once |
| Purity Ring Shrines | 4.0 |
| Anaal Nathrakh In the Constellation of the Black Widow | 4.0 |
| Anaal Nathrakh Hell Is Empty and All the Devils Are Her | 4.5 |
| Baroness Red Album | 4.0 |
| Baroness Blue Record | 4.0 |
| Brocas Helm Defender of the Crown | 4.0 |
| MF DOOM Special Herbs: The Box Set | 4.0 |
| Masta Ace MA DOOM: Son Of Yvonne | 4.0 |
| Although the beats are recycled from Doom's Special Herbs collection (which isn't necessarily a surprise) Masta Ace flows well over them, and in general the tracks are extremely consistent. Solid release. |
| Danny Brown XXX | 4.0 |
| I Self Devine The Sound Of Low Class Amerika | 4.0 |
| Dark Time Sunshine Vessel | 4.5 |
| Ever Forthright Ever Forthright | 4.0 |
| Havoc Unit h.IV+ (Hoarse Industrial Viremia) | 4.0 |
| Deadnight Messenger of Death | 4.0 |
| Agalloch Faustian Echoes | 4.0 |
| Kalisia Cybion | 4.5 |
| Behold... The Arctopus Skullgrid | 3.0 |
| Blotted Science The Machinations of Dementia | 4.0 |
| Hail Spirit Noir Pneuma | 4.5 |
| King Mez My Everlasting Zeal | 4.0 |
| Beyond the Bridge The Old Man and The Spirit | 4.5 |
| Gojira L'Enfant Sauvage | 4.5 |
| Diamond District In The Ruff | 4.5 |
| Gojira From Mars to Sirius | 4.5 |
| Gojira The Way of All Flesh | 4.5 |
| Ihsahn Eremita | 3.5 |
| Joey Badass 1999 | 4.0 |
| He's got a ways to go before his flow is perfected, but he's well on his way to being truly great. The beats are all phenomenal, and the future holds great things for this kid. Props |
| Witch Mountain South Of Salem | 4.0 |
| Arsis A Celebration of Guilt | 4.5 |
| Cage (USA-NY) Movies for the Blind | 4.5 |
| alt-J An Awesome Wave | 4.5 |
| The Perceptionists Black Dialogue | 4.0 |
| MF Grimm American Hunger | 4.5 |
| Rush Clockwork Angels | 4.5 |
| Kreator Phantom Antichrist | 4.0 |
| Not your typical Kreator release. While some may call it a tad too melodic, or even softer than older albums, it definitely has some interesting ideas at work, that fit excellently within their already impressive repertoire. A fine release from one of the most consistent bands around. |
| Be'lakor Of Breath and Bone | 4.0 |
| Empyrean Sky The Snow White Rose of Paradise | 4.5 |
| Dawnbringer Into the Lair of the Sun God | 4.0 |
| Belphegor Goatreich-Fleshcult | 4.0 |
| Big K.R.I.T. Live From The Underground | 4.0 |
| Panzerchrist Regiment Ragnarok | 3.5 |
| Make Them Suffer Neverbloom | 3.0 |
| Art By Numbers Reticence: The Musical | 4.5 |
| Shape of Broad Minds Craft of the Lost Art | 4.0 |
| Atoma Skylight | 4.0 |
| Panacea (USA) A Mind on a Ship Through Time | 4.5 |
| Ne Obliviscaris Portal of I | 4.5 |
| Trioscapes Separate Realities | 4.5 |
| Michita Dawning | 4.0 |
| Killer Mike R.A.P. Music | 4.5 |
| Chino XL Poison Pen | 4.0 |
| Celph Titled and Buckwild Nineteen Ninety Now | 4.0 |
| CunninLynguists Strange Journey Vol. 2 | 3.5 |
| Allegaeon Formshifter | 4.0 |
| Heathen Victims of Deception | 4.5 |
| Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back | 4.0 |
| Mekong Delta Dances of Death (and other Walking Shadows) | 4.0 |
| Solitude Aeturnus Into the Depths of Sorrow | 4.5 |
| Kadenzza The Second Renaissance | 4.5 |
Unlike the majority of symphonic black metal acts, Kadenzza has plenty of depth underneath
it's various keyboard tunes. Phenominal riffs, solos and unique vocals put this one over the
top, and show how SBM can still stay interesting and relevant in the 21st century. |
| Ihsahn The Adversary | 3.5 |
| Cattle Decapitation The Harvest Floor | 3.5 |
| Cattle Decapitation Monolith of Inhumanity | 4.5 |
| While quite a bit of their back-discography is bogged down by bland, aimless aggression, Monolith of Inhumanity sees CD spreading out their influences, and trying out more unusual concepts (at least for them). The clean vocals are extremely well done, and the songs play out in interesting ways most of the time. A surprising release, to be sure, and a contender for best death metal release thus far this year. |
| Cannibal Corpse Torture | 4.0 |
| Fallujah The Harvest Wombs | 4.5 |
| Immortal Technique Revolutionary Volume 1 | 4.0 |
| Immortal Technique Revolutionary Volume 2 | 4.5 |
| Immortal Technique The Martyr | 4.0 |
| Immortal Technique The 3rd World | 4.0 |
| El-P I'll Sleep When You're Dead | 4.0 |
| The White Stripes Elephant | 4.0 |
| Kreator Enemy of God | 4.5 |
| El-P Cancer 4 Cure | 4.5 |
El-P throws down some choice beats, and his wordplay and flow have never sounded better
here. Though some things work better than others, it's still a solid release, and a more
than worthy successor to ISWYD. |
| Jack White Blunderbuss | 4.5 |
| Saprogenic The Wet Sound of Flesh on Concrete | 4.0 |
| In Mourning Shrouded Divine | 4.0 |
| Reflection Eternal Train of Thought | 4.5 |
| Death Grips The Money Store | 4.0 |
| Hilltop Hoods The Calling | 4.5 |
| Hilltop Hoods Drinking From The Sun | 4.0 |
| J-Live The Best Part | 4.0 |
| Satan Court in the Act | 4.5 |
| Amon Amarth Surtur Rising | 4.0 |
| Phonte Charity Starts at Home | 4.5 |
| Dilated Peoples Expansion Team | 4.5 |
| Evidence Cats & Dogs | 4.0 |
| T.R.A.M. Lingua Franca | 4.5 |
| Prince Paul A Prince Among Thieves | 4.5 |
| Communic Waves Of Visual Decay | 4.5 |
| Accept Stalingrad: Brothers In Death | 4.5 |
| High on Fire Death Is This Communion | 4.0 |
| Hypocrisy Virus | 4.0 |
| Insomnium Across the Dark | 3.5 |
| Insomnium Since the Day It All Came Down | 4.5 |
| Insomnium Above the Weeping World | 4.5 |
| High on Fire De Vermis Mysteriis | 4.0 |
| Astra The Black Chord | 4.5 |
| Cynic The Portal Tapes | 3.5 |
| Irepress Sol Eye Sea I | 4.0 |
| Judas Priest Painkiller | 5.0 |
| Overkill The Electric Age | 3.5 |
| Ras Kass Soul on Ice | 4.5 |
| Gift of Gab The Next Logical Progression | 4.0 |
| Barren Earth Curse of the Red River | 4.5 |
| Aceyalone A Book of Human Language | 4.5 |
| Gorod Transcendence | 4.5 |
| Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf Big Shots | 4.5 |
| Sigh Imaginary Sonicscape | 4.5 |
| Sigh Gallows Gallery | 4.0 |
| Sigh Hangman's Hymn | 4.5 |
| Sigh Scenes from Hell | 3.5 |
| Sigh In Somniphobia | 4.0 |
| Atheist Unquestionable Presence | 5.0 |
| Atheist Jupiter | 4.5 |
| Gorod A Perfect Absolution | 4.5 |
| Dismember Like an Ever Flowing Stream | 5.0 |
| Dismember Indecent & Obscene | 4.5 |
| Big K.R.I.T. ReturnOf4eva | 4.0 |
| Big K.R.I.T. 4Eva N A Day | 3.5 |
| Barren Earth The Devil's Resolve | 4.0 |
| Intestine Baalism Banquet in the Darkness | 4.5 |
| Intestine Baalism Ultimate Instinct | 4.5 |
| Talib Kweli Quality | 4.0 |
| Lute West1996 | 4.5 |
| Frightmare Bringing Back The Bloodshed | 4.5 |
| Substantial To This Union A Sun Was Born | 4.5 |
| A very solid album. The beats are phenomenal (though that's no surprise considering the entire CD was produced by Nujabes), and Substantial is competent as always. Very difficult to find, but well worth the effort. |
| Spawn of Possession Incurso | 5.0 |
| Sculptured The Spear Of The Lily Is Aureoled | 4.0 |
| Parov Stelar Coco | 4.5 |
| Mar De Grises Streams Inwards | 4.5 |
Every now and then when I want an immense slab of atmospheric death and doom, I find myself
rotating Mar De Grises's 'Streams Inwards' again. It's melodic and haunting, compelling and
creative, and certainly one of the best of its kinds. It's a shame that the band went their
separate ways after this LP, but it certainly stands as their swan song. |
| Catamenia Location:COLD | 4.0 |
| Christian Mistress Possession | 4.0 |
| Dawnbringer Nucleus | 4.5 |
| Michita ONE | 4.5 |
| Five Deez Koolmotor | 4.0 |
| Augury Fragmentary Evidence | 4.0 |
| Augury Concealed | 4.0 |
| Spiral Architect A Sceptic's Universe | 3.0 |
| Common Be | 4.5 |
| Common Resurrection | 5.0 |
| Atmosphere When Life Gives You Lemons... | 4.5 |
| Non-Prophets Hope | 4.5 |
| Men In Search of the Perfect Weapon Men In Search of the Perfect Weapon | 4.0 |
| Uyama Hiroto A Son of the Sun | 4.5 |
| Panzerchrist Room Service | 3.5 |
| Panzerchrist Battalion Beast | 4.0 |
| Beneath the Massacre Evidence Of Inequity | 4.0 |
| Luca Turilli King of the Nordic Twilight | 4.5 |
| Fairyland Score to a New Beginning | 4.0 |
| The Fall of Troy The Fall of Troy | 4.0 |
| The Fall of Troy Doppelganger | 4.5 |
| The Fall of Troy In the Unlikely Event | 2.0 |
| The Fall of Troy Phantom on the Horizon | 4.0 |
| The Fall of Troy Ghostship Demos | 4.5 |
| The Fall of Troy Manipulator | 3.5 |
| Scar Symmetry Holographic Universe | 4.5 |
| The Omega Experiment The Omega Experiment | 4.0 |
| Deftones Diamond Eyes | 4.5 |
| Timeless Miracle Into the Enchanted Chamber | 5.0 |
| I cannot stress this enough: Timeless Miracle's 'Into the Enchanted Chamber' is one of the most incredible power metal albums ever conceived. As consistent as it is consistently beautiful, this is one to seek out. |
| Gallowbraid Ashen Eidolon | 4.0 |
| Sleigh Bells Reign of Terror | 3.5 |
| fun. Some Nights | 3.5 |
| fun. Aim and Ignite | 4.5 |
| Soul Khan Soul Like Khan | 4.5 |
| Metallica Master of Puppets | 4.5 |
| Metallica Ride the Lightning | 5.0 |
| Fear Factory Mechanize | 4.5 |
| Pitchshifter Industrial | 4.5 |
| Pitchshifter www.pitchshifter.com | 4.0 |
| Kiuas The Spirit of Ukko | 4.5 |
| AZ Doe or Die | 4.5 |
| Woods of Ypres Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth | 2.5 |
| AZ A.W.O.L. | 3.5 |
| Company Flow Funcrusher Plus | 3.5 |
| Converge Jane Doe | 4.5 |
| brokeNCYDE Guilty Pleasure | 1.0 |
| Marco Polo Port Authority | 4.5 |
| Metaform Standing on the Shoulders of Giants | 4.0 |
| Non Phixion The Future Is Now | 4.5 |
| The Monolith Deathcult Trivmvirate | 4.5 |
| Prefuse 73 Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives | 4.0 |
| Prefuse 73 One Word Extinguisher | 4.5 |
| Mr. Lif Emergency Rations | 4.0 |
| Arcade Fire Funeral | 4.0 |
| Broken Social Scene You Forgot It in People | 4.5 |
| Gorod Process of a New Decline | 3.5 |
| Gorod Neurotripsicks | 4.0 |
| Gorod Leading Vision | 4.5 |
| Obscura Cosmogenesis | 4.5 |
| Obscura Omnivium | 4.5 |
| Born of Osiris The Discovery | 4.0 |
| Andrew W.K. I Get Wet | 3.0 |
| Large Professor The LP | 4.5 |
| Dalek From Filthy Tongue Of Gods And Griots | 4.5 |
| Thurisaz The Cimmerian Years | 4.0 |
| Benighted Icon | 4.5 |
| Blind Guardian At the Edge of Time | 4.5 |
| Cormorant Dwellings | 5.0 |
| Sleigh Bells Treats | 4.0 |
| Abigail Williams In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns | 4.0 |
| CunninLynguists Strange Journey Vol. 1 | 4.0 |
| CunninLynguists A Piece Of Strange | 4.0 |
| CunninLynguists Southernunderground | 4.5 |
| CunninLynguists Dirty Acres | 4.0 |
| Justice † | 4.5 |
| Abigail Williams Becoming | 3.5 |
| Les Discrets Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées | 4.0 |
| Grayceon All We Destroy | 4.5 |
| Alcest Écailles De Lune | 4.5 |
| Cyne Water for Mars | 4.5 |
| Agalloch Marrow of the Spirit | 4.5 |
| Last Chance to Reason Level 2 | 4.0 |
| Alcest Le Secret | 4.0 |
| Alcest Souvenirs D'Un Autre Monde | 4.0 |
| Alcest Les Voyages De L'Âme | 3.5 |
| Cage (USA-NY) Depart From Me | 3.5 |
| Cage (USA-NY) Hell's Winter | 4.5 |
| The Human Abstract Digital Veil | 4.5 |
| Hail of Bullets ...Of Frost and War | 4.5 |
| The Roots Things Fall Apart | 4.0 |
| The Roots Game Theory | 4.5 |
| Benighted Identisick | 4.0 |
| Benighted Insane Cephalic Production | 4.0 |
| Benighted Asylum Cave | 4.0 |
| Giraffes? Giraffes! Pink Magick | 4.0 |
| Vektor Black Future | 4.5 |
| Vektor Outer Isolation | 4.5 |
| Kno Death Is Silent | 4.0 |
| Nujabes Spiritual State | 5.0 |
| Uneven Structure Februus | 4.5 |
| Russian Circles Empros | 4.5 |
| A Lot Like Birds Conversation Piece | 4.5 |
| Megadeth Th1rt3en | 3.5 |
| Lou Reed and Metallica Lulu | 1.0 |
| Process of Guilt Erosion | 3.5 |
| Blotted Science The Animation of Entomology | 4.5 |
| Wolverine Communication Lost | 4.5 |
| Insomnium One for Sorrow | 4.0 |
| Leprous Bilateral | 4.5 |
| Immolation Providence | 4.5 |
| Charred Walls of the Damned Cold Winds On Timeless Days | 4.0 |
| Dirge (FR) Elysian Magnetic Fields | 4.5 |
| Warbringer Worlds Torn Asunder | 3.5 |
| Haken Visions | 4.0 |
| Deceased Surreal Overdose | 3.5 |
| Steven Wilson Grace for Drowning | 4.5 |
| Converge Axe to Fall | 4.0 |
| Evile Five Serpent's Teeth | 4.0 |
| Machine Head Unto the Locust | 4.0 |
| Mastodon The Hunter | 4.0 |
| Oh, Sleeper Children of Fire | 4.5 |
| Heavenwood Abyss Masterpiece | 4.5 |
| Opeth Still Life | 4.5 |
| Opeth Blackwater Park | 4.5 |
| Opeth Ghost Reveries | 4.5 |
| Dream Theater A Dramatic Turn of Events | 4.0 |
| Hell (UK) Human Remains | 4.0 |
| Euphoreon Euphoreon | 4.5 |
| Anthrax Worship Music | 4.0 |
| Opeth Heritage | 3.5 |
| Latyrx The Album | 4.5 |
| Quannum Projects Quannum Spectrum | 4.5 |
| Gift of Gab 4th Dimensional Rocket Ships Going Up | 4.5 |
| Mithras Forever Advancing... Legions | 4.0 |
| Edge of Sanity Crimson | 5.0 |
| Edge of Sanity Crimson II | 4.5 |
| Dan Swano Moontower | 4.5 |
| Nightingale I | 4.5 |
| Star One Victims of the Modern Age | 4.0 |
| Sigur Ros Agætis byrjun | 4.5 |
| Red Sparowes At The Soundless Dawn | 4.5 |
| The Contortionist Exoplanet | 4.5 |
| Revocation Chaos of Forms | 3.5 |
| Ghost Brigade Until Fear No Longer Defines Us | 4.5 |
| What a phenomenal album. The sludgy sections gel really well with the Agalloch-style accoustic bits, and it's a really unique sound, all in all. |
| Tonedeff Archetype | 4.0 |
| Falls of Rauros The Light That Dwells in Rotten Wood | 4.0 |
| Vader Welcome to the Morbid Reich | 4.0 |
| YOB Atma | 4.5 |
| The Horrors Skying | 3.5 |
| Fleshgod Apocalypse Oracles | 4.5 |
| Fleshgod Apocalypse Agony | 4.0 |
| Lantlos .neon | 4.5 |
| sleepmakeswaves ...and so we destroyed everything | 4.5 |
| Origin Entity | 3.5 |
| Anubis Gate Andromeda Unchained | 4.5 |
| Haken Aquarius | 4.0 |
| Death The Sound of Perseverance | 4.5 |
| Death Symbolic | 5.0 |
| Dot Dot Curve I'm Still Here | 1.0 |
| Gru Cosmogenesis | 4.5 |
| Exhumed All Guts, No Glory | 4.5 |
| Planet X Quantum | 4.5 |
| Toxic Holocaust Conjure and Command | 4.0 |
| Artefact Magic Spellcraft | 4.0 |
| Das Racist Sit Down, Man | 4.0 |
| Elvenking Heathenreel | 3.5 |
| Scorpions Blackout | 4.5 |
| Nader Sadek In the Flesh | 4.5 |
| I'm going to pretend Morbid Angel never released that abortion of industrial metal as their newest and plug this straight in there. Great classic-sounding death metal with some really interesting arrangements. |
| Enthrope Tomorrow's Dead Days | 4.5 |
| Tyr The Lay of Thrym | 4.0 |
| In Dread Response Embers In The Spiritless Void | 3.0 |
| Decapitated Carnival Is Forever | 4.0 |
| Vakill Armor of God | 3.5 |
| Archspire All Shall Align | 4.5 |
| Fantastic album. Catchy and technical without sounding pretentious. |
| My Chemical Romance Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys | 1.0 |
| Gang Starr The Ownerz | 4.5 |
| Lil B I'm Gay (I'm Happy) | 3.5 |
| Enfold Darkness Our Cursed Rapture | 4.0 |
| Poison the Well You Come Before You | 4.5 |
| toe For Long Tomorrow | 4.5 |
| Havok Time Is Up | 4.5 |
| Smith Westerns Dye It Blonde | 2.5 |
| Bad Meets Evil Hell: The Sequel | 4.0 |
| Biz Markie Goin' Off | 4.5 |
| Morbid Angel Altars of Madness | 5.0 |
| Graveyard (SWE) Hisingen Blues | 4.5 |
| Beyond Creation The Aura | 4.5 |
| Sonic Boom Six City of Thieves | 4.0 |
| Horseback The Invisible Mountain | 4.5 |
| August Burns Red Leveler | 4.0 |
| Devin Townsend Project Deconstruction | 4.5 |
| Well shit. This is fantastic. Wasn't following this too closely but I saw it dropped and gave it a listen. Was pleasantly surprised, though Devin Townsend always delivers pretty solid material, so I guess I shouldn't be. |
| Rhapsody of Fire From Chaos to Eternity | 4.0 |
| A well-crafted and solid album, full of solid tracks. Production is crisp and hits right where it should, the choruses hold up to the usual standard and the guitar weaves its way across the board in typical, yet awesome fashion. Definitely a fine album. |
| Symphony X Iconoclast | 4.0 |
| Loss Despond | 3.5 |
| Symphony X V: The New Mythology Suite | 4.0 |
| Symphony X The Odyssey | 4.5 |
| Dog Fashion Disco Adultery | 4.5 |
| Masterplan Masterplan | 4.5 |
| The Black Dahlia Murder Ritual | 4.5 |
| P.O.S Never Better | 4.5 |
| cLOUDDEAD cLOUDDEAD | 4.5 |
| Metallica Load | 2.0 |
| CunninLynguists Oneirology | 4.5 |
| The Absence Enemy Unbound | 3.5 |
| The Absence From Your Grave | 4.5 |
| Foo Fighters Wasting Light | 4.0 |
| Unexpect Fables of the Sleepless Empire | 5.0 |
| Amorphis The Beginning of Times | 4.0 |
| Scale the Summit Carving Desert Canyons | 4.5 |
| Common Finding Forever | 4.0 |
| Rancid ...And Out Come the Wolves | 4.5 |
| Machinae Supremacy A View from the End of the World | 4.0 |
| Between the Buried and Me The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues | 4.0 |
| Scale the Summit The Collective | 4.0 |
| A Storm Of Light As The Valley Of Death Becomes Us... | 4.0 |
| 65daysofstatic We Were Exploding Anyway | 4.5 |
| 65daysofstatic The Distant and Mechanised Glow of Eastern Euro... | 3.5 |
| Three Trapped Tigers Route One or Die | 4.0 |
| Battle Of Mice A Day of Nights | 4.5 |
| Mount Eerie Wind's Poem | 4.5 |
| Tyler, the Creator Bastard | 3.0 |
| Anaal Nathrakh Passion | 2.5 |
| Tyler, the Creator Goblin | 3.0 |
| Septicflesh The Great Mass | 4.5 |
| Hate Eternal Phoenix Amongst The Ashes | 3.5 |
| Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues | 4.5 |
| Moby Destroyed | 4.5 |
| Lazarus A.D. The Onslaught (Re-release) | 4.0 |
| Dan Dankmeyer Arcologies | 4.0 |
| I thought this was much better than his previous works. Much more diverse with more distinct songwriting, to boot. |
| Arsis Starve for the Devil | 2.0 |
| Amesoeurs Amesoeurs | 3.5 |
| 3 (USA) The End is Begun | 4.5 |
| Novembers Doom Aphotic | 3.5 |
| Wolves in the Throne Room Two Hunters | 4.5 |
| Ihsahn angL | 3.5 |
| Shining (NOR) Blackjazz | 4.5 |
| Torchbearer Death Meditations | 3.5 |
| Accept Blood of the Nations | 4.5 |
| God Dethroned Under the Sign of the Iron Cross | 4.5 |
| Definitely on par with Passiondale in terms of intensity and performance. A solid album all around |
| HORSE the band The Mechanical Hand | 4.5 |
| Gorguts Obscura | 3.0 |
| Pendulum Hold Your Colour | 4.5 |
| CunninLynguists Will Rap For Food | 4.5 |
| Eminem Recovery | 3.0 |
| Dismember The God That Never Was | 4.5 |
| Disillusion Gloria | 4.0 |
| Disillusion Back to Times of Splendor | 5.0 |
