ZombieToyDuck
Josh F.
User

Reviews 10
Approval 98%

Soundoffs 20
News Articles 12
Band Edits + Tags 41
Album Edits 77

Album Ratings 1093
Objectivity 62%

Last Active 12-17-18 3:10 pm
Joined 08-25-16

Review Comments 7,203

 Lists
01.27.20 ZombieToyDuck's Belated 201901.07.19 24 Recs to Reach 1000 *FILLED*
12.26.18 Sleep Deprivation Saviors12.20.18 ZTD's 2018 Songs of the Year
12.18.18 ZombieToyDuck's 2018 AOTY list11.08.18 My Tentative AOTY List
10.23.18 2018 Bass Grooves10.08.18 Album Listening To Do List: Part 1
10.05.18 A Star is Born Analysis10.03.18 Just ZombieCasualConversations: October ♦
09.26.18 Convince Me to Cram 201808.06.18 A Guide to Junji Ito (Links Added) ♦
07.05.18 No Expletives! A Rec Competition...FINA06.20.18 Beers of the States
06.19.18 No Expletives! A Rec Competition Round 06.14.18 Future Classic Bands You Should Check
06.06.18 No Expletives! A Rec Competition Round 05.31.18 No Expletives! A Rec Competition Round
More »

24 Recs to Reach 1000 *FILLED*

I need 24 more albums to reach 1000 and I'm at a loss of what to listen to right now....
1Alkaline Trio
Is This Thing Cursed?

Would love you all to give me just one rec each. One album I need to hear. (I'll cap at 30 if this gets a lot of interest)

OH and I'll also do a writeup for each!
2Fishmans
Long Season

SandwichBubble
A refreshing experimental pop record that mostly sticks to instrumental landscapes. The length, although a bit short, does well to expand upon various ideas despite being a non-stop, one track album. The use of violins, accordion, piano, glistening chimes and wonky synth textures do well to keep the ideas new and exciting as the album goes on. There is some repetition that sometimes gets a bit too tiresome but for the most part this was an enticing listen. 4.2/5
3Heisskalt
Vom Wissen und Wollen

kalkwiese
Hearing this german post hardcore band was actually chalk full of melodic guitar melodies that remind me a bit of the Fall of Troy except with more post rock influence. I really wasn't bothered by the german vocalist and I dare say it helps make this album stand out for the better. I also thought the audible bass added some great punch to the songs. Generally speaking there's a lot to enjoy here and very little drags it down I just don't see myself listening to it a great deal cause it's not easily accessible online and I prefer to know the lyrics to albums of this nature. 3.7/5
4Leon Vynehall
Rojus

Relinquished
An album of patience which bodes luscious ambient textures. Leone Vynehall shows that house is more than repetition but about creating an atmosphere and soundscapes of grace that caress the listener like a gentle breeze. Rojus, although light and wispy, also knows how to rustle the ears of the listener with some percussive beats paired with airy synth melodies backed with the perfect mixing of bass. The whispered and muffled vocals that repeat on tracks like "Beau Sovereign" also balance the beats marvelously with a calming yet endearing energy. The melodies here contain some organic and natural rhythm that carry the listener away with the wind. Everything just breezes by with ease and it proves just how engaging house music can be when done well. 4.3/5
5Love and Death
Between Here And Lost

tyman128
This is like if you mashed Korn (yes I know this is their guitarist's band) with radio rock in the vein of Breaking Benjamin... I'm not too keen on it if I'm being honest. There were some genuinely cringe inducing moments here like how the album opens with "wake up sleepy wide AWAKE" ugh it made me tempted to just stop right there... Thankfully there were some nice riffs here and there and some enjoyable melodies that kept me around to get through it. Unfortunately, a lot of the generic lyrical themes and songwriting approaches really dragged this down. There are little to no moments where this differentiates from sounding like a Korn ripoff or sad attempt at anthemic radio rock. Songs like Watching the Bottom Fall, By The Way or Meltdown contain vocal inflections in the vein of Benjamin Burnley or Chad Kroeger and then screams much like Johnathan Davis with some god awful choruses. This just felt like way too derivative of the obvious influences. 2.8/5
6Ephel Duath
The Painter's Palette

Demon of the Fall
This album is truly something... I never pictured jazz and mathcore (with progressive tendencies) blending so well. Transitions often happen seamlessly and the guitar melodies are so intricate with incredible drumming, energetic vocals and the moments of jazzy elements really help to break the album up and keep it refreshing. I can't say enough good things about it honestly. 4.6/5 (with potential to hit 5 status honestly)
7Integrity
Those Who Fear Tomorrow

TheMightyScoop
It's sad that I hadn't heard this as I know Integrity are one of the pioneers of metalcore, but I'm glad I finally had reason to listen to it. Although this gets noted as a metalcore release, I'd definitely say it leans more towards hardcore. There are some melodic moments and breakdowns but majority of these moments are not like your "generic" metalcore breakdown or melody, They are slow climbing breakdowns or offer more hardcore aggression in their melody with massive riffs and bass lines. Vocally it's a more of a rough shouting then a screaming which reminded me a bit of Hatebreed, there's a real meaty and visceral quality to them. I could definitely admire this a landmark in metalcore. This album helped the genre to come to fruition and grow. There's tons of instrumental merit with some gritty vocals that I enjoyed more than I expected. 4.1/5
8Iron Chic
Not Like This

TheWonderSoFar
This reminds me of The Menzingers old shit except with more melody and a more garage rock oriented vibe. I really enjoyed the beefy bass with fuzzy tones, catchy choruses, and overall consistency of this album. You get just the right bit of punk edge to avoid this being a sugary pop punk album and yet all the catchiness. I think this will grow but for now I can settle on a solid 4.1/5
9Ling Tosite Sigure
Just a Moment

JohnnyoftheWell
This was absolutely frenetic while being instantly memorable. The guitar melodies, bass rhythms, percussion and vocals all brought something entirely unique and relentlessly entertaining to the table. The songwriting on this from front to back is just entirely unique in it's creation and is beyond refreshing for an avid post hardcore junkie. I am not deterred even in a little bit by the spastic Japanese vocals on this, you don't need to understand them as the variety they bring to the mix is crucial in creating unique songs with tons of vivacity. There honestly wasn't a boring moment on this album and I could definitely foresee listening to these guys a ton more. 4.6/5
10System 7
Power Of Seven

WRYN
I'm not going to sugarcoat or lie to you here, this was not what I hoped for. I admit, first off, that I am bored easily by electronic music. I need some real interesting variations or sound to hold my interest. At the same time, I could understand how one interested in this brand of electronic music could play this in the background doing their day to day tasks and find enjoyment in it. For me, however, this felt like hazy background music that made me feel like I could drift off at any moment, I suppose that's sort of the purpose? I know trance tends to be this way but I can't get behind it unfortunately. 2.8/5
11Iceage
New Brigade

Dissonant
I really wanted to enjoy this but not only did all the material here kind of meld together but the vocals were boring as hell. There weren't any real highlights to mention or punchy moments that stuck out of the folds here. That's not to say the instrumentals were bad by any means. The drumming here was what stuck out most to me in the mix and I just felt the riffs and bass work left a lot to be desired by comparison. Nothing was all that memorable albeit it wasn't a boring listen it wasn't an exciting one either. Maybe I'll need to give this another shot in the future. 3.2/5
12Shotmaker
Mouse Ear [Forget-Me-Not]

Adabelle
Some early post hardcore that I'd been meaning to check here. I wasn't as impressed as I hoped to be, primarily due to the raw production, which in this case hindered the enjoyment just a bit for me. I thought the vocals had some nice grit but the mixing of them seemed a bit off to me. The instrumentals here were solid and I thought the bass grooves were fairly memorable but my problem with this was the lack of truly "catchy" moments, for lack of a better word, that would make me want to come back to it more. 3.6/5
13Griddle
Meat Kite

Papa Universe
The risk with most progressive albums upon my first listen of them is the ability to maintain my attention with variation. Griddle do just that and then some with Meat Kite. This thing has such tight and well mixed instrumentals. I love how present that bass is across the album. There are a variety of instruments given limelight though including piano, horns and even a bit of strings in places. There's also a great deal of genre influences offered here. I get ska, psychedelic, rock and even a bit of funk influence on this. The vocals are very distinct and the lyrics are so kooky on this you can't help but latch onto them. I honestly loved a great deal of this. 4.6/5
14Secrecy
Art In Motion

Casavir
Imagine merging old school Metallica with Judas Priest with a bit more progressive influence and you've got yourself some stellar early 90's metal. Everything about this was expertly crafted. You've got heavy and massive guitar riffs with well written melodies with bass that never gets lost. The vocals are incredibly well performed and soar above the mix with consistently high pitch and unnerving energy. This is throwback to all the best metals of the early 90's while maintaining a unique identity and untouchable songwriting. This never lost it's intensity and I was immensely impressed by it. 4.8/5
15Black Flag
My War

widowslaugh123
Oh my god it took me wayyyy too long to give a full Black Flag album a listen but I'm glad this got rec'd here. My War is just front to back hardcore punk perfection. I can't pick a weak moment on this bad boy. The guitar riffs were insane and there were even some great bassy tracks. I know this was one of the first punk albums to extend tracks out to long length and it does it with ease. This is primarily due to the incredible guitar work of Greg Ginn and the highly emotional vocals of Henry Rollins. Aside from this it's worth noting that the percussive work is also streamlined but not without plenty of punch. I think the album's only "weakness" is it's sometimes simplistic lyrics, but I did feel they were highly relatable and made grasping onto this immediate and still highly memorable. Definitely a hardcore punk gem 5/5
16Wild Beasts
Present Tense

dbizzles
A rather breezy and light electronic affair which, although containing some nice melodies and atmosphere, didn't really stick with me after my listen of the album. The consistency here is something to be admired but unfortunately for me also ended up keeping me from being hooked in. I do admit that dream pop tends to leave me feeling a bit bored usually so I may be a bit biased in that regard. Aside from that though, this had moments that definitely came off as beautiful as they intended and the album did have a fair bit of merit. I just don't see myself coming back to it much unfortunately. 3.4/5
17Hit the Switch
Entropic

DungeonBoy
When listening to pop or pop punk the most immediate thing I need to latch onto are the vocals. This fails on that part unfortunately. Aside from the vocals, I do think the instrumentals are fairly tight but don't really carry a lot to remember for me. I found a lot of this to be fairly expected. Another crucial thing that pulls this down is the mixing of bass which is lackluster at best. This is super treble heavy and in this case it doesn't work with the pitchy vocals because I feel some strong bass would have really brought some balance here. That's not to say there aren't some great solos and riffs but a lot of this just suffered from being too samey for me. I didn't hate this but wasn't blown away either. 3.1/5
18Elemantra
To Know Better

oWhoadYo
19Linda Perhacs
Parallelograms

Egarran
20Pixies
Bossanova

naughtcturnal
21The Lawrence Arms
Oh! Calcutta!

onionbubs
22Earth, Wind and Fire
Spirit

bgillesp
23Pink Floyd
Wish You Were Here

BlazinBlitzer
24Queens of the Stone Age
...Like Clockwork

neekafat
25Euth
Euth

brainmelter
26Pulling Teeth
Funerary

DDDeftoneDDD
27Whipping Boy
Heart Worm

zakalwe
28Eighteen Visions
Vanity

SlicePaperMoog
29Esperanza Spalding
Emily's D+Evolution

Uzumaki
30My Epic
Behold

tyman128
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