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User
Reviews 123
Approval 95%
Soundoffs 238
News Articles 11
Band Edits + Tags 250
Album Edits 1,484
Album Ratings 0
Last Active 12-23-19 9:27 pm
Joined 09-16-14
Review Comments 22,503
| April 2019 resumé
Finishing up April listening took longer than expected. Score guide: 10/9 - 5; 8 - 4.5; 7 - 4; 6 - 3.5/3; 5 - 2.5; 4 - 2; 3 - 1.5; 2/1 - 1 | | 1 |  | Fontaines D.C.
Dogrel
Just from the countless singles alone I expected this to be my favourite record of the year and, well, the result is...
Big, Too Real, Television Screens, Roy's Tune, Chaqueless Reckless, Liberty Belle, Boys in the Better Land, Dublim City Sky | | 2 |  | PUP
Morbid Stuff
Well, we've asked for it, we've got it now. We had high hopes, we are satisfied, it would seem. 8/10
Morbid Stuff, Free At Last, See You at Your Funeral, Scorpion Hill, Sibling Rivalry, Bare Hands, City | | 3 |  | Periphery
Periphery IV: Hail Stan
I tried nad I tried, even after being given an informal training by fellow Sputniks on one of the Periphery-related news threads, I still cannot say that this sounds like anything to me. It is music for the nitpicker, who listens in to the detail I am not engaged enough to care about and only then says that yes, this is different than the other cut and so on; those, who listen purely for the technicality of it all. In the end, no matter how different the tracks try to sound, the grand total becomes utterly unremarkable and oh so boring. The mathematically calculated song-writing and the stale execution end up sounding obnoxious after just a couple of songs. It is an exhausting record for all the wrong reasons. No amount of variety this band seems to bring can ever truly make me appreciate them. I am sorry, but this might be my final attempt at caring about Periphery. 4/10 | | 4 |  | Damien Jurado
In the Shape of the Storm
Damien Jurado manages to up the ante and deliver even more stripped-down record than Horizon. This time it's just guitar and his minimalistic voice. Don't really expect any melodic ingenuity or impressive musicianship. Thisis really short and really sweet and it might bear the risk of being unlikeable to people not already into Damien's music. 7/10
Lincoln, Oh Weather, South, Throw Me Now Your Arms, Silver Ball, The Shape of a Storm, Hands on the Table | | 5 |  | Haimad
The Return
That odd moment, when both the remastered, renewed versions and the old demo tapes both sound fantastic. I suppose you could count it off as ordinary by-the-numbers symphonic black metal, but why hate on it, if it does its job so damn well? 8/10
The Return, The Prophecy, Upon a Throne of Ice, The Prophecy (Demo), My Kingdom of Cold (Demo) | | 6 |  | Cultic
High Command
I really did not like the production on this. I guess it is really old-school, but that does not mean that listening to a lot of old-school records that are repetitive and never-ending are a joy to experience either. 3/10 | | 7 |  | Hath
Of Rot And Ruin
Nothing particularly unusual, just some fantastically slapping blackened death metal that I loved through and through. 8/10 | | 8 |  | Remete (AUS)
Into Endless Night
shoutout to TheSpirit
D. from Woods of Desolation is a prolific guy (WoD, Remete, Unfelled, Forest Mysticism, he does it all) and with Remete being the more epic and atmospheric project of his, it stands to reason that he'd also release one of the most epic and atmospheric projects this year. 8/10 | | 9 |  | Mesarthim
Ghost Condensate
For as epic and gargantuan Mesarthim always sound, this felt rather somewhat overdragged. 7/10 | | 10 |  | Mephorash
Shem Ha Mephorash
The production on the drums could have gone a little harder and the song-writing often stretches the music out into exaggerated lengths, but it is what it is and as such, I am satisfied. Even though I'd prefer it to be shorter. 6/10
Epitome I Bottomless Infinite, Sanguinem, Relics of Elohim, 777 Third Woe | | 11 |  | Weyes Blood
Titanic Rising
So the old guy senses are tingling again and I have surprisingly found myself in enjoyment of some pop record. Man, I feel all used up and like a whore trying to appeal to the youths. This is what Robert Christgau must feel like daily. 9/10
A Lot's Gonna Change, Andromeda, Something to Believe, Movies, Mirror Forever, Wild Time, Picture Me Better | | 12 |  | Priests
The Seduction of Kansas
Priests release another record that is just just this close to actually impressing me. They still sound a little too safe, a little too pop-y and a little too middle-of-the-road. 6/10
Jesus' Son, I'm Clean, Good Time Charlie, Control Freak | | 13 |  | All Your Sisters
Trust Ruins
Going even deeper into industrial influences and rawer song-writing has truly helped this project grow. It still feels a little all-over-the-place, especially with the somewhat samey instrumentation, but it's going in the right direction. 6/10
Power Abuse, Dividing Lines, Window, The Deceiver | | 14 |  | Inter Arma
Sulphur English
Once again Inter Arma present potentially great music and drag it out into excruciating lengths. Perhaps that is the point, but that has completely missed me. 6/10 | | 15 |  | Illyria
The Carpathian Summit
shoutout to Hawks
What we have here is a pretty decent atmospheric black metal with a lot of post-rock tendencies and often bordering on a little bit of metalcore (or emo, at this level of metal heaviness it's hard to tell). However, the album has this one unfortunate characteristic. It's too long. It pushes its limits of tedius a little too far. Certainly, the instrumentation and the production are top-notch, but at over an hour of material it ends up being rather tiring. 6/10
Echo Flower Pt. 2, The Second Day of Spring, Kenopsia, The Final Bastion | | 16 |  | Inferi (USA)
The End of an Era | Rebirth
By-the-numbers tech death. 6/10 | | 17 |  | After the Burial
Evergreen
By-the-numbers...i wanna say... deathcore...? Whatever it is, it was rather repetitive. 5/10 | | 18 |  | Waldgefluster
Mondscheinsonaten
German folk-black metal powerhouse is back at it again and this time they are... well, playing into their strengths, certainly, and not a lot beyond that. Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoyed the record, but in no way is it anything mindblowing. Then again, I didn't exactly expect a genre-defining output here, the band know what they're doing and they're doing it well. 7/10
Gipfelstürmer, Rotgoldene Novemberwälder, Von Winterwäldern und Mondscheinsonaten | | 19 |  | Pyramidal
Pyramidal
One has to be in a specific mood and with a certain level of endurance to enjoy this, but all-in-all, not a bad stoner psych record. 6/10 | | 20 |  | Murg
Strävan
shoutout to Dewinged
If you are more into the shorter, more concise old-school black metal, then look no further. The pen-drawn cover already indicates the level of charming authenticity this record posesses. It's a gloomy, noisy, almost lo-fi and messy album, but in all the best traditions of Swedish metal. I just wish they used more of that high-pithed guitar tone they did on the title track. 8/10
Ur Myren, Berget, Renhet, Altaret, Stjärnan | | 21 |  | Cage The Elephant
Social Cues
The melodies are too sweet on the ears and easy to get into for me to hate the albun, but man, half the time it felt like a live show they were too tired to play. 6/10
Broken Boy, Social Cues, Black Madonna, Skin and Bone, House of Glass, The War is Over | | 22 |  | The Drums
Brutalism
...this, on the other hand, is a trainwreck. 3/10 | | 23 |  | Nails
I Don't Want to Know You
idk, its aight, i guess. 6/10 | | 24 |  | Ceremony Of Silence
Oútis
I suppose it could use a little more melodic dept, but that'd go on the crutch of those more into relentless music. It's by all accounts great, so maybe it'll grow on me in time. 6/10 | | 25 |  | Cosmic Putrefaction
At the Threshold of the Greatest Chasm
shoutout to Hawks
Cosmic speed-death metal. Yeah, alright. Doesn't necessarily leave a lot after, but is a great effort still. 6/10 | | 26 |  | Deus Mortem
Kosmocide
I'm getting tired of enjoying new black metal. 8/10 | | 27 |  | Ashen Chalice
Ljubiš li i dalje istinski?
A little too noisy and too, way, way, way too low fidelity for my taste, but I guess someone might enjoy it. 5/10 | | 28 |  | 1919
Futurecide
Their second record since the comeback and it pretty much follows every trope in goth you could imagine. I suppose this newfound semi-fame will make people more interested in their 1983 album, which was fantastic, so there's that. But this new material is rather timid and samey. 5/10 | | 29 |  | Mord'A'Stigmata
Dreams of Quiet Places
I loved it when it went fast and turbulent, I was somewat lukewarm when it went doom-y and slow. I am sensing Entropia vibes. 7/10
Spirit Into Cristal, Void Within, Into Soil | | 30 |  | Ketzer
Cloud Collider
A step-up from their last album, this is much more structured and the vocals don't induce as much of an earache. It's still more-or-less nremarkable in the grander scheme of things, but I am sure it has its admirers. 6/10
Cloud Collider, Forever Death, This Knife Won't Stay Clean Today | | 31 |  | Ibex Angel Order
I.Õ. Creatõr / I.Õ. Destrõyer
Couldn't get any simpler: two tracks, both slaying it. 8/10 | | 32 |  | Blood Command
Return of the Arsonist
As much as I like them, boy oh boy does Silje's voice crack down here. 6/10 | | 33 |  | Wormwitch
Heaven that Dwells Within
Man, those are some juicily produced drums. 8/10 | | 34 |  | Vaura
Sables
Not quite the roaring third installment I was hoping for. Their previous album experimented with genres like punk, goth, deathrock, doom metal and a lot more and the result was a dynamic and powerful breath of fresh air. On Sables, the band reaches more towards darkwave and some odd avant-garde song-writing. The result is much slower and much, much more disjointed. It feels structureless and I couldn't really quite find anything to hold on to in terms of memorability here. I suppose some might find this more disjoined approach more enjoyable, but to me it was rather disappointing. 6/10
The Lightless Ones, No Guardians | | 35 |  | Blessed (CAN)
Salt
There is something idiosyncratic about the sporatic instrumentation Blessed implement. It almost feels progressive or math-y. Perhaps at the expense of any distinct melodic component, but very much memorable in its own right. 7/10
Rolled in Glass, Thought, Pill, Disease, Caribou | | 36 |  | The Howling Void
Bleak and Everlasting
Maybe, just maybe, it's a little too dragged out. But what am I complaining about that for, it's funeral doom. 6/10 | | 37 |  | Paws
Your Church On My Bonfire
Rather a step-down from their bombatic and hard-hitting previous album, No Grace. Here we find the band going more into the sappy shoegazy heaviness, if at all. It's more formulaic and less exciting. More personal, I suppose, but at the expense of memorability. 6/10 | | 38 |  | Blindead
Niewiosna
shoutout to teamster
Somehow it feels like this is definitely not the best introduction to the band. In what I can only assume is a typical move for post-metal, it takes a while for things to take flight here, as well as you often can't really tell that the flight actually even began. I cannot tell if this is middle-of-the-road or just a typical post-metal record. Also, their Bandcamp tags are somewhat misleading 6/10 | | 39 |  | Hellripper
Black Arts and Alchemy
shoutout to Dewinged
So old-school, it's probably played by 50 year olds. 8/10
All Hail the Goat, Black Arts and Alchemy, Headless Angels | | 40 |  | Yes We Mystic
Ten Seated Figures
shoutout to Dewinged
I feel like Coldplay, Flying Horseman and City Calm Down had a baby that is not bloated, too subtle or overly long. I like the intricacy of instumental palette, it never goes too bloated with its usage, but rather leaves a pleasant engrossing vibe of variety and richness, while simultaneously reaching for some of that nowadays popular electropop production. Somehow it comes together into a pretty and gentle potluck of influences and song-writing softness. 8/10
Young Evil, Italics, Win Ben Stein's Money, Vanitas Waltz, Last Known Sighting | | 41 |  | Lee Fields and the Expressions
It Rains Love
A little typical, a little samey, but with that nostalgic twang production I just cannot get enough of. 7/10 | | 42 |  | Numenorean
Adore
Balancing well between atmospheric and pure, this is a neat little black metal album, but by no means a twist in the genre. Can't say there is all that much unusual here. 6/10 | | 43 |  | Glen Hansard
This Wild Willing
shoutout to neekafat
There is something mildly unsettling here, song after song. Can't quite put my finger on it, but it is oddly haunting. It's like Mark Lanegan, Nick Cave and Sting morphed into one person. 8/10
Don't Settle, Race to the Bottom, The Closing Door, Weight of the World, Who's Gonna Be Your Baby Now, Good Life of Song | | 44 |  | Anderson .Paak
Ventura
Anderson certainly knows how to make summer seem bearable. And I hate summer. 7/10 | | 45 |  | The Chemical Brothers
No Geography
I am going to assume that this is one of those albums that sounds decent to otherwise uninvolved listeners like myself, but to long-time fans of the band probably come off as either mediocre or not up to par. 7/10 | | 46 |  | The Tallest Man on Earth
I Love You. It's a Fever Dream.
An easy 8/10 for an easy album.
The Running Styles of New York, My Dear, What I've Been Kicking Around, I'm a Stranger Now, Waiting For My Ghost, I'll Be a Sky, I Love You. It's a Fever Dream | | 47 |  | Wand
Laughing Matter
6/10 | | 48 |  | Jaws (UK)
The Ceiling
6/10 | | 49 |  | King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
Fishing For Fishies
6/10 | | 50 |  | Spanish Love Songs
Losers
7/10 | | 51 |  | Ages and Ages
Me You They We
6/10 | | 52 |  | Lady Lamb
Even in the Tremor
7/10 | | 53 |  | Anna Tivel
The Question
shoutout to budgie
8/10 | |
Papa Universe
05.05.19 | blurbs to be finished later on | Sniff
05.05.19 | :O | Papa Universe
05.06.19 | keep updatin' | dmathias52
05.06.19 | Some stuff here I really need to check out, 40 sounds magical | SlothcoreSam
05.06.19 | Here is one for you to check out LAGS, an Italian post-hardcore/punk band. Reminds me a lot of Fontaines D.C. they dropped an album this year called "soon"
Listen to this track, and see what you think.
https://toloselatrack.bandcamp.com/track/i-still-remember | Papa Universe
05.06.19 | Okay then | dmathias52
05.06.19 | Totally prepping to go through all of your resume lists and see what else I've missed, because 40 was amazing and I want to see what else I've missed. | Papa Universe
05.06.19 | oh bloody hell, i didn't finish this yet. completely forgot about that. | Papa Universe
05.06.19 | and cheers, bub | Thibs
05.07.19 | great list papa | Papa Universe
05.07.19 | thanks | Thibs
05.07.19 | I've been listening to weyes blood almost daily. something I rarely do... | Papa Universe
05.07.19 | I mean, I knew I was going to enjoy it, but it still surprised me just how enchanting it was. | Papa Universe
05.09.19 | update: so apparently Hellripper is a 20 year old guy. interesting |
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