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Staff
Reviews 647
Soundoffs 102
News Articles 98
Band Edits + Tags 345
Album Edits 2,238
Album Ratings 3167
Objectivity 73%
Last Active 01-01-70 12:00 am
Joined 01-01-70
Review Comments 43,944
| | Best User Reviews: May 2022 | | 1 |  | Melody's Echo Chamber
Emotional Eternal
"This album reinvigorates an Echo Canyon commitment to peace and sends it swirling through cotton candy skies, reaching into the pungent, thick bag of tricks used by darker psych acts and nurturing those textures until they dance joyfully of their own accord." -LemonBen | | 2 |  | Satan's Host
This Legacy Will Never Die
"The drums often feel underwhelming and distant in the mix, even when blasting away or putting some solid fills. The guitar also suffers, featuring a tone that feels rather muddled and playing that comes off sloppier than usual. Thankfully the vocals still push their usual theatrical dynamics but seem to have less conviction when the rest of the band doesn’t match them. It could perhaps be argued that this was an aim toward the more lo-fi presentation of 1986’s Metal from Hell, but it doesn’t quite pan out." -PsychicChris | | 3 |  | Morrow (UK)
The Quiet Earth
"The vocals churn and pulverize, trading between the members and guests of Morrow in chaotic bursts. The slow plodding tropes of the post-metal genre are little to none on the record and instead are replaced by fragmented chunks of dissonant blasts and walls of impenetrable sound. The reflective parts are spaced appropriately throughout the record, offering a chance for the listener to catch their breath despite the poisoned air. The cello works its way underneath the mammoth score, peaking melancholy summits when the distortion and bellowing ceases for only moments at a time." -Zakusz | | 4 |  | Mizmor and Thou
Myopia
"Turning more directly to the band, Myopia’s heaviest sections are another area of inconsistency. Rank sludge has always seeped from Thou’s doom metal passages, and Mizmor’s wandering, downtuned brand mixes uneasily here. ‘Prefect’ is the best result; as it shudders to a near-dirge, a two-note blues groove tries vainly to resuscitate it, ground down each time by a few droning tones." -Biscuitborn | | 5 |  | Arcade Fire
WE
"The band has never sounded so nervous to do anything new or exciting. The aptly-titled “Age of Anxiety” is broken into two parts that both spend their runtimes threatening to become spellbinding dance numbers in the same way “Sprawl II” is, but both times end up settling on the routine and the obvious. There are half-shouts of “Yeah!” and some blips and bloops to try and illicit emotion, but they seem like pale imitations of the stratospheric shouts of the song they clearly want to remind you of." -Odal | | 6 | | Arcade Fire
WE
"I could write whining diatribes about how every new thing is bad and all old things are good, or how superficial modern life is. But I’m not Arcade Fire. I know good things still exist and I know most of the world doesn’t think about “Maserati sports cars” on a daily basis. Arcade Fire seems to talk about it a distressing amount though. It’s only speculation on my part, but I cannot help but feel like they might be projecting a bit onto their audience. Or are they mad at their audience? Actually, who is their audience? Indie kids that listen to major label arena rock? Misanthropes that go to sold-out stadium shows?
Who’s WE? Not I." -SandwichBubble | | 7 | | Arcade Fire
WE
"See, at one point in time, an Arcade Fire release was a cause for celebration. It was a moment everyone looked forward to. But this somehow slipped so under the radar to where I feel like I almost missed it, and I feel like many might have as well, and I honestly kinda wished I had." - BrushedRed | | 8 |  | MJ Lenderman
Boat Songs
"Working mostly in the realm of alt-country, Lenderman fuses in aspects of ‘90s slacker rock and slowcore with the ethos of garage rock and hints of shoegaze/noise pop to create a set of 10 gripping and fun tunes. Where many of his stylistic influences (and indeed much of Lenderman’s prior work too) aren’t exactly known for being upbeat, the album’s press release describes it as Lenderman’s attempt to “chase fulfillment and happiness,” which can be seen clearly from the goofy cover art and the chunky power pop riffs that drive opener “Hangover Game.” While there are choice moments of melancholy in classic alt-country fashion, they are well balanced by these more positive moments, resulting in an album that one could easily imagine playing from a tinny radio on a boat, which may only amplify the album’s slacker charm." -theBoneyKing | | 9 |  | Three Days Grace
Explosions
""Lifetime" is the best ballad the band's put out in years, "No Tomorrow" continues "So Called Life"'s throwing of synths into the mix to great effect, and "Champion" makes for an incredibly fitting WWE/AEW theme song. The biggest disappointment is Apocalyptica collaboration "Someone To Talk To", even though it could have theoretically been the second part of "I Don't Care"; unfortunately, however, Matt didn't even bother to consider that. "Explosions" ends the album on a fine note and does a decent enough job of washing off the disappointment of "Someone To Talk To", and with that closes perhaps the quartet's best album since Life Starts Now." -Valzentia | | 10 | | Three Days Grace
Explosions
"In fact, the most likely feeling running through a long-time listener's mind when assessing these ten new songs might be of longing for Gontier, whose voice would fit like a glove into (not to mention elevate) most of this material, particularly stronger cuts such as Neurotic (the most Three Days Grace song on the album) or the bombastic title track, which sees the band save the best for last and deliver perhaps the only genuinely great moment on the album. Competent though he is, Walst is simply too generic of a singer to ever differentiate this band's sound the way his predecessor did, and lacks Gontier's ability to craft a huge, perennial earworm of a chorus, which ultimately ends up harming the few almost-bangers this album manages to put across; the fact that, three albums in, he still comes across as the 'replacement vocalist' should give the band pause." --ReturnToRock | | 11 | | Three Days Grace
Explosions
"But I still contend it's incredibly unfair to completely resign them to mediocrity. Despite its flaws, Explosions finally sees the band less occupied with making Matt the replacement. His voice has improved tremendously in the near decade he's been with the group. And it finally feels like he's standing in the sun on his own in that regard, no longer enveloped by the shadow of his predecessor. On that front, Explosions is a success, and sets the stage for the band to continue a healthy and vibrant career, even as they and their back catalog of hits continue to age." -Shamus248 | | 12 |  | Poets of the Fall
Ghostlight
"For almost 20 years of their history the Finnish musicians from Poets of the Fall managed to quite confidently balance on a thin line, combining in their sound very melodic vocals, poetic pathos and solid musical backbone. They never allowed any of these elements to go overboard, except for a few instances (this reviewer shudders every time he calls to mind over-sweetened vocals in Cradled in Love). And without a doubt such understanding of their strong feats deserve respect. Even on the last two albums, where the band dropped almost completely alternative rock for a pop-rock sound brimming with synth melodies, they refrained from an irrevocable dive into a full-on saccharine sound condemned by many preferring something harder.
That was true until the release of their ninth album Ghostlight." -Batareziz | | 13 |  | Proper.
The Great American Novel
"The Great American Novel’s conviction to unflinching, critical honesty about the black and queer experience forms a sufficient outlet for entirely justified anger, rarely straying too far into mere platitudes or misfired posturing. The problems it raises a cry against have no immediate, actionable solution, but the pain they inflict is immediate and resistant to all change. It’s fucked. This country’s fucked. We’re fucked. To some extent, most writers claiming to speak for this nation over the years reached the same conclusion. That’s just the perpetual state of the constantly-changing Great American Novel. Proper’s take on it is as legitimate an entry into the canon as anyone else’s." -ashcrash9 | | 14 |  | State Champs
Kings of the New Age
"Unlike many bands cut from the same cloth as State Champs, who've dared to tread the ill-fated route of "maturity" to little success, Kings of... takes the polar opposite approach to great effect. The half-time ferocity of opener "Here To Stay" is immediately captivating, as are the hyper-glistening feel-good riffs of the stadium-primed anthem "Fake It", which is destined to go-down as one of State Champ's most triumphant cuts. Throughout the entire album's runtime, the band competently doubles down on their longtime strengths; Derek is as controlled as ever, belting out oh-so catchy sing-along refrains the band has worn on their sleeve for the better part of a decade, with the urgent yet tender "Half Empty" being a noteworthy highlight." -iChuckles | | 15 |  | Aara
Triade II: Hemera
"A juxtaposition is a powerful tool when it comes to appreciating the things we often take for granted. We only miss the girl when she's gone and our health when it's on death's door. But if we could place the desirable next to the undesirable, merely as a thought experiment, then we would live better lives. The good, the beautiful, and the inspiring would all be enhanced by their antithesis. Black Metal is that thought experiment put to sound and it is done wonderfully on this record. Black Metal is both the panic and the peaceful aftermath all in one place." -InfernalDeity | | 16 |  | Gospel
The Loser
"With a starving fanbase and sky-high anticipation that preluded this album, it would have been fully understandable if Gospel were not able to recapture the lightning in a bottle from nearly two decades ago. It’s a sheer testament to their raw talent and musicianship that they have returned in such an awe-inspiring way, and by way of doing so their legacy has been etched into music history forever. The natural comparisons to Moon are inevitable, but they are entirely separate pieces and the former's unreachable heights laid the foundation for the more cohesive experience this time around. The Loser, when all is said and done, is anything but." -Scoot | | 17 |  | Kendrick Lamar
Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers
"Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is an unruly and challenging masterpiece that only Kendrick Lamar could have made. Over 18 tracks, we bear witness to the deconstruction of an icon by that very icon – an unprecedented feat worthy of praise in and of itself. Through Kendrick’s personal revelations, we are given an opportunity to re-evaluate the role artists play in our own lives and, by extension, better understand ourselves. And while I do have some mixed feelings on a few tracks, Kendrick still accomplishes the goal every artist should strive for: to create art that motivates us to continue building a better world for ourselves and our loved ones." -TheGlowingWeen | | 18 |  | Misery Index
Complete Control
"In some ways, Misery Index got hit harder by semi-recent global events than most of their peers. A live band in the truest sense of the term, they have never been known for their technical prowess or experimental songwriting, but rather for their stellar on-stage delivery. It is easy to see how harrowing these past two years must have been for the Baltimore-based quartet. On the bright side, all that building anger and frustration can yield quite productive results, as Complete Control, the band's latest offering, impressively demonstrates. More than twenty years into their career, Misery Index return with a vengeance and make it a point to show the world that they still have what it takes to write crushing, ferocious deathgrind." -NexCeleris | | 19 |  | Static Dress
Rouge Carpet Disaster
"Static Dress is quite simply the future of post-hardcore. They have everything a fan of this genre could possibly want, and more. Rouge Carpet Disaster is a special experience that will bring back some of those childhood memories we all long for, and make you somewhat hopeful that there are still beautiful things left in this world. If you're sick and tired of the state of modernity and wish to return to 2005 for a day, lend Static Dress your ear. You may be pleasantly surprised. Rouge Carpet Disaster is far from a disaster, its a definitive statement that proves their journey has only just begun, and that they are on a clear path to a long, prosperous future ahead." -JayEnder | | 20 |  | Mournful Congregation
The Exuviae of Gods - Part I
"To doomers and seasoned funeral death metal aficionados alike, a band such as Mournful needs no introduction, their dirge-like, quasi-trapezoid mamooths of longform have been a force to be reckoned with since the early years of the genre. Starting from humble beginnings, the band has built an impressive back catalogue of gloom very characterized (in the milieu) by its overusage of melodic, if slightly unorthodox juxtaposition. The band has a penchiness for a sound that is both cohesive and restrictive in its innovation, as - although they have parted away with genre convention in their use of clean vocals - the sonic palette isn’t very different release through release. While not exactly a setback, future to-be listeners should bear in mind this may make or break your enjoyment of their output." - GiaNXGX | | 21 |  | Harry Styles
Harry's House
"Harry's House is honestly pretty good - there's some genuine gold to be found on here, and the highlights are more noteworthy and textured than the highlights on any of Styles' previous outings. The biggest issue with the album is a simple one, but one that sort of snakes its way through almost half of the record's entire track list - Styles' attempts at striking out on his own and expanding his horizons are held back by the album's overall desire to stick to the conventions of pop music and successful pop records. It's hard to tell how much of this is due to Styles' own lack of confidence and experience with more experimental songwriting, and how much of this is due to executive meddling and producer interference, but one thing is certain in spite of the album's shortcomings: Styles is improving, bit by bit." - ghostalgeist | | 22 |  | Motherjane
III
"Throughout III, Langthasa references Baiju’s trailblazing style by dropping slinky raga licks into his riffs and solos, but does so without overwhelming the songs or sounding beholden to Baiju. It’s interesting that the band included “Clay Play” on the EP but not their most recent single, 2018’s “Namaste”, with the most likely reason being that the latter, though a terrific song, was a radical departure from the band’s Carnatic-influenced sound. Clearly recognizing that the Carnatic dimension is their sonic signature, they build the new songs on the “Clay Play” template with the result being an enticing group of prog tunes whose melodies and moods don’t go quite where you think they will, and find unusual and elastic ways to get there." -SitarHero | | 23 |  | Windrunner
TAN
"TAN wields a straightforward block of ten tracks, which, excluding the instrumental opener, are all written similarly. The guitars alternate between heavy and melodic passages, occasionally accompanied with synths, while Nan floats through verses and choruses, which usually conclude with a bridge with harsh vocals. Speaking of these harsh vocals, Windrunner brought on two guests – Tobias Rische from Novelists, and Sota from Graupel – to take care these duties on the tracks Sardonyx and Mahogany respectively. Both did a phenomenal job on their feature, in comparison to whichever Windrunner instrumentalist took on the screams in the other tracks, in which he sounds like he is severely straining his vocal chords." -Get Low | | 24 |  | Stengah
Soma Sema
"As harsh as this might sound, I will concede that this is still a very solid album. The riffs and grooves that they have devised and spread throughout this album are quite enjoyable and fulfill that craving for heavy music that picks you up by the shoulders and tosses you about like a stuffed animal. It may not be the most groundbreaking but it is an exceptional release that does not hold back in providing you with an abrasively rhythmic experience." -WattPheasant | | 25 |  | Septicflesh
Modern Primitive
"Overall, Modern Primitive demonstrates the fact that Septicflesh still know what they are doing. They still shine with their fundamental symphonic sound and the vocals are just as dynamic and potent as always. The record holds numerous formidable tracks such as Coming Storm and Hierophant. There are some shortcomings such as the guitar work that leaves me wanting more and that the band could experiment with their sound a bit more. Nevertheless, Modern Primitive is another great album amongst Septicflesh’s discography and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested or already a fan of symphonic death metal." -Zac124 | | 26 |  | Scary Kids Scaring Kids
Out Of Light
"Out Of Light isn’t post-hardcore or emo; instead, the album roots itself in the “electro-metal(core)” sound, complete with heavy use of BMTH-ism’s* and electronic effects, in what appears to be an attempt to accommodate the vocalists of the album, instead of doing what they do best. The aforementioned “electro-metal(core)” production is easily the album’s biggest gripe; while Scary Kids Scaring Kids used keyboards/keytar and some effects with their earlier recordings, here they feel excessively forced/plastered onto every nook and cranny of the music, and pushes both the guitars and keyboards(!) down the mix; the keyboards do exist, but at times they are so quiet and thin that they’re barely audible below the effects or distinguishable they used to be." -STIGMATIZED | | 27 |  | Wilco
Cruel Country
"Despite the album making me feel like I needed to stand in the sun for an hour, I enjoyed it and thought it was a strong release. It can feel lengthy with its 77-minute runtime and consistent low-key americana aesthetic, but I didn’t feel like it overstayed its welcome. There isn’t really a significant stretch of songs that I thought was weak (“Hearts Hard to Find” through “Please Be Wrong” is the closest I got to that feeling), and the album’s highlights are sprinkled generously throughout the entire tracklist. It’s not the most colorful or ear-grabbing album from a pure musical standpoint, but there’s an understated beauty to many of the songs here that I found really compelling." -NicksMusicList | |
Sowing
06.03.22 | Busy month | Zac124
06.03.22 | Thanks for the shoutout. There was a lot of great reviews this month. | InfernalDeity
06.03.22 | Thank you! This month was stacked. | Get Low
06.04.22 | Appreciate it, Sowing | Batareziz
06.04.22 | Yay, I'm on the list :] Thank you, Sowing. | Mort.
06.04.22 | was wondering how you make these lists sowing, is there a place you can conveniently see all the reviews from the last month, or do you just make a note of them as they get posted? | Conmaniac
06.04.22 | 1/13 were v well written nice | ArsMoriendi
06.04.22 | Sowing check 1 | theBoneyKing
06.05.22 | Thanks for the shout! | YoYoMancuso
06.05.22 | that Gospel review was incredible | SitarHero
06.05.22 | Yaay thanks Sowing. | JayEnder
06.05.22 | Whoo thanks Sowing! 🎉 | Zakusz
06.06.22 | Thanks again for the shoutout Sowing, I have enjoyed writing these reviews the last few months. Kind of stumped on what album to do next but I'm sure I will figure it out this weekend. | ashcrash9
06.06.22 | thanks again Mr. Season |
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