|
Staff
Reviews 257
Soundoffs 177
News Articles 6
Band Edits + Tags 3,743
Album Edits 1,031
Album Ratings 7451
Objectivity 66%
Last Active 09-10-19 6:24 pm
Joined 03-11-08
Review Comments 114,798
| BEST USER REVIEWS: SEPTEMBER 2025
ANOTHA ONE!!! | | 1 |  | Deftones
private music
"Whether it’s the ending breakdown on “my mind is a mountain” or Chino’s vocals stretching across the cosmos (I can feel it!) in “locked club” or “ecdysis”, there are so many moments on this album that flood my synapses with dopamine that I fail to evaluate the music from any sort of objective standpoint. I hit the replay button like an addict, I recall these moments song by song. I wake up with the “cXz” chorus repeating ad nauseum (one is up, one is down). An 11-track pillbox of nothing but the good stuff."
-Christbait | | 2 |  | Pray for Plagues
My Hands Are Tied
"The musicianship is fair-to-middling. Screams are diverse and hit like a freight train. Clean vocal melodies are fun, but often derailed by unbelievably haphazard layering. The bass is loud, potent and pretty much carries other instruments. We don’t get many exciting guitar leads, not to mention how most of them are pushed back in the mix. In fact, MHAT prioritizes the rhythms so much it feels more like a groove metal record, which can get boring after a while. Keyboards that appear from time-to-time are a nice touch and create a sinister atmosphere. The title track is a clear highlight, being the shortest, tightest and most intense song here, featuring the album’s most memorable riff in the intro. If this one doesn’t stick the landing for you, you can safely leave out all the rest."
-arthropod | | 3 |  | Rise Against
Ricochet
"Color this listener flummoxed. Richochet is ostensibly awful and awesome. It tears down RA’s formula and throws in baffling songwriting choices, experimenting in a way I doubt any fan will expect or accept. But there is a fire here. Not a single member is on autopilot and there’s a passion to the music that hasn’t been present in nearly 20 years. Whether it’s the bold scale of Black Crown or the final 3-song stretch with Prizefighter closing out the album, there are rewards for patient listeners in the form of the best moments crafted in the RA’s long career. Burning bright, these moments light a promising path. A stumble in the right direction is still a step forward."
-renegadestrings | | 4 |  | Jacob Alon
In Limerence
"Under the careful production of Dan Carey, In Limerence is not only personal in its content but also in its delivery. The sound feels only a few studio tweaks away from being there right in front of Alon onstage, their guitar reverberating notes off the walls of a small London venue and whispering them back into the ears of a silent yet attentive audience. The vocals are delivered with intimate passion, weaving stories of self-reflection and loss (“Confession”), the disappointment of hook-ups (“Liquid Gold 25”) and the dangers of unrealistic love (“Fairy in a Bottle”)."
-RVAHC13 | | 5 |  | Slow Crush
Thirst
"Unlike their prior record, 'Hush', which felt highly reserved and gentle, 'Thirst' delivers a more oppressive and sonically diverse experience. The title track opens up with an explosion of atmospheric wonder, with Isa delivering her greatest vocal performance to date. Like a brilliant and beautiful solar flare, the music hits you with such profound juxtaposition it's almost overwhelming. The Slow Crush formula of contrasting performances could be ill-advised on paper, but somehow the execution works. Isa's angelic voice pairs with Frederick's thunderous, yet tasteful drumming for serene stability, with driving and spacey riffage bridging the gap."
-Rowhaus | | 6 |  | In Mourning
The Immortal
"For a scene flush with melancholic melodeath acts, ln Mourning are Sweden’s equivalent of Norway’s In Vain, that sweet spot of aggressive, depressive and progressive that has such a spiritual home in the Nordic circle. And like In Vain’s 2024 “Solemn”, In Mourning sound energized and inspired with lush songs like “The Sojourner” before the more pensive “Moonless Sky” where the ever present Tobias Netzell paints a vivid picture, a promise to his family of a home safe deep in the wilderness away from the chaos. The respite is broken by an incursion in the early stages of “Staghorn” which fleshes out to another booming progressive melodeath track but with the customary late cleans that add crucial intrigue to their music."
-Muzz79 | | 7 |  | Faetooth
Labyrinthine
"Fortunately there are enough standouts as to not be interchangeable, especially during the first half. The hefty chugs on “Death of Day” lend themselves well to a serpentine flow complete with a brief waltz bridge while “It Washes Over” and “Hole” are the sort of songs that live up to the former’s naming, encouraging the listener to lay down and be enveloped by the soaring swells. Elsewhere, “White Noise” shakes things up with a more pummeling riff set as “Eviscerate” and “October” serve as relative breathers while maintaining that ominous spirit."
-PsychicChris | | 8 |  | La Dispute
No One Was Driving the Car
"La Dispute was like an antidote to the poison. Their approach was unconventional, to say the least - but I won't say that they didn't take the blueprint from mewithoutYou before them. Lead vocalist Jordan Dreyer had an uncanny ability to channel the desperate anguish of young heartache and summarize exactly how so many of us felt in those days. The riffs were catchy with a distinct edge, and the songs broke the constant verse-chorus-verse-chorus mold that was everywhere in the 2000s. And sure, looking back on them now, some of the lyrics come off as overly dramatic. But that's with fifteen years of hindsight in my back pocket - as a young man, 2008's Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair resonated with me so deeply that it forever changed my tastes in music. It was over-the-top and grandiose, without being so theatrical that it alienated the majority of traditional fans of post-hardcore."
-Scoot | | 9 |  | Big Thief
Double Infinity
"We see this reflected in the lyrics, such as on Incomprehensible where Lenker reflects on growing older. She describes how she's learned to become afraid of growing older and the wrinkles and grey hairs that come with it. Yet not she finds contentment in it: “How can beauty that is livin’ be anything but true?” Or Los Angeles - a love letter to the city “even without speaking, you sang to me”. Even a more mysterious song like No Fear reads tranquil “There is no fear, mind so clear, mind so free”. Lenker sounds contend, at peace."
-durkl | | 10 |  | Turnpike Troubadours
The Price Of Admission
"Fast forward to 2023, and a blessing was laid at our feet in the form of A Cat in the Rain. Said shortly, this record fell short (considerably) in comparison to previous output from the Oklahoma group. There was nothing wrong with it, but the metric that we used to evaluate TT's music was far more tedious and stringent than the grading criteria used for less-celebrated artists. "Good" from Turnpike is disappointing when compared to the "great" to "exceptional" that we had grown to expect from records like 2010's Diamonds and Gasoline or the aforementioned A Long Way from Your Heart."
-murphA | | 11 |  | Charley Crockett
Dollar A Day
"In this bifurcated country music ecosystem, we find a true outlaw gem in Charley Crockett’s latest album – ‘Dollar A Day.’ Everything about this album is done Charley’s way, and it’s all the better for it. From the laid-back opening chords of the title track to the disco-infused grooves of ‘Age of the Ram’ and ‘Alamosa’ to the honkey-tonk 70’s twang of ‘Tennessee Quick Cash,’ Crockett refuses to be boxed in. The pacing of the album never lags, with songs sliding from bouncy riffs to laid-back ballads effortlessly, backed by smooth production that feels warm and familiar. Troops of horns, synths and backing vocals all know when to lean in and when to hold off."
-AlkemestRedux | | 12 |  | Dance Gavin Dance
Pantheon
"I'll address some bugbears first, with the biggest sore thumb being sporadic moments of poorly utilized auto-tune. While I commend the band for embracing the goof, these passages have never worked for any iteration of DGD and they certainly don't work here. The worst offender here is The Conqueror Worm - an otherwise decent moment on the album - but the auto-tune moments here are unlistenable. We also get the same treatment on Space Cow Initiation Ritual, a track I will revisit a little later."
-multicore | | 13 |  | Between the Buried and Me
The Blue Nowhere
"Immediately found on “The Blue Nowhere” is two things. First, a band that took a lot of influence from their previous work, “Colors II”—the fingerprints are everywhere, from the squeaky-clean production to the instrument tones themselves. Second, a band that is obviously still having fun, and indeed it can be directly felt in the music itself. “Things We Tell Ourselves In The Dark,” a certainly interesting choice for an album opener, immediately comes in with a shimmery, playful guitar riff. The chorus is catchy as hell, and the funky breakdown in the latter half of the track—anchored by bass virtuoso Dan Briggs—almost compels some sort of dance-along as layer upon layer of riff is added on top. Then, with no warning against the whiplash, “God Terror” interjects itself with a sinister electronic feel and distorted, raspy vocals. And this is just the first two tracks!"
-MTObsidian | | 14 |  | Ariel Pink
With You Every Night
"Given the more lo-fi sound of the title track, released as a single a few months prior, the record feels like a more polished and hi-fi take on the more promising songs Ariel posted demos for over the past few years and there definitely feels like more focus and attention was given to this record versus Dark Side. Most of the instrumentals were recorded by Ariel with some support from Kitten guitarist Dave Stagno and engineering and mixing from Brad Lauchert, who's previous credits include some of the newer Kim Gordon songs from "The Collective" and some FKA Twigs tracks."
-CanadianSpud | | 15 |  | Dun (FRA1)
Eros
"In the 70’s, France became one of the leading European nations for progressive rock music. Symphonic rock in the tradition of early King Crimson and Yes was well represented in France especially by Ange, Atoll, Pulsar, Mona Lisa and Clearlight. At the same time, a phenomenon appeared in France that would become known as Zehul, a sub-genre of the progressive rock. It was born from the band Magma and was created by Christian Vander, the drummer and founder of that group. The term that gives the name is an adjective in Kobaïan, an artificial language, designed by Vander himself. Influenced by Magma and by Henry Cow, the British band responsible from what became known as RIO, several French bands were born such as Weidorje, Art Zoyd, Shub-Niggurath and Dün. The last one will be the subject of this review."
-e210013 | | 16 |  | Winterfylleth
The Ghost Of Heritage
"I can fully understand people not having issues with this record. The main issue to me is the band itself, but not necessarily due to the performance or mildly interesting songs... The debut just absolutely pales in comparison to later releases by Winterfylleth! Track one alone, of follow-up The Mercian Sphere, blows this record out of the water, and that was only record two..."
-Beardog | | 17 |  | Digested Flesh
The Answer to Infection
"Right in the band's first actual song, The Answer to Infection, things are a bit different. Sure, there’s the crazy vocals, excellent drumming, and loud, heavily distorted guitar. But there’s a very clear production and clean bass presence that’s noticeable. The drums take the center stage at times in just how great it is. It keeps up with the songs and adds a lot more in terms of fills and accents that leaves you wanting more. There’s even some dual vocals in there from time to time."
-brickhed | | 18 |  | Rex Viper
Turbocharger Deluxe
"For those unaware from the above tribute-of-sorts, James Rolfe is the man behind Cinemassacre, also known as the Angry Video Game Nerd, who took the internet by storm in 2007 for being one of the first to see YouTube as a potential outlet for creative filmmaking, building a massive fanbase in the process. Well, 20 years later, he’s playing in a really awful cover band. And I mean really, really awful. No, James never became the filmmaker he had always hoped, so why not become a rockstar? Well, it’d help to play in a good band first. Rex Viper is a power metal band (or “power rock” as Rolfe calls it) that dabble solely in taking cheesy hard rock anthems from “Now That’s What I Call The 80’s” compilation CDs, and then mish-mashing them with 8-bit NES video game scores."
-TheSonomaDude | | 19 |  | Crippling Alcoholism
Camgirl
"The album's narrative revolves around the central figure of Bella Pink, the titular camgirl that finds herself enveloped within a disturbing world of exploitation and subject-oriented consumption by means of entertainment, and her slow descent into madness as she becomes devoured by the worst parts of her own psyche and the imprints left upon her by the people she finds herself within the company of. Camgirl also introduces new members Stefan Iglesias (Coma Witch, Bottom Surgery) and Alyce Smith (Bottom Surgery, Deafening) to the band, both primarily guitarists but also prominent co-songwriters and contributors on tracks like "LADIES' NIGHT", "bedrot", and the album's centerpiece title track."
-Ashtiel | | 20 |  | Jens Lekman
Songs for Other People's Weddings
"Despite being a double set this album never gets exhausting or dull, it's quite sprightly with more than a few ambitious lengthy freewheeling arrangements, sometimes reminiscent of the more epic numbers Sufjan Stevens included on 'Illinois'. Perhaps aware that 80 minutes of the Lekman singing tone is a lot he does invite Matilda Sagren to duet or take the lead on four occasions in the tracklist; I'm not sure her vocal tone is the most ideal he could have found, but at the same time her efforts are still appreciated for the variety and also in regard to the female perspective they provide to the storytelling."
-DoofDoof | | 21 |  | Kittie
Spit
"Other songs show the same wild rage, sometimes with interesting music and vocals, sometimes not. “Charlotte” is a nice, though not great, creepy-sounding nu metal song, about a serial killer and his victim. The lyrics shift a little abruptly from the point of view of the victim to the killer, which can make the song hard to follow, but I like the melancholic, eerie part where Morgan sings “I’m cold, so cold”. However, the ending, where she repeatedly screams “No, no way!” is a little predictable. “Suck” does an even better job with the heavy, sort of creepy riffs, angsty singing and angry screams. It also has a much better repeated screaming ending with the “*** you, you think it’s all free!” part."
-Malen | | 22 |  | I Prevail
Violent Nature
"For the most part, Violent Nature is shockingly...not violent. It's mostly the same OctaneCore you've heard hundreds of times before, executed in unexciting, if decent, fashion. Pray, for example, just sounds like BMTH's Strangers while Crimson & Clover is every emo ballad ever made blended together. Vanlerberghe's cleaner vocals dominate the vast majority of this record, and not always for the better. The results end up being quite standard, with singing that is neither unpleasant nor impressive."
-peartnoy | | 23 |  | Royal Sorrow
Innerdeeps
"Enter Royal Sorrow. Now, a glance at their artist page on a streaming service might lead you to believe they are newcomers to the scene, but that is because their signing to Inside Out came with a name change, and their previous moniker was Edge of Haze. While I am not intimately familiar with their old material, I listened to enough of it to gather that this is not a band new to progressive metal, and (stop me if you’ve heard this before) they used to be a lot heavier, with a lot more use of harsh vocals. That provides some relevant context in my opinion, because otherwise I would be hard pressed to believe a band releasing their first album sounds this put together right out of the gate."
-bowlermicah | | 24 |  | Revocation
New Gods, New Masters
"Revocation is both one of my favorite bands in the world due to their overwhelming consistency as a recording project yet also one of my most frustratingly disappointing bands for the fact they are always SO CLOSE to breaking through with something truly life affirming, yet never quite reaching that snow capped summit. It’s almost uncanny! This morbid angled project of 6-string whiz kid Dave Davidson sometimes feels as redundant as his name….riffs for miles, decent if fairly stock vocals, wonderful guitar leads, rinse repeat; but I’m always here for it, and they truly always deliver upper crust material. All that said, with album number NINE, “New Gods, New Masters” do they finally buck the trend and lay forth their masterwork? Well, not quite."
-DillingerEscapeFlan | | 25 |  | White Reaper
Only Slightly Empty
"White Reaper has always been a band that thrived on youthful vigor and a teeth gnashing sense of drama. Whether on the grimy garage punk of their debut or the pulse pounding anthems of 'The World's Best American Band,' they have ridden a wave of fearless momentum upon which they'd weave sneering adolescent drama into serious and sincere American alt rock operatics. Toeing the line between commercial alt rock and gut punching indie by wearing their heart on their sleeves while they headbutted their way into Pitchfork-flavored playlists."
-SublimeSound | | 26 |  | George FitzGerald
All That Must Be
"All That Must Be is a thoroughly enjoyable release from George Fitzgerald. Despite the questionable lead vocals present on a couple tracks, each song on this album is entertaining in its own right. However, the strengths of the tracks “Burns,” “The Echo Forgets,” and “Passing Trains” showcase the potential for Fitzgerald to create a style of electronic music that is much more memorable and interesting. Hopefully, one day, Fitzgerald will live up to his true potential, and he will drop an album of back-to-back bangers."
-Judio! | | 27 |  | Robert Plant
Saving Grace
"The album is named after the band with whom Plant collaborates. In addition to Dian, Kelsey and Morse-Brown, we have Matt Worley (banjo and cuatro) and Oli Jeffersen (drums). Plant and Saving Grace are not newly acquainted; indeed, they have been playing together since 2019. Nonesuch Records’ press release for the album describes singer and bad as “drawn together by a shared love of roots music—of blues, folk, gospel, country and those tantalizing sounds that lay in between”. The sounds range from schmaltzy to spooky, all tuned inwards, and my favourite moments are when the line-up dances together. Plant and Dian sing in harmony with the band behind, then pause, wait, continue… and Saving Grace move with them."
-lz41 | |
Hawks
10.03.25 | Lots of great reviews this past month!!! | arthropod
10.03.25 | indeed
I'm pretty content with my last 2, 'tis a good season for writing | Hawks
10.03.25 | Indeed! Good work buddy. | Judio!
10.03.25 | Thanks for the shoutout man! Feels good to finally make it onto one of these lists lol | brickhed
10.03.25 | yeah i've been experimenting with a different writing style, so its cool that it was well recieved.
also glad to see e210013 on here, he's doing a lot of good work for avant prog releases | Hawks
10.03.25 | Good works bros!! | RVAHC13
10.04.25 | Great job everyone, and thanks again hawks! | Hawks
10.04.25 | No problem buddy. :] | AlkemestRedux
10.04.25 | Whoah I made the list! Honored to be up there with so many great reviews. I've got a lot of music to catch up on now. | DoofDoof
10.04.25 | Not sure I should have made the cut but thanks. | Hawks
10.04.25 | Don't be so hard on yourself Doofster! | Futures
10.04.25 | reading through these always makes me want to step up my game. great choices here, so many good writers on here. especially compared to popular reviews on rym. so much quality and talent. | Hawks
10.04.25 | Hell yeah bro. Love the amount of user reviews we had last month too! | PanosChris
10.04.25 | great job everyone, these reviews are awesome! | Hawks
10.04.25 | Indeed!! | brickhed
10.04.25 | yeah i hate rym's front page, its just glazing whatever album is most popular with their stereotypical user. at least there's a lot more variety here. | bananatossing
10.04.25 | congrats everyone! | Hawks
10.04.25 | [2]!!! | renegadestrings
10.09.25 | The Charley Crockett review made me look em up and my ears are better for it. Much thanks | JMNewcomer25
10.09.25 | all music sucks tbh | Hawks
10.09.25 | Lmao | peartnoy
10.14.25 | Didn't notice this. Really cool of you to include my review in here, warms my little cold heart. | murphA
11.03.25 | oh shit that's me. thank you brother! | Hawks
11.03.25 | No problem buddy! October edition coming in a couple days. | Christbait
11.03.25 | Hawks, man, I'm humbled that you'd include me in a list like this. I wrote that one straight from the heart (after 3 or 4 complete do-overs) so it means a lot that you felt it was good enough to make the cut. | Hawks
11.03.25 | Well deserved bro. |
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