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Staff
Reviews 647
Soundoffs 102
News Articles 98
Band Edits + Tags 345
Album Edits 2,238
Album Ratings 3163
Objectivity 73%
Last Active 01-01-70 12:00 am
Joined 01-01-70
Review Comments 43,943
| Best User Reviews: January 2022
The following user reviews were well-written and deserve some extra shine. Keep up the good work! [insert obligatory "list is not ranked" disclaimer] | | 1 |  | Burial
ANTIDAWN EP
Without hats, claps, and kicks to hug the vocal samples, human voice takes center stage, complemented by woozy pads, delicious organ and piano lines, softly chiming bells, and distorted fuzz galore. The easiest comparisons for melodies and overall sentiment would be Kindred, Untrue, and Street Halo, but don't let this fool you—there is a new vigor here that gives the music its own character. This may not be apparent on first blush, but with repeat spins, nearly 45 minutes will pass by in a heartbeat. Fresh, focused, and immersive, ANTIDAWN EP is a real treat for those who can close their eyes and listen. Open your heart, and let it take you into the night. --normaloctogon | | 2 |  | The Weeknd
Dawn FM
Not two years later and The Weeknd's follow-up is thrust upon us with but a week's notice. While Abel has aged considerably, Dawn FM very much has the feel of a sequel to After Hours: bold red giving way to heavy blue, the same eye for the camera with tongue firmly in cheek, and everything held together with a fantastic effort in production that blends and expands the various sounds Abel is thus known for. It is, once again, a reinvention while not a revolution, but the involvement of Oneohtrix Point Never really stands out and elevates the record. The beats are lush, groovy, and hypnotic in that way techno is, and as a whole the record flows better than any other Weeknd record since Echoes of Silence. The Jim Carrey skits are the icing on the cake and really sell the vibe in this regard. Dawn FM is rich. It can feel like a dream sequence through an uncanny world, but it is also a great dance and pop album, and probably the best driving record you'll hear all year. --anarchistfish | | 3 |  | Resonant Filth
Depraved State
We can’t control what life throws at us no matter how much we regret and cry and seethe about it, all we can control is how we react, and maybe hedge our bets a little here and there. People have many faults but at least we have the potential to learn, adapt, grow, carry on, find meaning… although it is not always trivial to tap into it. And if cancer turns the life-giving cell division into death, in some ways you could say human creativity can turn death and the emotions surrounding it into life, into art. That we’re here to talk about death metal could be seen as cruel joke number two. Yet what we have here is the fruits of one man’s journey, using the paint of his thoughts and feelings and his knowledge of the medium with his own brush to breathe life onto the canvas of death metal. Not a genre many would find fitting for conveying this, but the skill, care and hard work are undeniable. --parksungjoon | | 4 |  | Wilderun
Epigone
If not the influences worn clear on their sleeves, what has Wilderun presented? A painstaking labor. It’s always funny to read band interviews and see how musicians hold themselves. They often sound much too human for the sounds they eject into the stratosphere. I’m sure there’s a degree to which much of the songwriting process for Evan & Co. comes naturally at this point; that Evan might be willing to quietly disclose “yea, track 3 came about one weekend when I was particularly hammered” after a gig, or something to that effect. Even with that all considered, this isn’t the sort of album that can come from nothing. There’s a care to the dynamism felt in the palm muting, in the fills, in the fluctuating Americana timbres and near-constant “holy fuck” moments. I’d be a fool to confidently consider any trajectory for these lads going forward, but in the meantime, here’s to finding a few more “damn, sounds like Wilderun” adages taking root across the metal community. --ramon. | | 5 |  | Skillet
Dominion
Despite the title making it sound like an unnecessary retread of 2019’s Victorious, Dominion manages to consistently vault the bar set by Skillet over the past couple of decades and is arguably their strongest offering since 2003’s sludgy masterwork Collide. There’s not much on offer here to listeners seeking technical prowess or a unique musical experience. But for the first time in quite some time, Skillet has crafted something that’s as equally enjoyable with the volume cranked up as it is providing a backdrop to coffee-fueled car-ride small talk and garage DIY shenanigans. The Skillet is not quite hot yet, but it’s warming up - and I look forward to what Cooper and company cook up in the future. --Clifgard | | 6 |  | SOWNBONES
helpless
The album is a tidy seven tracks that balances, as the SOWNBONES Bandcamp page states, the joyful with the melancholic. Vocal and spoken word clips occasionally interrupt the fuzz of the recording room. Helpless is at all times dreamy, and there are moods to be had in a song like “grin” with its deep-breath calm acoustic folkish nature (and nature sounds) that bursts out with pounding and pointillistic percussion. Or the follow-up, aptly titled “warmth”, with dense synths that oscillate between your left and right while restrained bass and drums serve as reluctant locomotion. Your eyes are invited to remain closed throughout. --Josh D. | | 7 |  | Fit for an Autopsy
Oh What the Future Holds
On the topic of vocals, there is something incredibly gratifying in hearing truly fantastic clean singing within a soundscape often maligned for their shoehorned inclusion. It's a brief note, but I'd be damned not to mention just how well the tranquil and subdued beginnings of "The Man That I Was Not" juxtapose with the gargantuan screams and gutturals that aid in the momentous catharsis of this track. This, in spite of being something small, brings me back to the concept of "progressive". FFAA aren't chasing grandiose higher concepts, but what they are doing is a subtle and masterful refinement upon their own sound. By focusing on the forlorn and even misanthropic atmosphere of prior releases (i.e, The Sea of Tragic Beasts) and funneling it into something both dynamic, groovy, and distinctly goddamn heavy, they've managed to make something that stirs excitement for a luminous future. Oh, what the future holds... --Dedes | | 8 |  | Madrugada
Chimes at Midnight
Slowly Turns the Wheel swoops in with some of the most attention-demanding and lush guitar work of Madrugada’s discography - almost hearkening back to their former guitar-centered foundation which Høyem would so effortlessly soar over. Moments of The World Could Be Falling Down also mimic the golden age, at least when the punchier guitars are able to break through the mix and drive the track. On the flip side, however, tracks like Imagination, and Empire Blues fall flat, and stand out as particularly monotonous. What might catch the ear as an isolated single in You Promised to Wait For Me - which very strongly resembles Høyem’s poppier solo output - fails to do so effectively when stretched across the full hour of Chimes. --brendanstupik | | 9 |  | Billy Talent
Crisis of Faith
Perhaps the problem is that placing the band's most progressive song(s) to date at the forefront of the album makes everything else feel like a downgrade; or perhaps it is the ever-so-slight front-loading of the album (with the notable exception of the irresistible One Less Problem, tracks on the back half of the LP are noticeably less interesting than the first few, extraneous celebrity cameos notwithstanding); or it might have to do with the band's aforementioned unwillingness to ever leave their comfort zone. Whatever the case may be, however, the conclusion is always the same – while Crisis of Faith is by no means an outstanding album, nor is it in any way a weak one (reports of this being the second coming of III have been greatly exaggerated) and it is certainly as worthy as either of its two predecessors of standing shoulder to shoulder with I and II on a punk-rocker's increasingly virtual music shelf (or streaming playlist, as the case may be.) --ReturnToRock | | 10 |  | Pedro the Lion
Havasu
I’d argue every dreary arpeggio, every lumbering bass riff, every gutting one-liner and every throwaway detail accumulate into a sum greater than their parts and moreover justify Havasu as a low-balled success, if not as a standalone work, then certainly as an elongated interlude for its parent series. On the other hand, evoking disappointment through a monotonous haze of lethargy can only float for so long—if anything’s clear by where Havasu leaves patient listeners, it’s that the in-narrative Bazan has a good deal more growing up to do, and whatever the subsequent additions to this project end up covering, keeping Havasu’s one-note inclinations an attribute exclusive to this arc would bode better for it and its follow-ups’ long-term reputation. ‘Till then, it’s a damn good thing the storytelling is as thorough as it is—even if this level of thoughtfulness is to be expected from a band who seems incapable of letting fans of their written word down. --ashcrash9 | |
Sowing
02.08.22 | There's no real reward that comes with this, just recognition for contributing something that is perhaps a cut above expectations.
I've been quietly making a point of reading user reviews this year, so even if you find yourself with a disappointing amount of comments/feedback, be aware that someone might be watching anyway -- so don't get discouraged! | SteakByrnes
02.08.22 | ramon is cheating because he was contrib before ;] but ya good reviews in this bunch, the ones I read anyway | Gnocchi
02.08.22 | User publishes review.
Sowing: Kreacher was watching. | someone
02.08.22 | this made me consider maybe reviewing again
maybe | dedex
02.08.22 | aight big yes Sow! cool to s/o deez babes | JohnnyoftheWell
02.09.22 | who tf is ranom.?
someone, rev the dj sabrina | SitarHero
02.09.22 | ramon is cheating [2] but it's okay because his writing always gives my ears a heartboner. | Calc
02.09.22 | 2 was a contrib too I think | Gnocchi
02.09.22 | But they is user now which makes them qualify no? | Dewinged
02.09.22 | Best user reviews of January 2022: All of them.
I see what you did there Sow ;) | ReturnToRock
02.09.22 | Thanks for the shout-out :) I am personally not very happy with the way that specific paragraph came out, but good to know people are still reading and appreciating this old man's increasingly less frequent reviews :) |
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