Average Rating: 2.80 Rating Variance: 1.14 Objectivity Score: 91% (Very Balanced)
Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name4.5 superbArchspire Relentless MutationThe paragon of modern TECHNICAL death metal. They're purists. Two guitars, one bass, a drumkit with too many cymbals, and one dude growling into a microphone. No tricks, no gimmicks, just phenomenal techdeath, with awesome riffs, a great vocalist, and world-class production. I just listen to it and think 'Wow, this is a marvel of engineering'. At the same time, they set themselves apart from their peers by just how catchy they somehow still are.Igorrr Spirituality and DistortionIgorrr finally reins in their insanity to produce a catchy and (more) accessible album. One of the few albums that had me on the edge of my seat the whole first listen, and that I've since been making all my friends listen to. Will probably be a year-end best albums staple IMO.Origami Angel Somewhere CityThis is the most important album in emo music since "You're Gonna Miss It All". This is the culmination of that fusion of math rock, traditional emo, and pop punk sensibilities that's been brewing for the last 5 years. I don't think it will be quite as successful as the albums it proceeds, but I view this band as the next Neck Deep or Modern Baseball.4.0 excellentBlack Royal FirebrideDoesn't innovate, but hones in the craft beautifully. 38 minutes of groovey, sludgey, head-nodding awesome riffs.3.5 greatFalconer From A Dying EmberI love the balance of folk and symphonic. It feels themed, but never expository or clunky. Occasionally has some catchy moment. Overall, I was really pleased with this one relative to similar artists. Also RIP Falconer, I guess.Feuerschwanz Das elfte GebotLight hearted German power metal. It's poppy. It's catchy. It's a lot of silly fun. The video for 'Ding' just makes me giggle straight through.Firelink The Inveterate FireExcellent meloblack with a great theme. Lackluster vocals, clunky occasionally cringey lyrics, programmed drums, and a lack of 'wow' moments hold it back from a higher score.Sojourner PremonitionsClearly an improvement. Simply feels more refined and professional than their previous albums. The slighly darker and more atmospheric theme benefits the album greatly. Overall, more of what they did before, but simply better.Xibalba Años En InfiernoMan. This thing has no nuance. It just batters you over the head with a hammer in the best way possible.3.0 goodFirelink FirelinkA step sideways from their first album, but still a great showing of melodic black metal with a cool theme. Gotsu Totsu Kotsu The Final StandGreat, but at over an hour long is just too much. Has amazing songs, but each is a bit samey to the next. At 35 minutes, it would be an amazing techdeath album that leaves the listener wanting more. Instead, the listener dies of ear fatigue 45 minutes in. I keep coming back to songs, but not to the album.HAIM Women In Music, Pt. IIIReally superb indie pop, honestly. I feel like the HAIM sisters thrive on their charisma as much ras they do on their music chops, but does it really matter so long as at the end of the day you renjoy the album?Hum InletIt really is a good return to form. Kinda metal, mostly shoegaze, sort of as if they just picked up where they left off. 90s, but with a modern feel.2.5 averageCenotaph Perverse Dehumanized DysfunctionsIt's fine, but it's just so painfully average meat and potatoes brutal death metal. I enjoyed it, but I also enjoyed those 200 albums that sound just like it.Convocation Ashes CoalesceA serviceable Death Doom album that leans heavily toward the Doom side. Does a great job of building tension to a climax in the first two songs, but then also has tremendous lengths where it's brutally uninteresting. Overall it's fine, but doesn't do much to stand out from the pack.2.0 poorAlestorm Captain Morgan's RevengeThis is Alestorm's worst album. The production just isn't there, and you can tell they hadn't solidified their niche yet. Also has some production and riff choices that make it clear this comes from the 'easycore' era. A couple songs that are worthwhile. Nancy the tavern wench gets the job done as a chanter. Overall not a great album end-to-end though.Nile Those Whom The Gods DetestI just don't get it. They aren't particularly Egyptian for being Egyptian themed. They aren't that technical, they aren't that brutal, they're kinda just... okay. It's like they got contracted out to write Egyptian Death Metal, and they do so strictly according to the instructions.Rannoch Reflections Upon DarknessProg for the sake of prog. A lot of progressions feel scheduled and perfunctory. Nothing bad, but nothing worth coming back to in my book.1.5 very poorDragonland Under the Grey BannerUnabated cheese, even relative to its peers. It's never catchy. The vocal lines feel like exposition rather than singing. I guess it's power metal sometimes, but it's mostly opera. It's just some terrible off-off-broadway musical that I want nothing to do with.Havohej Table of UncreationMan, I wanted to like it. It's a tight 30 minute album, but it's the worst mix of boring atmospheric music and dissonant unpleasant black. I was hoping it would be a happy marriage, but it's just kinda not.Sojourner The Shadowed RoadSymphblack is hard to do. The black production and vocals don't mesh well with pleasant melodic music. This Sojourner album doesn't do it correctly. The vocals feel very amateur, and break up an otherwise perfectly average album. They luckily refined their sound a bit and made a more professional production in Premonitions.1.0 awfulUntamed Land Between the WindsI think I missed the point, but I looked somewhat carefully. The production is total mush, which I guess makes sense with the black influences, but it just totally masks any beauty from the melo aspects. This one is tough to get through just out of sheer boredom.Wintersun The Forest SeasonsThe black metal vocals with the usual black metal production feel terrible over the otherwise relatively placid instrumentals. It's a really terrible mixture.
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