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Reviews by Stepan

8 total search results

The Rebel Spell – Last Run

Review — December 23, 2014

In many ways The Rebel Spell’s Last Run is a depressing album. The cover art depicts a feeble, aging anthropoid trying desperately to hold back an immense industrial wave. It’s clear that he won’t be able to stand his ground for long. The album title itself can be interpreted as …

Pharaoh – Negative Everything

Review — January 26, 2015

Pharaoh’s debut full-length, Negative Everything, is an absolutely crushing release. The New Jersey three-piece play a blend of doom, sludge, hardcore, and crust that is generally slow, sometimes fast, never predictable, and always heavy. The record’s opening track, “Recease,” starts with a slow, chugging, unaccompanied guitar and effectively sets …

Atlas Losing Grip – Currents

Review — February 9, 2015

I first discovered Atlas Losing Grip after the release of their 2009 EP, Watching the Horizon, and became an instant fan. 2009 seemed to be a dark time for technical melodic skatepunk and Watching the Horizon was basically a glimmer of hope in the blackness. It didn’t hurt that the …

Raised Fist – From the North

Review — March 9, 2015

From The North is Raised Fist’s first release since 2009’s Veil of Ignorance, and is a continuation of the style and sound honed on that album. Veil of Ignorance was a ridiculously catchy album, and a repetitive guilty pleasure for this reviewer. The reason I could not fully get …

Jesse LeBourdais – Long Winter

Review — March 16, 2015

Long Winter is the third proper full length from former Cambridge frontman Jesse LeBourdais and seems to be his fullest musical realization to date. While his previous solo releases have been folk-oriented acoustic endeavours,Long Winter utilizes a full band for the entire recording. The instrumentals on the album give …

Strung Out – Transmission.Alpha.Delta.

Review — April 20, 2015

There are some albums that you hear for the first time and fall in love instantly. There are others that require repeated listens in order to grasp the depth and complexity of the material. These albums get progressively more enjoyable as you listen to them. With every spin another pleasant …

Priscilla Ford – The Blackout Club

Review — June 8, 2015

Priscilla Ford's debut EP, The Blackout Club, is a raging punk rock'n'roll album. It careens with a controlled abandon, much like the Reno, Nevada murder spree after which the band is named. The band is composed of veteran musicians from a variety of punk rock subgenres, but The Blackout …

Good Riddance – Peace In Our Time

Review — October 19, 2015

Peace in Our Time is an album that seemed like it was never going to be released. Good Riddance's breakup in 2007 appeared to be final. Younger listeners such as myself, who discovered the band around this time, had to come to terms with never hearing new music from the …