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Our latest album reviews, featuring the records we've most enjoyed (or not) over the past few weeks.

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Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)

Xibalba

Hasta La Muerte
Southern Lord (2012)

It would be impossible to have missed the mark Xibalba have left on the hardcore scene thus far. The band has toured incessantly and released a small handfull of recordings in the past few years. A389 took notice last year and released a discography LP and shortly after Southern Lord took notice and staked a claim upon the band's follow up. That leaves us at the new record "Hasta La Muerte"The band has mentioned in the past that they want to get heavier with each record. This coming from a band that carried similarities to both Entombed (Clandestine era) and Sepultura (pre - Roots era) seems near impossible if they plan to stay within the hardcore genre. Well I'm here to say they have done just that. The band build on their sound overall by adding their past influences and seemingly adding influence from some of their current label mates. By adding parts that are more reminiscent of doom metal than anything else the band help to bridge their sound into something bigger and heavier. This is not to say they are less of a hardcore band for it. If anything they have managed to shame their peers in hardcore … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Adam Widener

Cola Kids Hanging Out in the Bubble Dome
Big Action (2012)

There are a few red flags that make me avoid records or, if you will, to judge a book by … Read more

krokmitën

BWV565 Redux
Independent (2012)

After releasing their debut alpha-beta last year, a single 45-minute track and accompanying video of unadulterated technical death metal ferocity, … Read more

Arjen Anthony Lucassen

Lost in the New Real
Inside Out (2012)

Few musicians are quite as busy as the Dutch composer and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Though he's known principally for … Read more

Mårran

Mårran
S-Rock (2012)

Mårran are a traditional rock band out of Sweden, playing only the most barebones, no-frills hard rock possible. They take … Read more

Flobots

The Circle In The Square
Shanachie Entertainment (2012)

“A community is democratic only when the humblest and weakest person can enjoy the highest civil, economic, and social rights … Read more

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One from the archives

With Passion

In The Midst Of Bloodied Soil
Earache (2004)

An important point in anybody's musical listening/purchasing career is when they first realize that there are LPs and EPs. The difference between the two is that the EP, extended play, is just a handful of songs, while the LP, long play, is a full complete album usually lasting between 20-60 minutes depending on the genre. What I soon realized was that EPs were just snippets of an upcoming LP and usually pointless when the LP came out. Exceptions are out there though, such as In The Midst Of Bloodied Soil by With Passion which comes off as a full sounding device with a submarine, shark teeth, and hella big torpedoes. We are set off into the deep blue sea with "The Scorpion's Dance". Ignoring anything I knew before listening to … Read more

More album reviews

Luther

Siblings & Sevens
Black Numbers (2011)

I remember seeing Luther a few months back at a small venue in Pittsburgh where The Menzingers were headlining. I was really stoked to finally see them live and not all that surprised that half the crowd was outside smoking when they played first. Seeing them live left me with almost the exact impression their EP Siblings and Sevens left … Read more

Oathbreaker

Maelstrom
Deathwish Inc. (2012)

Oathbreaker are a Belgian hardcore (for lack of a better expletive) band with a tendency towards fast-paced metal riffs and an evil, crusty tone. This is their first release for Deathwish Inc. and a fairly solid debut that I’m sure will turn at least a few heads and gain them a few fans. The vocals are the standout performance of … Read more

Burning Love

Rotten Thing To Say
Southern Lord (2012)

Leave it to Burning Love to provide an infectiously raucous soundtrack to 2012 (unlike so many of their peers and compatriots) full of the kind of riffs that in a perfect world would incite both vigorous head banging and the kind of massive circle pits that make people gape in awe at the sheer size of said circle pitting, and … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Souvenirs

Tired Of Defending You
6131 (2012)

When I first heard that Souvenirs was signed to 6131 I was expecting another straight-up generic hardcore band. However, upon listening to their first release from last year, Sadder Days, I was pleasantly surprised to find a pop-punk/emo crossover band: one taking the lyrical writing style of ‘90s emo bands and the upbeat feel of pop-punk. This was right up … Read more

Cloudkicker

Fade
Independent (2012)

If there's any one artist who should make you happy to listen to music, it's Ben Sharp, aka Cloudkicker. Though releasing free music on the Internet isn't anything new, it's safe to say that, in terms of quality, Sharp's in a class all his own. He also voluntarily remains unsigned from a label, ensuring that his music will continue to … Read more

Japandroids

Celebration Rock
Polyvinyl (2012)

Japandroids, a Canadian two-piece rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, has released their second full length album entitled Celebration Rock. The album begins with drumbeats and the first track, "The Nights of Wine and Roses," which showcases their garage-band sound with the voices of both Brian King and David Prowse. Following up their first album, the duo has maintained the … Read more

Periphery

Periphery 2: This Time It's Personal
Sumerian (2012)

I don't have a good history with Periphery. Their debut album, though it had a few good moments, left a very sour taste in my mouth. Given that a lot of the issues I had with it could be chalked up to growing pains of a new band, however, I decided it was only fair to give their second album, … Read more

Evoken

Atra Mors
Profound Lore (2012)

New Jersey quartet Evoken have consistently produced genre defining funeral doom throughout their twenty year career and Atra Mors is a grand and huge addition to such a flawless output. How they manage to outdo themselves every time is a mystery that only the band hold the key to and it allows Atra Mors to flow with a stately passion … Read more

Barren Earth

The Devil's Resolve
Peaceville (2012)

If there’s anything I love, it’s some fucking metal. And if there’s any band out there that can deliver some fucking metal with astonishing consistency, it’s Finnish power/folk sextet Barren Earth. In that respect, their latest album, 2012’s The Devil’s Resolve, does not disappoint.Like their previous release, there is a clear folk influence at work on their music, but its … Read more

Storm Corrosion

Self Titled
Roadrunner (2012)

Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt are both two musicians I hold in incredibly high esteem. Wilson’s flabbergasting diversity of styles covered with Porcupine Tree or his various solo projects and Åkerfeldt’s amazingly thoughtful and moving compositions with Opeth both continue to astound me no matter how often I listen to them. It should go without saying they are both gifted … Read more

Aaron Freeman

Marvelous Clouds
Partisan (2012)

Rolling Stone didn’t do Aaron Freeman any favors in running their interview that announces the end of Ween before I got my hands on this record. Now, besides having to overcome the shadow cast by his band, it also has to overcome being the record that broke up Ween. Anyway, Freeman has been making music since the early 1980s and … Read more

Various Artists

Dan Andriano/Brendan Kelly - European Vacation
Red Scare Industries (2012)

To coincide with their romp across Europe, the split 7” from Brendan Kelly And The Wandering Birds and Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room, European Vacation, doesn’t cover much ground, but packs a hell of a lot in a short span. Those familiar with the two musicians won’t be surprised by either of their respective songs, but both leave their … Read more

Anthony Raneri

New Cathedrals EP
Gumshoe (2012)

While he’s best known as the front man for Long Island pop-punk juggernauts Bayside, Anthony Raneri has been making a name for himself as a solo artist for some time. Participating in the inaugural Where’s The Band tour a few years back, Raneri charmed crowds with acoustic renditions of Bayside songs and select covers of Death Cab For Cutie, Bad … Read more

Banquets

Top Button, Bottom Shelf
Black Numbers (2011)

New Jersey might get a lot of crap for being such an unlovable state, but Banquets is keeping the Jersey music scene fresh and alive with their debut album Top Button, Bottom Shelf. It’s pretty easy to get lost and washed away in the midst of melodic pop-punk bands, but Banquets sits on the shores by proving themselves to be … Read more

Reviews by score
Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)