Recent reviews

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)

Swans

The Seer
Young God (2012)

Approaching Swans, and in particular attempting to “review” a Swans record is much like approaching a rock face you know is almost unscaleable. There is a way up and over, but it seems so very far away that at the beginning you spend at least an hour staring at a blank page willing something to happen – and other people have done it before, so it must be possible....right? It’s writers block in its truest form. You know what it is you want to say and you know that there is a way through, but you spend a good deal of time waiting and waiting and waiting for that moment to hit. And then it comes to you. In undulating tones, in powerful and dissonant strikes, in mystical pulses of guitar – and finally in the form of Swans frontman and voice, Michael Gira. “Lunacy” rolls in on a desperately repetitive wave and features contributing vocals from Alan and Mimi of slowcore legends Low which add a touch of, well, lunacy to proceedings. The Seer is pure Swans; all at once unlike anything the band have ever produced but ultimately Swans through and through. There’s moments of utter madness during … Read more

Aesop Rock

Skelethon
Rhymesayers (2012)

The big complaint since Aesop Rock’s breakthrough, Labor Days, seems to be that he hasn’t had the memorable singles. At … Read more

Mission Of Burma

Unsound
Fire (2012)

In the early eighties when the Boston post-punk band Mission of Burma announced their decision to stop playing and recording … Read more

Elway

Hence My Optimism
Red Scare Industries (2012)

Following a name change from the audibly slick 10-4 Eleanor and absurd legal debacles with John Elway of the Denver … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Balance and Composure

Acoustic
No Sleep (2012)

From Doylestown, PA, Balance and Composure has created a lot of buzz in the past few years for their melodic … Read more

New Bruises

Chock Full of Misery
Kiss of Death (2012)

Chock Full of Misery as a title sets a bleak tone for a group best labeled as pop-punk. Yet, New … Read more

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One from the archives

Ratatat

Ratatat
XL Recordings (2004)

The hype machine works in interesting ways. It can make or break a band even if the wind changes direction. Music critics go from band to band and suck every little ounce of creativity and humanity they had left inside of them like the leeches they are, then they move on to the next wave of hyped bands. Bear in mind, this method of plug and play music listening does come with its own fair share of faults. For example, look out your window. Do you see that kid wearing that T-shirt with his favorite electroclash band emblazed across the front of it? That kid is the problem with the hype machine. It introduces people to more bands than they could ever even think about listening to. Some kids, who … Read more

More album reviews

Absolace

Fractals
Spellbind (2012)

Emirati band Absolace certainly know their stuff. After releasing their debut Resolve[d] in 2010, they easily paved their way for a followup. That album just so happens to be 2012's Fractals. How does their new album hold up? Unfortunately, not as well as you'd hope.The main issues stem from vocalist Nadim Jamal--it just doesn't sound like he's trying that hard … Read more

Ephel Duath

On Death And Cosmos
Agonia (2012)

Releasing new material for the first time since 2009, Italian avant-garde/progressive/jazz/black metal group Ephel Duath cast aside their woes and channel their frustrations into On Death and Cosmos. Having been incredibly prolific before the sudden enforced hiatus after 2009s Through My Dog’s Eyes, Ephel Duath return with a refreshed group of musicians, a three track EP and a new outlook. … Read more

Teenage Bottlerocket

Freak Out!
Fat Wreck Chords (2012)

I’ve been hearing about the new wave of pop-punk for a while—how bands like Menzingers and Teenage Bottlerocket are reshaping the genre, building off predecessors like The Ramones, Screeching Weasel, The Queers, etc. while bringing something new to the table. It’s personally taken me a while to get around to checking them out myself, but with the release of Freak … Read more

Terror

No Regrets, No Shame: The Bridge Nine Days
Bridge Nine (2012)

Terror is a band that needs no introduction. Hardcore legends in their current age, Terror hails from Los Angeles, California and has brought a more metallic sounding hardcore into the foreground of the scene. This is a live CD/DVD of a show in 2003 at the Showcase Theater in Corona, California and the entire thing is interconnected with interview clips … Read more

Gaza

No Absolutes In Human Suffering
Black Market Activities (2012)

Continuing where 2009s He Is Never Coming Back left off, Gaza move forward as a band whilst remaining true to their core values as a dangerous and destructive entity. No Absolutes in Human Suffering is a monumental and much matured work, with Gaza finding their space as a group with something important to say whilst focusing their aggression in a … Read more

Reks

Rebelutionary
Gracie Procuctions/MIM Entertainment (2012)

Taking Reks’ past few years of productivity into account—dating back to 2008’s applauded Grey Hairs and last year’s R.E.K.S, a record that earned him a “Best Album of the Year” award in his hometown of Boston—it is clear the revered underground emcee is not one to idle by in tranquility for too long. Even with accolades for his Statik Selektah … Read more

Fang Island

Major
Sargent House (2012)

Two years since the release of their eccentric eponymous debut, Fang Island return with Major, the band’s second album on LA record label, Sargent House. It’s quite evident that their self-proclaimed pursuit to “make music for people who like music” ensues. Picking up right where Fang Island left off, Major is an epidemical power rock album, affluent in frenzied, fuzzed-out … Read more

Elizabeth

Where Vultures Land
Throatruiner (2012)

Throatruiner Records have steadily increased their presence in the world of black/hardcore/completely mad music of late, and this little French label continually put out some of the most exciting and interesting sounds out there. The Phantom Carriage, Love Sex Machine, Clinging To The Trees Of A Forest Fire....each hold massive sound and that little something extra that gives Throatruiner that … Read more

Titan

Burn
Hypaethral (2012)

Burn, the debut full-length from Toronto, Ontario’s Titan, wastes no time in establishing itself as the devastatingly heavy powerhouse that it is. Thunderous drums and relentless guitars introduce the bleak, crushing atmosphere that stands through the entirety of the record on the almost 8-minute long “Feast,” with the chillingly powerful vocals kicking in soon after. With 10 songs spanning almost … Read more

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 … 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 its cover. First, solo records in a punk or garage world. While the last few years have wiped this misconception away in many respects, I’m still hesitant when I don’t know the name coming in. Second, a record with a … 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, Montréalers krokmitën decided that the only way they could one-up themselves would be to do something completely different. The result is the only slightly more modest 10-minute EP, BWV565 Redux.The EP consists (again) of exactly one track, the band's take … 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 being the brain behind the immense collaborative project Ayreon, Lucassen has headed no less than four other bands, including progressive metal band Guilt Machine, ambient metal band Ambeon, space rock band Star One and the gothic/symphonic metal band Stream of … 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 their name from the Groke, a Swedish character from the Moomins, who is a ghostly figure constantly in search of warmth and light, and yet able to achieve neither due to her innate coldness, freezing all that comes into contact … Read more

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