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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)

Tesseract

One
Century Media (2011)

Bring out the djent parade!Every single Meshuggah-loving act and their goddamn mother is releasing an album this year. Xerath released their sophomore album, Uneven Structure and Vildhjarta have their debuts planned, Cloudkicker released a single, Periphery and Gojira both have EPs on the schedule... In fact, it seems like the only band who isn't getting in on this action themselves are Meshuggah, and even then, their album had been originally planned for release in the autumn before getting pushed back to 2012.I guess the big question here is, amongst all of these rather excellent bands, what are TesseracT doing to stand out? Are they going to be any better than their peers? After listening to this album, signs are pointing to...maybe?If that sounds lukewarm, it's because their debut album, the aptly titled One, is really flavourless. It's not terribly bad, but it's not terribly superb either. It's really just your average debut album, showing off the band's sound without throwing anything terribly impressive our way.So, what do they sound like? Well, their variety of djent focuses less on mathematically boggling rhythms and more on ambience--while there are some interesting rhythmic patterns going on here, they're more restrained and intended more … Read more

The Black Keys

El Camino
Nonesuch (2011)

By now, the Black Keys have released enough material to seemingly exist since the early nineties. This is not the … Read more

Life In The Dark

Hushed Bloom
Sunyata\Music Ruins Lives (2011)

I need to stop listening to this, but, wait, no, I really do because it is getting rather ridiculous repeatedly … Read more

Voice Of Ruin

Self Titled
Heimathome (2011)

Believe me, I love oldschool thrash metal as much as the next person--give me early Metallica or Death any day … Read more

Cara Neir

Stagnant Perceptions
Independent (2011)

Extracting the finer points of black metal, hardcore and mad experimental sounds is hardly the newest trick in the book, … Read more

Future Virgins

Western Problems
StarCleaner\Plan-it-X South (2011)

2011 saw me getting deeper into garage bands. What better way to close out my year than with Future Virgins, … Read more

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One from the archives

Yakuza

Samsara
Prosthetic (2006)

Chicago's Yakuza, despite two previous albums and a deal with Century Media, have not received much attention for their brand of chaotic metal. Bearing likeness to bands such as Naked City and Kylesa (a very strange combination indeed), Yakuza's third full-length Samsara has and will continue to garner well-deserved attention of metal fans looking for variety. Samsara begins with "Cancer Industry"; a tribal rhythm and a saxophone over a single guitar chord gaining momentum, and explodes into a faster-paced blast to the end. "Plecostomus" continues at a mid-paced clip, throwing an occasional break or two, but nothing that radically changes the initial impression left by "Cancer Industry." The song slowly fades out with a sample, and forecasts the real treat titled "Monkeytail." This song begins with a slow saxophone part … Read more

More album reviews

Aelter

Dusk-Dawn/Follow You Beloved
Crucial Blast (2011)

Aelter, like most bands, have a backstory. Unlike most they can be explained through their other projects without fully describing what they are about. The band acts as an offshoot of the doom band WolvSerpent (formerly known as Pussygutt). Wolvserpent deal in massive undulating walls of sludge with use of uncommon (for their style) instruments, namely violin. This tends to … Read more

Dead to Me

Moscow Penny Ante
Fat Wreck Chords (2011)

After listening to Dead To Me’s latest release Moscow Penny Ante it made me think about something bassist/vocalist Chicken said the last time I interviewed him. I asked him if he agreed that the band’s sound had seemed to change from the release of their first LP Cuban Ballerina. “I do agree with that and I’m proud of it. I … Read more

Subscribe

Bookmarks
EMI (2011)

Despite having the most un-Googleable artist/album name combination in existence, the Hungarian band Subscribe have beautifully combined influences of hardcore, heavy metal, progressive rock and what-else-have-you in their latest release, Bookmarks.Oh, sure, it starts out innocently enough with the orchestral track "Griping Portentous", featuring the most nightmarish combination of brass and sound effects possible. Of course, that's still pretty standard … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Actors & Actresses

We Love Our Enemy EP
The Mylene Sheath (2011)

Reissues tend to be a funny thing. Sometimes they are done in good taste. To help fans get a hold of an album that went out of print or give them a chance to hear the progression that the band went through. This reissue is done simply for an early EP by this band giving us a look at the … Read more

Panopticon

On The Subject Of Mortality
Flenser (2011)

Many people (I was going to say all but did not want to over generalize) seem to have certain touchstones with regards to certain styles of music, and in one short year, Panopticon has become one of those “bands” (in quotes because this is really a one man project) for me; …On The Subject Of Mortality… is the record that … Read more

Kerretta

Saansilo
Golden Antenna (2011)

Though the artist/album title combination features enough frustratingly doubled letters to require this review to be rewritten no less than five times, New Zealand instrumental three-piece Kerretta's newest album Saansilo is such an impressive release that I really didn't mind.Kerretta's sound seems caught somewhere between Isis and Tool, and I mean that as a compliment. The songs have this drone-like … Read more

Pink Floyd

The Dark Side Of The Moon (Experience Edition)
Capitol (2011)

'Oh great,' you're probably thinking, 'another critic on the Internet with her head up her own ass talking about this fucking Pink Floyd album again. How droll.' Let me assuage your concerns: I'm not here to review or otherwise convince you either way on The Dark Side of the Moon itself. You've already heard it by now, and you're already … Read more

We're Doomed

Like A Machine
Independent (2011)

Despite what they may want you to think, We're Doomed don't sound like the end of the world. They sound more like Muse took some Adderall and borrowed whatever illegal-drug-based songwriting method I highly suspect that Battles uses. If their debut EP Like a Machine is the apocalypse, it's certainly the most enjoyable one since we on Earth failed to … Read more

We're Doomed

Like A Machine
Independent (2011)

Despite what they may want you to think, We're Doomed don't sound like the end of the world. They sound more like Muse took some Adderall and borrowed whatever illegal-drug-based songwriting method I highly suspect that Battles uses. If their debut EP Like a Machine is the apocalypse, it's certainly the most enjoyable one since we on Earth failed to … Read more

Kovlo

Hey Mom, Where's Timbuktu?
On The Camper (2011)

Swiss post-rockers Kovlo have quietly released two albums over their career, beginning with their debut A new position for the second degree burn in 2005 and followed up with I’m so happy on this boat in 2007. For a band that has (rather unfortunately) seen as little notice on the world stage as they have, they’ve actually done a very … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Traveler

Going Home
Independent (2011)

All right, Traveler don't waste time, so neither will I. The Cleveland punk/melodic hardcore group write short, enjoyable pieces that are stripped down to their absolute bare essentials. The four tracks of their debut EP Going Home take only around seven minutes of your time to listen to. The songs are chock full of happy melodies, major chords, and general … Read more

City of Ships

Minor World
Translation Loss (2011)

Every once in a while, an album comes along that makes you rethink an entire genre. It's an album that makes you step back and rethink your musical expectations, as well as casting your future thoughts in an entirely new light. City of Ships' newest album, Minor World, is one of these albums. The only issue is that my entire … Read more

Bohren & Der Club Of Gore

Beileid
Ipecac (2011)

Bohren & Der Club Of Gore is a band that has always sat outside of any distinct genre. Clearly influenced by both jazz and doom metal the band have always played in away that evokes both without fully giving into either side of their coin. Although they have reached closer towards jazz over the past few years when they replaced … Read more

Helms Alee

Weatherhead
Hydra Head (2011)

Apologies are in order, and before we even get into this, let me be perfectly frank; Helms Alee is a great and terribly underrated band that ensnared me the minute that I heard their 4 song EP, and when Weatherhead was announced, I could barely contain my excitement at hearing a second album from this three piece from the land … Read more

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