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)

Amebix

Sonic Mass
EasyAction (2011)

Amebix have been away for twenty years plus, and if you're expecting Arise or Monolith v2.0 then look away now. Because Sonic Mass is so much more than those classic records, and all the better for the band's time spent away from the music scene. In a recent interview we did with vocalist Rob "The Baron" Miller, he explained how he removed himself completely from musical influence so what you hear on Sonic Mass is pure Amebix, it's an album they've always had in them and only now has that expression been able to see the light of day. "These days will never come again" is proclaimed in opening track "Days." A warning for the following nine songs and for listeners who are expecting something more akin to the crust-punk wave Amebix started. It's time to realise that this band have grown into something more all-encompassing than that. Sonic Mass is a heavy metal record, a record steeped in lore yet somehow still of the here and now. Upon first listen I must admit, I wasn't convinced. Perhaps I wasn't in the right frame of mind for it? The second time through though, everything seemed to click into place. Don't … Read more

Low Places

Spiritual Treatment
A389 (2011)

Low Places have done much in a short time. Coming out of California with a style that is unlikeable to … Read more

Bad Sports

Kings Of The Weekend
Dirtnap (2011)

Bad Sports made a smart sequencing decision by opening Kings of the Weekend with “Off Switch.” The punk burner has … Read more

Boris

Heavy Rocks
Sargent House (2011)

Boris' sound is defined by their insistence on rocking the fuck out. Their earliest works, like the classic albums Heavy … Read more

Boris

Attention Please
Sargent House (2011)

I absolutely love Boris' work ethic. Four new albums of fresh material in one year is more than anyone should … Read more

Witch-Lord

Atomized In The Black Solarian
A389 (2011)

All hail the Cult of the Seven Crowns! Witch-Lord is one of a number of destructive musical forces that is … Read more

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One from the archives

The Magnetic Fields

I
Nonesuch (2004)

Disclaimer: I am not actually going to write much about this album itself because I don't have too much to say about it, and I feel I'm entitled to at least one snarky review here. Christ, I've grown to hate the self-conscious style of writing that's so easily employed to take a way out of a review or any other kind of meaningful peace of writing. Yet, I think I might use this device as a way out of this review. End disclaimer. When I first wanted to write here, I was all "oh man, I'm going to tear shit apart, and it's going to be way funny, and I can't wait, and oh man it's just going to be awesome." Then I started reviewing stuff, and although it's only … Read more

More album reviews

Dead To A Dying World

Self Titled
Tofu Carnage (2011)

I went into this review fully intending to give this band the middle finger. I can't exactly explain my thoughts behind this, but I can say that it started with how the album was introduced to me:“This self-titled, debut double-LP from Dead To A Dying World is for those who truly appreciate the aesthetic value of deluxe packaging and heavyweight … Read more

Des Ark

Don't Rock The Boat, Sink The Fucker
Lovitt (2011)

So far, 2011 is proving to be a great year for music, and a great year for Indie-Rock. Des Ark's second full length, Don't Rock the Boat, Sink the Fucker, is surely doing its part to earn the genre's such high acclaim. It's an album that took 3 years to record, but the time spent on it paid off. Aimee … Read more

Full Of Hell

Roots Of Earth Are Consuming My Home
A389 (2011)

Over the past year or so A389 Records has put out a staggering amount of releases that sit just barely within the confines of metal and hardcore. For every label that insists on putting out breakdown heavy, mosh exercises there are much fewer that choose to stay outside of the simplicity of that. Full Of Hell are one of the … Read more

Gehenna

Land Of Sodom II/Upon The Gravehill
A389 (2011)

Before we get into this, there is always the question that you have to ask yourself; and, with Gehenna, it is a wholly legitimate question that will in a very real sense determine your take on bands or music such as this because, truthfully, this is some of the dirtiest smack of reality and desperation that you probably would ever … Read more

Bangers

Small Pleasures
Kiss of Death (2011)

Small Pleasures is the first proper full-length from Cornwall, England trio Bangers. To shortcut straight to the point, it’s fitting that this record is released in the US on Kiss of Death, as it fits in well with artists such as New Bruises and Mayflower. They bring straight forward, mid-tempo punk to the forefront, with a focus on melodic gang … Read more

Sutekh Hexen

Ordo Adversarial
Wands (2011)

Sutekh Hexen, the name alone has an undeniable air of mystery and darkness that while you may not know exactly what they sound like at this minute but whatever that sound is, you feel in the darkest recesses of your subconscious something telling you to stay away from it; and that little voice in your head might be a smart … Read more

Various Artists

Clinging To The Trees Of A Forest Fire/Nesseria - Split
Throatruiner (2011)

Clinging To The Tress Of A Forest Fire (hereafter referred to as CTTTOAFF for ease) hail from Denver, Colorado and deal in heavy as hell grind in all it's misanthropic glory. Coming to my attention only recently (sorry, I completely missed the boat on this band initially), they just released this split with French group Nesseria on Throatruiner Records. About … Read more

Diarrhea Planet

Aloha!
Evil Weevil (2011)

Diarrhea Planet are a garage punk band simple as that. The band make a raucous noise that fits neatly into that basic genre with hints of pop in its structures. Everything is overdriven and sounds like it is on the verge of falling apart any second. The guitars are catchy but nowhere close to clean sounding. The vocals are snotty … Read more

How Do We Jump This High?

Funny/Not Funny
Answer Key (2011)

Answer Key Records, the new record label formed by Bridge & Tunnel's, Jeff Cunningham, chose How Do We Jump This High's, Funny/Not Funny, for the label's first release--a quartet comprised of members of the short lived Get Bent and Frame. Together, they blend their sound into one melodic-punk explosion. Funny/Not Funny picks up where the band's first EP, Deep Stationary, … Read more

Ancient Wisdom

A Godlike Inferno
Shine Box (2011)

Evil can come in many forms. Everyone can explain the evil in any number of things man can perceive. More rare than that is a true embodiment of evil within a musical context. Many times this gets narrowed to various types of metal. While bands like Slayer seem evil on the outside a look below the surface makes it clear … Read more

Night Birds

The Other Side Of Darkness
Grave Mistake (2011)

The hype had been building for Night Birds’ debut. They’ve released three 7”s and the band, feature ex-members of The Ergs!, Hunchback, and Psyched to Die, and put on a great show at Fest 9 in Gainesville. When that much hype builds, often it comes tumbling back to earth when the actual product is released. Not so for The Other … Read more

Red Hot Chili Peppers

I'm With You
Warner Bros. (2011)

After a quiet five years of whispers, rumors, questions, confirming of rumors and, at last, the revealing of exactly what the fuck The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been up to, they finally release an album. Featuring a new guitarist. And a fly mounting a pill capsule as cover art. Let there be no doubt; the four chili peppers have … Read more

Crone

Endless Night
Translation Loss (2011)

I lost part of my virginity to Jeff Caxide.No, not that virginity. Go get a dictionary, you sleaze. I meant that listening to Oceanic for the first time took just a bit of my naïve concepts of musical perception away. Though I had been a fan of metal albums long before then, that was the first I wanted to describe … Read more

Livimorket & Sequences

Voidness
Sunyata (2011)

Do you know why I find collaborative efforts so appealing in musical and other such sonic arenas (besides that they signal more work by artists that I follow / collect / obsess over)? There is an element of wonder and anticipation surrounding what exactly the final work will sound like once either collaborators or sets of collaborators work their respective … Read more

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