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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)

Rampage

Limit of Destruction
Lockin’ Out (2007)

Boston-based hardcore outfit Rampage unleash thirteen tracks of thrash influenced hardcore on Limit of Destruction. Some of the cuts here take on a definite New York hardcore vibe, while others incorporate a more tharshy and early crossover sound of D.R.I. The title-track was definitely my favorite song on this 12", it had a good groove and nice 90's styled breakdown. Lyrically, vocalist Josh Perrault is very upfront and oftentimes can come across as offensive. But if you read the liner notes, you'll find an interesting tidbit, "Some people, including band members, don't like certain words in our songs. Rampage is not prejudice against any group." So from that you can deduce that Perrault just likes to tell it like it is, which you can take at face value. Limit of Destruction is a pretty good spin. The album is available from Lockin' Out, so if you're at all interested in this, you best jump on it now before the limited colored vinyl has all been swooped up and only available on eBay for ridiculous amounts. Read more

Four Days to Burn

Lieutenant/Casino Bitch
Dada Drumming (2006)

Looking at the cover art to this 7" I was anticipating one of two things: stoner metal or art-metal akin … Read more

Kids Explode / Dialogues

Split
Rome Plow (2006)

Rome Plow Records serves up another offering of under the radar music on this split 7". This time around we've … Read more

The Mall

Emergency at Everyday
Discos Huelga (2006)

The Mall plays post-hardcore with aspects of screamo and indie rock. But the most identifiable characteristic of their music is … Read more

Iamb / Candle

Come Back Home
Real Love (2007)

Two artists from California team up for a split 7". Iamb is the work on single individual - Ross Major … Read more

Foot Foot / Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

Split
Oedipus (2006)

Los Angeles-based label Oedipus Records is an independent label run out of an apartment. As an individual doing the same … Read more

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One from the archives

Shai Hulud

Reach Beyond The Sun
Metal Blade (2013)

Despite their age and influence, Shai Hulud have rarely been the focal point of underground music. Sure, they've toured internationally, had some notable members during their time and have been released by some well-regarded labels; they've also had a permanently fluctuating lineup, periods of inactivity and a troubled relationship with the genre their guitarist, Matt Fox, coined- metalcore. However, they've recently gained attention for their performance at the recent Revelation Records showcase, as well as the positive reappraisal given to their debut album 'Hearts Once Nourished With Hope And Compassion.' Combining the stomp and spirit of hardcore with the unabashed technicality and lyrical concepts of metal, the 1997 album was the apotheosis of that Krishna-beaded, skate-shorted decade. It was the musical premiere of Chad Gilbert, who needs no introduction; now, … Read more

More album reviews

Thieves and Assassins

Martyr Brigade
Iron Pier (2007)

Everything I get in for review goes through the same process. The first thing I do after I greedily rip into the manila envelope like a kid on Christmas is check out the layout. You can tell a lot just from a cover of a CD. Usually if the cover depicts a scene of armored knights upon horseback fending off … Read more

The Degenerics

Generic Record Collection
Soulrebel (2007)

Our recent Scene Point Blank reader's poll told us at least two things about you, the reader: (1) you want to see less reviews of "generic hardcore", and (2) hardcore is your favorite genre. (If this doesn't apply to you, sorry; you should've chipped in!) So you love hardcore, but also hold high standards for it; maybe you're sick of … Read more

New Idea Society

The World is Bright and Lonely
Exotic Fever (2007)

For The World is Bright and Lonely, New Idea Society's Mike Law walks a fine line between poetry and prose. The lyrical structures are simple and for the most part unchanging, and there is a more simple pattern within it all, almost every line the start of a new thought or idea. But herein lies the genius and creativity that … Read more

The Black Atlantic

Send This Home
Five Point (2007)

Have you ever gone to a movie expecting to see an action movie, but as you watch it, you realize it's a drama? Not quite what you were expecting, but unless you're a meathead you take it for what it is and realize it's still pretty good. This is the case for The Black Atlantic's debut EP Send This Home. … Read more

Weedeater

God Luck and Good Speed
Southern Lord (2007)

When a band's name makes reference to sinful pleasures, especially of the herbal nature, it's a sign their sound will be akin to Black Sabbath; the emphasis on slow riffing that sounds even heavier due to down-tuned instruments. Weedeater is a perfect example, taking the suggestive themes of drug abuse and sacrilege made famous by Sabbath to new heights but … Read more

Caïna

Mourner
Profound Lore (2007)

This is the kind record that I enjoy from time to time, a big surprise; it is not what I expected in any way, shape, or form and caught me completely off guard. Mourner is the second full-length, first on Profound Lore, from Caïna, the solo project of Andrew Curtis-Brignell - a twenty-year-old who already has a strong grasp on … Read more

New Found Glory

From the Screen to Your Stereo Pt. 2
Drive-Thru (2007)

Last year I interviewed New Found Glory drummer Cyrus Bolooki about the possibility of another cover album in similar fashion to the band's From the Screen to Your Stereo. He stated that it was a possibility... Well here we are a year removed from said interview and sitting before me is From the Screen to Your Stereo Pt. 2 And … Read more

Die! Die! Die!

Die! Die! Die!
S.A.F. (2007)

I don't know why, but there is something really unsubtle about naming a band Die! Die! Die!. It's like using a nuke to kill a mouse, just a bit too over the top to really ever be needed. It also means that the band has got to do an awful lot to live up to the name, so you can … Read more

Flobots

Fight with Tools
Independent (2007)

Every era has seen the chocolate/peanut butter combination of music and activism mixed together to create the tasty sensation of protest music. Long derided as "hippie shit" by those too lazy to listen, the protest song has been a ubiquitous form spanning the last century. Okay, maybe not the eighties, but every other decade has more than had its share. … Read more

Hi Ho Six Shooter!

Empire
Good Night (2007)

I'm not going to classify Hi Ho Six Shooter! as a gimmick band. Granted they play shows with bandannas wrapped around their neck and sing songs about country twangs and bar room brawls, but knowing some of the members I think it's pretty safe to say that they aren't gun toting Confederates. Rather, I would say that Hi Ho Six … Read more

Soul Control

Involution
Rivalry (2007)

Rhode Island may be the smallest state in the union, so you would think that with them already delivering Verse, they'd be all out of good hardcore bands. Well, they are not, because Soul Control is equally as, if not more, impressive. The four-piece band delivers a modern take on 90's post-hardcore popularized by the likes of Quicksand and Burn. … Read more

Cold War Kids

Robbers and Cowards
Downtown (2006)

With a few EP's and a couple of renowned festivals under their belt - Lollapalooza and South by Southwest - Cold War Kids have finally released (in late 2006 actually) their full-length album, Robbers and Cowards. Like a few of their indie predecessors, Cold War Kids borrows from 1970's legends like Bob Dylan and The Velvet Underground for their sound, … Read more

Coliseum

No Salvation
Relapse/Auxiliary (2007)

In less than four years, Coliseum has proven to be a busy band with their touring crisscrossing the United States as well as Europe, undergoing multiple line-up changes and configurations, and releasing a bunch of records (a self-titled full-length, the split 7" with Lords, the Goddamage EP, and the split with Young Widows); sometimes I take for granted that they … Read more

Rilo Kiley

Under the Blacklight
Warner Bros. (2007)

Rilo Kiley has finally joined forces again with their fourth full-length album, Under the Blacklight. It has been three years since the band made their widely praised More Adventurous album, released in 2004. Since then, Rilo Kiley took a break from each other with solo projects. Jenny Lewis released Rabbit Fur Coat featuring the Watson Twins in 2006, while Blake … Read more

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