Recent reviews

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

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

Tar...Feathers

Make Way for the Ocean Floor to Fall to the Surface
Release the Bats (2006)

How many Swedish bands do you listen to? Wouldn't your friends think you're way indie if you told them you're diggin' on this sick Swedish band that produced their album on a laptop? You guessed it, my obscure band-loving friends, Tar...Feathers is straight out of Göteborg, Sweden and yes, they recorded Make Way for the Ocean Floor to Fall to the Surface on a laptop. That being said, let's get down to business. Tar...Feathers is the nom de guerre of Marcus Nyke, the creator, songwriter, and artist of the group. Make Way for the Ocean Floor to Fall to the Surface is a 100% DIY effort. After Nyke wrote the songs, a couple of his friends helped to write bass and drum parts. Nyke also took the task of album artwork into his own hands, as he drew all of the pictures on the CD packaging, lyrics sheet included. "Cuckoo" opens the album with modest, yet intriguing music. After about thirty seconds, you meet Marcus Nyke - actually, you meet a few Marcus Nykes. Each track features multilayered vocals, almost all of which come from Nyke's larynx. I'm not sure how he could achieve this effect in live performances, but … Read more

Time for Change

Wasting Away
Glory Kid (2006)

Two years ago when reviewing Time for Change's debut EP, Profound, I made it known that while the band delivered … Read more

In the Face of War

We Make Our Own Luck
Detournement (2007)

I remember this band; a few years ago I picked up Live Forever or Die Trying with false promises of … Read more

Get a Grip / Hammer Head

Split
Strike 3 (2006)

I guess I'm really spoiled living in New England and all. Being so close to Massachusetts, and not a far … Read more

Assemblage 23

Binary
Metropolis (2007)

As seems to be common in the electronic scene, Assemblage 23 (A23) is the product of one man - Tom … Read more

Clouds

Legendary Demo
Hydra Head (2007)

When Cave In went on hiatus, who would have thought that the principal players would all decide to throw down … Read more

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One from the archives

Dead to Me

Cuban Ballerina
Fat Wreck Chords (2006)

In this day and age, it seems to take way more effort than it should to get a new band's name out there. There are so many ways people can check out a new band, not to mention it's so much easier than it has been in the past. It used to be that you had to release a song on a compilation to sort of get people to check you out, but now that compilations are nearly obsolete due to websites like MySpace and Purevolume - hell, the Internet in general - it shouldn't take any effort. Or should it? I understand when a label is promoting a newer band that they have to sort of bait the hook, so to speak, but too many labels tend to rely … Read more

More album reviews

Clouds

Legendary Demo
Hydra Head (2007)

It's quite an interesting experience to hear the whole of Cave In broken down into its different parts, in a manner of speaking that is. Since the band has gone on hiatus, the members of Cave In have continued their musical outfit through a variety of sources. Vocalist Stephen Brodsky has been continuing to release material under his solo name … Read more

Trap Them

Sleepwell Deconstructor
Trash Art (2007)

For those of you unfamiliar with Trap Them (or Trap Them and Kill Them or 77+K7, I'm not sure which moniker stuck) you have to be familiar with Backstabbers, Inc. right? Well, if for some reason you aren't, this is dirty, dirty crust-grind. The distortion is through the roof, and none of that polished metal sound that you get from … Read more

Burning Skies

Desolation
Life Force (2006)

Damn... Burning Skies has a ton of grind influence as well as some good old death metal influence to boot. I guess Misery Index and Dying Fetus would be good reference points. Regardless, this is a pleasant enough surprise. The production on Desolation is crisp, clean, and heavy; it definitely gives the band a brutal sound. Desolation is pretty crazy. … Read more

Youth Group

Casino Twilight Dogs
Anti (2007)

Australian-bred power-pop/indie-rock band Youth Group has returned with their second U.S. release, and third overall, with Casino Twilight Dogs and damn is it good. The dark and haunting lyrics matched with shimmering guitar chords and vocalist Toby Martin's smooth, pop-perfect delivery made 2004's Skeleton Jar a strange disc to behold as it didn't seem like it should have been so … Read more

Dälek

Abandoned Language
Ipecac (2007)

Dälek have the ability to produce an album that's so distinctively different from anything that have done before and yet still sounds characteristically like a Dälek album. As soon as you hear a song by this group, you know it's them. Not only have they consistently been able to do this album after album, but while doing so the quality … Read more

Years from Now

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat
Get Outta Town (2007)

I have to admit, Years from Now do shed a tiny bit of warm sunlight into the dank black empty soul of this jaded hardcore scenester in more ways than one. It's nice to see a bunch of rapscallions play melodic hardcore in a quite a way that I can imagine the members of this Floridian band having a record … Read more

Years from Now

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat
Get Outta Town (2007)

Those of you who read my "Top 5 Awesome Bands SPB Got Into in 2005" feature in the end of the year recap, might remember my mention of Years from Now. Out of Daytona Beach, Florida, Years from Now play infectious melodic hardcore with pop-punk flourishes. Think New Found Glory meets Fastbreak. A melodic hardcore fan can't want much more … Read more

Abel is Dying

Gazing from the Abyss
Still Life (2006)

Lasagna. Pizza. Mario Bava. This is what I think of when I think of Italy. Oh, and the mafia. No wait - that's when I think of New Jersey. We all have our little preconceived notions of regions or countries when it comes to music. Sure, there's hardcore to be found all over the world, but good hardcore? By now … Read more

Coke Bust

Demo
Independent (2007)

It's an odd thing to look back on the things that helped shape us such as the music we listen to and just how long ago they initially took place. Looking back on the DC punk and hardcore scene, the time has flown by. It has been almost twenty years since Fugazi decided to form, and has been twenty-two years … Read more

Eluvium

Copia
Temporary Residence (2007)

Music has a way of bringing out many emotions in the listener. Whether it is fun music in the summer while you are having a good time or the making of a mixtape for a girl that you are trying to impress, music plays a very important role in all of our lives. We all have that one album that … Read more

Explosions in the Sky

All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
Temporary Residence (2007)

To call Explosions in the Sky's new record, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, expansive would be a horrendous understatement. The guitars swirl around each other in a dizzying fashion that does nothing other than grip the listener in a strange catatonic envelope. On the outside, the individual looks completely serene and vacant while inside they are caught up … Read more

No Harm Done

Our Day of Days
Anchorless (2007)

It's hard to be original anymore when playing any form of rock music and even harder to stand out when you're trying to sound similar to already-existing acts. No Harm Done are a melodic hardcore band from Florida who play their style by the book and not much else, as the idol worship of Strike Anywhere is clearly heard in … Read more

The End of Six Thousand Years / Embrace the End

Split
Still Life (2006)

Still Life Records delivers another slab of aggressive metalcore as it teams up Italy's The End of Six Thousand Years and Sacramento, California's Embrace the End. Each band contributes three songs each of punishing metalcore that will no doubt please any fan of the genre, whether they feel the genre is played out or are just getting into the scene. … Read more

Jesu

Conqueror
Hydra Head (2007)

Okay, I am saying it. This just might be my number one album of 2007. Whatever I thought of Jesu prior to this record went completely out the window. Conqueror is absolutely breathtaking. The audible space that this record fills up is mind-boggling. It is lush. It is sweet and pretty. I am listening to it over and over again … Read more

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