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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)

Dag Rosenqvist & Matthew Collings

Hello Darkness
Denovali (2017)

There is a familiarity that builds when musicians collaborate. Experimental alchemists, Dag Rosenqvist and Matthew Collings have met in the past to produce the wonderful Wonderland EP, released in 2012 as part of Hibernate's collaboration series. Their new record together, Hello Darkness, produces a more distinct and complete end result of what their combined musical vision is. At first glimpse Hello Darkness is a dim work, an album where bleakness freely roams. Myriad of elements point to that direction, as the noise creeps in slowly, separating you from reality. Unyielding walls of sound are conjured, increasing in intensity and creating an asphyxiating atmosphere as a result. But that is what is happening at the floor level.In essence this is an album of contradiction, and there are various clues along the way that reveal the true nature of Hello Darkness. The title itself points to that duality, an obvious reference of Simon & Garfunkel's “The Sound of Silence,” where the artists greet this opposing force, embracing instead of ostracizing it. The artwork speaks to this split theme, with a salmon color background acting as the first impression, alongside the smiley face with a single tear dripping down. There is a lot … Read more

200 Words Or Less

S.H.I.T.

i EP
La Vida Es Un Mus Discos Punk (2017)

After making some waves around ye olden DIY hardcore scene circa 2014, these Toronto-ians took a little hiatus from recorded … Read more

Book Review

Harley Flanagan

Hard-Core: Life Of My Own
Feral House (2016)

This book brings together quite a few things:For a start, it is being published by Feral House, which is owned … Read more

Mouth of the Architect

Time & Withering Remastered
Translation Loss (2017)

Dayton, Ohio’s Mouth of the Architect was a post-metal lover’s wet dream when they came on the seen. The Midwest … Read more

White Reaper

The World's Best American Band
Polyvinyl (2017)

You’d think that a band that titled their album The World’s Best American Band may be getting ahead of themselves. … Read more

Monolog & Subheim

Conviction
Denovali (2017)

This is the first collaboration between Monolog, master of Drum n Bass and IDM music, and Subheim, explorer of abstract … Read more

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One from the archives

Revilers

Self Titled
Patac (2012)

Boston punk outfit Revilers have been kicking about on their local scene since 2008, and finally dropped debut album Revilers on Patac Records at the end of March. Containing thirteen no-holds-barred and vitriolic as heck anthems, Revilers builds on the EP's (Isolation, Stand or Fall - both on Patac) the band have released previously and fully realises their stance on the world and how these individuals see it. Featuring words spat by two vocalists, JH and S (who can also be found wielding a guitar each), Revilers take a firm approach in their punk rock sensibilities and whilst this is a band with something clear to say, that message is never forced down your throat. A lot of politically charged bands are inclined to do that and it's refreshing to … Read more

More album reviews

200 Words Or Less

Rata Negra

Oido Absoluto LP
La Vida Es Un Mus Discos Punk (2017)

This is some killer punk out of Madrid, Spain on that throwback tip. If you had told me this was some recently excavated ‘80s gem getting the reissue treatment I’d have no reason not to believe you. Even the band photo used on the cover—which itself looks like it was clipped from an old photocopied zine kicking around your dad’s … Read more

Zu

Jhator
House of Mythology (2017)

As an entity Zu always strive to move forward, aiming towards the very essence of experimental music: innovation. Through the years they have changed multiple forms, and collaborated with a diverse array of artists, including free jazz guru Mats Gustafsson, experimental hip-hop project Dalek and singer of experimental rock outlet Oxbow, Eugene Robinson. Morphing from one sound to the next, … Read more

Justin Walter

Unseen Forces
Kranky (2017)

Trumpeter Justin Walter is mostly known through his works in experimental jazz/fusion collective NOMO, his collaboration with Brian Case (of Disappears) in Bambi Kino Duo, and his contribution to works of His Name Is Alive and Colin Stetson. What is constant in all these instances, is the depth of his exploratory playing, something that whets the appetite in seeing him … Read more

Good Friend

Ride The Storm
Red Scare Industries (2016)

I’m a fan of a select little niche of pop punk. The cleaner the voices, the more I tend to dislike it or just not connect. However, Red Scare Industries has been capturing a nice little segment that hits right in the middle between my proffered gruff stuff with the more up-front and happier sounding ilk (on the surface, anyway). … Read more

Mystery Date

Love Collector
Collision Course Records (2016)

Mystery Date fit that classic mod-power pop sound, with an ear for well-tuned guitars, a hint of fuzz, and more focus on melody than “lead” anything, be it lead vocals, lead guitar, whatever. Love Collector is their first (recorded) album, first issued digitally in 2014 and now out on LP via Collision Course (late 2016). They released New Noir previously … Read more

Liquids

More Thana Friend EP
Drunken Sailor (2017)

English record label Drunken Sailor Records released this sweet and short EP. For some reason that made me believe Liquids are an English band. And that’s not only because this EP is released on an English label. The band sounds like they could be from that funny little island. I was wrong though. Dead wrong. Liquids hails from Indiana. And … Read more

Laura Marling

Semper Femina
More Alarming Records (2017)

Laura Marling was routinely described as being precocious when she first started making her own music as a teenager. She emerged as part of London's early '00s nu-folk scene, alongside the likes of Mumford & Sons and Noah and the Whale, but her music still seemed distinctly different from her peers'. Marling dealt with a preoccupation with death when she … Read more

Dodecahedron

Kwintessens
Season of Mist (2017)

The word quintessence derives from the Latin “quintus” and the english “essence,” translated roughly to the fifth essence. The reason for the number appearing in this instance comes from medieval philosophy, where quintessence was considered to be the fifth addition to the four classical elements (earth, wind, fire and water,) one that exists in the heavenly bodies, and is inherent, … Read more

Max Richter

Three Worlds: Music From Woolf Works
Deutsche Grammophon (2017)

Neo-classical music and minimalistic explorations always had a point of convergence. Minimal electronic applications found their way into classical orchestrations, expanding the sound of the orchestra, as well as the emotional scope of the composer. Max Richter is a proud example of this tradition, a composer who has learned as much from Philip Glass and Steve Reich, as he has … Read more

The Obsessed

Sacred
Relapse (2017)

The Obsessed belongs in the category of the legendary American doom acts. Formed during the '70s as Warhorse, they truly kicked things off in the early '90s, with their self-titled debut full-length. Led by Scott “Wino” Weinrich, an iconic figure of the scene, The Obsessed was a powerful vehicle of heavy rock visions and bleak doom worlds. And as a … Read more

Greg Graffin

Millport
Anti (2017)

Greg Graffin has always been a big influence on the way I approach things. I love punk rock, but there was always a stigma attached to those that partook in the genre. It’s true I was part of a generation that pushed the vision of the '90s slacker kid, but I would like to think it was much more than … Read more

The Great Old Ones

EOD: A Tale of Dark Legacy
Season of Mist (2017)

The influence of H.P. Lovecraft in popular culture is undeniable, and its presence in the metal genre is highlighted from classic Metallica tracks, to off-kilter acts like Blind Idiot God. The Great Old Ones, a French post-black metal outfit, proudly embrace this tradition, as their suggests, exploring the themes of cosmicism through the years, starting with their debut album, Al … Read more

Paco Sala

The Silent Season
Denovali (2017)

Paco Sala is the strange, outsider pop project of producer Anthony Harrison and singer Marie-Pascale Hardy. Having released a series of albums, with their main goal being the tinkering of pop structures and norm, The Silent Season marks their fifth full-length, and is the first of their works to be released through experimental label Denovali.The production of this record is … Read more

Hellmouth

Oblivion
Fast Break Records (2017)

When I heard my first Hellmouth record—which I’ve since learned was their second release (Gravestone Skylines, 2010)—it was more of a curiosity than something that really grabbed me. Here was Jay Navarro of Suicide Machines in a metal band. His voice definitely fits the style, but the riff-dominant vitriol was such a transition that it threw me off. I enjoyed … Read more

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