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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)

Highness

Hold
Magic Bullet (2013)

With one fell swoop Highness manage to confirm suspicions and completely avoid them. When a band made up of more than a few well known underground acts get together there is bound to be a few ideas as to what they should or will sound like when the finished product is available. When your band consists of members of such bands as Christie Front Drive, City Of Caterpillar, Ghastly City Sleep and Corn On Macabre (among others) one could fathom a few ideas most of which probably relegated to being a '90s styled emo band. Well hate to break it to anyone hoping for that you're wish has been perversely granted. While there are certainly tinges of that style within the main vocals and pensive melodic and more "normal" rock breaks there is a whole other beast lying within. While the influence of each previously mentioned band does have an obvious piece to this puzzle at different intervals where the record gets truly interesting is when the band employs influence from more spaced out territory. For every melodic vocal part that sounds absolutely familiar is a post rock ambiance that manages to permeate nearly every song. This gives the songs … Read more

Motörhead

Aftershock
UDR (2013)

Motörhead have the blues. Sure, they've worn their influences on their sleeves for the entirety of their 40 year career. … Read more

Seidr

Ginnungagap
Bindrune Records (2013)

Existing on the outer realms of the galaxies, where space and time collide, Seidr return with their sophomore release,Ginnungagap. Led … Read more

The Silks

Last American Band
Independent (2013)

When I first caught The Silks playing in a friends living room I was amazed at the raw energy these … Read more

Kodaline

In A Perfect World
RCA (2013)

Mohill is a rural Irish village in county Leitrim, it's nice, quaint and generally doesn't divide opinion. To use an … Read more

Rations

Martyrs and Prisoners
86'd records (2013)

Released on 86’d Records, I came to Rations with a blank slate. Thirty seconds of research tells me the band … Read more

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One from the archives

The Casting Out

Go Crazy! Throw Fireworks!
Fail Safe (2009)

Nathan Gray was the lead singer of what was one of the most important band in the late 90's, Boy Sets Fire. There are plenty of people out there that would just love to refute this fact. Nevertheless from Boy Sets Fire's performance at More than Music where they had members of the audience come up and talk about being sexually violated to their never ending battle with Conquer the World Records to finally "selling out" and going to Victory there was no other band that was constantly on the lips of those in the know during the last decade. Unfortunately Boy Sets Fire faded to obscurity by signing to the same label as Creed (Creed!) and putting out a near nu-metal album and then were dropped like it was … Read more

More album reviews

Pearl Jam

Lightning Bolt
Republic (2013)

Nobody and I mean NOBODY involved with or familiar with the Seattle scene back in 1991 would have guessed that Pearl Jam would be, with the exception of Puget Sound stalwarts Mudhoney, the last band standing. They were the upstarts, the Johnny-Come-Latelys that took a long time to gain the respect from their peers. After almost all of their peers … Read more

Red Fang

Whales And Leeches
Relapse (2013)

There's an untold amount of new bands just waiting to be discovered. Some will be discovered and just as quickly forgotten. Some will be discovered, appreciated for a brief time and then forgotten. The very lucky few will be discovered, loved and will continue to be loved by a few, who will spread the word to a few and, higher … Read more

Galactic Cannibal

We're Fucked
Hewhocorrupts Inc. (2013)

Goddamn, these are some brutally hoarse vocals. Like the kind that makes my voice hurt just thinking about singing along, and I mean that in the best possible way.Galactic Cannibal are a Milwaukee punk band comprised of brothers Nick Woods (Direct Hit!) and Peter J Woods (noise artist). Throw those comparisons out the window, though, as this slams the pedal … Read more

Deadly Reign

Slave
Profane Existence (2013)

Deadly Reign is a three-piece punk unit based in Austin, TX. They are a fairly new band (not to be confused with the ‘80s Cali band of the same name) but play with the skill and poise of a veteran group. And not surprisingly so, as they are comprised of members of crust luminaries like World Burns to Death, Scarred … Read more

Jungbluth

Part Ache
Halo of Flies (2013)

Karl Jungbluth was a German communist involved with various resistance groups that stood up against National Socialism and the Nazis. Expectedly enough, he got arrested twice in a decade and the second time turned out to be fatal. He was executed along with fellow resistance fighters on January 12, 1945.Alpinist was a four-piece crust/hardcore punk band from Münster, Germany formed … Read more

Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington

High Rise EP
Play Pen LLC (2013)

For those who recall, the first time that Stone Temple Pilots got tired of waiting around for Scott Weiland to turn his shit around was in 1997. The DeLeo brothers and drummer Eric Kretz recruited singer Dave Coutts and Talk Show was born. I saw them play live on the second leg of Foo Fighters' Colour and the Shape tour. … Read more

Medicine

To The Happy Few
Captured Tracks (2013)

Imagine being in a band that broke up seventeen years earlier meeting together to divide up copies of re-issues of what are arguably said band’s finest recorded moments, and in those moments being so overcome by the excitement of the moment that you and your compatriots immediately begin writing the first song for the follow-up record to your final album … Read more

INVSN

Self Titled
Razor & Tie (2013)

The problem with a passion project is that its appeal is going to be fairly strictly limited to those who are passionate about the focus of the project or passionate about those behind it. I'm not sure which of those sides of the coin will turn out to be the one to call in mid-air, but as turns out to … Read more

Native

Orthodox
Sargent House (2013)

It's been a while since I've been this interested in a post-hardcore record. Native seem to have that effect on me. As a band, they're too often overlooked, brushed aside by most as another one of the many cardboard cutout bands watering down a once innovative music scene. Indiana post-hardcore powerhouses Native play a distinctly groovy and angular take on … Read more

Loss Of Self

Twelve Minutes
Flenser (2013)

Loss Of Self first garnered attention following the release of their eponymous 2012 demo. With much acclaim following their unique take on the modern trend of positive sounding black metal, it was no surprise that genre label The Flenser saw potential in the lo-fi three-track effort. Now, with Twelve Minutes, the Melbourne-based outfit have set out a record that doesn’t … Read more

Oranssi Pazuzu

Valonielu
Svart Records/20 Buck Spin (2013)

Oranssi Pazuzu are claiming to be coming from Finland… truth is that a more likely point of origin for this band is outer space. Even their name has an intriguing story behind it, with the band taking the word “Oranssi”, which means orange, as a reference to the first light rays in the big bang, and following with the name … Read more

Fragarak

Crypts of Dissimulation
Independent (2013)

Indian quintet Fragark have one of the bossest names for a death metal band ever. (Cheat sheet: it comes from the name of the sword wielded by Irish sea deity Manannán mac Lir, and literally means 'The Retaliator' or 'The Answerer'. Chills, I tell you.) But when it comes to music, their 2013 debut, Crypts of Dissimulation, falls squarely into … Read more

Medicine

The Buried Life
Captured Tracks (2013)

Give me a few minutes to simply gush about this album (I insist) because while I love the first album from Medicine (Self, Shot Forth Living), I find myself popping this delicious ear candy of a record on a tad bit more; The Buried Life is an excellent sophomore album that shows a definite growth for the band, and the … Read more

Medicine

Self, Shot Forth Living
Captured Tracks (2013)

“Sometimes it rains inside my head / All the words run dry…”She sang so sweetly up there on the big screen, and I had absolutely no idea at the time that what I was seeing in the movie theater at that minute was to become a weird love affair that has literally spanned virtually two decades, and I have loved … Read more

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