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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)

The Transplants

In A Warzone
Epitaph (2013)

I grew up on Rancid and they introduced me, eventually, to a much wider world of punk rock than what I caught on late night Headbangers Ball and 120 Minutes episodes. Or, for those who didn’t get where this is going from that intro sentence: I feel that I have to qualify why I’m listening to In a Warzone, the third record from The Transplants. The Transplants are a side project “supergroup” comprised of Tim Armstrong (Rancid), Rob Aston (Death March), and Travis Barker (Blink 182). Additional instruments and verses come from guest appearances.In many ways, the most interesting thing about the Transplants is that they exist at all. While Armstrong and Barker at first seemed an odd pairing, the oddest part has proven to be their musical creation. Taking a firm basis in punk rock, the group exists as an outlet for the musicians to let convention fly and to play around with songwriting, genre be damned. They blend a number of styles, but have moved more and more toward a punk/hip-hop hybrid as they’ve developed. In a Warzone continues that path while bringing punk rock, namely d-beat, back to the fore. Thematically it explores the concept of, you … Read more

Kayo Dot

Hubardo
Ice Level Music (2013)

It starts off inconspicuously enough, a series of instrumental swells that set the sombre and dark mood for the rest … Read more

Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine

White People And The Damage Done
Alternative Tentacles (2013)

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle dictates that nothing in this universe has a truly defined position or trajectory and by trying to … Read more

What-A-Nights

Self Titled
Drunken Sailor (2013)

What-A-Nights are a Japanese four-piece punk group, mostly falling on the pop-punk side of the spectrum, with some tight Buzzcocks … Read more

A Secret Policeman's Ball

Teenage Crimewave
MVD Audio (2013)

Who needs functioning eardrums anyway? A Secret Policeman’s Ball play post-punk indie music with new wave undertones, and there is … Read more

Infectious Garage Disease

Self Titled
Negative Reaction / MVD Audio (2013)

The gods of weird have unearthed yet another obscure group of misfits and re-unleashed them upon those of us that … Read more

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One from the archives

Asbestosdeath

Dejection, Unclean
Southern Lord (2007)

If you are at all familiar with doom metal you should no doubt be aware of who Bay Area legends Sleep are, and how big an impact they had/still have on the genre. And you're most likely aware of the post-Sleep projects High On Fire and Om. But you might not necessarily know that Sleep had its humble beginnings in the form of Asbestosdeath, a late 80's/early 90's sludge band that featured all members of Sleep (bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros and drummer Chris Hakius, who both went on to form Om and guitarist Matt Pike, now the frontman of High On Fire) and guitarist Thomas Choi, who later formed ItisI, Operator Generator and Bay Area sludge lords Noothgrush. During its brief existence Asbestosdeath only recorded four songs which went to two … Read more

More album reviews

Morne

Shadows
Profound Lore (2013)

Since their split with Warprayer and their debut album Untold Wait there were no illusions that the band from Boston was onto something truly great. Now, two years after the release of their sophomore full-length, Asylum, Morne strike back with their latest sonic compilation with the band’s only purpose being to drag us into the depths of sorrow and misery … Read more

Vacation

Candy Waves
Don Giovanni (2013)

Here at Scene Point Blank we don’t give titles to our work. If I titled my Vacation review, though, it would be named after track ten: “Feedback Got Me High.” Vacation are a punk band but, you know, so were Nirvana (at least on a basic level). The point is this: there’s a lot you can do with those power … Read more

Author & Punisher

Women & Children
Seventh Rule (2013)

The enigmatic figure of Tristan Shone, a mechanical engineer/metal sculptor, is the driving force behind the Author & Punisher project. By developing custom machines, controllers and speakers (named Drone/Dub Machines) in order to produce an impressive array of different sounds, merging together doom and industrial music, Tristan Shone tried and succeeded in building his own Frankenstein’s monster.The sound of the … Read more

The Enid

Invicta
Operation Seraphim (2012)

The Enid aren't your average '70s-era progressive legacy act. Far from abandoning experimentation and growth in their age as so many of their peers are wont to do, these guys seem dedicated to upholding a standard of quality that would be the envy of most. And though it's not their best album, their latest release, 2013's Invicta, nonetheless comes as … Read more

Amplifier

Echo Street
Kscope (2013)

This review is part of my coverage of the 2013 Progressive Music Awards, on 3 September. Amplifier is one of the few bands in the small but noticeably growing post-progressive scene (proving, once and for all, that "post-" can be appended to anything). It's music that firmly falls into the progressive rock camp--you won't be at a loss for extended … Read more

Frozen Teens

Oakland Footsteps
StarCleaner (2013)

Frozen Teens are tough sound to pin down exactly. It’s not because it’s 100% out there, it’s because it subtly pulls from different arenas, coming together in something of a power-pop/punk. The Minneapolis trio are releasing a 7”, Oakland Footsteps, here, and it’s a solid release through and through. It starts with the 3:10 “Oakland,” which covers way more ground … Read more

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Mosquito
Interscope/Polydor (2013)

Part of me has waited so long to review the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s fourth album, Mosquito because I really don’t want to pan the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. In fact, I’d like to pretend Mosquito didn’t happen after three knock out albums that were filled with passion, rock and roll and intensity - Fever to Tell (2003), Show Your Bones (2006) … Read more

Tilman Hartley

To Basics
Orthogonal (2013)

Guitars guitars guitars. When did you last hear a new band who's main focus is on guitars? Londoner Tilman Hartley's debut album To Basics is all about the guitars, teeming with frazzled barre chords and captivating riffs.Among all the near-faultless guitar playing Hartley's vocals have a tendency to veer all over the place. On "Belle de Jour" it's difficult to … Read more

From Oceans to Autumn

Pareto Analysis II: The Vital Few
Independent (2013)

From Oceans to Autumn is a band that I was surprised was not on my post-metal radar. They have a surprisingly prolific (and notably high-quality) output for a band that was just formed in 2006, and with the release of the second volume in their Pareto Analysis series, The Vital Few, they are showing no signs of slowing down.What I … Read more

The Body

Master, We Perish
At A Loss (2013)

The Body are, for want of a better phrase, absolutely fucking bonkers. From the trippy All the Waters of the Earth Shall Turn to Blood to the disturbing video for the track “The Ebb and Flow of Tides in a Sea of Ash” (don’t click that link if you’re of a nervous disposition) that’s featured on this new EP, The … Read more

Grey Storia

Martonic
14 Tower Records (2013)

With their humble roots set in friendly jam sessions, American post-rock band theLakeSuperior recorded their first three demos back in the spring of 2011. Just a year later, bolstered by their warm reception, the band took a new name, Grey Storia, and was ready to cut their first release. Those recordings later became their 2013 EP and debut, Martonic.From the … Read more

Arsis

Unwelcome
Nuclear Blast (2013)

Arsis have gotten a lot of flack recently--many folks haven't liked their turn away from the frantically technical towards the heavily melodic. And while I personally liked Starve for the Devil, there's no denying that substantial change has occurred in Arsis's sound, and despite a few bright moments here and there, it has generally been for the worse. Unfortunately, their … Read more

Gaytheist

Hold Me...But Not So Tight
Good to Die Records (2013)

Gaytheist are nothing if not a eye-catching band. Their name - a portmanteau of 'gay' and 'atheist' - will undoubtedly set perceptions of the trio before the needle has even dropped. Hold Me… But Not So Tight's artwork portrays two stylised, embracing reptiles, the band's name superimposed in strong capitals. Song titles such as 'Poocano' or 'Wisdom of the Asshole' … Read more

The Fifth Alliance

Unrevealed Secrets Of Ruin
Demons Run Amok (2013)

The Fifth Alliance were formed in late 2006 in Bruda, Netherlands. Their sound is a mixture of doom, sludge and hardcore. The members include Silvia on vocals, Niels and Ivo on guitars, Rudd on bass and Ashwin on drums.Although the band was conceived back in 2006, their full length Unrevealed Secrets Of Ruin came out only 7 seven years later, … Read more

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

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