The Ocean, the German post-sludge-metal act masterminded by guitarist Robin Staps, is one of the most consistently high-quality bands in metal today. Ever since Fluxion and Aeolian, Staps has led The Ocean to even greater heights with each release, never settling for anything less than hard-earned perfection. Their latest release, 2013's Pelagial, is no ...

Up until this point, TesseracT wasn't a band I held much respect for. Though a competent release, their debut album One showcased all of the worst traits of the djent movement, doing little to move the genre beyond the "fad metal" title it had inherited. However, after the release of their sophomore ...

The Psyke Project have been terrorizing the metallic hardcore scene since the mid 00s. With their albums steadily increasing in quality, and considering that the quality has been set quite high even with their debut album, Samara that really means something here. The dark sound of the band came into full realization ...

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a progressive rock band in possession of a good reputation must be in want of a double album. They're something of the gold standard of progressive music--proving that you have the chops to write over eighty minutes of music without it beginning to ...

The Italian boys of Forgotten Tomb are certainly not new kids to the black metal scene. The band, going strong since the turn of the century, has made a name by building its own little corner in the depressive black metal genre. With each record the band allows their emotions ...

“We’re going to break you down this Saturday night,” sings The Gateway District in “Break You Down,” off their new LP, Old Wild Hearts. It’s as fitting a place to start as any. The band has a working for the weekend vibe to them, celebrating the good times and letting your ...

An eponymously titled album is somewhat unusual this late into a bands' career and will typically signify that the band in question is, despite all excuses and comments to the contrary, simply out of any new ideas - as reflected in the lack of title along with the lack of ...

I have to be honest here. A band named after a professional wrestler, no matter what they sound like, is going to tug at my heart strings in a way that’s totally unfair to all bands that are not named after professional wrestlers. I also love summer, summer jams, and ...

the black metal horde Enslaved seems to have been around forever. Unlike most bands of their genre and pedigree they have managed to add elements to their style to make themselves more their own band with each release. Each album has flirted with their Pink Floyd fascination while stripping away the ...

The debut album, Heart of Oak, for the Canadian extreme/progressive metal band, Anciients, is a fascinating one. And do not think that this is going to be your standard “progressive” band, where technicality is more important than feeling or substance. This band is an extremely difficult one to categorize so the ...

Starting life as a one-man instrumental outfit by M.Lehto in 2001, October Falls soon began to incorporate other members as well as a more metallic approach to the black metal genre and in 2007 The Streams of the End signalled a huge step for the band in terms of musical stance. Their music is ...

There are a few formats I almost go out of my way to avoid, namely cassettes and digital EPs. However, I’ll make an exception for certain bands and Street Eaters are one of those. Street Eaters released their debut full-length Rusty Eyes and Hydrocarbons in 2011 and it still grips me today. ...

Sweet jesus did Iron Lung ever “come back” with a bang (seriously it has been six years since the band’s awesome album, Sexless // No Sex and even though they released a bunch of splits and collaborations in the interim, it still seems like they have been a bit quiet of late) with the ...

Don't be fooled by the naïvely inconspicuous visage; Vultress are the real deal, and their debut release Distance has emerged out of nowhere to become one of the most surprisingly proficient progressive albums this year.Actually, what's most remarkable about Distance is just how unremarkable it is. For an album that leaves an unforgettably positive ...

After the release of an EP and two split albums, Sadgiqacea managed to land a deal with Candlelight Records under which their debut full-length album False Prism is coming out. The band from Pennsylvania is definitely one you want to check if you are into experimental heavy music, because they definitely know ...

As a disclaimer, I am not in any way an expert on bands whose primary genre tag ends in '-core'. However, I know a fantastic album when I hear it, and the Dillinger Escape Plan's latest album, 2013's One of Us is the Killer, is beyond even that.It's been clear since ...

"I blow my load over the status quo - here we go".A reading from the book of Homme. It has been 6 since Queens of the Stone Age released their album Era Vulgaris. An album this reviewer gave a favorable rating, but admittedly didn't fully understand at the time of reviewing for ...

For a band whose onesheet opens with the pointed “[includes former] member of …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead during that band’s peak,” one would expect a band with some fire at their core. Instead, LVMRKS are an exercise in banality. The nine songs here trudge along at ...

One of the many reasons historians will condemn the early 21st century is the rise of glametalcore. Purveyed by groups such as Steel Panther and Asking Alexandria, this sound blends the abrasive vocals and breakdowns of metalcore with the flamboyance and catchiness of glam metal. Escape The Fate have been torchbearers of the ...

Emma Louise described the cover art for her debut album Vs Head Vs Heart as expressing "the beauty that can come out of vulnerability". The cover art fittingly reflects the songs on Vs Head Vs Heart, vulnerability is seeping through every song in a flurry of initially guarded lyrics, before being torn down ...

If you had asked me two years ago if I’d rather hear another Wartorn song or be kicked in the crotch by a Clydesdale that’s wearing a pair ice climbing cleats, I probably would have picked the option that left me crying in the fetal position with bloody underpants and ...

Seattle is made out to be such a dreary place. Big Eyes released a largely positive-sounding debut in Hard Life and the reviews basically talked about the band’s relocation from Brooklyn to Seattle. Now, with the release of sophomore full-length Almost Famous, the press sheet says things like “a bit of Seattle seeps ...

Nick Cave is an uncaring bastard.He doesn't care if you buy his new album Push The Sky Away, nor does he care if you like it. Of course, this is not what makes him a great artist. What makes him a great artist is the uncompromising nature of his work. The man ...

The Man Who Died in His Boat (released February 2013) is a collection of songs by Grouper, a.k.a. Liz Harris, one-woman ambient/noise/folk/dream-pop impresario of Portland, Oregon. Harris has been active since 2005, the year of her first full-length release, and projects since then have included numerous collaborations, EPs, splits, etc. on ...

Feral Kings' self-titled EP comes from a couple of guys that know how to do what they're doing and do it pretty damn well, and it is not necessarily anything new. If you're familiar with the band members’ previous efforts what they do on this record should come as little ...

Maybe it’s because I caught Off With Their Heads live recently and maybe it’s because on Home, their third official full-length, the theme is something that songwriter Ryan Young has been hinting at all along. Either way, the songs here are familiar and powerful and they continue to deliver in a ...

After enjoying the light, acoustic stylings of Seabuckthorn, I started checking out Bookmaker records for some similarly oriented artists. That's how I found myself stumbling upon the French musician Valentin Féron (aka Henryspenncer, hopefully not as a reference to Eraserhead). And while Féron is of course true to Bookmaker's heavily folk-influenced sound, ...

OK let the namedropping begin: Agalloch, Worm Ouroboros, Hammers of Misfortune, Amber Asylum, YOB, and more. That was probably enough to get your attention, right? So Vhol first came into this world by the twisted ideas of John Cobbett and Aesop Dekker and their aim was to create a band in the vein of the ...

It makes sense that this is Paramore’s self-titled album, even though it’s their fourth full-length. Everything you know or have heard about Paramore, put all of those pre-conceived notions in your time capsule for 2009, because that’s not them anymore. This is the two remaining original members’ (Taylor York joined ...