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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)

Feersum Ennjin

Feersum Ennjin
Dissociated Press (2011)

I really hate being heavily reliant on comparisons to past work in order to form a judgement, but in the case of Paul D'Amour (aka Feersum Ennjin), it's hard not to. As the former bassist for Tool, one of most prolific and undeniably best progressive bands today, it's difficult to take him on his own terms and out from under the spectre of his work with them in the past. Somewhat unfortunately, this is especially with his newest release, the eponymous Feersum Ennjin.Believe me, I am loathe to rely heavily on a comparison of an artist to a single other band, and in any other circumstance, I wouldn't be. Unfortunately, I feel almost like I have to here, if only because this album sounds shockingly similar to Tool's Undertow, albeit with a much more straightforward presentation. It's almost as if D'Amour is consciously trying to maintain Tool's so familiar brooding façade in order to mask what significant steps away from the band he has actually made.Unfortunately, the vocal work just can't compare with Keenan, and since the style tries so hard to retain that Undertow-esque obfuscating broodiness, it's hard not to compare the two. Actually, the vocals are especially noteworthy … Read more

Lionize

Superczar and the Vulture
Pentimento Music (2011)

I rarely listen to music that isn't at least fifteen minutes long per song or lacks internal movement titles, so … Read more

Quelle Chris

2Dirt4TV
Independent (2012)

Hot off the heels his underappreciated 2011 debut full-length Shotgun & Sleek Rifle, Detroit MC/producer Quelle Chris drops his latest … Read more

Various Artists

Police Bastard & War//Plague - Attrition split LP
Profane Existence (2011)

Attrition brings together two punk bands from opposing sides of the Atlantic Ocean—England’s Police Bastard and the United States' War//Plague. … Read more

Classic Album

Morning Again

As Tradition Dies Slowly
Revelation (1998)

Without a doubt, As Tradition Dies Slowly is easily the most metal record that Revelation ever put out (at least … Read more

Classic Album

Elliott

False Cathedrals
Revelation (2000)

There are those records out there where people can point to them as a turning point in their musical taste … Read more

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One from the archives

Year Of The Goat

Angels' Necropolis
Ván (2012)

Year of the Goat haven’t had the best of starts in life – injury, great upheaval, internal friction and possibly more has meant that the Swedish quintet have had to push back the release of their debut Angels’ Necropolis further than they imagined. Praise Satan then, that the record finally sees the darkness of their retro sound birthed into the shadows with classic tones and occultic structures. It’s been a funny old year for the Devil, bands have risen from the depths of Hell to glorify His name in many different ways yet the standard for mystical movements has been deeply rooted in the vibrations of the 1960s/70s landscapes. It’s curious that this type of music has somehow completely reinvented how we see bands calling on the Unholy one and … Read more

More album reviews

Classic Album

Burn

Self Titled
Revelation (1990)

Now this is a classic Revelation release and for some, the classic Revelation release; Burn kind of blew up some people’s sense of what a hardcore record could be, springing from a New York hardcore scene with what at the time were some pretty known names in that scene (members of Absolution and Beyond comprise this group’s make up or … Read more

Classic Album

Himsa

Self Titled
Revelation (1999)

Long before this band went the way of the metal ear candy purveyors that they eventually turned into (check out Courting Tragedy And Disaster for a reference), Himsa dropped this terribly under appreciated and short eponymous EP on an arguably rather stagnant era of hardcore and punk with a dark tone and a bit more of a nuanced view of … Read more

Classic Album

The Nerve Agents

Days Of The White Owl
Revelation (2000)

Though not as revered as the final album from The Nerve Agents, Days Of The White Owl is certainly a turning point for the band and a definite precursor to the critical darling of an album that succeeds it, and this is perhaps a monster injustice to The Nerve Agents because with their last and best album for Revelation, they … Read more

Diablo Swing Orchestra

Pandora's Piñata
Sensory (2012)

Though they're definitely much more accessible than some of their peers, the Diablo Swing Orchestra are without a doubt one of the best avant-garde metal bands around. Granted, it does seem weird to put them in the same category alongside bands like maudlin of the Well, Dog Fashion Disco, and Ved Buens Ende, but their eclectic instrumentation, diverse song arrangements, … Read more

El-P

Cancer 4 Cure
Fat Possum (2012)

A man such as El-P is an anomaly to say the least. To fully describe his music in genre labels or easily identifiable terminology is almost an exercise in futility as both a music fan and writer. The life long New Yorker and figurehead within the underground hip hop scene manages to make a legitimate argument for hip hop as … Read more

Fighting Kites

Self Titled
Variant (2012)

North London four piece Fighting Kites started life in 2009, their brand of intimate instrumental rock immediately setting them apart from the arty crowd that usually inhabits the post-rock tag. Delicate structures of gentle and sweeping beauty permeate this debut record, opener “Chuck Close” a subtle composition of lightly struck notes and slow introductions to a range of noises. As … Read more

Swans

We Rose From Your Bed With The Sun In Our Heads
Young God (2012)

How do you rate bands, or maybe, how do you determine if you think a band is good or not; is it their longevity or their subjective impact on music or how their music speaks to you on emotional level, or does their live show or how they play live help make your ultimate decision? For my part, these questions … Read more

Mares Of Thrace

The Pilgrimage
Sonic Unyon (2012)

Mares Of Thrace are a band apart from the norm. Merely sound-wise they stick outside of the given genre parameters. Meanwhile, one look at their facebook page or the statement they make in a live setting will give any people wanting to pigeonhole them a whole new headache. Let's get this out of the way first, Mares are a two … Read more

Sharon Van Etten

Tramp
Jagjaguwar (2012)

I’m not going to lie. I’m reaching a bit out of my comfort zone on reviewing this one. And, yes, the rating system is a bit skewed toward albums that fit into my more typical listening genres. In other words, it would take Sharon Van Etten a hell of an album to secure a high score. Tramp, her third release, … Read more

Chasma

Declarations Of The Grand Artificer
Moribund Cult\The Mylene Sheath (2011)

As much as I love death metal, I always seem to have issues enjoying black metal. It's not that I have anything against the genre at all--the aesthetic is actually something I really enjoy. But it does seem as if every band that's been put forward from the genre to me has been lacklustre. Sadly, Oregonians Chasma fall into the … Read more

Classic Album

Drowningman

How They Light Cigarettes In Prison
Revelation (2000)

“Try to kill me / motherfucker!” That my friends, is how you kick a record into gear; without a doubt Drowningman laid down a gauntlet of sorts with How They Light Cigarettes In Prison, as other bands of the era struggled to remain relevant, this Vermont (what band comes from Vermont, seriously) band refine their approach and add some sickeningly … Read more

Classic Album

Kiss It Goodbye

She Loves Me Not...
Revelation (1997)

Is it the sound of a quarter life crisis? Is the sound of frustration and anger? In their short lived existence, Kiss It Goodbye released just this full length album (and two singles), but She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not... is nine bursts of concentrated aggression that more or less bludgeon listeners' ears with the viciousness of a mass … Read more

Classic Album

Inside Out

No Spiritual Surrender
Revelation (1990)

“I reach out my hand and you turn the other way!” The only officially recorded output by Inside Out is also a monster of a record that for many is one of the most impassioned sounding recorded works of all time (though this is not a completely universal sentiment by any stretch of the imagination), and, sure, sometimes the band … Read more

Classic Album

The Explosion

Steal This EP
Revelation (2000)

This EP was my introduction to the world of music business and contracts while also reiterating how wild the weirdo rumor mill that really can drive punk and hardcore (to an extant) can be, but more on that later because the aptly named Steal This was also my introduction to The Explosion albeit it brief; and while the record was … 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)