Recent reviews

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)

Pelican

What We All Come to Need
Southern Lord (2009)

Pelican's new record What We All Come to Need is a gorgeous journey through sludge rock with some moments of beautiful calm. But does it hold your attention enough to be a repeated listen? I got into Pelican when I purchased 2005's The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw. Overall it was a great album, but few songs were worth listening to alone. Then in 2007 Pelican released City of Echoes which was an album showing more of the light side of Pelican, but remaining heavy. How does What We All Come to Need match up to their previous LP's? Well, to put it simply, it's "meh." "Glimmer" starts the album out. A great opener, it has that welcome back feel to it every album should. It starts out with a few chords, then the sludgy-distortion kicks in, not without backing the song perfectly. The mood on What We All Come to Need is pretty upbeat, reminiscent of City of Echoes, however, the songs are less catchy, you wont find yourself as hooked on this album as you might have been with their past releases. Much of Pelican's latest is low-tuned looming guitar riffs, not really shaking it … Read more

Jodis

Secret House
Hydra Head (2009)

Jodis is finally making its way onto stereos after a bit of a wait since the group announced its existence. … Read more

Pyramids with Nadja

Pyramids with Nadja
Hydra Head (2009)

How does a group of people who make a decent first album top that album (or theoretically top that album … Read more

The Low Anthem

Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
Nonesuch (2009)

There where a few things that caught me about this between the record itself and the press release given to … Read more

Rot in Hell

Hallways of the Always
A389/Grot (2009)

If you're not familiar with Rot in Hell, then this collection of recordings is a great place to start. Hallways … Read more

The Guilt Show

Before They Know We're All Dead
Refoundation (2009)

Now this is more like it. After the slow burn of the opening track "Raise My Flag," The Guilt Show … Read more

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One from the archives

Rockets Red Glare

Moonlight Desires
Blue Skies Turn Black (2004)

Minimalist tendencies. Math-rock. Post-rock. All good things in proper doses. But can they be mixed to produce something great? Ah, well, there's the real question. Rockets Red Glare seems to think so. Judging by this record, I'd have to agree with them. Hailing from Ontario, the band were a strange exercise in restraint for the most part, always intriguing by being the one band that never got exceptionally loud in a scene full of bands that did nothing but crescendo. It managed to catch a few ears the first time around; the much-lauded Chicago quartet Sweep the Leg Johnny released the Montreal trio's first album in 2002 on their Sick Room Records label following a series of shows, showcasing the world Rockets Red Glare's minimalist-yet-jagged approach to creating music. By … Read more

More album reviews

Hallowed Butchery

Funeral Rites for the Living
Vendetta (2009)

Funeral Rites for the Living kicks off in just the right way, as "Wake for the Human Race" opens with this absolutely guttural voice until the grand entrance of the rest of the music; admittedly, I had no idea what to expect of this album by Hallowed Butchery because of a complete lack of hearing of this solo outfit of … Read more

Myles Deck and the Fuzz

Police Cops
From Here To There (2008)

I guess Myles Deck and the Fuzz deliver what they promise on Police Cops. With a name referencing fuzz and a title copped from The Simpsons, the band offers three anti-police songs that I can throw on top of the landfill-size pile of similar-themed songs in my library. The lyrics are juvenile and anthemic, which I also probably should have … Read more

Jesu

Opiate Sun
Calo Verde (2009)

Now, here we are. Opiate Sun is yet another EP by Jesu, which seems to be a recurring theme lately with this outfit of Justin Broadrick's (in addition of course to oft times contributors Diarmud Dalton and now Phil Petrocelli). A pre-release teaser song, "Deflated" (with its awfully catchy gloom), was offered to the sometimes insatiable and growing Jesu fan … Read more

Yesterday's Ring

Diamonds in the Ditch
Suburban Home (2009)

Some folks they tell me: "You just can't play country / You're a stupid young punk and you're from Montreal" / But I'll still make you cry with that song. - Yesterday's Ring - "Sad Songs" Good, heartfelt music wins in the end, not shtick. Yesterday's Ring doesn't succeed because they're punks playing country, rather it's because of the honest … Read more

Struck by Lightning

Serpents
Translation Loss (2009)

I've said it before: Translation Loss has an amazing knack for finding bands that are head and heels over most of the metal world. This time they saved a bunch of trouble. After a fall out between members of another band on the label one of the members left and formed this beast. Though this is a heavy band there … Read more

Black Cobra

Chronomega
Southern Lord (2009)

Black Cobra have quite an impressive sound considering they're only a two-piece band consisting of a guitarist and drummer. The duo consisting of Jason Landrian on guitar/vocals and Rafeal Martinez (ex-Acid King) on drums do a pretty good job of delivering a strong sludge metal sound that remains consistent throughout on their third album, Chronomega. Already with two albums under … Read more

Coalesce

Ox (EP)
Relapse (2009)

If ever the term spoiled could be used, do it now right now because that is what Coalesce is doing to its listeners with the release of their latest EP, aptly entitled Ox by the way. Following an extremely long layoff due to (of all things) breaking up, Coalesce return with a ton of new material which this EP is … Read more

Becoming the Archetype

Dichotomy
Solid State (2008)

So after receiving the Becoming the Archetype full-length Dichotomy, I checked out the CD book before listening to it, remembering great tracks like "One Man Parade" off of Terminate Damnation, I immediately went to the last page of the album art to check the credits and see if there were any worth-while guests, only to find that Devin Townsend produced … Read more

Ghostface Killah

Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City
Def Jam (2009)

I'm a big Ghostface fan. Iron Man? Supreme Clientele? Fishscale? Love em'. The guy is by far the most consistent rapper of the Wu-Tang Clan. He's got great flow, can pull off the stream of consciousness rapping quite well, and his lyrics cover a nice variety of topics including the usual life on the street struggle, explicit sexual acts, as … Read more

Yog

Years of Nowhere
187 (2009)

Grind and technical metal are difficult types of music to pull off well as they are the kind of music that have rich histories of excellent examples of bands who do them well, and seeing as there are several very important touchstones which grind bands (particularly) seemingly must adhere to in order to fly the grind and technical metal banner … Read more

Run With the Hunted

Everything Familiar
Refoundation (2009)

When you name your band after a Charles Bukowski book, you are automatically selling yourself as an intellectual band, or at least a well-read one. This strategy can be either beneficial or cause negative affects on a band if their music and their lyrics fail to own up the intelligence level they wish to portray themselves. Luckily, Run With the … Read more

Ender

Ender
Darkroom (2009)

New Zealand is quite a long distance away from the United States, and whenever I hear New Zealand mentioned, Lewis Black's (the comedian and political commentator) sketch about performing there always pops in my mind " if you fly to New Zealand by plane from New York City it takes twenty-two hours if they really wanted to be more of … Read more

Baroness

Blue Record
Relapse (2009)

Much like their previous full-length, Red Album, Baroness' follow-up, Blue Record has been hyped quite a bit by the metal community. Red Album saw Baroness go in a very interesting direction as they shifted away from the straight-up heaviness of their EPs to a more drawn out and atmospheric sound, while still holding onto their sludge roots. Regardless, Red Album … Read more

White Mice

Ganjahovedose
20 Buck Spin (2009)

To start I took a whole bunch of notes on White Mice's Ganjahovedose and realized afterward that I missed something kind of big about this band, no guitars. White Mice operates as a three-piece and that may be the only truly normal thing about them. They use drums, bass and most oddly an oscillator to make some of the strangest … 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)