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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)

Hope Lane is a Dead End

Illuminate
Independent (2009)

Metalcore has been an interesting genre over the years. Initially bands like Integrity, Earth Crisis, and Unbroken were labeled as metalcore for their metal influences in the hardcore sound. Since then, bands like Cave In, Botch, and Poison the Well have been labeled as such, all while developing their own styles within those bounds. Additionally the term has been bastardized as of late by bands like The Devil Wears Prada and their ilk. Hope Lane is a Dead End is a metalcore outfit based out of Massachusetts. They claim influence from the likes of Cave In, Botch, and Shai Hulud. And while I hear very faint inklings of those bands in their sound, they are far from any of those artists. The band makes good use of chug-chug riffs and frequently uses breakdowns throughout the songs. The vocals are the overused cookie-monster growls with the occasional "clean" melodies. Illuminate falls someplace between the worlds of Killswitch Engage and Poison the Well's early releases. There isn't much new metalcore that I enjoy, the last new band I enjoyed was Romans. Hope Lane is a Dead End isn't bad, it's just not my thing. Read more

200 Words Or Less

Heads Held High

So Say We All
Crossface (2009)

So Say We All is the full-length debut from Clevelanders Heads Held High. These five gentlemen have been kicking around … Read more

200 Words Or Less

One Win Choice

Define/Redefine
Jump Start (2009)

Don't you love finding new punk bands? I sure do, which is why I was stoked to find out about … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Miseration

Your Demons ~ Their Angels
Lifeforce (2008)

Former Scar Symmetry vocalist Christian Älvestam has left said band to focus more on his other project, Miseration. Miseration is … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Charged

Summer 2008
Melotov Cocktail (2009)

Charged is a hardcore band from southern California, playing a pretty straightforward style. The vocals are probably the strongest part … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Tommy Keene

In the Late Bright
Second Motion (2009)

New release from this accomplished singer/guitarist finds him continuing to offer us great songs, which are really hard to come … Read more

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One from the archives

Mike Hale

Lives Like Mine
Suburban Home (2009)

In the Red frontman Mike Hale recently made the decision to be a musician full-time and he's been very busy at work considering that his solo record, Lives Like Mine, was recorded only two weeks after In the Red's second album was released. One would think that the album may have been rushed and the quality of the songs may have been effected but that is certainly not the case here as Hale's songwriting skills really blossom on Lives Like Mine. Lives Like Mine shows a deeper, stripped down version of Mike Hale as most songs only feature his voice and an acoustic guitar, with an accompanying piano on a few tracks. He uses these instruments to give Lives Like Mine a very depressing vibe. It's a very dark and … Read more

More album reviews

200 Words Or Less

Longwave

Secrets are Sinister
Original Signal (2008)

So much going on here it's hard to know where to begin. But if you like bands that prefer atmospheric overlays on their songs versus sparse settings, this band is for you. Fans of The Church and Echo & The Bunnymen will most likely appreciate the sonic depth presented here. "No Direction" should be a hit, I'm surprised I haven't … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Sleepies

Join the Shark
Doom Song (2008)

Cranky, off kilter rock from this Brooklyn power trio. Best lyrics on this EP (I guess it is an EP; it's seven songs clocking in at under sixteen minutes) are "Body cast but you ain't speaking / Drunk and grinding on your gun / That's how you ruined Surfer Rosa" (from "You're Still An Owl.)" Best song title - "Napolean … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Mitch Easter

Dynamico
Electric Devil (2008)

Excellent debut solo record from the former Let's Active mastermind. Of course, the sound quality is killer, considering it was recorded in his own studio. Power pop with cool guitar licks throughout makes this a consistently rewarding listen. "Time Warping," "Dusky Lair," and "Why is it so Hard?" are my favorites here. But this record is bursting at the seams … Read more

mewithoutYou

It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright
Tooth & Nail (2009)

The title for Philadelphia act mewithoutYou's fourth album comes from Parable 518 of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen's The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh where he writes, "It's all false, It's all a dream, It's all crazy, It's all over, It's all right, Let's see what's next." Perhaps better than any others, these words mirror the band's evolution from their screamish [A->B] … Read more

Clutch

Full Fathom Five: Audio Field Recordings
Weathermaker Music (2008)

This review is pretty damn pointless. No one is going to buy a live album unless they're familiar with the band, and anyone familiar with Clutch will know whether they want to purchase it long before they read these fevered scribblings. For a long time now, Clutch have been leaders in the field of live rock for those in the … Read more

Multiple Authors

Narrows

New Distances
Deathwish Inc. (2009)

Yes, this is finally out and not a moment too soon! The first Narrows full-length, New Distances, is indeed finally available for the shattering of our ear drums. And it must be said that it does come amidst a slew of hype and anticipation (and no small amount on my own part to be brutally honest). Coming off their first … Read more

Multiple Authors

Narrows

New Distances
Deathwish Inc. (2009)

Narrows return to the musical fold with their debut full-length and follow-up to last year's very impressive self-titled EP. Like many others, when news of this project was first announced, I was beyond excited and anticipated great things. Who wouldn't be when members of Botch, Unbroken, Some Girls, and These Arms are Snakes get together? Fools. That's who! The band's … Read more

Multiple Authors

Green Day

21st Century Breakdown
Reprise (2009)

Green Day are at a point in their careers where they can basically do anything. Almost all of their fans from the Gilman Street days are gone and they seem to appeal to a completely different crowd now. That's not to say that the "true punks" don't still enjoy then, but the band's audience has definitely expanded over the years … Read more

Multiple Authors

Green Day

21st Century Breakdown
Reprise (2009)

I'm going to keep this brief, because Billie Joe Armstrong and company couldn't 21st Century Breakdown is Green Day's first record clocking in at over an hour in length, comprising, as you're probably sick of hearing about, three acts and eighteen songs. It also picks up where American Idiot left off, except it lacks any of the character of that … Read more

Gifts From Enola

From Fathoms
The Mylene Sheath (2009)

Post-rock has predictably reached its stage of full saturation, becoming the self-loathing cliché that wasn't hard to see coming. Bands are unfairly and mockingly compared to Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, and This Will Destroy You, whose stranglehold over the genre have made them a benchmark for those that follow suit and a constant reminder of the jadedness of the … Read more

Romance of Young Tigers

Marie
Magic Bullet (2008)

Marie is an EP-ish release - it is more than a half hour of music - from Romance of Young Tigers. The release is an impressive project with handmade packaging for every physical copy (out of 500) which are made from reclaimed CD covers and packages from other groups. Again, Romance of Young Tigers produce an evocative brand of instrumental … Read more

Gallows

Grey Britain
Warner Bros. (2009)

After landing a million-pound record deal with Warner Bros., a lot of the punks were expecting Gallows' follow-up to Orchestra of Wolves to go in a "poppier" direction so it would sell well. Guess what? They were wrong, very wrong. Gallows' latest offering, Grey Britain shows the band more hateful, aggressive, and powerful than ever. The benefit of a higher-budget … Read more

Thee Oh Sees

The Master's Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In
Tomlab/Cast-Face (2008)

Stumbling upon this band after reading an intriguing interview (albeit several years after it was initially published), I popped The Master's Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In from Thee Oh Sees in my stereo expecting some acoustic lo-fi recordings. Instead, what I heard was a hundred times better as the "Block of Ice" exuberantly bounced out of the stereo … Read more

Warbringer

Waking Into Nightmares
Century Media (2009)

A little over a year has passed since the release of Warbringer's debut album, War Without End, an album which was solid, but didn't really have any lasting value. Imagine opening a time capsule and finding an unreleased Sepultura album from 1987, that was basically what War Without End was. Not saying it's a bad thing, but I felt the … 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)