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)

Ritual

Wolves
Still Life (2007)

I don't know what it is but Europeans love vegan and straightedge hardcore a lot more than us Americans do, or at least they come across as more passionate about them than the average hardcore fan here. I can't explain it nor will I attempt to do so. I just know there is a greater concentration of those types of bands coming from Europe. Germany's Ritual is a prime example and this new MCD, Wolves, is pretty darn good proof that they do it better. Wolves compiles the bands latest 7" of the same name as well as their debut 7" - One Foot in the Grave - and a fitting cover song. The first four songs come from the Wolves 7". Musically the band is treading in a territory that mixes the metallic hardcore of Unbroken with the rock-infused hardcore of American Nightmare and The Hope Conspiracy. These songs are really well written and the lyrics only add to their intensity. There are a lot fantastic riffs and some really good sing-along parts; the breakdowns are here too, but not over the top. The three songs from their first 7" release follow. The recording is a bit rough but … Read more

Jarboe & Justin K. Broadrick

J2
The End (2008)

After a year like 2007 that Justin Broadrick and his Jesu project had, one has to wonder what J2 (his … Read more

Riddle of Steel

1985
Ascetic (2008)

Riddle of Steel's Myspace blog is an amusing read for a variety of reasons, most notably the October 12, 2007, … Read more

J. Bannon

The Blood of Thine Enemies
Deathwish Inc. (2008)

A few years back Jacob Bannon took some time from his busy schedule of providing vocals for Converge and design … Read more

Light Pupil Dilate

Snake Wine
Lifeforce (2007)

It's never easy to be a band today with many disparate influences. Today's groups are trying to become immortal or … Read more

Envy

Compiled Fragments 1997-2003
Temporary Residence (2008)

So here it is, Temporary Residence Limited finally is releasing this record stateside negating the need (if you happen to … Read more

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One from the archives

Creeping Weeds

We Are All Part Of A Dream You Are Having
Hot Horse (2007)

There are some bands that are just the sum of their influences and nothing more. These bands trade off their name dropping and ability to sound like their favourite bands but at the same time do nothing of any real originality. These bands seem to just be happy to follow in the footsteps of the bands before them and not make any waves knowing that they have an audience already there for them. Creeping Weeds are on of these bands. Sounding like the sort of thing people that are far too pretentious for their own good would create, We Are All Part Of A Dream You Are Having (to be called WAAPODYAH from now on) is a mix of ambient, electronic and acoustic sounds that people that like to pretend … Read more

More album reviews

Envy

All the Footprints You've Ever Left and the Fear Expecting Ahead (Reissue)
Temporary Residence (2008)

Besides being a mouthful of a title, All the Footprints You've Ever Left and the Fear Expecting Ahead is one of my favorite Envy records with its capture of the band's raw emotion and the sound of a band becoming more comfortable with themselves. This is a reissue that is a part of Temporary Residence's recent big Envy offering the … Read more

The Tossers

Agony
Victory (2007)

A handful of records on multiple labels, a World Series game, a Jimmy Kimmel appearance, a solo record...not bad for a band of Southside Chicagoans I first heard opening for Citizen Fish in 2000. With Agony, The Tossers' second release on Victory Records, they continue to steadily grow in popularity and release almost an album per year. Often overlooked by … Read more

Lemuria

Get Better
Asian Man (2008)

Regardless of how terrible life can get, there is truth in the statement that things will Get Better. While most people are looking for success, happiness, and love to make them complete, it's the small things, the particulars, which make life so wonderful. Get Better is an album of the moments where the little things are absent, but it's hard … Read more

Sabertooth Zombie

Dance / The Prisoner
Twelve Gauge (2007)

Sabertooth Zombie is a band that has been waiting to explode for sometime now. After a few self-released efforts, the band release their debut full-length, Midnight Venom, in 2006, an album that brilliantly fused menacing hardcore with the fierceness of punk. The album received high praise here at Scene Point Blank and we eagerly waited for what would follow. 2007 … Read more

Foot Foot

Trumpet
Oedipus (2008)

There is something about Foot Foot I can't quite place. The Californian husband and wife duo is described in their press release as creating "music to dream to, evoking the sand-scabbed knees and street-tarred soles of Los Angeles childhood." And while Foot Foot certainly conjures up a literate and soulful record with their third release Trumpet, I don't think the … Read more

Black Cobra

Feather and Stone
At A Loss (2007)

Range is something music critics put a lot of emphasis on, and this isn't without warrant. A band's ability to cater to a broader spectrum of people is a needed skill in today's love it/hate it climate of preference. Though all music could be said to be progressing today, for some reason heavy metal produces the most consistent visible evolution. … Read more

Landmine Marathon / Scarecrow

Split
Level Plane (2008)

Level Plane Records is a quality label in all that they do. They've got the arty-punk and progressive hardcore bands, and they even tackle post-rock. Recently they've been taking on metal; this new split features three tracks from each Landmine Marathon and Scarecrow. Up first is Landmine Marathon who previously released Wounded in 2006. These Arizona metalheads resurface with a … Read more

Once Nothing

First Came the Law
Solid State (2008)

It's been a few years now since I first became acquainted with Once Nothing. They were just a local band playing shows wherever they could and having a good time playing to whoever would listen. Now the band is on Solid State, touring the U.S., and First Came the Law is their first big-label release. Once Nothing fuses together the … Read more

Dead Will Rise

Entrepreneur
Twelve Gauge (2008)

Dead Will Rise is one of the recent signings to Twelve Gauge Records. While the label mainly sets it focus in the hardcore world, they do also dabbled in the spectrum of death metal/grindcore. And the latter is what you get with Ohio's Dead Will Rise. Entrepreneur is the band's second EP release, on which these upstarts blast through seven … Read more

The Bakerton Group

The Bakerton Group
Emetic (2007)

What do you get when you take Clutch and tell Neil Fallon to take a hike? You get The Bakerton Group. While you might think you've lost a lot, and you have, you've also found something new, different, and unique. The Bakerton Group is the band' debut full-length and first for Emetic Records. I honestly hadn't heard this project's previous … Read more

ASG

Win Us Over
Volcom (2008)

ASG stands for Amplification for Self Gratification. The name is rather fitting for this North Carolina rock group. On Win Us Over, their third full-length, the band delivers equal parts stoner metal dirge, guitar-rock speed, and punk attitude. As with most bands of this genre, it is the guitars that take center stage. Bands like ASG are about rocking out, … Read more

Teenage Bottlerocket

Warning Device
Red Scare (2008)

Bark Like a Dog by Screeching Weasel was the first punk rock album that I ever fell in love with, which means (in theory) that any album that reminds of Bark Like a Dog will serve me as a romantic rehashing of why I fell in love punk rock. This means that by the absurd logic I just put forth … Read more

Earth / Sir Richard Bishop

Split
Southern Lord (2008)

Being a memento type release to commemorate the tour that these two parties undertook in the early part of 2008, I am surprised to see and hear that the music - at least the Earth song - is exclusive to this release. This makes collector nerds like myself get fussy (and a little bit lighter in the wallet) as they … Read more

Austin Lucas

Putting the Hammer Down
Magic Bullet (2008)

To be completely honest, I know more about Austin Lucas than I do about his current residence in The Czech Republic, which doesn't attest too much besides my ignorance of The Czech Republic. I know Lucas was born in the United States and moved, has played in crust and grind bands, and has worked with Chuck Ragan. Not necessarily the … Read more

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