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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)

Haram

Drescher
Lovitt (2008)

It's pretty ridiculous to look back on the career of Pg.99 and sort through all the bands that came out of their existence and their ever-rotating members. While many were short lived or are defunct, there are handfuls that still are actively playing. One of these is Haram, with Mike Taylor and Kevin Longendyke moving on from Pg.99 to conqueror more musical endeavors. Drescher is the bands second release after their debut on Lovitt came out in the beginning stages of 2006, and since then the band has gone through numerous changes. The band added a bass and guitar player, and all but one member of the band takes on vocal duties. The results could have been haphazard, but with the bands' vast experience, things came together nicely. "Drescher Clock" is the album's first and one of the best songs on Drescher, with the band's musical prowess fully apparent. There are no great buildups or climaxes, just smooth transitions that come with every band member knowing one another through previous bands and tours, finally forming as a collective. While the vocals are lively and energetic, it quickly becomes apparent that lyrics are not the bands' strong suit. While sounding perfectly … Read more

Vietnam Werewolf

Ohio's City
Independent (2008)

Ever listen to a band and just know if you lived in the same city as them that you would … Read more

Fight Amp

Hungry for Nothing
Translation Loss (2008)

Fight Amp (recently shortened from Fight Amputation) is a punk/hardcore outfit that plays a distinctly noisy, bottom heavy brand of … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Set Foot

Aging
Copper Lung (2008)

Set Foot is a fairly straightforward hardcore band from Vancouver, British Columbia. They may hail from the Pacific Northwest but … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Brain Dead / Rot in Hell

Millennial Psychosis
Feast of Tentacles/Rumor Control (2008)

Millennial Psychosis features two of the best up-and-coming hardcore bands that the U.K. has to offer. If you haven't picked … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Zhenia Golov

Zhenia Golov
Railroaded (2008)

Zhenia Golov hail from the hardcore factory that is New Brunswick, NJ. I won't bore you with a list of … Read more

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One from the archives

Young Widows

Old Wounds
Temporary Residence (2008)

So, Young Widows makes the jump to a new label and to be perfectly honest, this change of scenery for the band seems much like a new beginning rather than an update on an old sound. While the band's previous album, Settle Down City, is a continuation of the work which the group were pursuing as Breather Resist (Young Widows' previous incarnation with a singer as a fourth member), Old Wounds is the sound of a band coming into their own or finding their own voice. Young Widows experiment with the recording process on this record by mixing several live performances with the studio work (all dutifully documented by Kurt Ballou, both in God City Studios and on the road) that brings some interesting possibilities, depending on the execution and … Read more

More album reviews

200 Words Or Less

Dynamite Arrows

Blowin' It
Mauled by Tigers (2008)

Dynamite Arrows offers up four tracks on Blowin' It. The four-piece have concocted a fine mixture of melodic punk, hardcore, and traditional pop-punk. Musically I'm reminded of the likes of Kid Dynamite and Latterman. The vocals are a bit less coarse, delivered in a slightly nasal harmony. The pace of the songs is very upbeat and they evoke a very … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Yo Man Go

Life Lessons
Square of Opposition (2007)

Yo Man Go hail from the eastern part of Pennsylvania and they play melodic punk that'll please fans whose record collections boast releases from the No Idea and Fat Wreck catalogs. This two song 7" is the first issued recording from these punk rock upstarts. "Life Lessons" is a melodic punk ditty that features some catch guitar riffs and crooned … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Antillectual

Waves
Square of Opposition (2007)

Straightforward hardcore/punk. That is what The Netherlands' Antillectual offers up on Waves. This 7" features three new songs and three songs from their previous full-length. Antillectual serves up fast-paced hardcore punk with melody streamlined into the songs' structures. Musically I'd compare them to Strike Anywhere or Rise Against, but with a more coarse vocal delivery. The three new songs are … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Masato Tanaka / Pocket Gallows

Split
Robotic Empire (2008)

Square of Opposition Records has teamed up two new bands, or at least two that are new to me team up for a split 12" LP. Masato Tanaka starts things off. Their side of the split contains nine tracks. Over the course of these songs the trio incorporate the worlds of metal, grind, and punk into one. But the most … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Vanessa Van Basten

Vanessa Van Basten (Reissue)
KNVBI (2008)

Fortunately for all, Vanessa Van Basten is not the name of the latest female pop diva. Instead, they are a two-piece instrumental duo from Italy that draws heavily from the worlds of post-rock, metal, and shoegaze. This recording is the band's debut EP reissued on a stunning two-tone colored 12" LP. The album was previously only available as CD-R in … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Bosch's With You

Dreams That Come a Thing Part II
KNVBI (2008)

I believe that Bosch's With You is the first Russian band I've sat down and actually listened to. I can't help but make the excuse that Russia is half a world away from where I reside, but on the other hand, the Internet has made it so easy for us these days. This LP is the second in a trilogy … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Three Steps to the Ocean

Three Steps to the Ocean (Reissue)
KNVBI (2008)

Three Steps to the Ocean is an Italian instrumental outfit. Like their counterparts in Vanessa Van Basten, Three Steps to the Ocean dabbles in the world of post-rock. The recording here is the band's debut EP reissued on vinyl format. Three Steps to the Ocean is a four-piece and together they've assembled a mixture of post-rock and instrumental metal. I'd … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Hoor-paar-Kraat

In Eros Veritas
KNVBI (2008)

There is a fine line between noise and music. Notice that I didn't say art, because in all honesty, art is pretty much anything you want it to be. But music, well, music and noise and two totally different things. Case in point, Hoor-paar-Kraat. Hoor-paar-Kraat is the "brainchild" and "creation" of full-time painter recently turned musician Anthony Mangicapra. Prior to … Read more

Skin Like Iron

Amalgamation II
Free Cake (2008)

Amalgamation II compiles together the three self-released cassette recordings from Skin Like Iron. These recordings were originally released separate from each other beginning last year; they were ultimately brought together in a limited edition cassette box set before the good people at Free Cake Records saw fit to offer them up in CD format. The first nine tracks are culled … Read more

Good Riddance

Remain in Memory: The Last Show
Fat Wreck Chords (2008)

Good Riddance has always been just another one of those "Fat" bands that started in the early 90's and put out album after album well into the next decade. I never was into Good Riddance past their first album God and Country and really haven't paid them any attention since Dave Wagenschutz stopped drumming for them. Anyway, Good Riddance decides … Read more

The Night Marchers

See You in Magic
Vagrant/Swami (2008)

So, John Reis is making his "return" to the indie music with his new outfit, The Night Marchers, following the recent demises of both Hot Snakes and Rocket from the Crypt. Described as an amalgamation of sorts of the sound and themes of these previous outfits, Reis (on guitar and vocals) is not the sole member of the group as … Read more

Cavity

Laid Insignificant (Reissue)
Hydra Head (2008)

Cavity is another one of those criminally underrated bands that toiled for years in obscurity while a select few found that the group and their down tuned Sabbath-influenced mayhem was a great mix of punishing volumes, squealing feedback, and strong rhythms that was quite different from the norm at the time in punk and hardcore circles - which is where … Read more

Kurt Cobain: About a Son

DVD
Shout Factory (2008)

Documentaries in this day and age have become a dime a dozen. Gone are the days of documentaries as an event i.e. waiting for the next Errol Morris or Michael Moore film. Gone are the days of limiting your subject matter to crime or war to catch an audience's interest. Given the proper direction, shown in the right context, a … Read more

Turbonegro

Ass Cobra (Reissue)
Cooking Vinyl (2007)

As you examine the naked body of Hank von Helvete in the Ass Cobra liner notes, notice the sleek but powerful tone of the thighs, the unwavering comeliness of the face and neck, the body hair - the intoxicating and formidable figure as a whole. Indeed, as Hank lay there with a snake draped over his fair body, it does … Read more

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