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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)

Stag

Stag
Independent (2007)

Stag is a two-piece sludge-metal outfit from Missouri. This self-released four-song EP is a definite homage to the likes of early Neurosis with doom metal experimentation here and there. The drumwork of Ash over the four songs is quite impressive as he unveils a wide variety of techniques. The guitars handled by Michael are thick as molasses, though he occasionally dabbles in some ambient passages, intricate melodies, and droning repetitive riffage. For just two individuals, this is some heavy music. A lot of bands with four or five members deep can't pull off a sound this big. There are, however, a few weak spots. There is a definite lack of bottom-end that the addition of a bassist could easily fill. Also, the production is a little muffled. But then again, the gritty sound does compliment this style of music well, so it's not all bad. Stag is definitely a band to watch progress; their future is promising. Read more

200 Words Or Less

¡Apeshit!

¡Apeshit!
Independent (2007)

¡Apeshit! is a four-piece outfit hailing from New York City. They blast through thirteen songs on this, their debut effort, … Read more

The Unlovables

Heartsickle
Whoa Oh/Crafty (2007)

I first heard The Unlovables on Crafty Record's New York vs. New Jersey Punk Rock Battle Royal compilation. They were … Read more

Caught in a Trap

Rats Get Fat
No Joke (2007)

Caught in a Trap are four, to a certain extent, hefty dudes with beards playing distinctive NYHC styled hardcore which … Read more

Allegiance

Desperation
Rivalry (2007)

Do you ever buy the new album from a band you like and after a couple listens you just think, … Read more

Declan de Barra

Song of a Thousand Birds
Translation Loss (2007)

Now, this is a pleasant surprise. I have not been previously introduced to Declan de Barra or previous outfits (Clann … Read more

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One from the archives

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 (blast beats, the need for speed, odd time signature, spastic time signature changes), there is the possibility that bands playing these types of music can descend into self parody and even bland repetition. Some bands bring other influences to the table to intermingle with their love of grind to infuse their music with other forms and styles in order to expand their palette of sound with which to create their … Read more

More album reviews

Gallows

Orchestra of Wolves (Reissue)
Epitaph (2007)

The word "fucking" appears on Orchestra of Wolves forty-nine times. Let me break it down for you: there's thirty-nine "fucking"s on the full-length and ten on the two bonus tracks for a grand total of forty-nine. That's not including variants such as "fuck", "fucked", etc. I counted every time it appears in the lyrics (there's an extra in one song … Read more

Pig Destroyer

Phantom Limb
Relapse (2007)

I unabashedly love Pig Destroyer. And while they are out of vogue with the kvlt grindsters, I think they are infinitely more interesting than the million other death/grind bands with illegible logos. 2004's Terrifyer is one of the few albums I would consider a modern classic, naysayers be damned. So when I heard they added a fourth (non-bass playing) member, … Read more

Against Me!

New Wave
Sire (2007)

There have been a few instances that I've gotten pretty pissed off at bands. When Modern Life Is War told the audience that it was a privilege for our small college town to be able to see Converge, I was pretty pissed off, as in all actuality, it is always a privilege for a band to show up to a … Read more

The Number Twelve Looks Like You

Mongrel
Eyeball (2007)

The Number Twelve Looks Like You have always been that band that would come close to winning me over, but never impressed me enough for me to listen to their albums more than three or four times. With their previous release, Nuclear. Sad. Nuclear, there were songs I thought were innovative and worth making a fuss over and then there … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Hollywood Blondes

15 Minutes of Lame
Independent (2006)

I read an interview with Dan Yemin (Lifetime, Kid Dynamite, Paint it Black) where he noted that despite his appreciation of bands that combine a variety of influences and create a sound with depth, the odds remain strong that he will always enjoy a band that replicates Minor Threat's sound. I share a similar sentiment within the genre of pop-punk … Read more

Darkest Hour

Deliver Us
Victory (2007)

Explaining the particulars between different types of heavy music is a hard task. For most people, even the most educated music listeners, if it has a guy screaming his head off, then it all sounds the same. I only wish the whole world could hear it and enjoy it the same way I do. And no, I'm not a hippie. … Read more

A Swarm of the Sun

The King of Everything
Independent (2007)

A Swarm of the Sun delivers with The King of Everything a dark, brooding EP that sounds as if the chasms of hell have opened or, better said, are about to open. If one expects the chasms of hell to be filled with power metal and/or gay metal like Manowar; then one is wrong. The King of Everything is subtle, … Read more

King Diamond

Give Me Your Soul...Please
Metal Blade (2007)

When writing reviews, the job of the reviewer is to judge the album on its own merits. Only then and even this is in dispute amongst those who review music is it acceptable to compare it to other works by the same artist or to different artists altogether to assist in making your point and to give the reader an … Read more

Kiss the Gunner

Why are We so Dead?
Harvest Earth (2007)

I can remember being seven years old and staring bleakly at the television screen while Magic Johnson announced to the world that he was HIV positive. It was late afternoon on a grey fall day and I was sitting on the living room couch with my father, unable to fully grasp either the gravity of the situation or the defeated … Read more

Prince

Planet Earth
Columbia/Sony (2007)

Along with "Who would win in a fight between The Incredible Hulk and Hulk Hogan?" and "How do they get cranes on top of half built skyscrapers?" there is only one other question that seems impossible to answer: "Is there anything that would make The Mail on Sunday worth buying?" And so, humble reader, I have decided to take it … Read more

Black Elk

Black Elk
Crucial Blast (2006)

Am I the only one who doesn't hear the comparisons to The Jesus Lizard that Black Elk has received from a handful of reviewers? I'm not saying that makes it a bad album, but besides a few isolated pieces of songs here and there, saying that this sounds like The Jesus Lizard is kind of a stretch. What I do … Read more

Tim Armstrong

A Poet's Life
Hellcat (2007)

It was in 1994 at age thirteen that I first skipped a day of school and popped Rancid's Let's Go into my stereo. Now thirteen years later, the album still holds up as a classic. Say what you will about their jump to a major label and the last two Rancid records; the fact remains that kids years from now … Read more

Melt Banana

Bambi's Dilemma
A-Zap (2007)

Listening to Melt Banana carries a list of requirements: Deal with the vocals. Deal with annoying noises. If you can't handle the speed and the fury, don't even bother. If you can embrace these qualities fully, you can totally understand why Melt Banana is such an important figure in noise rock. They slush together punk and noise rock elements and … Read more

Bad Brains

Build a Nation
Megaforce (2007)

These reunions need to stop. Gorilla Biscuits? Cool. Bold? Okay. Bad Brains? No. Honestly, what was Beastie Boy Adam Yauch thinking when he was producing this pile of garbage known as Build a Nation? Truth be told, I'm relatively new to the Bad Brains catalog. Having listened to them for only a year or so, I'll admit they are a … Read more

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