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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)

Inter Arma

Sulphur English
Relapse (2019)

In the early ‘10s it felt like the progressive sludge scene had produced all of its great records, and that moving forwards the genre would settle in a plateau state. But in the underground, there was one band that was still not contempt with the confinements of the genre, and they displayed that with their debut record Sundown. Inter Arma’s first full-length might have unfortunately passed unnoticed, but the true wake-up call came with the band’s sophomore release Sky Burial. The record not only displayed some of the best heavy sludge music had to offer, but it also presented a roadmap for combining its weight with black metal eeriness, death metal brutality and a bluesy, southern core. The years passed and Inter Arma kept getting better and better. They released an amazing EP in The Cavern, presenting an ambitious 40-minute long opus, filled with both the exploratory sense that defined them and also the extreme metal spirit at the band’s core. In 2016 the band released their third full-length, Paradise Gallows, their most complete and beautiful record to date. In this work Inter Arma explored a more melodic side, producing a stellar work of modern metal. What is certain from … Read more

Oozing Wound

High Anxiety
Thrill Jockey (2019)

Chicago’s Oozing Wound have been riding the thrash train since their inception in 2011, yet this trio are more than … Read more

Nadir

Collecting Misery
Independent (2019)

From the start of Collecting Misery it’s clear that Nadir is one of those bands fronted by someone who is … Read more

Coathangers

The Devil You Know
Suicide Squeeze (2019)

Much of what I listen to on the regular is of the three-chord punk variety. While I want the bands … Read more

Various Artists

Symphony Of Distraction / 69 Enfermos - They Came From Faster Space Split
Morning Wood Records (2018)

Recently I picked up my longboard from the barn where it was in hibernation for quite some time. I have … Read more

Nightmarathons

Missing Parts
A-F (2019)

Nightmarathons are a tough band to pin down. Sure, they fit somewhere under that ever-widening punk umbrella, but it pulls … Read more

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One from the archives

Dälek

Precipice
Ipecac (2022)

It is easy to take for granted the excellent state of experimental hip-hop today. With Death Grips freely applying noise and electronica with a punk ethos, and clipping. doubling down on industrialized beats and Afro-futuristic narratives, it is easy to forget that this landscape was not always so rich. Traveling back in time, to the end of the ‘90s, it was artists like Dälek knocking on the door that led to the future. It was as adventurous a path as an artist could choose. With the hip-hop influence of heavyweights like Public Enemy and Run-DMC on one hand, and then an industrial and noise injection running straight through their core. It was a statement that no boundary would stand in the way of Dälek’s vision, and so the experimental machinations … Read more

More album reviews

Various Artists

The Bananas/Rivers Edge - split
Lifer Tapes (2018)

It had been a long time since I’d listened to The Bananas – and I have to ask myself why. It’s that peppy, poppy, yet underproduced DIY thing that I basically groove on. A few seconds of “La Touraine” is all it takes to get the leg bouncing and a smile on my face. I’m not going to say that … Read more

Radical Fun Time

There Is Only One Race The HUMAN RACE EP
Dilapidated Records (2018)

What’s in a name? Radical Fun Time. Well, it is radical. Just take a look at that artwork. Someone had fun with that! It hurts a bit on the eyes, but someone had fun. And sometimes you can judge a book by it’s cover. This sounds like a bunch of guys having a good time. I picture a couple of … Read more

Landfill Crew

Landfill Crew
Pirates Press (2018)

I’m sure fictitious bands are a fun concept for the musicians writing the material, but I could care less if it's Tim Armstrong behind the mic or “Bagga” – they both sound the same. There are animated videos for this 4-song EP that develop the storyline of a fake 1980s punk band, which is the concept behind Landfill Crew. I’m … Read more

Wang Wen

Invisible City
PELAGIC RECORDS (2018)

China isn’t the first country you think of when it comes to rock music but over the last two decades, Wang Wen has been placing their home on the musical map and in Invisible City the band brings a range of new emotion to their instrumental work. Wanting to record something warmer than the previous record, Sweet Home, Go!, the … Read more

Dear Boy

The Strawberry EP
Easy Hell (2019)

Los Angeles quartet Dear Boy are firm favourites in their hometown's indie scene, but their new EP suggests that they could go much further. Dear Boy is fronted by Ben Grey, formerly of indie darlings Scarlet Grey, with guitarist Austin Hayman, bassist Lucy Lawrence and drummer Keith Cooper completing the line-up. The band has been together since 2012 and they … Read more

Basement Benders

Shrapnel Songs
Dead Broke Rekerds (2019)

I recently wrote about Future Virgins, stating that the band tempers their anger, choosing more subtle reflection in their songwriting to express that always important human emotion. I guess I know where the band’s members let it out.Basement Benders play a somewhat lo-fi melodic punk with a lot of vocal tradeoffs that pull together with joined melodies. It’s a pop … Read more

ESC Life

Born To Be Mild
PDV Records/Last Exit Music/Ill In The Head Records/Bartolini Records (2019)

When I received the promo for Born To Be Mild the first thing that struck me was the artwork. It matched with the (previously discussed) EP, but not at all with their previous, debut album, Access All Areas. What I like about the artwork of Access All Areas is the dreamy, relaxed atmosphere that oozes from the picture. The artwork … Read more

The Bouncing Souls

Crucial Moments EP
Rise (2019)

This is the 30th year of The Bouncing Souls, which seems crazy in many ways – including that I’ve been listening to them for nearly 25 of those years. This year is a milestone for the band: a big international tour, this new EP, even a book of memorabilia for the diehards.I’ve had a bit of a love/indifferent relationship with … Read more

Good Shade

Way Out
Dirtnap (2019)

Dirtnap is a fascinating label in how they’ve developed a certain sound to their releases, regardless of what part of the world or what particular scene the musicians hail from. Sure, there’s the Marked Men connection with many of their releases, but that’s only a piece of what the label has put out.Good Shade is Shane Natalie, a one-man band … Read more

Pkew Pkew Pkew

Optimal Lifestyles
Dine Alone (2019)

There’s a lot I want to say about this album, but I’m torn because I try to keep things more positive. I’ve given it a lot of thought and a lot of listens, and I just don’t like it. At its best, it’s a pop-punk version of The Hold Steady – and that’s not in that oversimplified “recommended if you … Read more

Barnett + Coloccia

VLF
Sige (2019)

Alex Barnett and Faith Coloccia are both distinguished members of the experimental ambient music scene, and have already proved that they are a force to be reckoned with when they collaborate. The duo has previously released two intriguing records of experimental, drone goodness in their debut record Retrieval and their sophomore full-length Weld. What was striking about the collaborations of … Read more

Cellar Doors

Cellar Doors
Hear Here (2019)

The distance between San Francisco and Manchester is 5,000 miles, but Californian psychedelic trio Cellar Doors are determined to bridge that distance on their self-titled debut album. The band is already making waves across the Atlantic, having caught the attention of ex-Smiths drummer Mike Joyce and enlisting Inspiral Carpets frontman Stephen Holt as their manager, and their album sounds as … Read more

Hexvessel

All Tree
Secret Trees (2019)

Hexvessel’s pastoral folk has been gradually building momentum since their inception ten years ago and on All Tree, their fifth album, this forward motion comes to a beautifully morose head with songs that live in the undergrowth and call to mind ancient mossy forests and a longing for simpler times. While Hexvessel’s music is charming on the surface, what lies … Read more

Vandoliers

Forever
Bloodshot (2019)

There’s a lot to like on Forever, the third album from Vandoliers. They play a hybrid country-punk that’s a bit too upbeat for No Depression and too gritty for traditional country, while pulling influence from a number of Texas musical styles along the way. It’s a six-piece group, complete with guitar, drum, and bass, but also fiddle, brass, and more. … Read more

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