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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)

John Frum

A Stirring in the Noos
Relapse (2017)

Technicality in death metal is a very common treat, and it has been present within the genre since its beginnings. Through time this idea has evolved, moving from the likes of Death and Suffocation to acts like Artificial Brain and Ulcerate. John Frum is a new entry in this tradition, formed by members of some elite bands of the extreme and experimental scenes, such as The Dillinger Escape Plan, John Zorn, Knife the Glitter and The Faceless. A Stirring In The Noos, the band's debut album, relies heavily on elements of technical death metal. The underlying complex rhythm structures enhance the brutality of the release, with the tracks coming down with conviction, no matter if the band applies heavy breakdown or fast-paced assaults with blastbeats. Tracks like “Through Sand and Spirit” see the band at its most brutal, but the moments where a more experimental and genre-bending mentality arises, showcases the extent of the band's creativity. The mathcore/death hybrid of “Wasting Subtle Body” is an instant of such complete insanity, with a similar, albeit more slowed down experimentation appearing in the instrumental “He Come”. But John Frum does not remain static in just the technicality and brutality of their music. … Read more

Dale Cooper Quartet & The Dictaphones

Astrild Astrild
Denovali (2017)

At some point in the '90s a strange scene begun to form, spawning from the adventurous nature of Gore and … Read more

She Spread Sorrow

Mine
Cold Spring (2017)

Alice Kundalini is releasing the second album under the She Spread Sorrow monikier, following the her debut full-length, Rumspringa. Forged … Read more

Cayetana

New Kind Of Normal
Plum Records (2017)

Normally when I hear obvious shades of the 1990s, my first thought is straight from an ad campaign of the … Read more

Crystal Fairy

Crystal Fairy
Ipecac (2017)

Buzz Osbourne has nothing left to prove. His band, Melvins have sustained the ravages of time and, perhaps even more … Read more

Nothington

In the End
Red Scare Industries (2017)

Few things are stable in this topsy-turvy world. One constant has been Nothington. With the release of In the End, … Read more

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One from the archives

One Starving Day

Broken Wings Lead Arms to the Sun
Planaria (2007)

Hailing from Italy, One Starving Day are a four-piece band that, at times, sounds more like ten or fifteen people playing music. Their sound is full and emotive conveying enough raw moods and feeling in each musical piece that begs for one to pay attention. The only time prior to Broken Wings Lead Arms to the Sun that I have heard One Starving Day is a previous (and mostly out of place) appearance on one of Deep Elm Records' Emo Diaries compilations. The modulating sound and organ that lead off "Black Star Aeon" are backed by an undulating wash of white noise. One Starving Day begin Broken Wings Lead Arms to the Sun with a morose mood. The soundscape is quite good. As the violins come through the din, I … Read more

More album reviews

Jason Isbell

The Nashville Sound
Southeastern Records (2017)

Had Jason Isbell stopped making music after his run with the Drive-By Truckers, his output would have already been legendary enough. “Outfit,” and “Goddamn Lonely Love,” alone are inches away from being modern standards. After a few promising records in the midst of a drugs-and-booze phase, Isbell got clean and released Southeastern in 2013, a stunning record of recovery and … Read more

The War on Peace

Automated People EP
Independent (2017)

Imagine if the last few minutes of your life on a doomed Earth were spent dancing in a nightclub, as the sound of buzzing synthesisers whirred into a thick crescendo that battled the looming darkness outside. This is the atmosphere that Chicago three-piece The War on Peace have created on their newest EP, Automated People. The band, who sound like … Read more

Jessica Moss

Pools of Light
Constellation (2017)

Jessica Moss is a prominent member of the Canadian experimental scene, most known for her participation in the Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra & Tra-La-La-Band collective, as well as being a founding member of Black Ox Orkestar. A performer known for her versatility, she has also appeared as a guest for Frankie Sparo, Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire. In … Read more

Arcadea

Arcadea
Relapse (2017)

Remember that movie from the 80's where that little rocker kid got sucked into the video game and found himself on that desert planet, where he had to throw jewels into a volcano while battling flying lions that had lasers shooting out of their eyes?No?That's probably because that movie was never made. But if it had been, Arcadea would be … Read more

Rammstein

Paris – the special edition
Universal (2017)

Ah, Rammstein. Härte. Neue deutsche. Grinding metal guitars, brute masculinity, pyromania, double entendres, operatic sub-sonic vocals, wordplays galore and taboo subjects. In a live context, they burn – literally, being one of the few bands whose singer eventually deemed it necessary to become qualified as a licensed pyrotechnician and with fans on occasion having been carried out of concerts suffering … Read more

Do Make Say Think

Stubborn Persistent Illusions
Constellation (2017)

Do Make Say Think have left their stamp on the post-rock scene, starting from their debut, self-titled album, released in 1998, to the excellent Other Truths in 2009. It was with Other Truths that the band decided to take a break, never officially breaking up, but rather the individual members taking some time to pursue different projects. Thankfully, this came … Read more

Biosphere

The Petrified Forest
Biophon (2017)

How do you keep the creative juices flowing that allow for composition or creation of any kind of artistic work, and where do you find the drive to continue to push your own voice out amongst the screaming throngs? For some that drive comes from within and others from without, but when you are staring down the barrel of a … Read more

IIVII

Invasion
Consouling Sounds (2017)

Josh Graham has become something of a Renaissance man here in the past 10 years or so. As founder of Red Sparowes, and A Storm of Light, Graham has taken rock music and gave it an ambient / drone twist. His solo project IIVII, and new record Invasion, has taken Graham’s love of ambient music that much further with haunting … Read more

Thalassa

Bonds of Prosperity
Sige (2017)

Formless and endless. When dealing with drone music, these are two elements you need to take into consideration. With a deep understanding and experience of the genre and experimental music, Aaron Turner, of SUMAC and a myriad other projects, and William Fowler Collins collaborate in the avant-drone project Thalassa. Taking influence from the Greek mythology, and the primordial personification of … Read more

Naïve Sense

Self Titled EP (2017)
Independent (2017)

“If I am unable to transform you into a Naïve Sense fan, then I have not done my job.”So begins “Win a Trip to Vegas: Heavy Metal Bikini Contest/Men’s Support Group,” in a sound clip before the EP’s second to last track. It’s a bold proclamation for a bold EP that recalls the best elements of Refused but with a … Read more

Gold

Optimist
Van Records (2017)

GOLD is the brainchild of Thomas Sciarone, known from his work with occult doom act The Devil's Blood. Having released two very good albums so far, in Interbellum and No Image, they are now carrying down on the same dark path with Optimist. GOLD is a notoriously difficult band to pinpoint sonically. Sure, they exist within a rock setting, but … Read more

Demen

Nektyr
Kranky (2017)

To get a label's attention in this age is hard. Especially trying to do so through the traditional email approach. But for Demen, that method worked, and the folks over at Kranky were taken aback by the solo project of Irna Orm. Not much is known about Orm, other than she is behind the solo project Demen, and that she … Read more

Blessed

II (LP)
Coin Toss Records (2017)

It’s only been four months since I was struggling to determine what Blessed was doing on their first EP. I have come back to that record often. After four months it intrigues me as much as it did when I first heard it. Truth be told: I don’t have many records that can keep my attention that long. You can … Read more

Book Review

Cosey Fanni Tutti

Art Sex Music
Faber & Faber (2017)

Art Sex Music is more than a memoir. It is Cosey’s way of setting the record straight and clear up misconceptions about her and her roles in the creative projects she was a protagonist and often sidelined in. Cosey’s story is one of individuality, challenges, breaking down self-imposed and outer barriers, social norms and creating your own life, while dealing … Read more

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