Boris
Attention Please
Sargent House (2011)
I absolutely love Boris' work ethic. Four new albums of fresh material in one year is more than anyone should be able to ask of any artist whose name is not either Buckethead or Senmuth, and their dedication to stylistic diversity is a commendable trait that's generally unheard of in modern music. What's more, Boris have a history of significantly … Read more
Boris
Dear
Sargent House (2017)
I like the idea of certain types of metal paralleling the thought patterns of jazz. Whether it is the twitchy renderings of a Meshuggah beat, the sprinkle of jazz-like tendencies of an Intronaut record, or the experimental coo-coo of Fantomas. The immediacy, expansive sound, and improvisation can certainly draw comparison to a Miles Davis or John Coltrane offering. Those two … Read more
Boris
Heavy Rocks
Sargent House (2011)
Boris' sound is defined by their insistence on rocking the fuck out. Their earliest works, like the classic albums Heavy Rocks and Pink, revolve around taking heavy metal and, to borrow from Sp?n?al Tap, taking it up to eleven. These albums have an absolutely huge, dirty quality to them that leaves Boris' peers in the dust. So Boris released their … Read more
Boris
New Album
Sargent House (2011)
New Album is a bit of a misnomer, at least on this side of the pond. It was actually released all the way back in March in Japan, two months before Heavy Rocks and Attention Please were released globally. The rest of the world had to wait until November to get their paws on it. Somewhat frustratingly, there are actually … Read more
Chelsea Wolfe
Hiss Spun
Sargent House (2017)
Darkness isn’t something everybody can access within themselves. Some are afraid to explore those shadowy recesses, some deny they exist, and some embrace it and find a cathartic release through some outlet of their choosing.Luckily for us, Chelsea Wolfe would appear to be in the latter category. To describe her music by any particular genre would only seem dismissive. Tawdry, … Read more
Deafheaven
Infinite Granite
Sargent House (2021)
I never really thought in any measure that I’d be writing at any point in time a review of a Deafheaven record, yet here we are. Even now I remember the absolute furor that bundled virally around their 2013 release, Sunbather. I didn’t really understand then, nor do I understand now why was it so huge. Personally, I couldn’t then … Read more
Emma Ruth Rundle
On Dark Horses
Sargent House (2018)
Where 2016's Marked for Death battled with Emma Ruth Rundle’s mortality and medical history, and allowed the artist to work through feelings of hopelessness and pain, On Dark Horses tries to take control of the shadows found in life. Instead of succumbing to the darkness, Rundle is now finding a path out of despair and using her music to piece together how that might … Read more
Fang Island
Major
Sargent House (2012)
Two years since the release of their eccentric eponymous debut, Fang Island return with Major, the band’s second album on LA record label, Sargent House. It’s quite evident that their self-proclaimed pursuit to “make music for people who like music” ensues. Picking up right where Fang Island left off, Major is an epidemical power rock album, affluent in frenzied, fuzzed-out … Read more
Good Old War
Come Back As Rain
Sargent House (2012)
The first time I heard Good Old War, I heard them live - probably the best way to listen to them, in my opinion. Their harmonies, melodies and musical arrangements are way more impressive that way. They were opening for Guster and after their performance of "My Own Sinking Ship," I was sold on them. (All I have to say … Read more
Helms Alee
Sleepwalking Sailors
Sargent House (2014)
Helms Alee’s Sleepwalking Sailors is a ferocious asteroid of post-hardcore, doom metal, and noise rock. The Seattle-based trio’s third album, released on Sargent House Records, hurls you through a deathly metal ocean, into the Earth’s burning core, and back out again; it’s Michael Bay making rock music.“Pleasure Center” puts the 11-song fireball into motion. Starting with synchronized guitars and drums, it spontaneously … Read more
Helms Alee
Sleepwalking Sailors
Sargent House (2014)
Sleepwalking Sailors is just too good, promptly inserting itself at the top of my list for album of the year (for now, and yes, I keep a running list all year long because I am a weirdo); and Helms Alee continues to impress me with every new release not just in the fact that with a few exceptions, there music is consistently good … Read more
Lingua Ignota
Sinner Get Ready
Sargent House (2021)
It is an act of courage to redefine oneself. Especially when the initial recipe and direction has been exciting and challenging. Yet, when a project is as intricate as Kristen Hayter’s Lingua Ignota there should not be any surprise when evolution is afoot. Hayter started in the underground, releasing the first two records of her project independently. Through the raw … Read more
Native
Orthodox
Sargent House (2013)
It's been a while since I've been this interested in a post-hardcore record. Native seem to have that effect on me. As a band, they're too often overlooked, brushed aside by most as another one of the many cardboard cutout bands watering down a once innovative music scene. Indiana post-hardcore powerhouses Native play a distinctly groovy and angular take on … Read more
Red Fang
Red Fang
Sargent House (2009)
Bold, in your face stoner rock from members of Bad Wizard and Party Time. If you like your rock heavy with Sabbath sprinkled into the mix, Red Fang are your guys. Curiously, the first four songs blast your face off. Then later on, it got a bit too Nirvana-esque for me song structure wise. "Reverse Thunder" will singe your eyebrows … Read more
Red Sparowes
Aphorisms
Sargent House (2008)
When Red Sparowes released At the Soundless Dawn, I began to better appreciate instrumental music. The sound that the band has made for themselves incorporates pedal steel guitar, wandering movements, and entrancing song developments. After recording the band's second full-length Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun guitarist Josh Graham, also of Neurosis, left the band to work on … Read more
Russian Circles
Guidance
Sargent House (2016)
The constant presence of Russian Circles in the post-rock domain has raised them to a prestigious status, and rightfully so. The band from Chicago started off about a decade ago, releasing their debut, Enter, in 2006. Their music was heavy and moving, and record by record the craftsmanship of the trio progressed, and especially since Geneva and Empros, they have … Read more
