Seneca
Reflections
Lifeforce (2009)
Although they aren't breaking any new ground, especially in the already worn-down genre of metalcore, North Carolina's Seneca are talented at what they do. Though everything they've written on their sophomore album Reflections has been done before, they execute it with such precision and emotion that it gives it a new feel. This isn't to say that their songs were … Read more
Senmuth
Bar-Do Thos-Grol
Independent (2012)
After writing ethnic music for over half a decade at this point (over the span of one hundred and forty-three individual studio albums), it's no surprise that Russian musician/history buff/general crazy man Senmuth has gotten rather good at it. Bar-Do Thos-Grol, his most recent foray into dark ambient music, shows off just how proficient he's become at it. The album … Read more
Senmuth
Hagwalah
Independent (2012)
Russian rocker Senmuth is known for his very overt fetish for all things Near Eastern. All you have to do is look at his website, and you'll see it's filled to the brim with pictures of him in Egypt, as well as the vast quantities of music and artwork that interest has inspired. But then, amongst all of that, there … Read more
Sentenced
The Funeral Album
Century Media (2005)
Legend, and probably some interview posted somewhere on the internet, has it that halfway through recording The Funeral Album the members of Sentenced decided it would be their final project together. I suppose there's the potential for criticism in giving this album a stellar rating. Such a move might smack of the silver medals awarded to aging figure skaters because … Read more
Senyawa
Alkisah
Phantom Limb (2021)
Indonesian duo Senyawa are experimentalists of the highest order on Alkisah, a record the dives head-first into the strange and unusual through improvisation with homemade instruments from Wukir Suryadi and a voice that ranges from the manic to the beautiful from Rully Shabara. Senyawa link the traditional to the modern as Alkisah progresses through structures that are formed as if … Read more
SepticFlesh
Modern Primitive
Nuclear Blast (2022)
I have been listening to and following SepticFlesh for over a decade now. It only made sense that a new album from them on the horizon got me excited. I honestly didn’t know what exactly to expect given that Titan and Codex Omega didn’t do much to expand further in any direction than the mapped realm by Communion and The … Read more
Sequences & Isolated Existence
Graminaea / Poaceae
Music Ruins Lives (2011)
Graminaea / Poaceae is one of those releases that I love but have an extremely difficult time explaining just what draws me to the release over and over again other than that I find all three pieces rather soothing in a creepy sort of way (of course as with any work of this nature, what you get out of the … Read more
Seraphim
The Light In The Distance
A389 (2011)
Seraphim created a good bit of buzz with an EP release last year on A389. What the Ep proved is that this 3 piece was capable of creating an immense amount of power with very little bells and whistles to speak of. While many bands are capable of making a memorable first release very few can take those strengths and … Read more
Sergio Mendes
Magic
Okeh (2014)
Sergio Mendes is a Brazilian legend. His name might not be a big draw here at Scene Point Blank, where the focus is on punk, hardcore, and metal, but—hey—we gotta branch out now and then, right?Magic is the 73 year-old’s latest offering, and it comes with a smorgasboard of rhythmic styles and special guests. While it’s true to his roots … Read more
Serpe
A Night in Gin's Hollow
Home Recorded Culture (2006)
I don't think I can do it. I consider myself to be at least a capable writer, but it's going to be hard as hell to do a review of this album in any kind of acceptable length without five or ten non-sequiturs skewing off into long-winded tales of personal medical scares, pet deaths, and the time I was an … Read more
Servile Sect
Svrrender
Handmade Birds (2012)
Sitting down and listening to Servile Sect’s companion album to the great TRVTH has been a sincerely surreal experience in part because I have only just started diving into TRVTH on a regular basis in the attempts to suck all the marrow of its impressive soul and for the other part due to a nagging feeling in the back of … Read more
Servile Sect
TRVTH
Handmade Birds (2011)
Do you ever cringe whenever a music critic or what have you precludes a genre of music (which sometimes makes me cringe... crunk-core... seriously?) with another term, which even more ridiculous word that is supposed to further clarify what exactly a piece of music sounds like while in reality the word means nothing? This happened to me when I first … Read more
Set and Setting
Equanimity
Sound Of Silence / Forcefield (2013)
I really enjoy how pretty “Through The Unhindered Break Of Day” is, and the idea that something so simple and borderline repetitive could somehow draw me in to Equanimity, the debut album from Florida’s Set And Setting, is a bit of a mystery until the album progresses and repeated visits with the record drive the point home; these calm and … Read more
Set it Straight
Live Your Heart and Never Follow
Twelve Gauge (2006)
Set it Straight is a band that truly deserves notoriety. Unfortunately, they really haven't gotten much attention outside of the Westcoast, which is both a shock and a shame. Last year the band released their debut full-length, My Favorite Words, an extremely promising LP, as well as a split EP with the now defunct Where Eagles Dare. On both of … Read more
Set it Straight
My Favorite Words
West Coast Worldwide (2005)
My Favorite Words is the debut album from Set it Straight, a straightedge band from Redding, CA. This CD gets you pumped, it inspires you, and the intro to "Conversation" will be stuck in your head for hella days. The CD is nine songs and clocks in at only 20 minutes. The length is perfect for this kind of band, … Read more
Set to Explode
Set to Explode
Grave Mistake (2005)
Sometimes the Internet can be a glorious thing, and we can all thank Al Gore for that... It is because of the glorious invention that I first became aware of this DC group that featured former Striking Distance frontman Dave Byrd, among other past and present players I the D.C. hardcore and punk scenes. And after hearing Set to Explode … Read more
Set Your Goals
Mutiny!
Eulogy (2006)
The debut full-length from Set Your Goals has been one of the most anticipated releases for myself and countless others for the year of 2006. It's been a long time coming since they first popped up on the hardcore/punk scene two years ago, though it seems like it has been so much longer. Well after a patient wait, which saw … Read more
Set Your Goals
Reset
Eulogy (2006)
Deje vu. Nearly two years ago I was writing a review of the original release of this EP. I closed that review stating that the band could "either stay close to home and continue on as local sensations or keep pursuing their dreams and make the jump to the inevitable stardom that is within their grasp." They opted for the … Read more
