Nick Ruskell
It is a wondrously dusky record, both beautifully quiet and brilliantly uplifting in its moments of cathartic release.
3y
If nothing else, it's pleasing to see Ozzy still carrying on and still being The Prince Of Darkness. But Patient Number 9 is also, like its predecessor, a massive celebration of life and friendship and the magic power of music.
3y
As much as he is a figure of ridicule to some, he is an icon to others, and to those people he has delivered much here. In tightening things up here and dialling down the more obnoxious tendencies of the past, he's grown into a much more confident and appealing figure.
3y
What makes them so good, though, is the magnetic swagger with which they do it all. The Callous Daoboys don't want to hurt you, but to roughly, energetically, cathartically dance with you. It'll leave you dizzy but delighted.
3y
The music might not entirely be Panic! at the Disco’s own – but like fellow Vegas bigwig Elvis, that’s clearly no barrier.
3y
Bob Vylan aren’t concerned with keeping people they don’t like happy. Actually, they admit they’re spoiling for a fight with them. It makes …The Price Of Life as provocative as Rage Against The Machine, and as sonically exciting as The Prodigy: this is one of the most incendiary British records of 2022.
4y
While this pastiche is obviously intentional, it never really feels like one. It also creates a much more romantic and intriguing world to fall into than the closed-curtains one of its predecessor. Josh Tillman remains a curious cat, but here he also sounds like a much more contented one.
4y
More classy rock’n’roll brilliance from Swedish retro-rock kings The Hellacopters, who take off once again.
4y
Scream bloody Grohl! Foo Fighters get gory in chucklesome horror flick Studio 666.
2y
To some, Infinite Granite is a further step away from what they want. To others, a step further into it. For Deafheaven, it’s simply who they are. Truthfully, it’s who they’ve always been.
4y
Violence Unimagined sounds exactly as you imagine it will, but still surprises in just how much Cannibal Corpse have left in the tank. Meet the new murderous lunatic, same as the old murderous lunatic.
5y
For all but those with the sweetest tooth, Weird! is a collection of good moments disappointingly hidden under an avalanche of sugar.
5y
This is wicked. It’s banter. It’s everything you want from music that categorically doesn’t ‘do’ sad. It’s just AC/DC being fucking brilliant. As they sang themselves on Rock And Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution, ‘Rock’n’roll ain’t gonna die.’ In the darkest of times, that’s important to know, and even better to hear.
5y
BMTH have long known how to play what cards when, and just when we need something cathartic, something heavy, something with an element of the familiar in amongst the creativity, they deliver richly here.
5y
It is more than enough that the music on Existential Reckoning is superb. But should you attempt to get under the skin and solve the puzzles within, there are vast riches to be had.
5y
Blanketed with Ghostemane’s staple nihilistic sound, Anti-Icon is ominous, unnerving, and an exhilarating experience.
5y
Together, this collection of seemingly disparate sounds works because there’s a genuine feeling of spontaneity and that these songs were simply pulled out of their creator’s head as quickly as they came into it, for the sake of creating.
5y
Not only is Tickets To My Downfall a slick sideways hop from what you might be expecting from Machine Gun Kelly, it’s done excellently. It celebrates everything great about pop-punk without feeling cookie-cutter or third division.
5y
One of the most powerful, cathartic, creatively satisfying and bruisingly heavy records of its age.
6y
In some ways, this is a telegraph from an older way of making records – where in the studio you are genuinely cut off, as would have been the case in the ‘60s or ‘70s. But it’s also a timeless salute to human connection through, strangely, hermitage. And, be honest, you wish you could have been a fly on the dusty walls during its creation.
6y
Jesse Leach opens his heart and finds strength on eighth Killswitch Engage album, Atonement.
6y