After a few EPs, Sleep Token released their first studio album Sundowning in 2019, and it certainly was a very promising start.

Sleep Token are this weird anomaly in metal. To even call them metal is honestly a stretch. Honestly, I don't even know what genre they are, they're a mix of metal, pop, djent, rock, and a lot of other stuff, which makes them subject to a lot of unfair hate.

This album has a good amount of variety, from the soothing The Night Does Not Belong to God, ... read more

Ladies and Gentlemen, I finally get to talk about one of my favorite rap and hip-hop albums of all time: good kid, m.A.A.d city.

After a really promising debut with Section 80, Kendrick Lamar went above and beyond with his sophomore album good kid, m.A.A.d city, and boy, while I wasn't in love with this album at first, it grew and grew and grew on me, to the point where I do nothing but glaze this album to no end.

This album puts you in the lens of a young boy growing up in the washed up ... read more

EDIT 2: 90 ---> 85 (Yeah, this album is waning on me a bit, despite me still thinking it's amazing.)
EDIT: 95 —-> 90 (Still excellent, just love it a little less now.)

Architects lost not just a bandmate, but a brother in Tom Searle, and Holy Hell is a result of that devastating gut punch of a loss.

You can feel the sheer pain bleeding out in this album, from the devastating opener Death Is Not Defeat, to the equally as gutting closer A Wasted Hymn. This album is a result of ... read more

This is widely considered System of a Down's second best album behind Toxicity, and that is a sentiment I share as well.

Mezmerize is fantastic. It's catchy, intelligent at times, but also ridiculous, possibly their most ridiculous album by far. It's also part of a two-album concept, the second album being Hypnotize.

Songs like Cigaro, This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm On This Song and Old School Hollywood are batshit insane and completely off the walls, which makes this ... read more

After establishing himself with the landmark album that is good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kendrick took a step further and released possibly his most ambitious and artistic record to date.

To Pimp A Butterfly is an artistic masterpiece. There's no other way to put it. From start to finish, it's poetic, it's thought-provoking, it's unapologetically hip-hop, but it leaves you thinking about everything going on around you. It's such an intelligent and majestic record, that it ... read more

This is the first album released in 2026 that I am reviewing, and honestly, we're starting off...not too strong.

Don't get me wrong, Empty Hands is good. I don't have much bad to say about it, minus Eat The Hate, which is a really bad song. With that being said, I also don't have much great to say about it.

This is my first Poppy album so I don't really have a point of comparison, but it is what it is.

Empty Hands feels unoriginal. A lot of the songs feel like ... read more

EDIT: 75 ---> 70
EDIT: 85 ---> 75 due to rating overhaul
EDIT: 90 ---> 85

This is still a great album for what it is, but I will admit, my interest for it has waned quite a bit.

Let's not beat around the bush: this album is certainly a product of its time.

That said, it has quality. Whether you like to admit it or not, the boys got pipes. You have a little bit of everything in this album, from the absolute banger that is Everybody (Backstreet's Back), and other dance pop ... read more

EDIT: Lucky Strike is now a highlight. I actually think it's a really good song now.

Welp, the band that made great pop rock + funk songs like This Love and She Will Be Loved sold out immensely and made this to cash in and lose any sense of music that they had in the past.

Overexposed is...an album. And it has songs in it.

Most of this album just feels devoid of a soul. Adam Levine sounds horrendously autotuned, which is a shame because he is actually a great singer. The other band ... read more

At a young age of just 19 YEARS OLD, Matt Heafy and company, with their sophomore album Ascendancy, showed seasoned musicians how metal is done right.

Ascendancy is exceptional. A sophomore release that is better than some seasoned artists' best work is rare, but boy does it exist, and this is still a staple in metalcore 20 years after release.

From the soothing and angelic opener The End of Everything, which leads to the roof being torn down by Rain, which still remains as one of ... read more

I thought it couldn't get worse than Encore, but here we are.

Revival is really, really bad, and by far Eminem's worst work. The production is terrible, a lot of the samples range from un-fitting at best, to immensely annoying at worst. The lyricism can get boring, and Eminem's flow goes from clunky, to straight-up ear grating.

Eminem is the one artist whom I believe can get a rock sample done right in a rap song, but sadly it just did not work here. Untouchable (Earache My ... read more

In the year 2011, we saw the debut album of an artist that would change the modern rap scene forever.

Kendrick Lamar really had a promising start with Section 80. Hip-Hop that makes you think and question everything around you is something mastered perfectly in this release.

The production ranges from calm and soothing, like in Fuck Your Ethnicity, to ambitious like in The Spiteful Chant, and sometimes immensely dark and sinister, like in Kush & Corinthians.

The concept is brilliantly ... read more

We Are Not Alone is simple, but it works, and it works well.

This is my first Breaking Benjamin listen, and I gotta say, I really enjoyed it. Ben has a great voice, both unclean and clean, and the instrumentation, while simple, is still very enjoyable.

There is enough diversity in this album, with the confident So Cold, to the somewhat experimental Forget It, which has a lot of key changes while still being sufficiently structurally sound, to the groovy Breakdown, to the beautiful ballad that ... read more

EDIT: 100 ---> 95

I still love Shogun, but it did get slightly worse on me, and I do think I prefer Ascendancy by a bit.

(ORIGINAL REVIEW)

It takes a lot of skill and finesse to top the legendary Ascendancy, but they did it and then some with Shogun.

This album is literally perfect. From start to finish, it's theatrical, epic, furious while also being melodic and regal.

Matt Heafy's singing has improved, though the screaming is a bit weaker. The instrumentation has been ... read more

EDIT 2: 92 ---> 90 due to rating overhaul
EDIT: 85 ---> 92

This is an excellent album, one of Converge's best, and it has just grown on me more and more. I now prefer this over Jane Doe.

(ORIGINAL REVIEW)

Converge are known for their consistency, and while I've only heard 2 albums so far by them, they're both amazing.

Axe To Fall is different from Jane Doe in some ways but still maintains that fierce and frantic energy. Production is much more clean and allows for more ... read more

Back in October 1994, alternative metal would never be the same again.

Korn are PIONEERS of the nu metal genre, and this was the album that started it all, with the "ARE YOU READY" in Blind being a war cry to begin the nu metal revolution.

We are introduced to a unique and quirky, yet certainly talented vocalist in Jonathan Davis, a talented and immensely groovy slap bassist in Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, two creative and wild guitarists in Brian "Head" Welch and ... read more

Let me preface this by saying: I am neither a brony nor have any interest in anything My Little Pony related.

That being said, I am interested in one thing: music, and on that front, I have to say, this album is impressive.

The production is fantastic, there is a range of diversity, themes and subject matter from song to song and it all works well.

You have the nostalgic ANTONYMPH, the rock-adjacent BONNIE, the emotional HARPER, a bit of a darker production in SYNDICATE, deep ... read more

Limp Bizkit were NOTORIOUS at the time, and this all started all the way back in 1997, with 3 Dollar Bill Y'all$.

Is this the worst album ever? No, not at all. That being said, it ain't great.

Instrumentally, this album is great. John Otto and Sam Rivers are brilliant musicians (may Sam Rest in Peace), and DJ Lethal adds some great turntables here and there.

But undeniably the shining star of this album is Wes Borland, who is BY FAR, one of if not the best guitarists of the nu ... read more

During the nu metal wave of the late 90s, we had a lot of different bands such as Deftones, Static-X, Powerman 5000, Korn, Limp Bizkit and System of a Down. In this wave however, we saw a new group, a group of masked men, about to provide something sinister that stands out from everything else in the genre.

Slipknot released their 1999 Self Titled debut, and it is ferocious. We're introduced to a powerhouse vocalist in Corey Taylor, an immensely brutal drummer in Joey Jordison, a ... read more

When people were talking about Loathe as the "British Deftones", my interest was caught, considering Deftones are my favorite band, and with the acclaim that Loathe have received for this record, it's worth a listen.

Then I listened to it, and boy, it was absolutely nothing like I expected. That being said, that makes me love it even more.

While I do see the Deftones comparisons and inspirations, when you actually step in and listen to the album as a whole, you can tell they ... read more

Unlike the Xero Tape, this feels like a noticeably more "finished" sounding pre-release EP for what would eventually become Linkin Park.

Chester showcases how strong of a vocalist he is, and Mike is absolutely spewing bar after bar in this record. I kinda wish he did the same for the final Hybrid Theory release tbh, people sleep on Mike Shinoda a lot.

Technique is a brilliant turntable showcase, I just wish it was longer.

And of course, the hidden Ambient track in Part of Me is ... read more