As someone who massively enjoyed Ascension from last year, this definitely feels like a disappointment. It’s like they took a lot of what made this band so cool and lowered those dials by 50% or more. Where’s the neoclassical writing? There’s no harpsichord or organ and the riffs don't carry that sound, we’re just left with occasional piano that only somewhat does the job. There’s the inclusion of vocals which I think is cool, but only 2 songs utilize them, ... read more

This is, by far, Periphery’s most polarizing and different record. Prefacing this review with the fact that Periphery IS my all time favorite band, but I’m trying to be unbiased here, at least a little bit anyways. I’ve had a lot of time to sit with this record, and it’s still a bit of an uncertainty for my thoughts. There’s a lot here I like, but it’s also probably their most flawed release since Icarus. But let’s start from the beginning, that being ... read more

For the amount of shit talking that one negative review of this record got on twitter when this first dropped, I was expecting a bit of a better record that what this ended up being. It's just not that interesting to me, a lot of it is boring or overproduced, and even kind of cringy at times. There's moments where good writing shines through, but those are few and far between, and we're just left with a record that really doesn't stick with me outside of moments that I ... read more

At long last, the second LP in the Indigo Child saga is here. While this isn’t by any means The Dear Hunter’s best work, it’s still very enjoyable and shows off their songwriting and story telling abilities very well. There’s almost always something interesting going on in the music, and the changes in style across the tracks make for a record that’s hard to be bored of. The musical ideas really pair well with the lyrics and really help to enhance the picture being ... read more

ERRA is beginning to feel like that potential meme, which is disappointing because they’ve put out some great stuff in the past, but these last couple albums haven’t kept up that same quality that I expect from this band. There’s nothing inherently bad about this record, I don’t dislike any of the songs, they’re generally enjoyable even, but the creativity seems to be dwindling and none of these songs really stick with me much. Technically it’s impressive of ... read more

Finally checked out another death metal classic with None So Vile. I really enjoyed this record. It’s got nonstop pounding riffs and blisteringly fast drums that keep the pace and energy high the whole time. The guitar tones are fantastic, exactly the type of sound I love in death metal. The bass not really having much distortion was an interesting choice, but it leads to some cool moments. The vocals are an interesting aspect of this record for me. On one hand, they’re very ... read more

Converge is back and proves that they’ve still got it after over a 30 year career. At just over 30 minutes, the album is an energetic ride all the way through, with a few well placed moments of respite in all that chaos. The riffs are as solid as ever, creative and chaotic, my personal favorite being the off kilter chugging from Force Meets Presence, which is probably my favorite song from this record in general. The performance from each musician is fantastic, and the mix is perfect for ... read more

I’ve really enjoyed Soen’s music in the past, but their last record was a tad disappointing, so I was really hoping for a redemption with this release. It’s sad to say that things have actually gotten worse. It’s as if all progressive elements have been sucked out of the band, and we’re left with a record that sounds like it’s desperately clinging onto former greatest without much luck. This album isn’t “bad”, there’s even some great ... read more

The end has come for my year long album journey, listening to 365 albums for the first time over the course of the year and reviewing them, OK Computer comes in at album number 365. I wanted to end with a bang so I picked one of the highest rated rock albums of all time, and I don't regret this choice. It's a very expansive record, haunting soundscapes and lyrics that depict a similar scene to what modern day life is like. The innovation in engineering on this record is incredible, ... read more

I don't really understand the lower scores that this album has, sure it really isn't what most people would expect from The Dear Hunter at all, but it isn't at all bad. As long as you go in knowing what this is and expecting that, this was fine. Pleasant, even. The composition is the same from the main works of The Dear Hunter, meaning it's still very strong. And the added arrangements are very well done and very pretty to listen to. I was a bit disappointed that this was ... read more

Another solid metalcore EP in the books for reviewing. It's not super short and actually has some meat on its bones, with great riffs and solid production. There's some creative songwriting here, especially in the first track that has three measure phrases and 7/8 time signature to really give it an off kilter feel which keeps things interesting. Vocals are solid, pretty standard stuff to be honest but that's a lot better than being bad. Good stuff.

I’m honestly kinda surprised at how much I didn’t like this. Just to get my praise out of the way, the drumming is fantastic on this record. It’s not a secret that Chris Turner is a beast on the kit and his technical prowess is on full display here. But that’s really the only positive thing I have to say about this record. The song structures feel disjointed, like they go where ever they want without any rhyme or reason, leading to a lot of awkwardness in the ... read more

A solid project from the supergroup I had never heard of. There's a ton of emotion put into this, the vocalists all have their own style and all mesh together very nicely. The variety in the instrumentals is great, the calm and aggressiveness both getting their time in the spotlight, swapping in and out as needed. Atypical song structures are pretty common on this record which was cool to hear, as well as some odd time. The composition is very well done, each musician using their ... read more

For just their second record, this is a very solid prog epic. I loved the riffs, there’s multiple times where a riff makes a simple time signature feel complex which is very impressive. The vocals are solid and emotive, albeit a bit cheesy during the final song at times. Compositionally this is great, there’s tons of variation in the instrumentation, style, and energy, making this a very engaging record. I didn’t go into this with the knowledge that it was a concept album, so ... read more

Some of the best octanecore out there. The riffs are solid and the hooks are catchy. Clean sung choruses don't just have a simple guitar base of a four chord progression, there’s always a lead guitar providing a countermelody which keeps things from being boring. The lyrics aren’t anything to write home about, but they’re far from bad at all. There’s a good amount of energy throughout, and the songwriting is generally pretty strong, making this a very enjoyable ... read more

Eight minutes of pure aggression. The mix is nice and raw like you'd expect from hardcore, the vocals especially are very crackly, almost like static at times. There's not a ton of crazy moments that stand out, but with an EP this short it's hard to fault it for that too much. This is just something to listen to while trying to vent anger or frustration, living up to the band's name.

I’m a bit disappointed that the power metal influence seems to be gone completely in this EP, but this is still a very good record. In its place seems to be some Polyphia inspiration, which while that may be a little less unique, it’s still fun to hear. There’s great solos, odd time riffs, and the couple slowdowns they did worked really well at providing the impact they were aiming for. There was also come cool vocal moments that weren’t really present in The Observer. ... read more

This is a body of work that I’d call creative, yet uninspired. There are a good number of times where creativity shines through in the composition, but as a whole, it doesn’t really do anything that makes it stand out a ton. The songs are good, sure, but it’s just another djentcore EP at the end of the day. There was some interesting guitar work, the chord progression from My Severance was unexpected yet appreciated, but at the same time the same chorus structure is used more ... read more

This was a very solid release for just a three song EP. It's all very well written, the riffs and breakdowns are solid, the chord progression in The Blight was very interesting, the song structures aren't all the same thing, great stuff all around. The vocals stood out to me a lot, they're definitely unique both in the actual performance and the production, giving them a very distinct sound that I haven't really heard anywhere else. I'd never heard of this group before ... read more

Got this as a Spotify recommendation so I went into this knowing nothing about this record. And I did quite enjoy this. It’s a nice change of pace to hear this style of metal with lower register vocals, I feel like a lot of this type of power metal adjacent music tends to have very high pitch vocals. The neoclassical elements were very well done, the counterpoint and guitar solos were excellent. Vocal harmonies were also very pretty. The variety of energy levels and instrumentations was ... read more