Howard Jones adopt me please

Yet another highly anticipated album for this year, and rightfully so. It's a collab between one of the best metalcore vocalists and one of the most popular Youtube content creators in the metal scene, and the singles following it brought up the hype even more. I can definitely see some people writing this off immediately as generic metalcore, and I see where they're coming from a songwriting standpoint. However, I think what sets this album apart is just how ... read more

Thank You Scientist sticks to their guns on Plague Accommodations, with the same good old prog/jazz sound and some of their most energetic tracks yet.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Soul Diver, Plague Accomodations
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Creature Comfort

The collab we never knew we needed. Converge and Chelsea Wolfe bring forth some hauntingly gorgeous metal tracks that implement doom, gothic and sludge all throughout the project. It's a lot to take in on first listen, so expect my rating to change over time on this one.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Crimson Stone, Daimon, Coil, Viscera of Men, Lord of Liars, Flower Moon, Scorpion's Sting, Tongues Playing Dead
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Failure Forever

This is very much the metalcore album of 2021.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Hereditary
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Automata

While the songwriting can be a bit barebones at times, there's no denying that Teenage Wrist bring in an incredibly beautiful sound to alt rock with elements of shoegaze and emo thrown in, and make the low points on this album decent at the worst.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Silverspoon, High Again, New Emotion, Yellowbelly
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Earth Is A Black Hole

Starset puts together their most consistent and cohesive sound yet on HORIZONS. However, some parts feel like a drag especially with its 70+ minute runtime.

FAVORITE TRACKS: DEVOLUTION, LEAVING THIS WORLD BEHIND, ALCHEMY, ICARUS, TUNNELVISION
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: SYMBIOTIC

In one of the most highly anticipated albums of 2021, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak put together a beautifully nostalgic, funky and soulful project that puts an refreshing twist on an ageless sound.

FAVORITE TRACKS: ALL
LEAST FAVORITE TRACKS: Fly As Me (if I had to choose)

Outside of the horror movie aesthetic sprinkled throughout The Silver Scream 2, INK produces some really solid metalcore that's only held back by not presenting many new ideas to the table.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Farewell II Flesh, Welcome To Horrorwood, Take Your Pick, The Shower Scene
LEAST FAVOIRTE TRACK: Ex-Mørtis

Formidable's 2021 Backlog (Episode 5)

This is my first taste of the dark folk genre with Wardruna and their latest album Kvitravn. While I felt there were some moments that really didn't amount to much, I love the overall sound of this album and how some of the highlights on this project really build to a chillingly and hauntingly gorgeous climax.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Kvitravn, Viseveiding, Andvevarljod, Vindavlarljod
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Ni

I'm always open to new idol metal groups, as they rarely fail to disappoint me in just how wildly eclectic their sounds can be. However, Zsasz is that rare exception. While there's not much wrong with the songwriting and performance themselves, the mixing and production really kills this for me. Apart from one or two tracks that managed to pull through with good mixes, the rest were so odd in how flat and sometimes muted they sound. Especially during the heavy bits and breakdowns, it's almost ... read more

Formidable's 2021 Backlog (Episode 3)

The production on From Me To You is absolutely immaculate across the majority of this album, with a good range of heartfelt and explosive instrumentation. However, it can be inconsistent at some points, and Quadeca's flow and lyricism could use some brushing up as well.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Candles on Fire!, Sisyphus, Maybe Another Day..., Summit pt. 1
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Where'd You Go?

When I listened to "Lush" back in 2018, I wasn't sure where the future of Snail Mail was going to go. It was a good album, but I felt their sound could be much improved upon and I wasn't sure whether or not that would happen if they released a second album.

Well, at long last it's here, and I am happy to say their sound has improved by leaps and bounds. There's even exploration into an indie pop sound on some of the tracks and they pull it off absolutely beautifully. Lindsey Jordan's ... read more

I was introduced to SYSC... through their "A Sure Disaster" EP which I was blown away by with its mind-numbing blend of mathcore and metalcore, so of course I wasn't gonna miss out on this album. The Romance of Affliction is more of what you'd expect from the band, and even to a fault where a chunk of the tracks feel same-y in sound and structure. That being said, you won't run dry of unique and hard-hitting bangers, and this band's style alone is worth checking out

FAVORITE TRACKS: ... read more

Formidable's 2021 Backlog (Episode 2)

In the first half of this album, I was thinking "well, it's far from the worst thing they've put out". And then I got to Blue Dream and all of the tracks proceeding.

FAVORITE TRACKS: I Need Some of That
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: She Needs Me

This was one of the most intriguing listens I've had all year, and while not all of the ideas fully click with me, the ones that do are really something special.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Neutron Star, Walking Toward Winter, Argument, Sculpting The Exodus, Stranger, Vanishing
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: The Chase

Every Time I Die once again puts out an onslaught of bangers with some interesting song structures and interesting riffs to keep things fresh. The rest of how Radical sounds is pretty much the band as usual.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Distress Rehearsal, The Whip, We Go Together, People Verses, AWOL, sexsexsex, All This And War, Sly, Desperate Pleasures, Things With Feathers, Dark Distance, Post-Boredom
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: White Void

Limp Bizkit has makes a surprise return with STILL SUCKS. This album is all over the place in terms of sound and genre as well as consistency, but a one or two tracks on here might be my guilty pleasure songs of the year.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Out Of Style, You Bring Out The Worst In Me.
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Snacky Poo

Kin isn't my favorite release from Whitechapel, and no it's not because there's more feels-y tracks on this project. There are a good few highlights on here, but the songwriting quality is very inconsistent with some tracks leaving a lot more to be desired.

FAVORITE TRACKS: A Bloodsoaked Symphony, Anticure
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Orphan

This is my first dive into Archspire's music, and I didn't know what to expect considering tech death isn't a genre of metal I'm too fond of. Despite my biases, this album is relentless in its sheer speed, brutal riffs and its high level of musicianship. There are a few moments that feel repetitive personally, but this isn't an album any tech death fan should miss out on.

FAVORITE TRACKS: Bleed the Future, Drain of Incarnation, Drone Corpse Aviator, A.U.M., Reverie on the Onyx, Golden Mouth of ... read more

After loving Parannoul's project from earlier this year, I was surprised to hear that he was releasing even more music, but this time on a collaboration project with two other artists. I had never heard of Asian Glow or sonhos tomam conta, so this album is basically my introduction to them. Despite their similarities in shoegaze, each artists shines through with their own unique sound whether it be Asian Glow's more noise pop oriented sound, Parannoul's moody emo shoegaze, or sonhos tomam ... read more