After all these years and all those spin-offs, I was afraid we'd never get a direct sequel. Finally, we have metal 2.

Surprisingly enough, this is pretty decent for a late-career Annihilator record. I mean, Jeff Waters does a very hit-or-miss job with the vocals, sometimes coming off as strong enough to see the song through, other times sounding too much like a Hetfield or Anselmo rip-off, but the music does at least have that classic thrash feel making it at least somewhat entertaining. That ... read more

Before I start the review, I want to pay my respects to Ian McDonald who unfortunately passed away a few days ago, on the 9th. While he may not be one of the key names of King Crimson that we all think of when we think of the band, he most definitely should be. Ian was one of the key founding members, and a huge part of the sound of this very album. Not only did he perform the sax, keyboard and woodwinds, he also played a major part in overdubbing and mastering the album. He even composed the ... read more

This gets a good +10 points for giving us the legendary metal Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Truly a landmark in metal history. Black Death are one of the best to ever do it - being some of the best kvltists there ever were. It's unfortunate that they would later sell-out and become so mainstream after renaming themselves to Darkthrone. This is some hard shit right here.

This reminds me a lot of one of my all-time favourite metal albums, Diabły Wzywają by the incredible Czarci Świt. But ... read more

First 10 of the decade!

Hype isn't something that I let get to me... ever. I know how it looks; yet another AOTY user slapping this highly anticipated art rock album with a 100 less than a week since its release. How original! But seriously, I never let hype take over for anything. I rarely ever get truly hyped for new music releases. I may be interested, sure, but until I actually listen to the actual music I'm not going to have elevated expectations. But it was difficult not to be at least ... read more

Aw yeah, that's some Korn right there.

Maybe I'm just biased since Korn were one of my first metal bands, but whenever release season comes along for them, regardless of how predictable the music is, I still make the most of it an enjoy it as much as I can. Even The Nothing, which I was very openly not a fan of at all, ended up sticking with me for longer than I'd like to admit. There's something about listening to these rehashed, simple down-tuned power chord riffs that you've heard in every ... read more

Catch me posting a review of one of King Crimson's least popular albums mere hours before BCNR, Mitski, Animal Collective, Saba, Korn and Yeule release their highly anticipated albums.

It sure has been a while since I last talked about King Crimson, and seeing how I still had left to talk about Three Of A Perfect Pair before finally moving onto their more exciting works, it's not difficult to see why this took so long. But I finally decided to tear the band-aid off and talk about this album ... read more

Surprisingly enough, this is definitely the best project Doom has made yet. This electro-industrial sound that has been coming from Gel. has been some of the most creative music he's made yet, and although I wasn't as big of a fan of his other two projects under the Gel. name, Band Aid Butterfly has definitely proven to be the most consistent of the bunch. There are still a few true stand-out moments that reach higher heights than others, such as Help and Butterfly, but on the whole this has ... read more

Martin, we need to record, Martin, I have no money for fucking bills and steam sales.

Mr Anderson, what's up with the hair loss?

Martin, I'm fucking homeless, Martin.
Where did you put the guitar Martin?

Sorry Mr Anderson

Martin, I'm fucking old, I'm done with recording.
Martin, I've run this joke into the ground and it's not funny anymore, Martin.

Another year, yet more UK post-punk records that do absolutely nothing for me and leave me so painfully bored that I can't even make it past the first few tracks.

Guess I'll just rant for a bit, because the state of post-punk at the moment is an absolute mess. On one hand, you have some incredible acts in Squid and Black Country, New Road, which leave me stupidly excited for the future of rock music as a whole... but then you have the likes of Fontaines D.C., shame, Sleaford Mods, and now Yard ... read more

Kicks. Fucking. ASS!

At this point, I'm convinced that Japan have been single-handedly carrying punk and metal for the past 20 years. This shit slays much harder than even the most extreme brutal death metal and the most potato depressive black metal albums from the US and all of Europe. This guy sounds like he's on the edge of slicing someone's throat, and the fucking riffs on this thing... Man, this entire album is badass. Just pure, raw, hardcore punk.

It's been a while since I last sat down and listened to an Anna von Hausswolff record, but this new live album has reminded me what it was that made me love her work so much that I considered her one of the best artists of the 2010s. This is one of those occurrences where the live performances of the songs may arguably be better than the studio ones. And considering how incredible these songs already were, I think you can tell already that that isn't a small accomplishment. Her vocals are ... read more

Definitely on the higher end of AP's output so far. The track placement clearly had a lot of thought put into it, making it a smooth listen with tracks leading into one-another, and this tape has perhaps some of the most interesting moments of any of Pink's discography with its rawer production. And the end product is just an all-round fun time.

Listen, it's a fun album. Hell, it's an addictive album. Even as someone who hasn't found myself particularly crazy about it, I can't deny that I've found myself coming back to this perhaps more than any other album this year just in the few days that it's been out alone, and each time I've had fun with it. I can't speak much on .Paak as I haven't heard anything of his before, but as far as Bruno Mars' music goes, this is easily his most authentic and ambitious record yet. And the production on ... read more

I've had a pretty strong love/hate relationship with Beat over the years. When I first heard it, I thought it was easily the worst King Crimson ever made. But every time I return to it, it either impresses me enough to consider it better than I usually think, and other times I just think it's a bit too... I dunno... I guess mainstream?

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure if "mainstream" is the term I'd necessarily use, simply because it is still distinctly King Crimson. Something ... read more

TYBG for this absolute fire

I am actually really impressed. For the first time in a long time, Lil B has released a consistently enjoyable mixtape. Just goes to show that if he cut all those 5+ hour tapes down to just 3 hours then he can really make something that could arguably stand as tall as his classics.

It’s amazing how this album could have been arguably THE best hip hop album ever if it wasn’t for two small moments that destroys a lot of the focus and replay value that it would otherwise have. I don’t think I even need to elaborate, because you KNOW what I’m talking about.

Everything else is definitely some of the best rap songs I’ve ever heard though. The intro is one of the best intro tracks I’ve ever heard, always setting the mood perfectly and being ... read more

Now that's how you start an album; the sounds of blunt instruments clanking together, followed by a harsh, animalistic voice, chanting "The Earth died screaming, while I lay dreaming." Our introduction into the Bone Machine.

I've been thinking for weeks now, how the hell do I even attempt to tackle this album in a review? An album so personal, so powerful, so goddamn haunting, that no words could possibly do it justice. And even as I type this, I honestly doubt that I'll be able to ... read more

There's no coming back from this one.

No, this isn't the worst album Yes have ever made. Truth be told, it's better than their last album, Heaven & Earth. But honestly, even though the best material here is much better than what was found there, there just isn't anything to this album that saves it from being categorized in the same tier. The thing is, at least with Heaven & Earth it felt like a classic band trying to sound hip and fresh. But here, it sounds like they haven't grown one ... read more

Y'know, Genesis aren't amongst my favourite artists out there, but their best material certainly ranks amongst my favourite in the entirety of prog. Albums like Foxtrot really signify absolutely everything that made me fall in love with this genre initially.

I've got to say, ever since I first heard Foxtrot months ago, I've been completely enamored by it. I seem to always find myself coming back, completely entranced by just how spectacular everything is. The talent, the instrumentation, the ... read more

It's been seven years since you released your last album - and that album was quite literally supposed to be your last album. It was your creative high, essentially your magnum opus, and it closed one of the most magnificent discographies in the entirety of rock. How the hell do you follow it up? King Crimson's idea was to embrace the flourishing new wave fad while bringing your own progressive spin to it - a decision that proved to be quite divisive, but also wholly successful, making one of ... read more