This album is really stupid (affectionate).

I've been wrestling with this one, as I'm really the biggest fan of note-salad tech death. However, I've come around to find this to be one of the better, if not the best of this type of death metal.

I think what keeps me coming back are the riffs and genre switch-ups. This album can be really groovy, nasty and pretty all in the span of 30 seconds. Because of how quick this album goes, the listener is thrown a bunch of awesome stuff, ... read more

It's been a long time since I've listened to this front-to-back. It's really fantastic and quite underrated.

While Iowa is a consistent onslaught of heavy, angry and insane nu-metal/death metal, Vol. 3 is a much more diverse helping of kickass nu-metal, acoustic tracks and other weird stuff. I find all of these genres to band explores to be realized wonderfully on here.

Want something more kick-ass? Duality and Before I Forget are both iconic, easy to listen to rock songs. I ... read more

A nice little atmospheric project.

I don't think it's anything crazy, but it's a shade of a pretty melancholic sound that scratches my brain pretty well. I really enjoy the way this album sounds, especially the back half, which I find to me much more interesting than the first.

The first half is good but really didn't grab my attention to much. It wasn't until Malda that I really began to enjoy this project.

It's definitely a sound I've heard before, but I ... read more

This is my first album by the band. I know they are an iconic band in the thrash scene, so if you got any favorites by them, please let me know.

It's very corny and very much nothing original, but it's fine. I actually had a pretty good time with the first half of the album, as it was performed and produced pretty well.

I start getting bored in the second half, where its unoriginality flaws really begin to become an issue. Also, I'm just not a fan of the vocals on here, and ... read more

That album cover is giving The Last of Us at home vibes and the title is some shit like "The Quite Few of Us."

Never really been into these guys, and that's a shame because Opeth's former drummer is a founding member of this group, and I really love his work. Decided to try again with these guys with this new album, hoping they could wow me this time.

Yeah no, this isn't very good. It's 2000's butt-rock without any of the charm or personality.

It's ... read more

TW: Death, mental health

There was a lot of death in my personal life in 2024, but one that especially comes to mind was one of my uncles who died suddenly from diabetes.

I saw him a few weeks before he died. He looked very weak, but he was active, moving and had a good attitude. By all means, he didn’t look the healthiest, but it was still a very much a sudden hit that he just died.

I remember my dad called me to tell me about it. I could tell he was fighting back tears telling me ... read more

50% of this album is Patti being the most badass motherfucker on the planet. The other 50% is her ADHD stimming in the mic. Both are equally great.

Bit of a slow start, but once I got to Barely Legal, I really began to vibe with this one.

Really strong debut here. There is a lot of charm and whimsy with this one, and it all works really well. I especially love the raw garage sound going on here, as it scratches my brain in just the right spot.

I only have one listen down so far, but I really didn't get much out of this one besides some jolly fun. Maybe on another listen I'll find something that will resonate with me a bit ... read more

A lot of the songs sounded pretty samey to me, but I still really enjoyed this.

Really only knowing BtBaM as the Colors guys, seeing a more specific outing from these guys that focuses on one idea was neat to hear. I really loved how big and heavy this one felt, while still getting the wacky and technical side you see in prog.

I also appreciate the songs being shorter. Because this album isn't as diverse as the upcoming ones, the choice to make the songs shorter was a good one, and makes ... read more

Thanks @RootBeerBillie for the recommendation!

Very impressive technical display these guys have, and a lot of it pays off. The riffs, drums and bass performances are all very good, and it definitely got my head moving.

The momentary genre changes were also handled pretty well, leaving me very interested where things were going next. The addition of the female vocals were a very nice surprise. The title track is easily my favorite song on the album.

It is quite corny, and I'm not the ... read more

One the most joyous listens I've ever had when it comes to music.

I've always appreciated Daft Punk from afar, but I felt it was time to visit this one since I've been looking at a bunch of 2001 releases recently, so it was a good time as any to listen on this full release, and yeah, it's as great as everyone says it is.

If your butt ain't grooving to at least one of these songs, you are not human. This album is just so fun and groovy, and every song has this energy ... read more

Enjoyed this more than I thought that I would, and is easily the best collaboration project the band ever did.

I find this to be a much more refined project than The Dusk in Us. It takes the slower moments from that album and makes them bigger, better and deeper.

Chelsea Wolfe's contribution on here is wonderful. Her vocals are so fucking good, and mesh extremely well with Converge's sludgier, doomier sound.

Yeah, it lacks the hard-hitting aggression that people love Converge for ... read more

I don't think that it's a controversial take to say that a lot of art based on Christianity really sucks.

Whether due to rushing something out for a quick buck or being passionate about the topic but having no idea how to properly make the thing you want, there is a lot of real stinkers when it comes to Christian art. However, when the people making the art can lock in and take time to really make something work, it can be really special.

I'm not Chrisitan myself, but ... read more

Not quite into this one compared to the others, but it's still a Converge album, which is to say it's still pretty good.

There's much more going on here in terms of songwriting, with songs varying quite a bit from one another. You've got your typical slow and fast-paced hitters, but you also have some more cleaner sections than normal like A Single Tear and the title track, which show plenty of moments of clean singing.

I think my issue is that I really wasn't engaged ... read more

Really wonderful project, and honestly one of my favorites by Gira.

Some of my favorite Swans tracks are the ones were they get folksy, so to get a full album of that is wonderful. This is such a sad, yet graceful album that has a wonderful showcase of acoustic, percussion and female background vocals. Any time those background vocals showed up, I wanted to crawl into a corner and start weeping.

This album also does an excellent job of standing out compared to Swans. It's not nearly as ... read more

Converge really has been doing the same thing for 20 years yet somehow continue to keep it fresh and engaging.

Yeah, the fast, face punching songs still kick ass, but I really love the slower moments on here. They feel much more refined than usual.

This is really prevalent on Sadness Comes Home, Coral Blue and the tile track. They slower nature is a nice change of pace, while still hitting HARD. It's more like a roundhouse kick instead of a normal punch in the face.

I'm starting to ... read more

Not quite head-over-heels about this like other people are, but god damn is it fucking insane and disgusting.

Quite unhinged grindcore that just hits you again and again and again. There really isn't anytime the listener gets a break, and that constant aggression is something I really enjoy seeing in music like this.

I can't say it's very memorable though. Songs are incredibly short, and there are quite a lot on display here. I'd probably be more behind this project if it ... read more

God the leadup to this album was a mess, but I am happy to say that it's another win for Zach Bryan.

This is the first release I really had my eye on coming out this year. Zach Bryan is one of the few great artists making competent, memorable country music nowadays.

I would to as far as to say that his self titled release in 2023 and The Great American Bar Scene in 2024 have the potential to be modern classics in the scene. They are that good.

I wouldn't consider With Heaven On Top ... read more

You have two wolves inside you that want to make a joke. One is a divorced dad, the other is 9/11.

Absolutely nothing special about this, but man it is pretty enjoyable. The hate for Nickelback has always been a bit forced, even if Chad Kroeger is a bit of a douche and the music is very much unoriginal butt-rock.

How You Remind Me is a classic at this point, and is easily the best song on the album. The rest of the songs are all consistently enjoyable, but I can't say they stand out at ... read more

Ducky :].

Nice short helping of some shoegaze. It's not the craziest thing in the world, or the most memorable for the matter, but it is very enjoyable and pretty.

The last three songs are really the only ones worth looking at, as the first song is really a nothing burger into. Pangea, Eskipade and City North are all very enjoyable songs that do service to this sound.

Again, it's nothing exceptional, but it's very enjoyable and a nice little EP to hear this early in the year.