Sadly this wasn't the album I was hoping for. Firstly it is bloated, although I'm a fan of longer albums, I am not a fan of a high number of clear filler tracks. This may have needed some one to tell them during recording and post-production to remove a few. With a weak start and a weak end the removal and a reshuffle would have made this stronger. However, even after that there doesn't feel like a central moment or anchor in any of the songs to really sell it to you. What I can ... read more

Really enjoyed this album. Whilst sometime I think you could worry these sorts of things would be novelty this steers well clear and a solid meaningful album has been delivered.

Really strong start and end with a steady middle. Sadly, for me, the start of the middle isn't enjoyable. I find that El Dorado actually makes me feel sick, just the tone and sound do not work for me even if the story told is good. Everything else is so well balanced and sounds so good though I can forgive ... read more

Gogol Bordello doing what they do best and delivering true punk. The ongoing background situation for most of us is bought to the front by someone who it directly affects. Most of this album is good to brilliant Gogol Bordello with sadly a few songs thrown in that either didn't feel right or were under cooked.

This works out as a decent album with the start really packing a punch with the title track having a bit of an experiment and a song called No Time For Idiots was always going to ... read more

Extremely strong album, I come to it not having hear Karnivool before and I am fully sold on them. Starting off with 3 amazing songs, lead slightly to a lull in the middle which would still be a good album for other bands, picking back up towards the end (bagpipes to end is always good).

Could throw this on when ever I wanted and it would lift me. Due to the productions as well you can pick out different bits on each listen, some how bringing every contribution to the front, personally I love ... read more

Struggling to reconnect with early era Mika and producing a middling happy pop album. Some of the songs were alright and I genuinely enjoyed them but I just don't get the album in general. Interludes work well some times when they want to transition to a different feeling segment or to tighten up the story telling in a concept album, here it just felt like filler and an attempt at a concept that was never conceived.

Even when trying to read about the album I don't agree with what is ... read more

A really odd one here, a good album to bow out on but poorly pulled off. Enjoy the songs enough apart from 2 or 3 and they are placed in such positions it keeps killing the momentum. Still they did what they wanted to do and I think it is good enough.

The production is a tad odd as it seems to bury the most important aspect, not too heavily but poor. I'll just never enjoy bonus tracks as they are tacked on the end without thought and don't belong. This is the best example of ... read more

I've come to this as a first time listener of Soen and therefore don't have any expectations based on previous albums. I think reading some of the reviews this has done me well, I enjoyed this enough as a standard alt-metal album. The songs work and whilst I feel some of the lyrics are a little simple I enjoy the delivery and especially the drums. I think there definitely could have been a bit more heaviness to it and maybe really push some more solos.

In terms of the feel of the ... read more

An album with clear purpose and drive, a very strong start which I feel does struggle to maintain the averages persons attention due to the relentless anger. Still manages to maintain a vibe with decent songs spread throughout. Seem to be at their strongest when they have other artist featuring. I love Elitest G.O.A.T., but also love Gwendoline Christie being angry.

With the minimal music it doesn't leave much room for disappointment in terms of production and lyrics and I don't ... read more

A difficult one to be negative about because it feels like a genuine album filled with songs that they have obviously cared about. There are just too few songs I can get excited about, and the ones I do are all placed in the first half leading to boredom in the second. It's just a bit too tame for me.

I do think that if you try them standalone they are worse, the general album in the order put together and listened all the way through is good background music. It is only that though, I ... read more

Overall a strong album, there are a few tracks that don't quite land for me but they certainly aren't weak. Highlights come from Trust in Me, Tested and Able and Playing Aces. The album is organised really well with the stronger songs spread throughout and a nice lull in the middle to recover before picking up again. I maybe would have shift the ending around a little and would liked to have seen one even heavier song in there. The production is on point with nothing getting hidden ... read more