The first couple songs are great, then the album goes straight to Helldorado.
Gotta give the album art and theming a lot of credit but the actual production on here is kind of all over the place. I don't know if the mastering is off or it's something weird with streaming the album, but the mastering on some songs results in way too much fuzz.
This album grew on me so much throughout the year. I'm pretty much all in on it, minus a couple of songs that didn't totally hit (The Abyss, Under the Skin). Aimless is going to be my song of the year...the switch from English to Spanish in the middle of the song is perfection.
Like: Tunnel Vision, W.T.F., Aimless, Lo Que Vale, Impeccable, Barely a Response, El Umbral, La Corriente, Hate in Me,
Meh: The Abyss, Under the Skin
Dislike: None
Katatonia lives up to their name. Kind of like if ghost and tool had a baby and pumped it full of valium.
Not unpleasant, but mostly good for background noise.
Yea, I'm late to the game on Clipse's new album. Not for lack of trying, I put this on a few times but got distracted on the first song. Took me a while to realize that the sole reason the first song didn't work for me was John Legend. For some reason John Legend comes off so sanctimonious to me...look, I realize this is a shitty take but I can't help it, it's a visceral reaction.
Anyway, the album became magnitudes better once I figured out that I should just skip ... read more
Danny Brown and hyperpop is the best kind of chaos.
Danny Brown delivers a high energy and mood lifting album. Copycats and Lift You Up are highlights...on the playlist. The End is pretty amazing as an introspective rap/hyperpop epic.
Green Light is a miss, Frost Children comes off too whiney and throws off the flow of the album. What You See is a decent cut but brings down the energy a bit too much for my taste.
Like: Book of Daniel, Starburst, 1999, Flowers, Lift You Up, Baby, ... read more
Instant classic.
Amazing. At times i felt like Rosalia was right next to me, singing softly in a small room, juxtaposed by moments they felt too big for even a concert hall. Many times this happens on the same song (e.g. Mio Cristo Piange Diamante). The mix of classical instrumentation and operatic vocals with modern production is done perfectly. Each song had me guessing on direction in a good, avant garde way.
Divinize is otherworldly. La Perla is an instant favorite. La Rumba Del ... read more
It's fine, nothing special. I can see how people would love this but IMO this sound has been done better (and been done worse) before. I could tap out after the first three tracks. The album (especially the vocals) became repetitive for my audio palate.
like: Disintegrate, Dancing with the Europeans, Antidepressants
meh: The Sound and the Summer, Broken Music for Broken People, Trance State, June Rain, Life is Endless, Life is a Moment
dislike: Sweet Kid, Somewhere Between an Atom and A ... read more
These critic ratings are proof that they only listened to the first track on the album.
First track was good, I was totally on board with bilk...then it turned into some bullshit third-rate misogynistic pop punk sound that would've been right at home in 1998, then some insufferable indie love song (Summer Days) then stumbling over lyrics (Go), then shit, then talky shit, then....why does this album seem so damn long?
Anyway, pretty trash album.
like: RNR, This Room is Caving in on Me ... read more
Thrice is a master of slow-burn emotional resonance.
Took a bit of time for this album to click. When the album hit I was on a road trip and stuck in traffic on the Jersey turnpike. All at once the pent up frustration of stop and go traffic melted away and a cathartic feeling replaced it. I don't know how Thrice does it, but each track goes deep on a meditative level.
No misses here but give it some time to really sink in as a whole album.
Machine Head is the ultimate hit or miss band, but I bet these songs still rip live.
I loved Of Kingdom and Crown and was hoping that Unatoned would follow with another set of bangers. It's honestly not bad, and I think I like it a bit more than the consensus on AOTY but this album does lack a lot of the thrashy energy that made Of Kingdom and Crown so awesome. I added 'These Scars Won't Define Us' to my playlist, mostly to remind myself that this album existed in ... read more
Oh shit, this album was released...totally forgot about it. I think it existed in my rotation for 3-4 days after release, then fell off hard. I didn't remember much of anything so went back to listen once more. Too much of a slog for me, takes too long to transition and then ends up being some half-baked imagine dragons type electronic R&B.
Not my scene.
There's potential here but In The Earth Again mostly fades into the background.
Fun experimental album but It's a little too much Jim Morrison poetry hour for me. I wish they would've cranked up the sludge metal a bit more throughout to give it a bit more energy. One thing about the Doors is that they always new how to bring an epic song around and close it out. On this album I feel like most songs just sort of peter out with no climax. I like the direction overall, but need to ... read more
Holy Twilight boyband energy Batman.
Trying to turn the Jack Nicholson owned "dance with the devil in the pale moonlight" into some badass hook was an LOL moment.
Think I'll pass, I'm pretty stocked up on cheap plastic metal.
Turned on West End Girl and quickly forgot about everything else I had going on. I'm not much for following lyrics but I had to read through this one like a graphic novel.
Juicy, juicy album. Quality front to back. First impression is this is one of the best albums of the year. Going to let this play for a while and see if it grows on me past the initial juicy story line, but with songs like Relapse and Beg for Me, I'm guessing this one will have some staying power.
New Soulfly kicks fucking ass in a concise 32 minute face-melting run time.
Not much to say here, you probably know what you're getting into with these guys. Notably, the album seems to grow in intensity as the tracks progress (a wonderful surprise). The middle of the album starting with No Pain = No Power, Ghenna, Black Hole Scum and Favela/Dystopia is a fucking great battery of metal...hectic Hardcore and Industrial Metal energy mixed with straight ass-kicking groove metal.
Chama has ... read more
Demi Lovato reinvents herself again and becomes...Kylie Minogue?
Positives: I like this version of Demi...maybe not quite as much as the diva days of Confident and Tell me You Love Me, but it seems like she's having fun on this album and it shows in most of the songs here. I like the dance pop feel here but it can a bit on the generic side. The album is strongest when the tempo speeds up and hits some hyperpop elements (e.g. Here All Night, Little Bit). Another strength - the songs are ... read more
Doesn't quite reach the height of Mood Swings but a decent effort on a relatively straightforward soulful countrified blues.
Positives: The album picks up for me on Somebody Else, prior to it only the first track really caught my attention. Carolina Honey, though, was an instant add to my 2025 playlist. I love the vibe of this song, I think I gravitate to the soulful, almost gospel-like side of Marcus King. No Room For Blue starts with a straight-fire blues lick which sells the song ... read more
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Recent Review Comments
On Systematic - Somewhere in Between
"@llamaqwerty feel like it's pretty generic metal. Weak nu metal i guess. I saw these guys open for good bands a bunch back in the day and they never impressed me all that much, so went with the most generic typology i could think of at the time i reviewed it."
On By Storm - My Ghosts Go Ghost
"@OnsPascal Everyone digests music differently. Like I said, I respect the artistic merit here, just not for me, probably for the exact reason that you provide here. Doesn't mean I shouldn't share my thoughts."
On HomeSession3's review of Soen - Reliance
"@HomeSession3 nice review. Agree on a lot of points, and I like the straightforward alt-metal sound, but found it a bit conservative given their talent. I wish they would lean just a bit more into their prog roots and juice the instrumentals a bit."
On Systematic - Somewhere in Between
"@Kendrickgoatedg they were contemporaries... but yeah, pretty close in sound. I think they were trying to hit a nu metal version of soundgarden. Maybe a bit better musically but a bit generic."
On Hayley Williams - EGO
"@Killuah K Stan"
On DJ-SLIM's review of Norman North - Over the Influence
"LOL I almost added this last Friday but felt the same way."
On Bugeater_'s review of Squid - Cowards
"Agree 💯. The Narrator is still stuck in my head, nothing from this album is anywhere near as innovative and has the ear candy that the first album had."
On Orgone - Pleroma
"@Pangota72 💯 more people need to appreciate this masterpiece. 6 months in and it only keeps growing on me."
On Ethel Cain - Perverts
"Makes more sense re Dr. Luke. That dude ruins everything."
On Andwella - World's End
"@parannemi Thanks! It's airways fun stumbling on an old hidden gem like this album. I felt like it needed someone to pay homage."
On Alkymist - UnnDerr
"@chemjay300 even their tiny cookies are awesome."
On NTTR's review of VOLA - Friend of a Phantom
"You were spot on with the similar bands! Maybe a little Soen in there as well."
On Godspeed You! Black Emperor - "NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD"
"@Zackhy the last three minutes were awesome! I get that layering sounds too create the end stage of each song is a process and I respect that. I'm sure that my opinion would change drastically after seeing them live."
On 40 Watt Sun - Little Weight
"@Doofy Fair point. I will leave this one in the rotation for a bit to see if it grows on me."
On Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Wild God
"@leoxmi You're right, I should. My favorite Nick Cave song is the Passenger off the Batman Forever soundtrack...I'll check out some of the early/mid-90s albums."
On Orville Peck - Stampede
"@dasturbo totally agree. With the right manager he could end up a legend in alt country. Just needs to steer clear of all the pop country industry nonsense."
On The Marías - Submarine
"🤷♂️ I didn't expect to be a citric but I'm not feeling this one."
On Maggie Lindemann - HEADSPLIT
"Cool. I'm going to have to check out the first two albums. Thanks!"
On DiceBloke's review of (Hed) P.E. - DETOX
"the self-titled album is much better. The lyrics are still a liability but the music has a lot more originality and funk to it. There were some good musicians in the original line-up, but they're all gone by now. It is tough to put the self-titled album in any one genre, but this album is kind of a one-trick pony."
On DiceBloke's review of (Hed) P.E. - DETOX
"Lyrics have been a problem with this band for its whole existence."
On Inherus - Beholden
"I have to be honest with you, XsVrits...I don't know what you're trying to convey with your statement here."
On The Lemon Twigs - Everything Harmony
"Yeah, maybe t's not so much the harmonies as it is the actual lead vocals remind me of a mix of weird Al and Tiny Tim. The harmonies are actually decent, but that only exacerbates the weak lead vocals. Maybe that's my issue with it. I don't know, every time I turn this on to try to analyze it I just get a visceral reaction to something in the vocals."
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