I really liked about half of this album... but most of my joy came in the first half. I quite enjoyed the punchy, generic rock n' roll songs like "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and "Rollover D.J.", but too much of this album was comprised of sleepy ballads and boring acoustics that didn't do much for me.

What an enjoyable flurry of energy and chaos and rage.
Not huge on the screamy vocals (as I seldom am), but they are fairly well mitigated/offset by the raw talent and fluidity of pretty much everything else.

Once more, I will preface this by saying that this is a genre that is well outside of my usual listening habits and that I feel pretty unqualified to speak on in great depth. For that reason, I'm gonna keep it brief and avoid talking too much about technical aspects, like composure.
This album is really interesting. As is often the case for me, I didn't connect very well with the hip hop aspects of it, and I generally enjoy music with more elements and depth and intent. However, the ... read more

This album employs an excess of all of the things I really struggle to find appreciation for: acoustic only instruments, sappy lyrics, and oversold, melodramatic vocals. Did not work for me.

So, I'm gonna be honest, I kinda like this album? However, I'm going to add some asterisks to that statement. (This is also just personal, moderately uneducated opinion; I'm nowhere near an emo expert or connoisseur.)
I think the most glaring issue is that, for what it is, it appears to me that this album came late. By 2012, emo was already in considerable decline, and we'd already had several big acts come out that did what these guys do, but better (and a lot earlier). I ... read more

I really enjoyed this album. I went in blind on a recommendation from a friend with absolutely no clue what was ahead and I was pleasantly surprised!
Acoustically, these guys have a really great, interesting vibe. I kept picking out prog/djent elements that tickled my brain in the best kind of way (although I'll be the first to admit I am wildly biased towards these genres). I am not especially fond of the vocalist or lyrics, and I know I am in the minority on this; they're fine, ... read more

Fine, not great.
Like many others, I was here hoping to find something that slaps anywhere near as hard as "Dangerous", and I was not successful. It's a pleasant enough album, although I find the levels to be a bit off in some places. There's nothing else very exceptional here.

This album genuinely surprised me because, as someone who's never gone out of my way to listen to I Mother Earth and is only somewhat familiar with their radio singles, I was expecting more of what I heard on the radio: okay-but-not-amazing, generic 90s rock. By the time I was halfway through "So Gently We Go", I realized I'd been duped: I didn't realize they did progressive rock in any capacity. You never catch wind of that in their radio singles.
I get it: ... read more

I enjoyed this album. It's very quintessentially 80s/90s heavy metal in a good way, with big, snazzy guitar solos, a couple softer, ballad-type songs, and some really interesting (if not somewhat unnerving) choices of subject matter/lyrics.
I have two minor grievances. One: some of these songs feel like they run a bit longer than they need to. Maybe that's just because I'm listening to it 25 years late and we've all lost a fuckton of our attention spans because of ... read more

DNF (shut off after Sharp Halo)
Too weird for me, and that's saying something.

Okay, so, hear me out.
I don't hate this album. It's got some good content; it has moments of being fun, thoughtful, and interesting. "So I" is beautiful. I like a lot of the hooks, some of the lyrics are very clever, and the overall energy is right.
But there's also a lot of independent detractors. The autotuning takes so much away for me on the songs it's in; it feels entirely unnecessary and distracting. "Talk talk", "Everything is ... read more

It's aight. I suspect I would have loved this as an angst-ridden, gothy teenager. Listening to it 22 years after release (and with no nostalgia for any of it), it's nothing tremendously special, but it's adequate. I strongly dislike Funeral Song, but everything else is okay.

This is not Samy's best work, nor is it his worst. It's fairly well-structured, but also a bit less thoughtful/evocative than much of his earlier work. I feel inclined to call it "goth pop": moody synths, dark electro vibes, and empty, banal lyrics. Pretty good if you want something a bit brooding that isn't looking to make you think too much.

Another one that's just not for me. I feel like I don't "get it", and I'm okay with that.

C- lyrics (repetitive and uninteresting) but, if you're familiar with Grabbitz's work, this is to be expected. Gets a lot better if you disconnect from the lyrics and enjoy the rest of what's going on.

Rating this album was tricky because it's hard to (fairly) follow up the excellence that Imogen had in "Speak for Yourself" (and, to some extent, "iMegaphone"). The bar was already set so high that, well, how do you go up from there?
I do genuinely like this album. I don't have much grievance with any of the songs on their own, although I'm not a fan of Between the Sheets, and I find that the pacing in the first half is considerably better than the second. ... read more

Wow. I'm damn near speechless.
Despite my moderate preference/bias for heavier music in general, I'm often not huge on death metal. The growly lyrics and incessant pacing tends to wear me down, so, having known nothing about Blood Incantation going into this, I was not expecting to enjoy this nearly as much as I did.
This album is SO GOOD. Sure, the vocals often *are* growly (and, if I had to pick a singular weak point, they would be it), but they don't overstay their welcome, ... read more

A solid album. I don't appear to be quite as sold on it as most people are, but it's not a bad listen.
My primary grievances are in lyrics and, in some instances, delivery of those lyrics. A lot of the lyrics are complete nonsense, which is not necessarily a problem, but it does present confusion when you're listening to someone sing with flair and confidence, but you can't make sense of just what it is that they're singing so passionately about.
In some instances, I ... read more

I'm starting to feel so guilty about giving all these well-loved albums tepid reviews - both because I don't really enjoy being a contrarian, and also because it feels bad to say something is "just okay". Music is highly subjective, and, somehow, it feels strange when something isn't divisive. I feel better when I have strong opinions about it, one way or the other.

There's nothing wrong with this album. It's fine. It's music. They don't do much ... read more

This album is such a mixed bag. I don't hate it as much as many others seem to, but I'm also not about to try and say it's good. It's like Imagine Dragons and The Arkells had a child that isn't very good at audio production, has undiagnosed ADHD, and has a vocalist at the helm who, deep down, seems like they really just want to be a gospel singer.
Controversially, I think the vocals are pretty good, at least from a skill/technical perspective. Unfortunately, the ... read more