Graduation further plays up the glitz and glamor of Kanye's sound, as he becomes the superstar he's dreamed of being since the early days recounted on College Dropout. The cutting-edge production sets the tone of the album, and Kanye excels when he really has something to say, as on Everything I Am.

But as usual, the album is bogged down by a few weak songs, and even the good songs are held back by wack lyrics. Barry Bonds is a textbook example of how to ruin a great song with just ... read more

I grew up hating Tool, but as an adult I figured it was about time to actually sit down and give them a fair listen. It was then a great pleasant surprise to discover that I do not hate this album. While I don't have a great many positives to list, I have strikingly few negatives to point to either.

The opener Intolerance does really set the tone of the album, being a rougher, rawer, heavier Tool than you might recognize from later albums. This is a grunge record, and while more bleak ... read more

While perhaps not Opeth's worst album, it's certainly their most jarring. Keeping the groovy 70's prog rock guitar tone they've adopted in recent years, but "incorporating" growls makes for such a mismatch in aesthetic that this is nearly unlistenable at times.

Trollslayer is a bit of a mixed bag, as Wind Rose deliver on what they do best, while elsewhere failing to recreate their greatest hits, and ultimately try to do something new and falter.

This is first and foremost a criminally underrated album... or in this case un-rated.

Fires of Life is a (mostly) solid melodic death metal album, featuring no shortage of blistering solos or traditional folk metal riffing. Interspersed throughout the record are heroic battle anthems and ominous villain themes, the apex of either being the masterful Sword, Spear, Blood, Fire. Not afraid to indulge in theatrics, this song features a villainous monologue about the destruction of the world, ... read more

This is Soap Opera Metal.

Those averse to theatrics and drama are likely not to enjoy this album. For myself, I can't get enough. With each listen, I find I'm immersed in the mysterious world crafted in the narrative, and the tragic romances that take place within it.

Musically, the album is carried by an ensemble of soap opera organs, rich orchestral strings, and the twinkling notes of a music box. Though any individual track contains a multitude of different passages within, each ... read more

There's so little to say about this album as there's so little here that holds my attention. It's undoubtedly better produced than the auditory nightmare that is White Pony, but without any of the eccentricity that actually gave personality to the tracks on that album, this record is just bare-bones Deftones. Generic nu-metal instrumentals with angsty proto-screamo vocals, Chinos's disgusting whimpering and wet inhalations of the microphone. The anthems of fuckboy party bros ... read more

Listening to this album feels like being trapped in a hell of teenage angst, like if I've been sent back in time 15 years and robbed of all of my individuality. This is what Korn must sound like to people who despise Korn. This is a reminder of why people hate nu-metal, and why they're right to hate it.

The production is the first thing you're sure to notice on this album, as the allegedly "metal" instrumentals do not even approach the concept of heaviness. On several ... read more

I swear this thing only exists for the El Phantasmo remix. A lot of these are just an inferior way to listen to the advertised track, and the reworking of (nearly) every other song from Astro Creep feels like an obligatory afterthought; the term "afterthought" effectively symbolizing how I quit having any thoughts about them after the song is over. For whatever reason Creature of the Wheel is not given a remix here, though I'm not really going to lament any song being spared this ... read more

Despite dropping the groove metal genre that they practically just invented, this is still recognizably White Zombie. At times a louder, more abrasive, and experimental White Zombie, and at other times a more radio-centric White Zombie. But much like their last album, or honestly any of them, there's no chance you'd hear a song from this and mistake it for anyone but White Zombie. It's dripping with eccentric originality, held together with Rob Zombie's ... read more

Reinventing The Steal was the final album released by Pantera before the tragic murder of their iconic guitarist. On the surface, it sees the band in a comparatively good place. Lead screamer Phil Anselmo claims to have at this point been clean of heroin, and the band's music sounds more coherent and energetic than their last release, if not a tad bland.

Most tracks aren't good by any stretch of the imagination, but the band's willingness to borrow functional ideas form superior ... read more

Closet glam rockers Pantera, the creators of ~Metal Magic~ and *Power Metal* are back to reassure us that they are TOTALLY NOT TREND CHASERS. They're TREND KILLERS. Hardcore, dark, brooding, edgy, DESTROYERS of trends, who have ALWAYS been hardcore.

This is about as pathetic as the band have ever been, which is honestly a pretty impressive accomplishment for them. The album itself is poser-core garbage that is allergic to heaviness, littered with wordless puke-screaming that exist just to ... read more

One of the things I like about nu metal is its willingness to be unconventional. Sure, maybe it's safe-edgy much of the time, but it's at least interesting.

If Vulgar Display of Power offered the blueprint for the worst of the nu/core scene, this offers guidelines for its redeeming qualities. The persona adopted with this album is more a troubled soul than a trouble-making tough guy. Phil's angsty screams are occasionally replaced with just the sort of moans, groans, and ... read more

I don't know what the band were attempting to achieve with this album, if anything. Most of this sounds like it was was improvised on the spot. Drowning The Colossus is an atonal doom metal track that's actually a pleasant listen, and would almost fit into a Blut Aus Nord project. This is ironically White Zombie's heaviest album, though the only memorable things about are the song titles Ratmouth and Diamond Ass.

If I were rating titles alone, this album's a 10/10. Unfortunately, the Gods of Voodoo Moon, the Gentleman Junkie, the Scarecrow Man... Are all much more endearing characters in my head than they are on tape. Still, you can hear the traces of what would eventually become Le Secorcisto in the psychedelic punk rock offered here. Track 4 is of very little value, but the three preceding songs are enjoyable enough to not turn off. I don't know that I'd ever seek this out to listen to ... read more

Vultures Displaying Flowers is Pantera's sixth album, their second since adopting the tough-guy aesthetic they're best known for. Their iconic guitarist *Diamond Darrell* has at this point in his career smoked enough weed to finally fit in with the cool kids, and has changed his stage name to Dimebag Darrell to show everybody that he's hardcore. He doesn't follow the rules! He's a bad boy, he's a rough dude.

As I said in my Cowboys From Hell review, if there was a ... read more

The band that brought us Power Metal~ is BACK, and ready to pretend they didn't spend the past decade trying to be Kiss. This is definitely the first Pantera album; please don't research any sort of imaginary back catalogue, and if you find anything there, that definitely wasn't us. We play DARK and BRUTAL and HEAVY music!

Another lie to dispel early on is Pantera play groove metal. Playing one or two 70's-influenced riffs across your album does not make you a groove metal ... read more

The DARKEST and most HARDCORE metal band of ALL TIME are BACK once again with Power Metal~! And they're proud to be loud. This is an album for all you girls and major party animals. Listen at your own risk, and party down! It's partytime!!! The pussy is tight tonight.

If you're not feeling properly fired up and ready to party, inspired by this sage wisdom taken from the actual posted lyrics of the closing track, then you're actually in luck. This is a mostly decent album. ... read more

There exists a rumor that in 1985, members of Pantera met James Hetfield of Metallica, and that Diamond Darrell had a "wall of glam" in his bedroom, with pictures of Bon Jovi and other glam rock bands/artists pinned up on the wall. When James Hetfield saw this, he reportedly began to spit on them. And instead of becoming indignant, or upset, or defending his tastes, or playing it off, Diamond Darrell also began to spit on his own personal collection of glam rock memorabilia.

This ... read more

Terry Glaze and the Diamond Boys are BACK! And this album is, at its best, even more generic than the previous record.

Tracks like Out For Blood, Killers, and She's Like Fire are again passable glam metal, this time with a tad more speed metal flavor, sounding closer to Iron Maiden than to Kiss. We hear a much more impassioned vocal performance from Terry Glaze, who has here rebranded himself as Terrence Lee, alongside fellow party rockers Diamond Darrell~ and Rex Rocker. But none of this ... read more