ALBUM REVIEWS
If you’re looking for aggregated album reviews from our seasoned music specialists, including our own score offering at a glance how the album fared, this is the right destination for you. Album reviews certainly still matter to artists, writers, and publicists, as they are the ones dealing with them every day, but does the average listener still pay attention? Well, we sincerely hope you do... Dive in!
Blues Pills – Holy Moly! (Album Review)
So here are your trivia materials for Blues Pills: They are Swedish, but — in 2011, half-brothers Zach Anderson and Cory Berry met vocalist Elin…
Derek Sherinian – The Phoenix (Album Review)
The music business is in a weird place right now. While platforms like Spotify and, YouTube and Deezer dominate the sonic landscape and make it…
Oceans of Slumber – Oceans of Slumber (Album Review)
As broad and difficult to define as the sweeping and diverse geography which characterizes their home state, Texas-based Oceans of Slumber return with an album…
The Pineapple Thief – Versions of the Truth (Album Review)
Every once in a while, I develop a strong connection with a newly discovered band or artist and quickly go deep into their back catalog,…
Seether – Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum (Album Review)
A name which has long been adorned with titles of Platinum and Gold, Seether is poised to continue soaking in the spotlight with their eighth…
From Ashes To New – Panic (Album Review)
In a world that may often seem as vast as it is dark, stumbling across a genuine expression of guiding light is a rare reprieve…
Vicious Rumors – Celebration Decay (Album Review)
Welcome to your death-day party. With age may come experience, but in metal circles, it seems that experience tends towards embracing newer practices while the…
Neal Morse – Sola Gratia (Album Review)
“This is my ‘quarantine’ album” says Neal Morse of his new release, “Sola Gratia”. That refers to the fact that for the first time in…
Kill The Lights – The Sinner (Album Review)
With an electrified hard rock sound which constantly toes the edges of metal’s extremity, Kill The Lights brings an experienced roster and perpetually youthful imagination…
Pain Of Salvation – Panther (Album Review)
To say that a Pain of Salvation album is not a journey is to assert that water is dry. For their eleventh record, the enigmatic…
Incantation – Sect Of Vile Divinities (Album Review)
Evil lurks amid the decrepit earth. With so many death metal bands upping the ante by achieving greater brutality via more highly compressed productions, it’s…
Unleash The Archers – Abyss (Album Review)
Unleash The Archers has gradually become a heavyweight act in the modern power metal scene lately. The Canadians have been part of the movement for…
The Tangent – Auto Reconnaissance (Album Review)
The musical genre known as Progressive Rock has distinguished itself for its constant seek of innovation, where the fusion of several musical approaches and genres…
Cancer – Opioid (Album Review)
Addiction is the opioid of death. The Victorian era is often remembered for its conservatism and pushback against the rationalism of the preceding period, but…
Redemption – Alive In Color (Album Review)
Recording live is always a bold move. But releasing your band’s first performance with a revamped lineup at one of metal’s most prestigious festivals on…
Esoteric – Metamorphogenesis (Album Review)
A grand excursion into metaphysical horror. In this increasingly digital world, it might seen a downgrade to bring back an old classic in what is…
Terra Atlantica – Age Of Steam (Album Review)
In December 2014, German navigators Tristan Harders and Nico Hauschildt decided to leave the musical vessel they were part of and build a new one for themselves. They…
Kamelot – I Am The Empire: Live From The 013 (Album Review)
A night at the power metal opera. The story that is Kamelot’s rise to prominence is, if nothing else, an inspirational one. Conceived in the…
EphemeraL – VII (Album Review)
The birthplace of melodic death metal may have been in the metal-rich cradle of Scandinavia, but in the years since its origin the genre has…
Orbit Culture – Nija (Album Review)
In the wake of industrialized rage. The Gothenburg melodic death metal craze of yesteryear has seen a fair number of interesting offshoots, perhaps none more…
Onslaught – Generation Antichrist (Album Review)
A British nod to Teutonic fury. The story of Onslaught, who were among the earliest and most consequential bands to come out of the comparatively…
Black Crown Initiate – Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape (Album Review)
Seven years ago Black Crown Initiate released their debut EP “Song of the Crippled Bull” to an immediately warm reception, which kicked off their gradual…
Avatar – Hunther Gatherer (Album Review)
Is AVATAR the most exciting and innovative metal band to achieve mainstream commercial success lately? Yes. Is AVATAR continuing the storied tradition of bands like…
Defeated Sanity – The Sanguinary Impetus (Album Review)
This sonic stew calls for more blood. For any student of the history of music, Germany was not merely the home of many of the…
Warkings – Revenge (Album Review)
While it is not entirely clear whether the Warkings hail from the contemporary European power metal scene, or the mead halls of Valhalla, it is…
High Spirits – Hard to Stop (Album Review)
After releasing three solo albums simultaneously last year, multi-instrumentalist Chris “The Professor” Black, returns with a new record called “Hard To Stop” with his high-energy rock project High…
Septicflesh – Infernus Sinfonica MMXIX (Album Review)
A live album’s potential for success is rooted in an enthusiastic audience and an even more enthusiastic band. Septicflesh has both of those bases thoroughly…
Deep Purple – Whoosh! (Album Review)
With more than 50 years of a lustrous career under their belt, almost too many lineup changes to keep track of, and a genuinely unstoppable…
Domination Black – Judgement IV (Album Review)
Eight years have passed since the last album by Domination Black was released. In that time, the Finnish band experienced highs and lows, from the…
Soft Machine – Live at The Baked Potato (Album Review)
The impact that a band such as Soft Machine made during the pivotal heydays of the late 60s and early 70s continues to be felt…
Primal Fear – Metal Commando (Album Review)
Onward, speed metal soldiers! While the old adage of the times continuing to change has largely held true, there are certain bands where it applies…
Valkyrie – Fear (Album Review)
Sparing in vocals but heavy in both style and passion, doom rockers Valkyrie show off the breadth of their experience and growth in their latest…
Morse, Portnoy, George – Cov3r To Cov3r (Album Review)
We all need context. It gives us a better perspective, a deeper understanding of a piece of art or performance. It lets us know a…
Blot – Howl From the North (Album Review)
Black metal may be one of the clearest glimpses at the frigid maw of hell, a yawning chasm from which nothing but cold wind blows…
Alcatrazz – Born Innocent (Album Review)
Old dogs still have the best tricks. For all of the bizarre happenings that have come to define 2020, if one were to focus on…
Steve Howe – Love Is (Album Review)
Legendary Yes and Asia guitarist Steve Howe cemented his place in the upper echelons of rock guitarists long ago. Having spent the 70s flying high…