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!
Austrian coed-metal act Visions of Atlantis has been through a lot. With six studio albums since 2002, several lineup changes (including the sad death of…
Fortunate is the artist who is able to realize a vision successfully into finished form. All the more-so when that vision contains a diverse and…
How weird is this? Two of the best progressive-rock albums of 2019 come out of Norway. Both bands have the initials “MP.” Both are powerful,…
Thrash Van Winkle. Though now considered a bygone era to a generation that has seen the resurgence of denim vested madmen riffing out at breakneck…
This month marks a historic milestone in metal; Tarja Turunen, the Flower of Finland, the Siren of Suomi, will have five solo rock albums to…
Sons Of Apollo are one of the biggest success stories of the past two years in the progressive rock world. The combination of vocalist Jeff…
A dragon’s light burns the brightest. If there was a single band that could pointed out as taking the fantasy-based side of power metal to…
In twenty years, adult contemporary artist Soleil Moon has only had two album releases, so it is a momentous occasion for the band when a…
I can vividly remember when I discovered Slipknot. Growing up on classic 80’s rock n’ roll, then eventually transitioning into more hard rock cuts like…
One common complaint about the djent sound is that many of the singers borrow too heavily from the emo resurgence of the mid 2000s. In…
Melodic savagery reigns supreme. Despite the rumors in the online “critical world” of the 2000s retro-thrash revival being D.O.A. for the better part of a…
Like father, like sons. Though not counted among the so-called Big 4, Exodus is a name that is synonymous with thrash metal, going all the…
It’s incredibly difficult as a music fan, much less a critic, to not judge a book by its cover, so to speak. The good news,…
To paraphrase the Honorable Judge Alvin “J.P.” Valkenheiser, this album is one hopped-up wh**e of a good time, much like a ride on “Mister Bonestripper”…
Another storm rages from the blacksmith’s forge. For those who remember the resurrection that heavy metal experienced in the late 1990s in Europe, the name…
2019 has been a great year for thrash metal fans, with a multitude of releases hitting the virtual and physical shelves recently: Death Angel, Overkill, …
When the principal mastermind behind progressive metal juggernaut Haken announced a solo venture, the news made big waves in the music world. Haken guitarist and…
So I’m writing a review of the new album by Magic Pie, and I figure I should be clever. The Pie is tasty, a confection,…
Formed in 2005 in San Diego County, California, metallers Carnifex has undergone several lineup changes and slight shifts in musical direction. Through the years, they…
The slow talon grasps the deepest. Despite the still ongoing trend in thrash metal circles to attempt and recapture that vintage 80s Bay Area, New…
While it would be ideal to pretend like the music industry is a nonstop party of the fresh and vivacious, the naked reality is that…
Trench warfare with a melody. One can scarcely utter a word concerning European power metal outside of its most rigorously schooled core audience without Sabaton…
Heroes can often wear two uniforms. Though a great many of the younger guard of the power metal revolution of the millennial transition saw their…
Let the cosmic bombardment commence! Piet Sielck’s flagship project and Sci-Fi infused power/speed metal powerhouse has seen its fair share of trials and tribulations over…
A darker twist on an epic tale. Although sludge has typically made its home in the sweltering swamps of Louisiana, there is a certain character…
Anyone reading this review has likely been following one or any combination of the members of The Aristocrats for a number of years, and likely…
If the fifth album from Brighteye Brison seemed like it was a long time coming, well, that’s because it was. Fortunately, the band was recently…
“We Are Connected.” That’s the kick-off track from Antenna, the new album by Brit proggers The Gift. But it’s also something of a status update;…
Where undead, alien paradoxes abound. Nostalgia is by no means an alien concept to metal, nay even its younger and more extreme sub-genres, but lately…
Happily, Collective Soul are not in any danger of getting caught in a nostalgic whirlpool, having just created one of the strongest albums of their…
As Alice Cooper’s career nears the end of the sixth consecutive decade over which it has cast a gloomy shadow, it’s easy to look back…
Where paradise draws its power. In the annals of power metal’s 30 years plus history, one of the most pivotal bands in shaping the European…
Whether you know his voice from ARK, Masterplan, Avantasia, Ayreon’s 01011001 album, or in collaboration with “Sir” Russell Allen, if your musical journey has ever…
Originally based in Savannah, Georgia, Baroness increasingly gathered the attention of those wanting a heavy sound with touches of alt rock, sludge and stoner rock.…
Old wolves know the best tricks. Apocalyptic imagery and thrash metal have been common bedfellows for about as long as the latter has been in…
“Once swept away then pulled back to the fight, just a pattern seeking animal caught up in some grand parade.” These lyrics, sung by Ted…