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!
Samskaras – Lithification (EP Review)
Every now and then, you come across a band whose inspirations are immediately evident, but somehow manage to maintain their own identity. Sometimes, you can…
Nordic Union – Second Coming (Album Review)
Frontiers Records is at it again. For those unfamiliar, the Italian label has a long history of not only signing and releasing many American rock…
Thoren – Gwarth I (Album Review)
Blotted Science proved with their debut album, “The Machinations of Dementia,” that the single most distinctive element of death metal, the obligatory death growl, was…
Soulfly – Ritual (Album Review)
A new ritual sets forth a grand tribal revolt. With there now being more than two decades of distance since Max Cavalera’s departure from Sepultura,…
Henry Derek Elis – The Devil is My Friend (Album Review)
It seems Henry Derek Elis has as many pseudonyms as he does musical directions. His twenty-year long career has seen him use such variants as…
Various Artists – Yesterday and Today: A 50th Anniversary Tribute to YES (Album Review)
Celebrating a 50th Anniversary isn’t an option for most rock ’n roll bands. Not to mention being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of…
Fernando Perdomo – Zebra Crossing (Album Review)
2018 has been a rather incredible year for the bi-coastal Fernando Perdomo, a Miami musician who has earned great success since playing his trade at…
Burning Witches – Hexenhammer (Album Review)
Burning Witches are a retro-sounding metal band comprising of 5 leather-clad ladies of astonishing appearance, who seem commit to carry the torch of the power,…
Ashes Of Ares – Well Of Souls (Album Review)
Whereas Jon Schaffer is the undisputed heart and soul of Iced Earth, it must so too be acknowledged that Matt Barlow is the epicenter of…
Opeth – Garden Of The Titans (Album Review)
Over the years, the ever-expanding Swedes of Opeth have had several live releases, all of which capturing remarkably different periods of the band, both in…
Marty Friedman – One Bad M.F. Live (Album Review)
There may not be another guitarist alive with the same combination of multifaceted talent and international stardom as Marty Friedman. Yes, there may be a…
Evership – Evership II (Album Review)
First things first: you need to check out Evership. For those of you who love the classic sounds of the prog greats from the ’70’s,…
Iamthemorning – Ocean Sounds (Film Review)
Largely, music falls into a spectrum. At one end, we find music which is “musician’s music.” At the other, we find music which is easily…
Impellitteri – The Nature Of The Beast (Album Review)
Remember the glory days of metal when a heavy riffing, distorted guitar was WAAAAY up front in the mix? The days when speed kings like…
Seventh Wonder – Tiara (Album Review)
October brings big news for the progressive power metal world, in the form of the fifth album from Seventh Wonder, dubbed “Tiara.” Even better news…
Fifth Angel – The Third Secret (Album Review)
Music fans have heard this story countless times: a talented hard rock band formed in the second part of the 80’s, whose rise to the…
Rikard Sjöblom’s Gungfly – Friendship (Album Review)
Remember that summer when you were 10 years old and those few friends that meant everything to you? Whatever happened to them? That question serves…
Behemoth – I Loved You At Your Darkest (Album Review)
Four lengthy courses has the earth made around our Sun since the last Behemoth record, the none-too-subtle indictment “The Satanist,” was loosed upon us. That…
Ethernity – The Human Race Extinction (Album Review)
Extinction by industrialization and progression. One curious tendency that has developed within progressive-tinged power metal circles over the past 10 or so years has been…
Haken – Vector (Album Review)
Has anyone else noticed the trend whereby movie promos use the same sound effect, on repeat, for the duration of an advertisement? That was my…
Greta Van Fleet – Anthem of the Peaceful Army (Album Review)
Classic Rock was often heralded in by bands whose members were in their early 20’s or even late teens at the time. So it should…
Aborted – TerrorVision (Album Review)
In a world of endless monstrosities. Otherworldly imagery has been the stock and trade of death metal for about as long as the sub-genre has…
Black Paisley – Perennials (Album Review)
Imagine, for a moment, that Tom Petty’s commercially successful 1994 album Wildflowers started not with the title track, but rather, with something like, say, “Holy…
Damanek – In Flight (Album Review)
Take a trip around the world via a magic prog carpet ride, courtesy of Guy Manning and his fine ensemble Damanek. The majority of the…
Dragonlord – Dominion (Album Review)
At last, the throwback/retro craze that gained traction in the pop world several years ago with Adele and trickled its way into the prog sphere…
Joe Bonamassa – Redemption (Album Review)
As I stated in my concert review of his show at Red Rocks earlier this year, Joe Bonamassa puts on a great display of musicianship…
Siege Of Power – Warning Blast (Album Review)
Obligatory, apocalyptic images and sounds. Stereotypes seem to be inevitable when a given expression comes of age, and with black metal appropriating the old occult…
Monstrosity – The Passage Of Existence (Album Review)
Battle rages in the cosmic firmament. One would be remiss to suggest that death metal is a one-dimensional expression at present, but even as far…
The Unity – Rise (Album Review)
What happens when Germans and Italians join forces? Certainly never a car, but the results could be anything from a curry wurst pizza, to world…
Grave Digger – The Living Dead (Album Review)
Legions of the undead at Grimm’s command. When in the graveyard, do as the corpses do, or at least this would be the advice given…
Riverside – Wasteland (Album Review)
Music fans are used to anticipating the release of a new album, waiting to see what fresh course their favorite artists have chosen to chart.…
Omnium Gatherum – The Burning Cold (Album Review)
Cold flames beget a burning frost. Contradictions have little place in the fields of logical inquiry, but in the realm of the arts it is…
Manimal – Purgatorio (Album Review)
In life, there are some things which are simply great, without any bells or whistles. A friendly dog. A big foldable greasy slice of New…
Deicide – Overtures Of Blasphemy (Album Review)
Every vile soundtrack needs a prelude, or 12. Melancholy occasions are often wont to make one forget his sense of objectivity, for good or for…
Metal Allegiance – Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty (Album Review)
Metal Allegiance burst onto the scene in 2015 with one of the strongest debut metal albums in years. It’s even more impressive when you consider…
Alice Cooper – A Paranormal Evening At The Olympia Paris (Album Review)
Alice Cooper is a man of the times. Any time, really. The Grandfather of Shock Rock is known for many things: decades of brilliant dramatic…