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!
As the modern metal world continues to evolve, and fracture into all of its component sub-genres, an argument can reasonably made that much of metal…
This February 2nd unveils another chapter in Soen’s victorious and vertiginous career: their new album Lotus hits the shelves (or will be made available in…
It was 1975, and a band came out of St. Louis with, well, a unique sound. They called themselves Pavlov’s Dog, but they were not…
Tony Harnell (ex-TNT) has a signature voice and stratospheric range that is both distinctive and dominating on the material he appears on. A case could…
Unlucky are they whom challenge this beast. Death metal is an art form that is undaunted by incidents of the former half of its name…
If ever there was an artist whose ship you can actually see coming in, it’s Fernando Perdomo. A man of innumerable musical lives, Perdomo came…
I have a love/hate relationship with concept albums. One one hand, a set of thematically unified songs appeals to my love of storytelling, particularly when…
Avantasia – the all-star rock opera spaceship piloted by Edguy singer, songwriter and producer Tobias Sammet – began as a side project by Tobias, who…
We’re living in an unprecedented era in music. There is more to be found than ever before, and more to be heard, and more new…
King Diamond, one of the most controversial and divisive metal singers to appear since the term “heavy metal” was coined in the 60’s, is back…
Penning your newest album as ‘self-titled’ over 30 years into your musical career is undoubtedly interpreted as a statement, one that is arguably unavoidable in…
Like Peter Gabriel before him, Steve Hackett has become a World Music Ambassador. While the guitar maestro has confidently released an unabashedly strong rock album…
In the thrash world, and across the metal community at large, there exists a square of pillars known as the Big Four. The comprising entities…
The past half decade has been quite an adventure for keyboardist, vocalist, composer, producer, and all-around you-name-it Dave Kerzner. Though he has been jamming with…
Considered by many to be one of the most skilled composers and performers in today’s progressive rock scene, despite being unfairly bashed by critics in…
Mosh like you mean it, bitches! Thrash metal has never been big on the concept of subtlety, and if Gama Bomb’s latest studio offering is…
In 2001, I wrote the following about Evergrey: “… This band may very well save Progressive Metal from dwindling into mediocrity. This band has taken…
Link has grown cynical these days. Though likely a complete coincidence, one can’t help but notice the striking similarity in appearance that the lone protagonist…
Old skeletons with a shiny new casket. For all the implicit imagery of skeletons and the common idiom of them dwelling in a person’s closet…
The terrors of midnight play it safe. When any band reaches veteran status, a certain degree of reflection becomes inevitable both among themselves and their…
Suppose, if you will, that you awaken to some Spock’s Beard version of the musical universe. No, not the stuff of Neal Morse and Nick…
Greatest hits albums, or as I call them, “Best 0fs”, have served many a purpose in the music business: fulfilling a contract obligation with the…
Mike Slamer remains one of the unsung and criminally underestimated guitar heroes of rock. Much like fellow peers Michael Lee Firkins and Reb Beach, he…
The old ways are still the strongest. Too often a band’s present merits are judged by how much progression their sound has made, which is…
Being a reviewer here at Sonic Perspectives is sort of a dream come true for a music fan. Though much of the music I, personally,…
We all love the experience of playing an unknown band for the first time and having our ears perk up as we think, “WHO is…
When writing for popular periodicals such as Sonic Perspectives, I make an effort to write in a detached third-person narrative, attempting to blend academic objectivity…
In these fleeting moments before my fellow Americans celebrate the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving, I would like to pause and give thanks for metal bands…
The undead set sail for even darker seas. Few subjects can hope to be as poignant and dark as that of one’s demise, be it…
One of the greatest things about this great big wide genre of music known as “progressive” is there are nearly as many sub-genres as there…
In 2015, the power metal world was treated to an interesting concept album: Dracula – Swing of Death. It was the progeny of Euro metal…
Artillery. If the name doesn’t sound familiar to you, maybe their logo will help jog your memory. I remember stumbling upon By Inheritance, one of…
When bands reinvent themselves mid-career, hopefully it leads to greener pastures. For Dilemma, it surely has pointed to a promising future with new album Random…
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…
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…
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…
