Music
▼ National Reviews
Review: Tempel – On The Steps Of The Temple
I’m not usually a fan of instrumental metal and most post-metal gives me rage-induced symptoms resembling a mix of dengue and dysentery. On The Steps Of The Temple has more heaviness to it than its brothers in the genre and on the first track, “Mountain,” I caught my head doing something resembling banging along to the death-metally riffs and double bass grooves on the drums. … read more
Review: Sonic Avenues – Mistakes
Sonic Avenues blasts out with a garage power pop twist that complements the legacy left by The Exploding Hearts rather nicely—they do an excellent job with poppy yet twisted, snotty distorted vocals that are coupled with a raw, ’77-influenced punk sound. … read more
Review: Septicflesh – Titan
Septicflesh had a hard task to make something greater than their last record, The Great Mass. Titan is a more than appropriate title for the epically epic damned ninth album from the Greek metal masters. … read more
Review: Secret Smoker – Terminal Architecture
Proudly declaring themselves as the torchbearers of “passionate ’emo’… before the shopping malls got a hold of the genre,” Secret Smoker know exactly what they’re going for and they firmly hit that bullseye. … read more
Review: Wye Oak – Shriek
Like many of their musical contemporaries, Baltimore’s Wye Oak are embracing new modes of music-making and shying away from guitar-based rock structures to favor synthetic sounds and electronic textures. … read more
Review: Woods – With Light and With Love
Brooklyn “do everything” folk band Woods return with a bright album full of quaint little pop songs with no edges and hooks so sugary they make Teenage Fanclub look like The Ramones. Woods are probably the least freaky of the “freak folk” acts, but definitely the most consistent (as long as Devendra Banhart keeps making shitty albums). … read more
Review: Videoing – Treasure House EP
Opening with noise guitars and heavy beats, Videoing sucker-punch you with this five-song EP in a wave of electro-industrial sound and don’t let you up until the very end. … read more
Review: Vader – Tibi Et Igni
Polish death metal giants Vader enter the summer release chaos with Tibi Et Igni—meaning “For You and Fire” in Latin. Tibi Et Igni isn’t a bad album, though it struggles quite a bit. … read more
Review: TOBACCO – Ultima II Massage
Bless this godforsaken heap of digital diarrhea. The most anticipated release of summer is here with TOBACCO’s latest and vilest album to date. I couldn’t be more ecstatic. … read more
Review: Timber Timbre – Hot Dreams
Taylor Kirk of Timber Timbre has a devilish croon that can make Halloween seem like the most romantic holiday of the year. His band’s third album finds their inimitable style evolving once again, yet stumbling in the same ways creatively. … read more