Music
Review: Bring Me The Horizon – Sempiternal
Continuing the theme of yelling at faith, established in their last album, Sempiternal doesn’t overly change the formula—and that’s not a bad thing. … read more
Review: Bone Sickness – Alone in the Grave
Bring an extra pair of pants to this listening party, folks—you’re gonna need something to wrap your balls in after this debut album from Bone Sickness hits like a slamming scissor kick to the nuts. … read more
Review: Bambara – Dreamviolence
The amount of reverb and aggressive tension on DREAMVIOLENCE is comparable to Swans’ The Great Annihilator. However, it is impressive in the way that something can be when it hits you at all the right points, despite any familiarity. … read more
Review: The Appleseed Cast – Illumination Ritual
I’ve never been able to classify The Appleseed Cast, but I’d say they lie in the folds of indie rock, post-hardcore, emo and shoegaze with intricate time signatures coupled with drums in the forefront. Illumination Ritual is another great album in a series of great albums. … read more
Review: Youth Lagoon – Wondrous Bughouse
The dense and trippy world Trevor Powers invites listeners into appears to be an extravagant show. It seems that he wants to appear much more than a lo-fi bedroom artist, but upon listening to the opening track, “Mute,” I can feel Power’s sincerity, even if he does secretly crave being weird. … read more
Review: Wartorn – Iconic Nightmare
Iconic Nightmare doesn’t fail to entertain, what with the leads in “No Sanctuary, No Salvation” and the barking crustoleum of “Permanent Blackout” and “Knee Deep in Blood,” but it’s certainly not leading the charge into territory that hasn’t already been exhaustively mined by the same label (Martyrdod? Wolfbrigade?). … read more
Review: Tera Melos – X’ed Out
Tera Melos range from bass lines and doom riffs on “Slimed” to glorious angular riff-spun melodies everywhere else on the album. “Slimed” is a methodical head-banger that’s not psychedelic enough to be stoner rock, but is heavy enough to unleash the beast inside me, if only just for fun. … read more
Review: Smoke Fairies – Blood Speaks
Coming into this album, I had my doubts. “Blood Speaks” felt like a period anthem, with the lyrics, “Your blood is speaking, and mine is speaking,” set to a marching beat with a droney, chanting voice fit for a haunted church performance. Yeah, the sheddings of my uterine lining are speaking, too, and I’m still crampy. … read more
Review: Senses Fail – Renacer
Opening with the heaviest song in their career, notably without a single scrap of clean singing, Renacer is the album I’ve secretly been waiting for since the first time I heard Buddy Nielsen scream at the end of “One Eight Seven.” … read more
Review: Sadgiqacea – False Prism
The sludgy sounds of False Prism conjure up images of grimy industrial waste, smog, litter and the general oily feeling of some of the industrialized cities on the East Coast. With that in mind, it makes this slugdefest from Philly duo Sadgiqacea all that much more sludged-up. … read more