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Our latest album reviews, featuring the records we've most enjoyed (or not) over the past few weeks.

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Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)

The May 4th Massacre

All Guilty
MorseCode (2011)

I'm still not completely sold on hardcore music, but if The May 4th Massacre's latest offering All Guilty is any indication, I may still be swayed on the genre yet.Before I get to the good stuff, however, I have to mention one thing that immediately jumps out about this album: sometimes I just cannot tell if these guys are being incredibly, heart-wrenchingly earnest or uncomfortably feigning it. A lot of these pieces really want to be cathartic and emotionally draining, and they nearly get there. Most of the time, however, they come up just short of the mark. The spoken passages produce this sense of false honesty that seems to contradict the substance to the point of distraction. Though in theory the impact of a child talking about everybody around him dying is incredibly powerful ("The Warning"), in practice, it comes off as silly-- the delivery is just so flat and irreverent that it's hard to take it seriously. And on other tracks like "Flags of Separation", it's extremely difficult to imagine that the artists really feel so strongly as to need that many expletives. Then again,the final moments of the album ("All Guilty") are probably the most powerful; the … Read more

Sun Caged

The Lotus Effect
Century Media (2011)

For a band I really enjoy, it was extremely difficult for me to review the new album from Dutch progressive … Read more

Tesseract

One
Century Media (2011)

Bring out the djent parade!Every single Meshuggah-loving act and their goddamn mother is releasing an album this year. Xerath released … Read more

The Black Keys

El Camino
Nonesuch (2011)

By now, the Black Keys have released enough material to seemingly exist since the early nineties. This is not the … Read more

Life In The Dark

Hushed Bloom
Sunyata\Music Ruins Lives (2011)

I need to stop listening to this, but, wait, no, I really do because it is getting rather ridiculous repeatedly … Read more

Voice Of Ruin

Self Titled
Heimathome (2011)

Believe me, I love oldschool thrash metal as much as the next person--give me early Metallica or Death any day … Read more

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One from the archives

Folsom

If You're a Viper
Spook City (2005)

Last year Folsom released their debut full-length through Westcoast Worldwide Records, a label that I would describe as a "word of mouth label." The larger hardcore labels are able to promote their releases in prominent music magazines and have their records distributed by larger entertainment chains such as Best Buy, FYE, etc. Westcoast Worldwide, instead, must rely on the closely knit hardcore scene to spread the word of its happenings, and therefore its releases are more likely to be sold at local shows out of a cardboard box. But for Folsom, 2005 marks a new year and a new label. For their brand new EP, If You're a Viper, these Las Vegas boys have teamed up with Spook City Records. Even though it's a new year, Folsom are still doing … Read more

More album reviews

Cara Neir

Stagnant Perceptions
Independent (2011)

Extracting the finer points of black metal, hardcore and mad experimental sounds is hardly the newest trick in the book, but melding them together and producing an exciting and cohesive record such as Stagnant Perceptions is no mean feat. Hailing from Texas, Cara Neir destroy everything in their path. This, only their second full length, is such a fully rounded … Read more

Future Virgins

Western Problems
StarCleaner\Plan-it-X South (2011)

2011 saw me getting deeper into garage bands. What better way to close out my year than with Future Virgins, who blend garage brevity and song structures with pop punk melodies. The Chattanooga, TN band mixes up a garage influence without feeling nearly as formulaic, due in large part to the punk that oozes over the surface. Sure, the songs … Read more

Aelter

Dusk-Dawn/Follow You Beloved
Crucial Blast (2011)

Aelter, like most bands, have a backstory. Unlike most they can be explained through their other projects without fully describing what they are about. The band acts as an offshoot of the doom band WolvSerpent (formerly known as Pussygutt). Wolvserpent deal in massive undulating walls of sludge with use of uncommon (for their style) instruments, namely violin. This tends to … Read more

Dead to Me

Moscow Penny Ante
Fat Wreck Chords (2011)

After listening to Dead To Me’s latest release Moscow Penny Ante it made me think about something bassist/vocalist Chicken said the last time I interviewed him. I asked him if he agreed that the band’s sound had seemed to change from the release of their first LP Cuban Ballerina. “I do agree with that and I’m proud of it. I … Read more

Subscribe

Bookmarks
EMI (2011)

Despite having the most un-Googleable artist/album name combination in existence, the Hungarian band Subscribe have beautifully combined influences of hardcore, heavy metal, progressive rock and what-else-have-you in their latest release, Bookmarks.Oh, sure, it starts out innocently enough with the orchestral track "Griping Portentous", featuring the most nightmarish combination of brass and sound effects possible. Of course, that's still pretty standard … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Actors & Actresses

We Love Our Enemy EP
The Mylene Sheath (2011)

Reissues tend to be a funny thing. Sometimes they are done in good taste. To help fans get a hold of an album that went out of print or give them a chance to hear the progression that the band went through. This reissue is done simply for an early EP by this band giving us a look at the … Read more

Panopticon

On The Subject Of Mortality
Flenser (2011)

Many people (I was going to say all but did not want to over generalize) seem to have certain touchstones with regards to certain styles of music, and in one short year, Panopticon has become one of those “bands” (in quotes because this is really a one man project) for me; …On The Subject Of Mortality… is the record that … Read more

Kerretta

Saansilo
Golden Antenna (2011)

Though the artist/album title combination features enough frustratingly doubled letters to require this review to be rewritten no less than five times, New Zealand instrumental three-piece Kerretta's newest album Saansilo is such an impressive release that I really didn't mind.Kerretta's sound seems caught somewhere between Isis and Tool, and I mean that as a compliment. The songs have this drone-like … Read more

Pink Floyd

The Dark Side Of The Moon (Experience Edition)
Capitol (2011)

'Oh great,' you're probably thinking, 'another critic on the Internet with her head up her own ass talking about this fucking Pink Floyd album again. How droll.' Let me assuage your concerns: I'm not here to review or otherwise convince you either way on The Dark Side of the Moon itself. You've already heard it by now, and you're already … Read more

We're Doomed

Like A Machine
Independent (2011)

Despite what they may want you to think, We're Doomed don't sound like the end of the world. They sound more like Muse took some Adderall and borrowed whatever illegal-drug-based songwriting method I highly suspect that Battles uses. If their debut EP Like a Machine is the apocalypse, it's certainly the most enjoyable one since we on Earth failed to … Read more

We're Doomed

Like A Machine
Independent (2011)

Despite what they may want you to think, We're Doomed don't sound like the end of the world. They sound more like Muse took some Adderall and borrowed whatever illegal-drug-based songwriting method I highly suspect that Battles uses. If their debut EP Like a Machine is the apocalypse, it's certainly the most enjoyable one since we on Earth failed to … Read more

Kovlo

Hey Mom, Where's Timbuktu?
On The Camper (2011)

Swiss post-rockers Kovlo have quietly released two albums over their career, beginning with their debut A new position for the second degree burn in 2005 and followed up with I’m so happy on this boat in 2007. For a band that has (rather unfortunately) seen as little notice on the world stage as they have, they’ve actually done a very … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Traveler

Going Home
Independent (2011)

All right, Traveler don't waste time, so neither will I. The Cleveland punk/melodic hardcore group write short, enjoyable pieces that are stripped down to their absolute bare essentials. The four tracks of their debut EP Going Home take only around seven minutes of your time to listen to. The songs are chock full of happy melodies, major chords, and general … Read more

City of Ships

Minor World
Translation Loss (2011)

Every once in a while, an album comes along that makes you rethink an entire genre. It's an album that makes you step back and rethink your musical expectations, as well as casting your future thoughts in an entirely new light. City of Ships' newest album, Minor World, is one of these albums. The only issue is that my entire … Read more

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Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)