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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)

Locrian

The Clearing
Fan Death (2011)

OK, so I finally get to sit down with album number four (or three depending on who you ask) from Locrian and not because I did not want to listen to this sucker; but rather I waited and waited to hear this spin on my turntable first until at last I gave in and listened to the advance copy that Fan Death (the record label putting the physical version out) sent all the addicts due to the delays in the vinyl manufacturing process. Building up expectations is generally a terrible idea when it comes to almost anything, but can kill musical projects before they even get their due and proper; The Clearing almost fell to that inglorious end after the first several times that I popped the “record” on to listen, and it was only after giving the record a break and getting in the right frame of mind that this Locrian record finally clicked in my thick skull. The Clearing is not the immediately mind blowing experience that Crystal World is (hence my personal stumbling block) but rather a more refined and slightly more subtle sonic excursion that takes their penchant for layering of sound textures to other climes … Read more

Banner Pilot

Heart Beats Pacific
Fat Wreck Chords (2011)

I’ll be honest. I was kind of hoping somebody else would review this record. I like Banner Pilot. A lot. … Read more

Lonesummer

There Are Few Tomorrows For Feeding Our Worries
Music Ruins Lives (2011)

Philadelphia based one man band Lonesummer deal in black metal. Sorta. It's an interesting take on a genre which in … Read more

Uneven Structure

Februus
Basick (2011)

It takes a lot of chutzpah to have a double-disc debut. That doesn't seem to faze French/Swedish band Uneven Structure, … Read more

Sutekh Hexen

Luciform
Wands (2011)

After a number of demos and EPs the members of Sutekh Hexen have unleashed their debut LP upon the world. … Read more

Fucked Up

David Comes To Life
Matador (2011)

It was one of the most anticipated albums of the year, and was welcomed with such positive reception. Needless to … Read more

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One from the archives

Fall of Efrafa

Inle
Halo Of Flies/Denovali/Sound Devastation (2009)

Fall of Efrafa proves further that there is still a great deal of inventiveness in existence within the underground music scene by basing the entire concept (from band name, to topical song material, to artwork) around a singular work of literature by exploring the themes and moods and the mythology within Watership Down. Inle is the final installment in a trilogy of albums by this U.K. act and impressively lives up to its moniker (in Watership Down the black rabbit of Inle is the Grim Reaper of the world in the book) by bringing an end to the cycle for the band. Fall of Efrafa demonstrates an exceptional skill with manipulating soft to loud and loud to soft dynamics while at the same time imbuing their music with a spatial … Read more

More album reviews

Seven Sisters Of Sleep/Children Of God

Split
A389 (2011)

Dear lord is this ever one of the heaviest split records in quite a while, and I am sure that I don’t have to explain how that is saying something; but both bands on this could wreck your speakers on their own anytime so having them both on one slab of wax is a completely different kind of punishment altogether, … Read more

A Death Cinematic / Ekca Liena

Preternatural
Small Doses (2011)

Don’t you just absolutely love when split releases reveal some new band or musician that completely changes how you listen to certain types of music or even just end up being what you need to listen to at the moment that you sit down and listen to it? Luckily for me (and you if you have already heard this split), … Read more

Vildhjarta

måsstaden
Century Media (2011)

Let's face it: djent is beginning to sound really, really homogeneous. Though we've known for a while that every single band in the genre is cutting their music the same mould as Meshuggah, I'm beginning to suspect they're using the same knife and cutting board, too. A lot of the bands in this genre just don't do much to distance … Read more

John Cate & The Van Gogh Brothers

X
American Music Partners (2011)

The newest John Cate & The Van Gogh Brothers album X has been released and I am happy to say it does not disappoint. The album has twelve tunes on it that fit well with what you have come to expect from John and the band, great melodies, three part harmonies, and lyrics that make you think. I have been … Read more

Sabertooth Zombie

Human Performance III
Twelve Gauge (2011)

The guys of Sabertooth Zombie have been doing their own thing for awhile now. That "thing" as it were is a mash up of hardcore, stoner metal, and outright rock n roll with not a fuck to be given. While they don't really tend to add onto what they already do they over the course of their last couple 7 … Read more

Cloudkicker

Let Yourself Be Huge
Independent (2011)

Frankly, I'm just as surprised as you are. Ben Sharp, known to many only as Cloudkicker, had warned earlier this year that he was not going to be releasing new material for a while. I guess Sharp's conception of a long time is drastically different from the norm, because the year hasn't even ended yet and he's already let loose … Read more

Street Eaters

Rusty Eyes and Hydrocarbons
Plan-It-X\Bakery Outlet (2011)

There’s a level of familiarity in Street Eaters that I can’t put my finger on. That said, I’ll do my best to in reviewing their debut release, Rusty Eyes and Hydrocarbons. I discovered the band at Fest 10, and it didn’t take long for the two-piece bass-drum combo to pull me in. Devoid of guitar, they build melodies around John … Read more

Small Brown Bike

Fell & Found
No Idea (2011)

It's been 8 years since Small Brown Bike released their last full length, The River Bed, but they haven't lost their touch in the slightest. The band's back, and it's almost as if they never stopped writing together. Fell & Found follows the thread left dangling from The River Bed and even expands upon it. They open the record with … Read more

A Storm of Light

As the Valley of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver Memories Fade
Profound Lore (2011)

What do you get when you throw Mastodon and Neurosis into a blender? If you answered 'Scott Kelly's over-stroked ego,' then, yes, you're technically correct. But if you're not being a smart-ass, you would have a band with a sound akin to that of Brooklyn-based post-/doom metal band, A Storm of Light.Their debut album, And We Wept the Black Ocean … Read more

Nothington

Borrowed Time
Red Scare Industries (2011)

I’ll be honest, I missed Roads Bridges & Ruins, even after guitarist Chris Matulich said it would be quite a transition from All In. While I liked All In, for whatever reason I never got to its follow-up. 2011’s Borrowed Time is surely a reflection of the evolution in between. The Social Distortion influence is more tempered (though it’s still … Read more

Negative Plane

Stained Glass Revelations
Ajna Offensive (2011)

Negative Plane are certainly not a new band. Having released their prior full length 5 years ago the band seemed to have disappeared for quite some time. Many times when this happens bands tend to forget their original purpose or just forget music altogether. Thankfully for us, the music consuming public, the band have returned to become something stronger. The … Read more

Random

Todo.s los colores del
Independent (2011)

I really wish I could describe Argentinian three-piece Random's sound to you. Their Facebook page lists their genre as 'extreme prog metal,' but that label could cover any band from Meshuggah to early Anacrusis. I could describe them as 'avant-garde' metal, but that label gets used to describe every band from Ved Buens Ende to maudlin of the Well to … Read more

Psychic Teens

TEEN
Golden Voyage (2011)

“Psychic Teens Are Regular Adults”Let that sink in to your thick skull bit (I know it took me a bit to wrap my head around) because it is one of the singular strangest statements to be made by a “rock” oriented band in many a year; think about it, and I mean really think about that as a statement and … Read more

Cremation Lily

2
Strange Rules (2011)

Bear with me here as I am in the middle of sonically orgasming while listening to this tape from Cremation Lily (the aptly titled 2 as this is the second tape from this project); no seriously, I am not overly hyperbolizing right now because these sounds literally elicit this kind of intense and powerful emotional response while the tape plays … Read more

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