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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)

Eagle Twin

The Unkindness of Crows
Southern Lord (2009)

Gentry Densley is somewhat of a living legend in the metal world. Unfortunately I am not as familiar with his work in Iceburn as I should be, but I've known him as an indispensable part of the Southern Lord supergroup Ascend. Ascend took experimental metal to new heights, but his latest project Eagle Twin, while moving in a similar direction as Ascend, is also possibly the heaviest band of all time. Eagle Twin is a very clean distillation of every conceivable stoner rock, doom/sludge, and drone influence of the past three or four decades into something that is beautiful in its simplicity, and at the same time musically accomplished in the most unpretentious sense. At its core it's blues-based stoner rock, but there's also some really killer atonal jazz-inflected leads over all the groovy bits. Eagle Twin is kind of like OM in that it's two guys playing epic droning stoner metal, but much less minimalistic and much heavier. But I hear that same sort of transcendental calm achieved through the lumbering yet complex percussion, a very subtle quiet/loud dynamic, and the resounding, mantric vocals. The composition and mood of this album are flawless, but the backbone of the music … Read more

Nadja / Black Boned Angel

Nadja / Black Boned Angel
20 Buck Spin (2009)

Having these two notable monikers teaming up for a second collaboration is just right up my alley, particularly because their … Read more

The Get Up Kids

Something to Write Home About (Reissue)
Vagrant (2009)

The release of The Get Up Kids' debut full-length Four Minute Mile is something that I recall with the greatest … Read more

Aidan Baker

Gathering Blue
Equation (2009)

The amount of work that Aidan Baker produces is absolutely staggering. Besides solo releases like Gathering Blue he releases records … Read more

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Fired Up

Doomed to Repeat
Youngblood (2009)

Doomed to Repeat is a posthumous release from Fired Up. Fired Up plays extremely fast youth crew inspired hardcore and … Read more

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Face Reality

Positive Change
Dead End (2009)

It's nice to see in 2009 that's there is still youth crew hardcore bands out there. Face Reality is from … Read more

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One from the archives

Disfear

Live the Storm
Relapse (2008)

After what is quickly becoming a normative hiatus for this Swedish five-piece band, Disfear delivers their latest blast of d-beat influenced mayhem onto the masses. Live the Storm is their second full length with Tomas Lindberg, vocalist of At the Gates and an innumerable number of other heavy bands, and the first with former Entombed guitarist Uffe Cederlund, as well as their second album for Relapse. Recorded in a whirlwind bout of sessions at God City Studios with Kurt Ballou, Live the Storm is a nonstop thrill ride of heavy punk rock in the vein of Discharge - hence the d-beat influence - with touches of Motörhead thrown into the mix; if hearing Disfear has thus far not been your privilege, they have a similar sound to new labelmates Coliseum. … Read more

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Jeff Caudill

Try to be Here
Fortunate Son (2009)

Rising from the remains of the pop-punkers Gameface, Jeff Caudill heads out on the road by himself on this trip. Well, not exactly. He does the consistency of the producing and also being the drummer for this project. Also involved is none other than Robbie Rist (yes-"Oliver" from The Brady Bunch!) Check out YouTube for a funny clip of Robbie … Read more

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Medusa

En Raga Sul
Hawthorne Street (2009)

If the band name and scary artwork didn't tip me off that this was going to be a brutal audio assault, I guess the Hitler sample at the start of the release should have been a clue. Punishing riffs, caterwauling vocals, and plodding drum beats typify the songs on this record. If that sounds like something you need to have, … Read more

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Young Fresh Fellows

I Think This is
Yep Roc (2009)

I love the PR insert that is included with this one. "First new album in 66 years! Produced by Robyn Hitchcock! No 'special guests' (except Robyn and Peter Buck) Includes 3 DIFFERENT-SIZED helmets." I'm still looking for my helmets, but I know it hasn't been quite that long since the last Young Fresh Fellows record. Scott McCaughey hasn't lost his … Read more

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Foreign Cinema

Non-Synchronous Sound
Parallax Sounds (2009)

Moody, dark, atmospheric rock from this two-piece based out of San Francisco will send a shiver down your spine with this release. Think Peter Murphy backed up by members of The Cure and Mission UK on holiday. There's a definite Faith influence here which I am being drawn into after repeated listens. The last song on this release is a … Read more

Blacklisted

No One Deserves to be Here More Than Me
Deathwish Inc. (2009)

There probably hasn't been a record in recent months that has garnered any more whoopla than Blacklisted's No One Deserves to be Here More Than Me. My word, once people started getting in their pre-orders there was numerous threads and Facebook statuses either for or against this album. If anything, Blacklisted created probably the most talked about album of 2009. … Read more

Annabel

Each and Everyone
Count Your Lucky Stars (2009)

It's been a while since my last review and I'm still shaking off the writing cobwebs. After multiple tests and papers discussing the typical critiques of Western academia over the past few weeks, that module of my brain is somewhat worn out. So I am approaching the end of the decade with a somewhat lazy, but never inattentive, mindset on … Read more

Doomriders

Darkness Come Alive
Deathwish Inc. (2009)

Doomriders debut effort Black Thunder launched the Boston-based outfit into action with their dark-themed hybrid of punk, metal, and hardcore. Since its release the band has kept busy with a slew of recordings surfacing. There was a live 7" EP released shortly after their debut, two split recordings - with Coliseum and Disfear respectively - spread out over the past … Read more

The Human Quena Orchestra

The Politics of the Irredeemable
Crucial Blast (2009)

Surprising as it was to me that The Human Quena Orchestra is a project featuring members of Creation is Crucifixion that flew completely under my radar, I am jumping at the chance to check out what some of those guys are up to with their music. Anyone that ever gave Creation is Crucifixion a listen may recognize the electronic nature … Read more

After the Fall

Fort Orange
Raise Your Fist (2009)

As far as melodic punk goes, After the Fall are very good at what they do. They play a fast, aggressive style of punk that's similar to bands like Propagandhi, Good Riddance, and A Wilhelm Scream. Influence from said bands is evident on first listen to this record. In fact, they pay homage to their influences in some of the … Read more

Battlefields

Thresholds of Imbalance
Translation Loss (2009)

There are bands and musicians that, when heard, give off the sense that their physical environment informs, influences, and shapes their music. Battlefields is surely one of those bands whose base of operations plays a part in just what their music sounds like. And coming from Minnesota and Fargo, North Dakota, an image of stark and harsh winters and a … Read more

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Foundation

Hang Your Head
Six Feet Under (2009)

I grew up on '90s hardcore, so when I hear new band's drawing influence from that era I get excited. Atlanta's Foundation does just that and this new EP is a welcome addition to my collection of present day bands paying homage to the '90s. "Fireproof" sets the tone with heavy metallic hardcore on the '90s tip - think Unbroken … Read more

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TV Crimes

Demo
Independent (2009)

I take pride in my local hardcore scene. I try to make it out to as many shows as I can, support friends in bands in any way possible, and occasionally book a show or two. So I'm continuing to do my part by telling you about TV Crimes, my favorite local band right now. TV Crimes fuse together early … Read more

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Like Wolves

Paths
Independent (2009)

Paths is the second 7" release from Rochester's Like Wolves. I really enjoyed their demo 7", but this is even better, showing immense promise for future recordings. Just as with the songs on their demo, "Live Wires" boasts some stellar guitar work, bringing to mind the hardcore meets rock approach of The Suicide File. Meanwhile "Saturate" and "Dying to Survive" … Read more

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Troublemaker

Sons of No One
Neutral Territory (2009)

New Jersey's Troublemaker (not to be confused with the Westcoast one) bring forth seven new songs on their Sons of No One 7". The band offer up a raw hardcore punk approach that brings to mind Trash Talk and early Outbreak. Tracks like "Worse for Wear" and "Drone" are short and frenzied while "Enabler" and "Beating a Dead Workhorse" are … 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)