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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)

Green Day

Bullet in a Bible
Reprise (2005)

You could almost imagine the epitaph on Green Day's headstone from the moment Reprise got into the whole contract-fulfilling kiss-of-death releases that beset Green Day just this side of the turn of the millennium. A "best of" collection and then the certain doom of the "rarities" compilation followed in quick succession and it seemed that a dying cash cow was being milked for its last, acrid drops. Then, in 2004, a decade after Green Day resurrected a scene, kept alive only by Epitaph and the annual release of a Bad Religion album, something happened. Somehow, when all had turned their back, and when some mental aberration caused the Democrats to choose John Kerry as their candidate, George W. Bush found his way back to the White House and American Idiot was born. Returning like revenants, Green Day has found themselves the darlings of every commercial TV and radio station from Anaheim to The Middle East. Love them or hate them, you just can't get away from them right now, and suddenly, it seems, Reprise have noticed that their dying cash cow isn't so dying anymore and the milking machines are once again pumping away. With fourteen songs recorded in front … Read more

Since By Man

Pictures from the Hotel Apocalypse
Revelation (2005)

Was it really only two years ago that Since By Man unleashed their debut CD, We Sing the Body Electric? … Read more

With Honor

This is Our Revenge
Victory (2005)

I have a boom box where you load the CD's on the top, so when I put in This is … Read more

Propagandhi

Potemkin City Limits
Fat Wreck Chords (2005)

Propaghandi has always held a place in many people's hearts for their impassioned and political stances that they take on … Read more

Propagandhi

Potemkin City Limits
Fat Wreck Chords (2005)

The time is 7 a.m. as I pace frantically across empty parking spaces towards a vacant Tower Records. I know … Read more

Daggermouth

Stallone
Feeding Frenzy (2005)

Recently I was talking with (read: bitching to) my friend Brian about how there hasn't been any new bands lately … Read more

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One from the archives

Salvation

Uncorrectable
Independent (2022)

Do you folks watch the show Queer Eye? Last season had an episode with a school. The kids that were graduating got to bury a time capsule. I have no clue when that capsule is supposed to be dug up. Listening to Salvations debut album Uncorrectable made me think of this episode a lot. The main reason being that Uncorrectable does sound a bit like an album that was buried some 15 to 20 years ago and has recently been unearthed. Salvation is a French punk band made up by a couple of seasoned players. They self-recorded this album over time. So this is an album where a couple of recording sessions are put together. I was a bit surprised to read this in their promo, as I hear a … Read more

More album reviews

David Gray

Life in Slow Motion
ATO (2005)

I'd like to begin this review by thanking the kind people at Dictionary.com and Google.com for their unwitting assistance in the writing of this here review. God bless you. boring adj. Uninteresting and tiresome; dull. boring adv. boringness n. Synonyms: boring, monotonous, tedious, irksome, tiresome, humdrum These adjectives refer to what is so uninteresting as to cause mental weariness. Boring … Read more

Immolation

Harnessing Ruin
Olympic (2005)

Hey Immolation, I just received a call from 1989 and they want their music back. Harnessing Ruin is the sixth release from legendary death-metal act Immolation, and they show us once again why they're "legendary." The nine songs off this CD deliver 2005 a blast from the past. This death-metal time-warp makes me think back to when death-metal bands came … Read more

American Werewolves

1968
Fractured Transmitter (2005)

If you were to randomly walk into a concert venue while American Werewolves were performing you would be extremely fortunate. The four-piece punk outfit from Cleveland delivers a unique blend of Misfits-worship punk, but with an oh so sweet twist. That twist is their incorporation of early - I'm talking 1950's - rock-n-roll, B-movie keys, and hints of early hardcore. … Read more

A Day in Black and White

Notes
Level Plane (2005)

On Notes, A Day in Black and White's debut full-length, they get to point quickly; in one minute and twenty seconds to be precise. After an at-times impressive first release, My Heroes Have Always Killed Cowboys released on Level Plane in 2004, A Day in Black and White looked like it would slowly join the hardcore-band graveyard as member changes … Read more

Logh

A Sunset Panorama
Hydra Head (2005)

Is Sweden even cold? Whenever I think of Northern Europe, I think of mountains, yodelers, and folks with Princess Leia hair wandering around in big coats. Yet the continent keeps popping out some of the …well, warmest albums I've ever heard. Par example: the new album from Logh, a band I didn't care about until this year. I started caring … Read more

Ulver

Blood Inside
Jester (2005)

Have you heard the myth about prisoners stubbing out cigarettes into a bucket of water in order to create enough poison to use on their fellow inmates? Evidently, someone slipped a copy of the mastertapes to Ulver's latest sonic delivery into that foul brew as well. Opening with the slow-burning near opera of "Dressed in Black," the stage is thoroughly … Read more

Maria Taylor

11:11
Saddle Creek (2005)

A spotlight can show a lot about a person. Over the course of her career Maria Taylor has been, arguably, the driving force behind both the bands Azure Ray and Now It's Overhead, as well as lending her talents to various other artists including Crooked Fingers and Moby. Despite gaining moderate recognition for her work with groups, Taylor's delicate style … Read more

Project X

Straight Edge Revenge (Reissue)
Bridge Nine (2005)

"I'm as straight as the line that you sniff up your nose / I'm as hard as the booze that you swill down your throat / I'm as bad as the shit you breathe into your lungs / And I'll fuck you up as fast as the pill on your tongue / STRAIGHT EDGE REVENGE!" Oh. Fuck. Yes. There's no … Read more

Killing the Dream

In Place, Apart
Deathwish Inc. (2005)

It wasn't too that ago that Killing the Dream was just a band with a demo. Upon first hearing said demo, I shared it with every single person that I knew telling them "this band is going to be huge." So maybe they're not selling out amphitheatres, but Killing the Dream are signed to one of hardcore's largest labels and … Read more

Dead Blonde Girlfriend

Dead Blonde Girlfriend
Art Monkey (2005)

Joie Blaney is, or at least, was a musical anomaly. Under the guise of Joie Dead Blonde Girlfriend, he plays an acoustic guitar faster and louder than any punk band. He sings his songs with the soul of a poet and with the voice of a cement mixer. He writes from the heart. He writes honestly and never once complains. … Read more

The Distance

If You Lived Here You'd be Home Already
Think Fast! (2005)

When middle-school seemed too far away and Goosebumps represented literature, birthday parties were the fucking shit. I'd eat cake, party hard and take the occasional peak up a dress. Okay, 33% of that was a lie. The only negative aspect was having to get a birthday present for the little sucker. But, by the end of the night I would … Read more

Test Icicles

For Screening Purposes Only
Domino (2005)

If you believe the hype currently going around then you must think that the UK music scene is at its strongest since Oasis and Blur fought over the Brit-pop crown or perhaps even when The Stone Roses and The Happy Mondays were teaching the kids to take drugs and dance. Test Icicles are seen to be one of those leading … Read more

Coliseum / Doomriders

Not of This World
Level Plane (2005)

At a recent Coliseum show, vocalist/guitarist Ryan Patterson made mention that Glenn Danzig was a big influence and source of inspiration for him for years. On Not of This World both Coliseum and Doomriders pay tribute to that man. Although short by most standards, this split EP packs enough of a wallop that it shames a majority of the full-lengths … Read more

Ringworm

Justice Replaced by Revenge
Victory (2005)

It's rather sad that a band as influential as Ringworm has been reduced to being promoted as 'featuring members of Terror.' By no means is this a knock at Terror, they're a solid band and extremely entertaining in a live setting. But Ringworm is a band that has been around for over a decade. During that time the band released … Read more

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