Recent reviews

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

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

Filter Distortion

Transition
Independent (2015)

Yet another group that, like Trust, CHVRCHES, or any of the artists featured on the Neonautics compilation, is mining the world of ‘80s synth rock in search of inspiration, British four-piece Filter Distortion seem like an alternate version of Perturbator with vocals, replicating the vintage electro sound very accurately. Driven by bouncing synthesizer lines and punchy rhythms, the group’s songs revolve around robotic vocals which makes them seem slightly cold and detached. The reliance on prominent hooks ensures that there’s an inherent catchiness to the band’s extremely well-produced 2015 debut album Transition, but even if this music would fit right in at a retro-themed dance club, it lacks the pathos of Chromatics’ Kill for Love and seemed kind of flat emotionally. Nonetheless, for those looking for that classic synth rock sound, this album should fit the bill nicely. Transition begins with the moderately-paced and flowing “Black and White,” which plays out to a combination of stomping bass and bright synthesizer. Featuring confident vocals which soar over the instrumental parts as well as a glowing interlude around the two-thirds mark, this opener is followed up by the more smoky and dark “Pressure.” The synths here are more screechy, joined by some … Read more

Black Rivers

Self Titled
Ignition Records (2015)

For the last few years any musical output with brothers Jez and Andy Williams at the helm has sounded otherworldly, … Read more

Implodes

Reverser
Gilead Media (2015)

Implodes from Chicago is a very interesting act. Their debut album Black Earth which came out in 2011 was an … Read more

Raised Fist

From the North
Epitaph (2015)

From The North is Raised Fist’s first release since 2009’s Veil of Ignorance, and is a continuation of the style … Read more

The Mohrs

Kings of Nowhere
Light Organ Records (2015)

Before developing into a full-fledged band, The Mohrs started out as a writing project between lead singer Jackie Mohr and … Read more

The Capitalist Kids

At A Loss
Toxic Pop (2014)

The sound comparisons are undeniable when it comes to talking about The Capitalist Kids and their affinity for 1980s-era Lookout … Read more

Browse our review archives

Review categories

200 Words Or Less

749 reviews

Book Review

42 reviews

Classic Album

25 reviews

Multiple Authors

300 reviews

Review

4865 reviews

Video/DVD Review

19 reviews

One from the archives

Wolvhammer

Clawing Into Black Sun
Profound Lore (2014)

Having already released two albums showing great promise, Wolvhammer nail it with their third try. No matter how brutal and awe inspiring Black Marketeers of World War III and The Obsidian Plains were, Clawing Into Black Sun stands in a league of its own. It might just be the case that the band took their time for this one, since it has been about three years since Obsidian Plains came out and the new album sounds much more inspired, thorough and has more depth than their previous releases.Everything glues together perfectly, from the opening song “The Silver Key” that much is obvious. The guitar leads that Jeff Wilson unleashes over the sludge theme of Wolvhammer do not miss, and as the track progresses it reveals all the sickening faces of … Read more

More album reviews

Primitive Man

Home Is Where The Hatred Is
Relapse (2015)

When listening to the debut album of Primitive Man, Scorn, back in 2013, one thing became perfectly clear about them: they are fucking serious about their music. The blackened sludge band from Denver does not exhibit the signs of their friendlier counterparts within the subgenre. Their dystopic vision back in their independent first release was overwhelming and all-consuming, and it … Read more

Humans

Noontide
Hybridity Music (2015)

The duo that make up Vancouver-based synth poppers Humans met by chance while engaged in artistic endeavours outside of music. Robbie Slade is a former forest fire fighter who met visual artist and film maker Peter Ricq when he was helping a friend put on an art show, and in 2009 they began creating the electronic sound of Humans. With … Read more

Post Pink

Too Pooped to Pip
Independent (2015)

Sounding like the result of glue-huffing fourteen-year-olds being let loose in a recording studio, Too Pooped to Pip, the 2015 demo from Baltimore, Maryland’s Post Pink, contains some of the most crude and snotty punk rock I’ve heard in quite some time. It may be surprising then that three of the group’s four members are female: listening to the singer … Read more

Various Artists

GC Records 15 Year Anniversary Comp: A Snapshot of the 2014 Las Vegas Music Scene
GC Records (2014)

GC Records 15 Year Anniversary Comp: A Snapshot of the 2014 Las Vegas Music Scene is two things: it’s homage to 15 years of success at GC Records and it’s a time capsule of a local music scene. Does it succeed on both ends? From a non-Vegas resident, it seems so. There is a variety of music included, largely in … Read more

Boduf Songs

Stench Of Exist
Flenser (2015)

Started as the acoustic project of musician Mat Sweet, Boduf Songs have been transforming throughout the years. The debut self-titled album of the band featured interesting acoustic compositions, recorded with minimal equipment in Sweet’s own room back in 2004, but soon enough bloomed into a darker, experimental act. Such tendencies were revealed in Lion Devours the Sun as the music … Read more

Gang Of Four

What Happens Next
Metropolis (2015)

I haven’t listened to Gang of Four in a long time, and I tend to stick to the classic Entertainment!, released in 1979, when I do. That’s not to talk about the band’s changes in 30 years, but to introduce that I’m not well versed on recent output. Obviously the band has changed since the early days, the most significant … Read more

Murder By Death

Big Dark Love
Bloodshot (2015)

Making a career in the arts is hard. The job description lands somewhere between self-expression and entertainment and there isn’t a sure fire way to know whether or not what you’re creating is going to be profitable until well after all the art is done and out in the world for public consumption. Complicating things further is the fact that … Read more

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

IX
Superball (2014)

I always get scared when I listen to a new album by a band that I listened to in middle school. Throwing all the embarrassing angst that led me to terrible music aside, there are a lot of other things to worry about when it comes to still-active bands from middle school days. I remember a while back I was … Read more

Grand Vapids

Guarantees
Independent (2015)

Athens, Georgia has a long history of producing some great musicians and music, known for being the birthplace of groups like the B-52’s and R.E.M. as well as the adopted home of the Elephant Six Collective. One of the latest bands to emerge from the storied Athens scene is Grand Vapids, a quartet whose 2015 debut Guarantees features ten tracks … Read more

Hurry

EVERYTHING/NOTHING
Independent (2014)

Hailing from Philadelphia, PA, Hurry started out as the solo project of guitarist/songwriter Matt Scottoline before expanding to its current three-piece form, and it’s quite obviously Scottoline’s fuzzed-out vocals and guitar that are front and center in any of the songs on the group’s 2014 album Everything/Nothing. The album features ten songs that update established pop song formulas from years … Read more

Iceage

Plowing into the Field of Love
Matador (2014)

If Danish punk band Iceage’s debut New Brigade gave us just that, then it looks like their third album Plowing into the Field of Love gives us another brigade. Indeed, if it weren’t for Elias Rønnenfelt’s distinct baritone vocals (think Jonathan Richman of The Modern Lovers or Ian Curtis of Joy Division), we probably wouldn’t recognize Plowing as another Iceage … Read more

Sergio Mendes

Magic
Okeh (2014)

Sergio Mendes is a Brazilian legend. His name might not be a big draw here at Scene Point Blank, where the focus is on punk, hardcore, and metal, but—hey—we gotta branch out now and then, right?Magic is the 73 year-old’s latest offering, and it comes with a smorgasboard of rhythmic styles and special guests. While it’s true to his roots … Read more

Franz Nicolay

To Us, the Beautiful
Silver Sprocket (2015)

Franz Nicolay is often billed as an ex-member of The Hold Steady, an ex-member of The World/Inferno Friendship Society, or a former touring member of Against Me! He’s a working musician, and while his contributions to other bands are notable, they never showcased the full extent of Nicolay’s talents. Franz has been releasing solo-records since 2007. With his latest album, … Read more

Sumac

The Deal
Profound Lore (2015)

Aaron Tuner sure keeps himself busy. After the demise of Isis back in 2010, Turner has been active musically with other acts such as Old Man Gloom and Mamiffer, while at the same time being a part of SIGE Records alongside Faith Coloccia. There have been quite a few projects that have spawned lately, with Jodis and Greymachine standing out … Read more

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