ALBUM REVIEW: Silent Planet – SUPERBLOOM


 

California quartet Silent Planet is known for their unique take on metalcore that continues to lead them to victory, earning them respect and fans from all over the metal spectrum. Their enticing, story-like method of songwriting is what sets them apart from their peers. When vocalist Garrett Russell delivers the lyrics, he does more than just perform a song – he vividly and theatrically illustrates the sinister world that embodies Silent Planet, all while the instrumentals set the stage for every scene, brewing build-up, thunderous climax, and desolate aftermath. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Steven Wilson – The Harmony Codex


After last year’s triumphant and sad return for the final lap with Porcupine Tree, Prog music’s King, Steve Wilson was already planning his new solo album. After releasing an astounding album and a brief world tour to say goodbye, he is back to assert his dominance as a solo artist. While his signature sound is all over The Harmony Codex (Virgin Music Group), he has enlisted a bevy of conspirators to create his next epic musical adventure. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Holding Absence – The Noble Art Of Self-Destruction


 

If you had to book a show for an audience of half-Pop fans and half-Metalheads with the promise that no one would walk out, it would seem like an impossible task. But book Welsh band Holding Absence for a show like this, and everyone’s jaws will be on the floor before the first song finishes. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Our Mirage – Eclipse


 

Metalcore has evolved significantly since the early 2000s, with countless bands finding their own creative strategies to embrace the melodic side of the genre without forgetting about its metal roots. Rising up from Marl, Germany, Our Mirage solidify what makes their brand of metalcore special with their somber yet hard-hitting tone as well as their captivating ways of storytelling. Their sophomore album Eclipse (Arising Empire) takes the heavy rock riffing and balances it with atmospheric touches that bring out a certain delicacy amongst the havoc.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Greg Puciato – Mirrorcell 


Since The Dillinger Escape Plan disbanded in 2017, their enigmatic frontman appears to be a man on a mission, allowing his creative juices to flow and taking the opportunity to musically expand and collaborate like never before. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Northlane – Obsidian


Northlane reinvented themselves threw years ago with their fifth album, Alien. Pulling on their previously established metalcore sound and adding heavy synths, they creating a dark rave, almost Matrix vibe. The quartet continue on this unique sound in their latest project Obsidian (Believe)

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ALBUM REVIEW: GGGOLDDD – This Shame Should Not Be Mine


GGGOLDDD, based in the Netherlands, have for the past decade been releasing material that defies genre conventions and blurs the boundaries between all manner of musical styles, from Metal, to post-Punk, to Pop, to Trip-Hop. Their fifth full-length release, This Shame Should Not Be Mine (Artoffact Records) is based around deeply personal themes to vocalist Milena Eva, who uses this record, conceived during the 2020 lockdown, to address traumatic events including sexual assault.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Blood Incantation – Timewave Zero


Timewave Zero (Century Media) is, to say the least, not what you’d expect from the band picture of the Blood Incantation. The almost archetypal group of hirsute metalheads, adorned with bullet belts and indecipherable long sleeves trying to look hard in a graveyard. Even by their own standards of innovative recordings though this is a pretty-radical departure from their previous albums. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Wreche – All My Dreams Came True


The concept of metal without electric guitars might feel like an oxymoron. After all, guitar riffs of one type or another have been the key bedrock of the genre ever since Black Sabbath. But Wreche is different. John Steven Morgan, the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist behind the band, makes a kind of experimental black metal using acoustic piano as the lead instrument. All My Dreams Came True (Handmade / Acephale Winter Productions) is the second Wreche album and the first on which Morgan operates Wreche as a one-man-band (aside from two guest appearances), providing synthesizers, drums, and vocals as well as what the press release describes as an “88 key, 700lb behemoth running hot on distortion and space echo.” Morgan also recorded, mixed, and mastered the album himself.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Steve Von Till –  No Wilderness Deep Enough


Steve Von Till’s reputation precedes him. In addition to being a long-serving member of post-metal visionaries Neurosis, he has been releasing solo material for the past two decades. In 2020 Von Till released No Wilderness Deep Enough (Neurot Recordings), which marked something of a departure from his usual guitar-based, folk-influenced solo singer-songwriter material. 

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