Carina Round – ‘Deranged To Divine’ [Review]

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Listening to the career retrospective of an artist you’ve only just discovered can be a dangerous proposition. If it sucks, you’re fine; life continues as normal. If it’s great, on the other hand, you may be at serious risk of kicking yourself half to death for your ignorance.

So, if you’ve never heard of Carina Round before now, you’ll need to focus in order to keep your feet rooted to the floor rather than buried in your own backside. Deranged To Divine covers fourteen years of temporal ground, collecting cuts from four solo albums and an EP alongside two previously unreleased recordings (namely Gunshot and an alternate take of Want More), totalling nineteen tracks if you buy it on iTunes. It is also, to say the least, pretty fucking good.

As well as counting herself a member of Puscifer – the electro-industrial brainchild of Tool’s Maynard James Keenan – Carina Round has collected her fair share of legendary fans, among them Lou Reed, Ryan Adams, Billy Corgan, Dave Stewart and Brian Eno. You don’t get to that level of respect without demonstrating exceptional dedication to your art. But if Carina Round’s credentials aren’t enough, the music contained within Deranged To Divine is Read more…

Posted on 28 July 2016

Ben Minal – ‘Everything But The Music’ [Review]

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Life as a music critic is nothing if not unpredictable. Day to day, the search begins anew, casting a metaphorical net over the actual Internet in the hope of discovering a genuinely unique artist. Some days, I collapse exhausted and forlorn before my laptop, my mind numbed by the knowledge that all my efforts have given me is RSI Read more…

Posted on 23 July 2016

Periphery – ‘Periphery III: Select Difficulty’ [Review]

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They say that when you hit the top, it’s all downhill from there. Holding on to peak position rarely lasts forever. Sooner or later, a new challenger appears, and overtakes you.

That may be the case for most bands, but Periphery are not your average metalhead collective. From the first note of their eponymous debut, released back in 2010, Periphery have established themselves as one of a kind. You can compete with technique, production value, and marketing, but you cannot compete with originality.

Their unique voice aside, Periphery remain one of the metal world’s most respected bands because they’re fucking ambitious. Whether focussing on a more organic sound for Periphery II, showcasing each member’s individual songwriting skills on the gorgeous Clear EP, or diving into full-on prog territory with Juggernaut Alpha and Juggernaut Omega (both released only last year)…man alive. These guys just don’t know how to slack off – and thank God for that Read more…

Posted on 22 July 2016

Capsize – ‘A Reintroduction: The Essence Of All That Surrounds Me’ [Review]

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Hardcore is all about catharsis. Fulfilling a desire to get emotionally difficult experiences out there, rather than keeping it in your own head. Expressing, not repressing.

A Reintroduction: The Essence Of All That Surrounds Me sees Capsize vocalist Daniel Wand exorcise his personal demons on record, employing a freshly expanded palette of vocal techniques while his bandmates plough through some seriously uncompromising tracks. This album is a far cry from Capsize’s debut The Angst In My Veins, where clicky kick drums, nonstop screaming, and unrelenting intensity added up to a stock one-dimensional hardcore rampage Read more…

Posted on 20 July 2016

Russian Circles – ‘Guidance’ [Review]

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Sometimes words get in the way when you’re trying to say something. Emotion is preverbal, whether we’re dealing with joy, anger, grief, bliss, or depression. We feel something – then we express it somehow.

Russian Circles’ back catalogue is perfect proof of the fact that you don’t need to be lyrically verbose in order to make a statement or pose a question. These guys are masters of moving listeners without actually telling them to move. Listening to Guidance, it’s hard not to be struck by the fact that music alone can speak volumes Read more…

Posted on 15 July 2016

Needtobreathe – ‘Hard Love’ [Review]

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When you have five albums, a Grammy nomination, and sellout arena shows behind you, where do you go from there? How do you propel yourself over those final few hurdles and hit that next level? Needtobreathe now face that problem – a quality problem, sure, but a problem nonetheless Read more…

Posted on 12 July 2016

Biffy Clyro – ‘Ellipsis’ [Review]

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Back in 2002, few people would have predicted that Biffy Clyro would reach the heights they have today. Thousands hoped that success would rain upon the Scottish trio – but on paper, it still seemed unlikely. Biffy have always been a complex, intricate proposition, no matter how many great hooks they proved capable of conjuring up – and the Number One spot is generally reserved for those who appeal to the lowest common denominator.

Of course, Opposites – a double album, no less – proved past doubters, myself included, wrong. Despite my love of prog and long-term Biffy fan status, Opposites still flew over my head, although I still got a warm fuzzy feeling from watching them finally make it. Read more…

Posted on 08 July 2016

In Dynamics – ‘Everything I See’ [Review]

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When I first heard In Dynamics’ second EP Questions back in 2014, I was floored. Few bands are that on it so early on in their recording careers. In Dynamics were a hot prospect then – and over the past two years they’ve been hard at work crafting this full-length alongside Chris Coulter, the production mind behind releases from Arcane Roots and Jamie Lenman.

Fans of the above and Biffy Clyro should probably get a bucket before listening to Everything I See, because they will be salivating for the duration – and nobody wants drool drying into their carpet Read more…

Posted on 06 July 2016

Blink-182 – ‘California’ [Review]

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Practically every pop-punk band on the planet wish they were Blink-182. Since hitting the big time way back in 1999 with Enema Of The State, Mark Hoppus, Tom Delonge, and Travis Barker have rarely been far from the limelight whether together, or working in a wide assortment of solo projects. More recently, Alkaline trio guitarist/vocalist Matt Skiba replaced Delonge following the most recent in a series of internal spats – and California, its title paying tribute to Blink-182’s home state, is the band’s seventh studio album, their first since 2011’s Neighborhoods. Read more…

Posted on 01 July 2016

Vanity Draws Blood – ‘Perspective / Dread’ [Review]

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As this EP’s cover art makes clear, Vanity Draws Blood aim to shock and stun the metal world – no easy feat considering all that’s come before.

The link between horror movies and metal has long been established Read more…

Posted on 29 June 2016