Play musical word association with the name “Düsseldorf,” and you’re likely to come up with either “Kraftwerk,” or perhaps “punk”. Reggae is unlikely to make the shortlist – but The TiPs are on a mission to change that.
Reggae has always possessed a keen sense of political and social awareness, and The TiPs keep that particular torch burning throughout Twists ‘N’ Turns. From immigration (Leaving Home) to Read more…
Incubus. Tool. A Perfect Circle. Three of the greatest alt-rock/metal acts of all time. And key influences on Filter, the upcoming single release from the Australian underground jawbreakers known as Figures.
You could easily count me in just on the above alone – but throw in socially conscious lyricism addressing the social media attention sink and an inevitably impeccable mixing job by Karnivool über-producer Forrester Savell, and Read more…
From frantically churning riffage to throat-scarring screams and universe-pummelling beats, Textures’ Phenotype takes in everything you could ask for from a modern metal band, and spits it all out in a new, brutally mutated form.
Oceans Collide barely contains a borderline terrifying collection of monolithic grooves that Meshuggah themselves would pat themselves on the back for penning – and by Read more…
The Jezabels have a real knack for music that flows like water. Stand And Deliver pounds and washes like stormy seaside surf before the tide recedes, leaving rocky drums, the sparsest synthetic trickles, and a fiercely powerful vocal. It’s a beautiful start to a beautiful album.
Seething synthpop given guts and strength by frequent bursts of rhythmic energy and Read more…
Man alive.
Wow.
Holy [insert expletive].
Imagine Reuben jamming with Light Grenades-era Incubus, and you have Code Talker – the lead track from Gallows Humour, the latest from a band namechecked by Jamie Lenman about a year ago during Read more…
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Black Peaks never, ever fail to surprise and impress.
Never.
Set In Stone – the first brand new Black Peaks track to see the light of day in 2016 – sounds like the end of the world. It is Read more…
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Update 2: Since writing the review below, I’ve fallen in love with The Astonishing. It took a few months, but I finally got there. In terms of sheer scope, it was absolutely overwhelming, something that required more time and attention than I’d been able to give it at the time of writing.
I’ve kept my initial reaction unchanged for the sake of posterity – but were I to rewrite it from scratch now, the tone taken would be very different indeed, and the score would stand at about 96%.
Dream Theater have always been an ambitious band. Over the past three decades, they’ve attained and maintained an enviable position at the absolute peak of the prog metal mountain.
They have never slacked off.
Now, progheads across the world are coming face to face with Dream Theater’s most ambitious project to date. The Astonishing is a concept double album, totalling 34 tracks and 130 minutes of music. Just listening to the thing is an overwhelming task in itself. Read more…
Feel. Soul. Depth.
These words are ubiquitous in the music world. They pop up in press releases for everything from reality-shattering mathcore to surgically dehumanised bubblegum pap. They’re used to imply authenticity, whether or not it’s actually present in the music.
And what the hell is authenticity, anyway? If you define something inauthentic as “fake,” then that implies deception and dishonesty. Flip that over, and authenticity is really about honesty.
True honesty in art takes you somewhere beyond feel, soul, and Read more…
We’re all familiar with the feeling of being on the edge of falling apart. Struggling to get by, yet somehow keeping it together.
Milk Teeth’s music is the sonic embodiment of that state of mind.
Vile Child is a fucking challenging album. Imagine a mega-jam involving pretty much every even remotely grunge-related band from the ’90s, the chaos controlled only by an insistence that the results groove as hard as Read more…
If you’re a metal fan, you’re likely to experience one of two reactions while listening to Dystopia:
If you’re a die-hard thrash addict, you’ll have it on constant repeat for many weeks to come.
If you love metal, but also value musical risk-taking over traditionalism, you’ll dig Dystopia for a few tracks, then feel an overwhelming urge to move on to something fresh and innovative.
Since this is, after all, a Megadeth album, representing Read more…