Marco Minnemann – ‘Celebration’ [Review]

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Considering Marco Minnemann’s EEPS was TMMP’s second-favourite album of 2014, expecting its successor to top it might seem somewhat unreasonable on paper. Still, with Celebration Marco has done just that. For this 18-track (very) long player, the lighthearted quirky-playful approach which permeated EEPS has been largely set aside in favour of grim, determined seriousness.

Opening tune Miami sets the tone with thrashy guitar, ominous brass, the occasional spy movie chord, and some cheeky synths to remind us that behind it all, Marco Minnemann’s sense of the tongue-in-cheek is Read more…

Posted on 04 June 2015

Alex Brubaker – ‘The Architect; The Engineer’ [Review]

The guitar world has long fallen foul of the “music-as-sport” cliché. Walk down any bohemian city street and you’re likely to come across a six-string-toting busker or two frantically punching out notes like Morse code. Like thousands of others before them (and thousands more still to come), they take technique to its highest heights, but forget to say anything in the process.

Pecussive acoustic guitar maestro Alex Brubaker has a lot to say. The Architect; The Engineer may be dense notewise, but Brubaker speaks with grace and eloquence through Read more…

Posted on 01 June 2015

O.R.k. – ‘Inflamed Rides’ [Review]

If you’re looking for something unique, you’ve come to the right place. O.R.k. could be described using the often-derided term “supergroup” (its members hailing from bands as diverse as Obake, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, and Marta Sui Tubi), but its music will appeal to anyone with a taste for diverse and differentiated rock. This is not so much a novelty project as one with the potential to go any distance under its own steam.

Inflamed Rides takes in everything from Tool-esque textures (opener Jellyfish) to Rage Against Read more…

Posted on 31 May 2015

Outside The Coma – ‘Flavour Of The Weak’ [Review]

What do you get if you mix hectic metal, frantic screaming, a few poppy na-na-nas, visuals inspired by Japanese TV, anxious electronic elements, and lyrical lines set on shredding lame talent shows and celebrity culture?

Answer: Read more…

Posted on 25 May 2015

Xilent – ‘We Are Virtual’ [Review]

If variety is the spice of life, your life is about to get a whole lot spicier. Three years in the making and worth every second, We Are Virtual is a massively eclectic melting pot of modern electronic styles – and it’s also pretty damn mind-blowing.

Since 2011, Xilent has been mentioned in the same breath as Skrillex, Nero, and Read more…

Posted on 24 May 2015

Joe Satriani – ‘On Peregrine Wings’ [Review]

Joe Satriani is widely acknowledged as one of a kind. The instrumental guitar maestro’s magnum opus Surfing With The Alien kicked instrumental rock guitar into the stratosphere way back in 1987 – and Satch is still keeping his creative momentum going almost 30 years later. Satriani’s new album Shockwave Supernova features TMMP regular Marco Minnemann on drums alongside Read more…

Posted on 23 May 2015

We Never Learned To Live – ‘Silently, I Threw Them Skyward’ [Review]

First things first. Arrangement- and mixing-wise, this album is fucking awesome. It seems like post-hardcore fans have plenty of bleak, grim albums to get stuck into this summer – and Silently, I Threw Them Skyward is among the best of them so far. Ominous, haunting, and unrelentingly foreboding, this could easily work as the soundtrack to a 28 Days Later-style horror movie. It really is a journey.

“Post-apocalyptic post-hardcore” isn’t a genre yet – but it’s the most Read more…

Posted on 23 May 2015

No Consequence – ‘Vimana’ [Review]

No Consequence are known as purveyors of top-notch tech metal. Their instrumental skill is indisputable – as is the level of social awareness amplified through past classics such as Coerce:Conform and Enemy of Logic. Beyond that point, you still have to take pristine production, ball-bursting heaviness, and shattered-mirror riffage into account before you get the whole picture.

Vimana sees the introduction of a new side to No Consequence. Their signature blend of fragmented riffs, disjointed melodies, and Read more…

Posted on 21 May 2015

Delta Sleep – ‘Twin Galaxies’ [Review]

This album should come with a warning: If you try to air-guitar along to it, your fingers will wind up in knots. Imagine turning up in A&E with twisted knot-hands and trying to explain it to the triage nurse. Exactly. Stay safe, yeah?

Since 2010, Delta Sleep have specialised in a brand of math-rock that is, frankly, mad as a lorry. Their world is one within which Radiohead harmonies co-exist warily with difficult-to-decode-let-alone-digest rhythmic patterns and Read more…

Posted on 20 May 2015

The Sun Explodes – ‘The Calm, The Storm’ [Review]

Armed with an arsenal of killer riffs, slinky licks, intelligent lyrics and off-kilter rhythms, The Sun Explodes are blazing a path toward somewhere fresh and challenging. While many modern prog-metal bands continue to ride Periphery’s coattails, these guys are pushing into new territory – and the results of their efforts are very, very cool.

There is a distinct sense of transition rather than arrival on Read more…

Posted on 16 May 2015