Good Tiger – ‘A Head Full Of Moonlight’ [Review]

The Safety Fire, Tesseract, Architects, and The Faceless would have made a great co-headlining tour a few years ago. Fast-forward many moons, an assortment of splits, and an Avengers-style assembly later, and Good Tiger have not merely emerged, but exploded into the metal world’s consciousness. Made up of former The Safety Fire guitarists Derya “Dez” Nagle and Joaquin “Jo” Ardiles; ex-Tesseract vocalist Elliot Coleman; drummer Alex Rüdinger, previously of The Faceless; and one-time Architects touring guitarist Morgan Sinclair on bass, Good Tiger crowdfunded A Head Full Of Moonlight to the tune of almost $48,000 last year.

Listening to A Head Full Of Moonlight, it’s clear that Good Tiger’s fans were Read more…

Posted on 27 March 2016

Asking Alexandria – ‘The Black’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

Asking Alexandria have never been my thing, as much as I’ve wanted them to be. To be honest, most modern metalcore bands send me rushing back to The End Of Heartache by Killswitch Engage. Until now, Asking Alexandria have always been lumped in with the others.

The Black is literally a whole other story.

With Asking Alexandria having parted from former frontman Danny Worsnop, his shoes filled by Read more…

Posted on 25 March 2016

Visions – ‘Shake The Earth’ [Review]

It may be almost April, but with Visions’ new album wrapped up in my inbox, it feels like Christmas again.

Listening to Shake The Earth unpack itself is an absolute pleasure. It may be covered in scalpel-sharp spikes on the surface, but there’s plenty of substantive, tasty, bass-flavoured cake under the none-more-black icing and razor-edged tech-metal decorations. Modern metal bands often forget that there’s more to a mix than just a knob marked “TREBLE,” a fader marked “VOLUME,” and an onscreen icon labelled “COMPRESSION,” but Visions avoid that particular pitfall.

The probably-Home–Alone­-inspired Wet Bandits Read more…

Posted on 24 March 2016

Aliases – ‘Derangeable’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

According to the press release that accompanied my review copy of Derangeable, Aliases are “for fans of tech-progressive metal and heavy bendy guitars that go WEEAAAAOORGGHHH CHUG CHUG”.

I can’t argue with that – but I would hasten to add that Derangeable will also satisfy your cravings for guitars that go “BEEADOODLEBEEP,” time changes that would give Stephen Hawking a migraine, and the kind of screams you’d normally associate with Read more…

Posted on 12 March 2016

Killswitch Engage – ‘Incarnate’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

Since Alive Or Just Breathing dropped in 2002, Killswitch Engage have been rightly hailed as the kings of metalcore. Their signature sound is not only unmistakable, but massively influential even fourteen years later. Through lineup changes and a beyond-harsh range of personal struggles, Killswitch Engage have never been disengaged.

Respect.

This being a Killswitch Engage album, you no doubt already know what to expect. These guys define metalcore simply by Read more…

Posted on 11 March 2016

The Algorithm – ‘Brute Force’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

The Algorithm’s new album.

Try saying that ten times really quickly.

When it comes to creating the heaviest electronica imaginable while maintaining that all-important accessibility, Rémi Gallego is the undisputed Read more…

Posted on 07 March 2016

Marco Minnemann – ‘Above The Roses’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

Calling Marco Minnemann prolific is a little bit of an understatement. This guy is easily one of the hardest-working drummers on the weirder side of showbiz, playing on no fewer than five of TMMP’s Top Albums Of 2015. That’s one studio album (Tres Caballeros) and one live album (Culture Clash Live!) as part of fusion trio The Aristocrats; one studio album with guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani (Shockwave Supernova, TMMP’s top album of the year alongside Jon Gomm’s Live In The Acoustic Asylum); one studio album with Porcupine Tree frontman and prog godfather Steven Wilson (Hand. Cannot. Erase.); and, finally, an 18-track beast of a solo album called Celebration.

Phew. That’s just Marco Minnemann’s recorded output, too; add in countless Read more…

Posted on 01 March 2016

The Colour Line – ‘The Long Awaited Seal Of Disapproval’ [Review]

Visualise Steve Vai and Guthrie Govan jamming with The Dillinger Escape Plan, and you’ll come close to the core of The Colour Line’s sound throughout E=MC Hammered and Usama’s Bin Liners. Marrying playful guitars with hectic drums and an impressively versatile vocal courtesy of frontman Sam Rudderforth, these guys have managed to take a well-established style and twist the mathcore kaleidoscope to a unique position. Nice.

R.E.D. almost brings The Knack’s My Sharona to mind, fucking with Read more…

Posted on 26 February 2016