Got a few albums to go through since the last post in March, and while my musical listening output hasn't been especially high of late, there have been some decent albums:
Agnostic Front - The American Dream Died Not sure Agnostic Front were ever big believers in the American Dream, but here we are. The album is ok, it's pretty much by the numbers NYHC. 6/10
Foo Fighters - Songs From The Laundry Room This was some kind of RSD release. It's pretty boring but I did like the track Empty Handed, which I hadn't heard before and is quite good. 5/10
Wand - Ganglion Reef Decided to check this out since I thought their latest album was quite good. This album isn't as good. 6/10
John Zorn - Simulacrum More along the lines of the Knights Templar stuff though a little heavier, though this time purely instrumental (ie - no Patton). Some really good tracks here, though I don't see myself listening to this frequently. 7/10
Mutiny on the Bounty - Digital Tropics Math rock stuff vaguely resembling Battles. Ok, but a bit uninspiring. 6/10
Psycroptic - Psycroptic New album from Tasmania metal band. Does all the things metal albums should do, and not much more than that. UKE would probably enjoy it. 6/10
Royal Thunder - Crooked Doors I really liked their last album, but I just don't feel it this time around. 5/10
Strung Out - Transmission.Alpha.Delta Struggling to recall if this album is good or bad. I don't remember it being bad, nor good. 5/10
Sulphur Aeon - Gateway To The Antisphere Pretty good death metal album, not that I've listened to a bunch of them this year, but this might be the best so far. 7/10
Faith No More - Sol Invictus I'm sure I've reviewed this elsewhere. Sounds even better in FLAC! My vinyl copy arrived today as well. Probably my favorite album of 2015 so far, despite a few weak moments. 8/10
Meek Is Murder - Onward EP Great blink and you'll miss it hardcore EP from a band I've never heard of. 8/10
Metz - II Alt. Punk act put out a pretty good album a couple of years ago, and this one is slightly better I reckon. Worth checking out. 7/10
Veil of Maya - Matriarch Avoid 2/10
Coliseum - Anxiety's Kiss I saw a little of these guys at Soundwave a few years back and they were solid. Never listened to an album of theirs though, so this is the first one for me. Hard rock, somewhat similar to Clutch though with a little more nuance to their sound. 7/10
Purient - Frozen Niagra Falls Haven't really listened to this enough to give it a fair review, but I'd say while I enjoyed parts of it, there were other parts I found a little boring. 5/10
Fulgora - Stratagem Another death metal album. This one is might be better than Sulphur Aeon, but I haven't listened to it enough. 7/10
KEN Mode - Success The Albini is strong in this album. I quite enjoyed it though the vocals grate in parts. 7/10
The Darkness - Last of Our Kind A few fun moments, but the rest is pretty much bland rock. 6/10
Thee Oh Sees - Mutilator Defeated at Last I've listened to a lot of this style of psych rock over the last couple of years. Not quite sure why - I enjoy this style of music, but really there's a bunch of stuff that sounds the same out there. This album for the most part is one of those. 6/10
Cloud Rat - Qliphoth I feel like I haven't reviewed enough grindcore this year. This album is great, and will probably be one of the best grind albums of 2014. 8/10
Muse - Drones I expected the worst and these guys surpassed my expectations, though haven't recorded a great album by any means and are still a shadow of years gone by. Has a few nice catchy moments. 6/10
Slaves - Are You Satisfied? British punk band I stumbled across on What.cd. An enjoyable album, though not one I expect will set the world on fire either. 7/10
Faith No More -Angel Dust (Deluxe Edition) No point reviewing the album itself, this reviews only the extras. Turns out I've heard all the extras before, so the suggestion they were rare by the record label was horseshit. The live tracks I haven't heard before, but there's much better recordings of this era FNM out there. Reeks of the record label squeezing a few more dollars out of the band now they're back in vogue. 4/10 (probably a 6/10 if you haven't actually heard the tracks before).
Drenge - Undertow Fuzzy rock album by a band I think has some kind of hipster cred. Some catchy riffs, but a little on the repetitive side. 6/10
Weekend Nachos - Weezer Nachos Grind band record an EP of Weezer covers for RSD. Sadly the covers aren't grind versions, but it somewhat interesting none the less. 6/10
Shortlist (very short, since I don't think I've listened to a bunch of records this year) for best albums of 2015 so far:
Cloud Rat - Qliphoth
Coliseum - Anxiety's Kiss
Death Grips - Jenny Death
Elder - Lore
Faith No More - Sol Invictus
KEN Mode - Success
Meek is Murder - Onward EP
Sulphur Aeon - Gateway to the Antisphere
Wand - Golem
Suggestions on albums I should check out are always welcome!
June 2015 Musical Review
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Re: June 2015 Musical Review
The Unreal Never Lived - YOB: YOB's quickly becoming a favorite of mine. 8/10
Still Life - Opeth: Have to give this one another listen. Don't really remember it much, but I think I enjoyed it. I'll give it 7/10 for now.
LA Woman - The Doors: Listened to this at around the same time as Still Life, I must have been pretty distracted because I don't remember much of either album. I don't recall disliking this album so for the moment I'll give it a tentative thumbs up until I listen to it again.
Lumineferous - High On Fire: Pretty good album with a strong second half. I should listen to it again, but I'm confident it's at least 7/10 maybe even an 8/10.
Shape of Jazz to Come - Ornette Coleman: Pretty good. Though the lack of any chordal instruments hinders my enjoyment of it as those are generally the parts of music that I'm most attracted too. But, I also appreciate it when people approach music in an unusual manner and I did enjoy how unusual this was, and I may enjoy it more in future listens. Right now though, it's a 7/10.
Ectropía - Xan Campos Trio: A solid jazz album I discovered on Bandcamp. A simple three piece group (drums, piano, double bass) this is a solidly enjoyable album by some quality musicians. Though some times the music can get a bit too abstract, and other times it can be a little corny, but the band usually pulls it together and none of the songs are ever dragged down by those elements. 7/10
Madre de los Vientos - DamaJuana: An album of Latin music from Buenos Aires. It's a pleasant listen and something I like being around when I feel like relaxing with something a little different. 7/10
Old Youth Culture - Nights Like These: I really dug this one. It's one of my favorites from this year. 8/10
Boys And Girls - Alabama Shakes: Dug this a lot more than I expected. 8/10
Sound and Color - Alabama Shakes: Didn't enjoy this one as much as Boys and Girls, but still enjoyed it for the most part. 7/10
Tyranny and Mutation - Blue Oyster Cult: It's a decent though otherwise unremarkable rock album. 6/10
Still Life - Opeth: Have to give this one another listen. Don't really remember it much, but I think I enjoyed it. I'll give it 7/10 for now.
LA Woman - The Doors: Listened to this at around the same time as Still Life, I must have been pretty distracted because I don't remember much of either album. I don't recall disliking this album so for the moment I'll give it a tentative thumbs up until I listen to it again.
Lumineferous - High On Fire: Pretty good album with a strong second half. I should listen to it again, but I'm confident it's at least 7/10 maybe even an 8/10.
Shape of Jazz to Come - Ornette Coleman: Pretty good. Though the lack of any chordal instruments hinders my enjoyment of it as those are generally the parts of music that I'm most attracted too. But, I also appreciate it when people approach music in an unusual manner and I did enjoy how unusual this was, and I may enjoy it more in future listens. Right now though, it's a 7/10.
Ectropía - Xan Campos Trio: A solid jazz album I discovered on Bandcamp. A simple three piece group (drums, piano, double bass) this is a solidly enjoyable album by some quality musicians. Though some times the music can get a bit too abstract, and other times it can be a little corny, but the band usually pulls it together and none of the songs are ever dragged down by those elements. 7/10
Madre de los Vientos - DamaJuana: An album of Latin music from Buenos Aires. It's a pleasant listen and something I like being around when I feel like relaxing with something a little different. 7/10
Old Youth Culture - Nights Like These: I really dug this one. It's one of my favorites from this year. 8/10
Boys And Girls - Alabama Shakes: Dug this a lot more than I expected. 8/10
Sound and Color - Alabama Shakes: Didn't enjoy this one as much as Boys and Girls, but still enjoyed it for the most part. 7/10
Tyranny and Mutation - Blue Oyster Cult: It's a decent though otherwise unremarkable rock album. 6/10
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