ALBUM REVIEW: Silent Planet – SUPERBLOOM


 

California quartet Silent Planet is known for their unique take on metalcore that continues to lead them to victory, earning them respect and fans from all over the metal spectrum. Their enticing, story-like method of songwriting is what sets them apart from their peers. When vocalist Garrett Russell delivers the lyrics, he does more than just perform a song – he vividly and theatrically illustrates the sinister world that embodies Silent Planet, all while the instrumentals set the stage for every scene, brewing build-up, thunderous climax, and desolate aftermath.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Jo Quail – Invocation – Supplication


 

Invocation / Supplication (By Norse Music), the new offering from experimental cellist Jo Quail, is actually a compendium of two connected three-song cycles. The first, Invocation, features the contributions of Heilung vocalist Maria Franz, plus brass instruments, percussion, bass and a choir assembled from crowdsourced mobile phone recordings of individual syllables. Supplication, on the other hand, is a less embellished affair, with just vocals from Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari and Koen Kaptin’s trombone parts to augment Quail’s cello and sound design.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Knuckle Puck – Losing What We Love


 

Hailed as one of the most consistent and influential pop-Punk bands of the last decade, Chicago quintet Knuckle Puck have upped their game with their fourth full-length record, Losing What We Love (Pure Noise Records). The album pushes the band’s envelope while simultaneously pulling from the oldest songwriting tricks they are known and loved for.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Crosses – Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete


 

Chino Moreno has never been shy at exploring his mellower side away from Deftones, and over the years has dipped into the Post-Rock, Shoegaze and Trip-Hop genres providing us with some highly refined music by way of projects such as Team Sleep and Palms, his collaboration with three former members of Post-Metal kings Isis. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Code Orange – The Above


 

The hope for a band to “return to their roots” is a phrase that has been thrown around so much in modern music, it has begun to lose its meaning. As with the roots of a tree, a band’s roots are always there, securing the foundation of their sound, no matter how many different directions it may branch out into.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Conquer Divide – Slow Burn


 

Hailing from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, Metalcore quintet Conquer Divide has come back together in Atlanta to record their long-awaited second full-length album, Slow Burn (Mascot Records). Slow Burn presents a balanced, cohesive collection of songs while also throwing the frequent curveball – ones that don’t throw the direction off track, but rather launch it forward into expanded territories.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Polaris – Fatalism


 

One of the fastest-rising bands in modern metalcore, Australian group Polaris shows their musical ancestors how it’s done with their third album, Fatalism (SharpTone Records). As they break through the scene, the quartet continuously grows with their refinement of the genre, pulling off a sense of timelessness for a style that some of their peers have fallen under the radar trying to keep alive.

 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Holding Absence – The Noble Art Of Self-Destruction


 

If you had to book a show for an audience of half-Pop fans and half-Metalheads with the promise that no one would walk out, it would seem like an impossible task. But book Welsh band Holding Absence for a show like this, and everyone’s jaws will be on the floor before the first song finishes.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Movements – RUCKUS


 

Ever since their debut album, Feel Something, blew up in 2017, the massive surge of dedicated fans have held Southern California post-hardcore and emo band Movements to a high standard when it comes to follow-up material. As the group grows older, their music continues to grow with them, as made evident with their 2020 release No Good Left To Give, and now their third full-length album, RUCKUS! (Fearless Records). While the band is no longer the same sad boys they started out as, there are still pieces of their old selves mixed into their new, matured evolution, with RUCKUS! about to elicit a peculiar balance of dancing, moshing, and crying.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Skindred – Smile


 

Beloved Newport, UK quartet Skindred have returned to show off more of their eclectic musical expertise with their new album Smile (Earache Records). The album title was inspired by the reactions the band has received from large and small crowds alike throughout their career in live performances.

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