Album Review GENRE ARCHIVES
Beezewax- Peace Jazz
As I write this, Eurovision is several days away and each year it comes and I watch it to some extent. A night of music from across the continent where I usually at some point find myself impressed by one song or another, promising myself to check out more music from countries outside the UK/ US sphere. That’s not to say that this band sounds like a typical Eurovision act (just a tangent on how I need to explore the music of different countries), there’s no Europop to be found here. This is Norwegian Indie Rock outfit Beezewax and their seventh studio album, Peace Jazz.
Periphery – Periphery IV: Hail Stan
For the last few years, in the tech-metal scene, there have been two titans on either side of The Pond: Tesseract and Periphery. Now when your transatlantic cousins take the ‘Black Album’ school of thought and trim everything down, tighten it all up and produce the shortened album of less expansive works that was Sonder, what do you do? Well, apparently, you mark your first release away from Sumerian records by throwing seemingly everything you can think of, and the kitchen sink, at your new record. And for Periphery, it is a resounding success.
Creature – HEX EP
Birmingham noise makers CREATURE have recently released their new EP titled HEX, stating the raw authenticity of playing music without the clicks, without the triggers, just human-art in the heavy metal world.
Crows – Silver Tongue
In recent years, there has been an incredible surge in post punk music. From the dark, gothic overtones of a band like Grave Pleasures to the loaded political gunshots of Idles. The wave of 1980s nostalgia that has gripped the world for the last decade has gradually seeped into music and these bands are now coming to the fore. Crows are the latest, and they’re mixing that post-punk sound with a noisy riff driven edge. On the spectrum of this scene they fall somewhere in the middle of the two bands above and that is perhaps the biggest problem with this album.
Trade Wind – Certain Freedoms
Trade Wind's anticipated new album Certain Freedoms definitely casts a different view on what some musicians are capable of releasing. With members of Stick To Your Guns and Stray From The Path, it's hard to believe the huge change from a hardcore show of bodies literally being thrown over others, to this peaceful notion.
Kurokuma – Sheffield’s Best Metal Bands Vol. 1
Kurokuma's new EP 'Sheffield's Best Metal Bands Vol. 1' sounds, from the title, like a compilation of local acts. It is, in fact, a 4 track EP of psychedelic, doom sludge. Whatever that means, I'm just quoting the press packet if I'm being honest.
Bars Of Gold – SHELTER
SHELTER the new LP from Bars Of Gold, is a post-rock indie record that has an inescapable guitar focused danceable rhythm throughout. Made up of members of a post hardcore band, that influence is there throughout particularly from the drumming and some of the guitar work. Ultimately the post-rock is there but there’s hard hitting element to this record that makes it stand out from its dreamier counterparts.
Death Blooms – You Are Filth
According to other people, Death Blooms are a big thing for the UK hardcore scene, so the release of their new EP 'You Are Filth' is an important point for the band. Having only 4 songs, however, means they have to deliver the goods. And they do, but theres a few bads in there too.
New Years Day – Unbreakable
New New Years Day record 'Unbreakable' comes after a dissatisfied band scrapped a tonne of songs and set out to write a new batch, all ready to explode and show both the band's anger and pride. Costello wanted to go somewhere different, and she has.
Enterprise Earth- Luciferous
American extreme metal outfit Enterprise Earth are back with their third LP, Luciferous. The band, formed in 2014 by two ex members of Infant Annihilator and Takeover, started out with their debut EP XXIII and debut LP Patient Ø with their latest full length coming last year in the form of Embodiment. Luciferous is described by vocalist, Dan Watson, as the band's "strongest, most mature release to date" which sets expectations high to say the least.
Sworn Amongst – Reclamation
Sworn Amongst have been a name in the UK metalcore scene for a decade and a half and have made themselves known over these years playing with many huge acts, festivals and kept a loyal fan base from their work.
The Royal – Deathwatch
Metalcore. It has gone from an inventive melding of metal and hardcore to a term that loosely defines an incredibly large amount of mediocre modern metal and very few stand out bands. The Royal do not plumb the depths that have been well explored by so many bands since the turn of the century, but neither do they have the incredible invention and song-writing of bands like Killswitch Engage or Parkway Drive.
The Brave – Aura
Aussie quintet The Brave are on form with their second full-length release Aura, like pick'n'mix you are anticipating what the next song is going to offer.
Dave Hause – Kick
Dave Hause’s new record ‘Kick’ is simply ten songs about being strong, understanding that we all struggle and kicking back against the things that kick you when you’re down. But underneath the lyrical meaning, what we actually have here is an album that’s actually very, very good. And I’ll explain why.
Ex Hex – It’s Real
"With simple riffs and beats, that are both effective and offer catchy positive vibes, it is hard not to bop a little to the driven power rock belters provided on this release"