Category: Reviews

  • Lou Reed & Metallica – Lulu

    The sense that both Lou Reed and Metallica are too proud and too set in their ways to give each other a little leeway in this collaboration ends up being Lulu’s defining trait. Each step of the way through this run-time, Reed plays the stoic artist of words and music has has always been, while…

  • Dragonforce / Crimson Shadows @ The Opera House, Toronto ON, October 20, 2011

    For all the impeccable skill, speed and flourish there was nothing hook-y or spellbinding about the performance. This was an incredibly safe show that felt more like a press conference combined with a a technical exercise — less about showmanship and more about showing off.

  • Riverside – Memories In My Head

    Prog, neo-prog, art rock, apples, oranges… you can take your labels and pick them apart on your own time. Let’s just enjoy this classy excursion from Riverside for now.

  • Entrails – The Tomb Awaits

    If you want something ground-breaking look elsewhere, but if you’re after something blunt, solid and thoroughly old school then The Tomb Awaits is definitely an album you should invest in.

  • Altar of Plagues – Mammal

    The second full-length release from Ireland’s Altar of Plagues is an achievement that builds upon (and surpasses) their first album in almost every way. White Tomb was (and still is) a fantastic album, but Mammal is the product of a band with a more unique identity and more matured skills.

  • Hammers Of Misfortune – 17th Street

    7th Street is another impeccable notch in the Hammers’ collective belt, and while it may be their most sophisticated and accessible album to date, it is without a doubt sonically and thematically classic Hammers of Misfortune. One of the must-have albums for 2011.

  • All Else Fails – The Oracle, What Was, Is and Could Have Been

    The Oracle is a solid, if occasionally jarring album and a terrific next step for All Else Fails.

  • Evile – Five Serpent’s Teeth

    Five Serpent’s Teeth proves that Evile are also growing, in terms of skill and aesthetics. The album is faster and more precise; the band members are surer of their choices and influences; and their sound is more original and independent.

  • Redemption – This Mortal Coil

    Keeping up with their habit of releasing an album every two years, I believe that Redemption has released the best album of their career to date.

  • Textures – Dualism

    This is the kind of refreshment the metal scene needs every once in a while. Kind of like a retreat in a continent far from home, or giving your neck a break from the whiplash and moshpit to enjoy every bar note for note.