Category: Album Review
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Album Review: David Bowie – ‘Who Can I Be Now?’ (1974 to 1976) Box Set
Over the past week and a half, I’ve seen several erroneous reports that a “lost” Bowie album has resurfaced and is now available for purchase. What these articles are referring to is what the Bowie camp are purporting to be The Gouster, a scrapped album that eventually gave way to Young Americans, currently included in…
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Album Review: Skold – The Undoing
The Undoing is the highly anticipated third studio album from SKOLD that almost never saw the light of day. The album was scheduled to be released back in mid-April of 2014. Days after it’s announcement, it was cancelled “due to unforeseen developments”, and all pre-orders were refunded. On January 12, 2016, SKOLD announced The Undoing would be arriving April 22,…
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Album Review: The Dreaming – ‘Rise Again’
If Rise Again sounds too much like Stabbing Westward, it’s because singer Christopher Hall and keyboardist/programmer Walter Flaka were original members and the key songwriters of Stabbing Westward. They stated that their intention was to deliver an album that brought back the early Stabbing Westward sound that fans had been asking for. The Dreaming is…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Marilyn Manson – ‘The Pale Emperor’
After a long stretch of uninspired, downbeat offerings, Marilyn Manson had a semi-comeback with 2012’s Born Villain. Was that a late career fluke winner? The followup, The Pale Emperor will be a good indication if he is truly back on track. What really helps to shake this album up and what keeps it fresh is…
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Album Review: Iced Earth – ‘The Plagues of Babylon’
With all of those death metal bands lurking around the swamps of Florida (Obituary, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Death, among others) sometimes it can be easy to forget about Iced Earth. Their newest album is called The Plagues of Babylon. The band’s “Something Wicked” concept is picked up for the first six songs of the album,…
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Album Review: CHVRCHES – ‘The Bones of What You Believe’
2 years after the release of the hit single “Mother We Share”, Scotland’s own indie electro pop trio CHVRCHES has finally released their long awaited debut full length album. Bones of What You Believe puts the band on the map, and with the backing of Glassnote Records (Mumford & Sons) there is no limit to how…
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Album Review: Hawthorne Heights – ‘Zero’
Over the years Dayton, Ohio-based band Hawthorne Heights has had its ups and downs. The tragic loss of rhythm guitarist Casey Calvert, has still been the biggest blow they had yet to fully recover from. With Zero, the band’s fifth full-length studio album since the Hate and Hope EPs, it feels like a new beginning for…
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Album Review: Just Like Vinyl – ‘Black Mass’
To those of you not in the know, Just Like Vinyl is the relatively new project of former Fall of Troy frontman Thomas Erak and friends. Their sophomore album Black Mass is here, tighter and more consistently aggressive than the band’s self titled debut. A few highlights include the crushing “Sucks To Be You,” the…
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Album Review: City Rain – ‘Montage EP’
Hailing from the city of brotherly love, Ben Runyan (vocalist/keyboardist/programmer) and Jarrett Zerrer (vocals, guitar) forms the electro-pop duo that is City Rain. Musically, you can hear the combined influences of New Order and The Postal Service with a splash of some surf guitar and keyboards creating an ethereal soundscape. At the heart of all…
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