This isn't going to be one of the classic Slayer albums, but there's still plenty of good thrash to be found on Repentless.

It's a pleasant surprise to hear that he's capable of so much more.

Finn was able to dial the swagger back for Faith In The Future and replace it with nuance, subtlety; sonically, it allows him room to breathe, to let new characters and stories thrive in softer moments.

Condon is at the heart of each song, so while a hopeful tone is central to both the music and lyrics, No No No is a portrait of a man putting on a brave face while piecing his life back together, and it's all the more engaging for it.

Like the other entries in the series, Empire also offers up plenty of B-sides and demo takes for the completists, but laying everything out bare for us still doesn't exactly explain the West coast phenomenon known as Unwound.

Self-produced and written almost entirely while isolated in a lake house outside of Mexico City, Me is Rodriguez' most fully-formed artistic statement yet, an intensely personal, self-assured outing that cements her as a powerhouse producer, sonically harkening back to her Colorminutes days and establishing her as an expert songwriter.

K-os hasn't been this experimental or fun to listen to since his 2004 classic Joyful Rebellion. It's a thrill to hear him return to the creative stratosphere once again on Can't Fly.

There's enough here to satiate fans--"I Don't Like Who I Was Then" is as good as their best work--but there's an underlying sense that for the first time, the Wonder Years have missed the mark.

Kadavar attempt to create something that is both memorable and cool here, but despite all its hooks and melodies, Berlin ultimately falls short.

The Anthropocene Extinction is another stroke of genius by one of the best heavy bands of all time.

Sure, some of the performances aren't perfect, at times sounding downright ragged and sloppy, but that's the glory of a loud, fast and sweaty live punk rock show, here captured in all its glory as the band plough through songs from all eras of their history, finding the common thread between the old basement-punk anthems and the slick arena-punk rockers of later years in a shockingly profound manner.

As the whole, though, Discreet Desires is more introverted than Hauff's previous material. She's attempted to present a unified piece with this album, rather than a selection of similar tracks, and it's a gambit that's paid off in spades.

Too often, the album is weighed down by pedantic, average beats and too many run of the mill guest verses, indicating Meth's generosity is a bit of a weakness. Ultimately, it dilutes The Meth Lab's potency.

The theme of perseverance resonates strongly on the album, and the imperfections and vulnerabilities in his vocals help to encapsulate the artistic progression.

In shedding the shackles of expectation, FIDLAR finally found their soul.

Beauty Behind the Madness proves that the Weeknd can thrive in the mainstream, and while the lyrics aren't overtly profound, he's proven that he is more versatile than previously thought, which is perhaps of greater importance at this stage in his career.

While it doesn't offer up any game changers, it does provide a snapshot of Kompakt's eclectic and, ultimately, satisfying vision of electronic music in 2015.

What Went Down shows Foals coming into their own and excelling at blending the styles they have explored over previous records to create a varied and textured offering that will add depth to their high-energy live shows.

Check this out if you are a devoted member of the Pentagram coven, but otherwise, stick to the classics.

It's a diverse mixture of sounds delivered in a cohesive and well-arranged package.

Unlike those of many of their contemporaries, this album isn't offering much faux hard-won wisdom, and there's no late-night barstool proselytizing to speak of. Instead, Start Here channels the naïve wonder, genuine openness, and hopeful abandon of post-adolescence.

Production and keys aside, Turkey isn't much of a departure for Krol, but it may finally get him the recognition he deserves on the higher-profile Merge Records.

Pickpocket's Locket stands as some of Mercer's most urgent and terse work to date.

Anyone who doesn't fall for Depression Cherry's hypnotic splendour probably just isn't a Beach House fan, or didn't live with the album long enough. But those who do will recognize this album as the sweeping, grand gesture they've been working up to giving us for the last nine years.

Collaboration clearly suits Destroyer well: after ten albums in close to two decades, the band still sound as vital and inventive as ever, and they're operating at the top of their game on Poison Season.

A mysterious, sprawling listen that will baffle the masses, but reward patient listeners longing for an LP that is immersive, quirky and gently haunting.

The tracks are of such quality, though, that their position as part of something larger is mostly irrelevant.

Produced by Garm of Ulver, the textures of M are even more finely hewn and interwoven than its predecessor, resulting in a record that is at once profoundly tactile and deeply sensual.

Ghost isn't for everyone; they are deliberately, deliciously over the top and unapologetically dramatic, but if you dig their smoke and mirrors, then Meliora is just the indulgence you've been craving.

Deradoorian's songwriting pulls together colliding ideas and sounds, and it works on the eccentric and restless The Exploding Flower Planet.

Wave[s] is a clear indication that Jenkins is expanding his sound and stepping away from expectation as he prepares his debut album, The Healing Component. But in the meantime, he's established himself as an artist with even more to offer than many predicted

Easy on the ears, heavy on the heart and definitely worth the wait, High will leave you feeling as such.

E·MO·TION demonstrates how little improvement could be made on her sharp, consistent songwriting abilities. These are perfect pop songs; a few more rare glimpses of their rougher edges would make them all the more spectacular.

The band have played it relatively safe, changing little from the upbeat pop-punk formula established on 2014's Wishful Thinking, but have still managed to cram some undeniably catchy moments into this new set.

Skeleton Closet is an album of songs that are thoughtful, catchy, carefully hopeful.

Everybody's Coming Down feels both focused and purposeful, something not all albums can lay claim to after a band's nearly decade-long absence.

Unfortunately, the lack of quality choruses leaves something to be desired.

Recorded in just ten days, Morning World stands as Teen Daze's most effortless work to date, coming off thoughtful and patient without ever succumbing to the burden of "style."

While Detox seemed poised to erode Dre's sonic reputation, Compton, reputedly his last record, instead solidifies Dre's already ironclad claims to all-time status. Not only does Compton make you forget about Detox, it also makes sure you won't ever forget about Dre.

Every song manages to fit very well together without sounding too similar.

At its best (the haunting "Ashes," the provocative "I Ain't The Girl," the killer cover of "To Love Somebody" and the title track), Faded Gloryville is a tour de force. Too bad the two weakest songs ("Run A Muck" and "Rundown Neighborhood") appear back-to-back, temporarily breaking the spell at the midway point.

Between her typically deft hooks, the thematic cohesion and the efficiency of it all (five songs, 20 minutes), Love is Free marks another gem in Robyn's recent, diamond-studded catalogue.

While I Declare Nothing wastes no time solidifying a ruthless groove and builds on its own breathtaking walls of sound, it's album closer "Friendlies" on which Parks and Newcombe shine brightest, a four-and-a-half-minute bliss-out that could soundtrack a pro-hallucinogen PSA.

Overall, Ashes And Dust is undeniable proof of Warren Haynes' growth as a songwriter and an affirmation of his continuing successful eclecticism.

Though some fans will no doubt be put off by the band's new direction, anything more than a cursory listen reveals that HEALTH haven't made some great leap into the pop void. Rather, they've more fully embraced something that was always inherent to their music in the first place.

Written, performed, and produced solely by the artist, Barnes' debut is a percussive gem saturated with guttural synths. It's a distinct piece of electro-pop that deserves close listening.

Whipple's previous PAN release, the Scythians EP, hinted at the greatness to come from this Janus club night co-founder, yet was a little too short to really demonstrate his true power. It took a full-length release to truly suss out the immensity of M.E.S.H.

The vocal harmonies on Weirdo Shrine are eerily perfect, fading in and out of the driving instrumentals.

This gloriously woozy record is era-ambiguous and the sonic equivalent of a contact high.

Its sparseness allows the listener to reflect, in the time and space, on the moments of staggering beauty in the poems.

Repeated listening makes it hard not to see the album as some sort of quasi-confessional mini-masterpiece, and if not that, at least another example of his increasing strength as a songwriter.

It might not be groundbreaking, but it's the kind of album that easily stays in the car's CD player all summer long.

With Radiance and Submission, the Montreal musician attempts a serene matrimony of the two musical sides that struggles to strike a balance between stimulating and stale when it comes to the record's overarching sound.

You won't hear a more open hearted, impassioned and lyrically rich roots album this year.

Production-wise, the record includes what are easily some of the least memorable instrumentals that the trio has ever worked with in comparison to their catalogue of freeleases, though the continued emphasis on minimalism gives the rhymes room to breathe.

Whatever Scott has gone through on an emotional level, Woman finds her at a life stage where she seemingly maintains a balance between optimism and pragmatism, a worldly perspective that informs one of her strongest full-length efforts in a minute.

At ten tracks, Blood is a more focused and refined effort than 2012's Mercury Prize-nominated Is Your Love Big Enough?, building on what we've come to expect from Lianne La Havas and surprising us with new directions.

It may have taken a few years, a couple of misfires and a different stylistic approach, but Joss Stone has re-asserted herself with this fine effort.

Ducktails have an expert ability to create a dreamlike sound; hopefully, the next record will be bolstered by a few more memorable songs to make it a dream worth remembering.

Thomas Arsenault manages to convincingly combine his penchant for heart-on-your-sleeve lyricism and dance floor oriented-beats to craft an almost-perfect collection of nostalgia-tinged pop songs.

Where Donovan really soars is the quieter moments on the record.

VII: Sturm und Drang is the album that almost wasn't, but it's worth celebrating for the album that it is: another solid addition to the Lamb of God catalogue.

Seven Davis Jr's debut attempts to stay afloat on the strength of a few strong tracks, but ends up sounding stretched a little too thin.

As the ninth addition to the Wilco canon, Star Wars is a vessel for a few impressive tunes, another respectable--if just a little uninspired--step for a band that continues to unapologetically evolve

Great art isn't great art because it's easy, and this 90-plus-minute, five-act rock opera inspired by Stickles' experience with manic depression is absolutely worth spending the time with.

Infinite Dissolution is full of haunted love songs between a fallen city and the ghosts that inhabit it; it fills a void that I never knew existed until this unsettling, aching sound poured in.

Their Northwest hardcore sound may be derivative, but it represents the tendencies of its origins with convincing force, as their unrefined grunge tones and twangs almost make Subjective Concepts feel like an overlooked album from back in the day.

This seven-track effort switches things up ever so slightly; subtle twists of pace, cadence and lyrical content reveal a more introspective endeavour.

The majority of these beats hit to hurt, and though the emotional Future that listeners have come to know through past cuts "Throw Away" and "My Savages" has been dialled back, the honesty and vulnerability come through when it counts.

1973-1980 is a fitting, touching and extensive tribute to one of Africa's greatest musicians.

On LP, Container shows his ability to create a complete barnburner of an album in the least flashy and showy manner possible.

If nothing else, White Reaper Does it Again offers up a heady, enjoyable dose of nostalgia.

Among the paint-by-numbers tracks, Born In The Echoes has still got a couple of artful numbers peppered throughout.

Currents is melodic, pretty, but there's a pervasive sense of melancholy here; each uplifting track feels as though it's masking sorrow with shimmering synth, a teaspoon of sugar to help the medicine down.

This melodic emphasis, combined with a clearer compositional vision, is a welcome return to the style that made their earlier work so captivating.

Still walking the high wire, with Something More Than Free, Jason Isbell continues his streak of genre-defining masterworks.

It makes for a record with some distinct highs and lows; when it works, it is a lovely shimmering thing that amply demonstrates just how precious Flying Saucer Attack were and still are.

As a whole, the 16-track project is reverent, and pays respect to the musical icon. Whether this is an essential album is up for debate, but it's worth checking out for the heavy hitters that are on board.

Lucky 7 is at its best when Statik Selektah delves deep into his jazzier side as a producer, as tracks like "Beautiful Life" and "All I Need" affirm.

Like a punk rock Watch the Throne, No Life for Me finds two of the genre's leading lights working at the peak of their powers.

All is Illusory sounds like the band are finally settling down.

Calling Out is an excellent first dish by EZTV, a sweet thing that makes one excited to hear what they serve up next.

In the future, Ghost should do more of that heavy lifting, taking a cue from producer Adrian Younge, who provides his signature analogue flavour to sumptuous effect throughout.

There are plenty of moments worthy of headbanging throughout Hammer of the Witches, especially on "Blackest Magick in Practice." Unfortunately, they're too often interrupted by the album's half-baked sonic experiments.

While his source material is firmly rooted in the past, Petestrumentals 2 makes a couple of more contemporary statements

While the noticeable shift away from death metal may discourage some, Coma Ecliptic succeeds in pushing Between the Buried and Me's creativity in a new direction, avoiding a simple rehash of their winning formula.

Pattern of Excel shows the latest brilliant incarnation of an artist who's sure to have many in the years to come.

FWA's opening trio of "Glory," "He's Dead" and "I Feel Good" is severely tempered by the inclusion of clunky ballads with less-than-inspired production. Lyrically, there is little reference to Wayne's Carter V struggles amidst a wealth of new punch lines, but for every bit of wordplay that has potential to become another Weezy quotable, there is a handful of other cringe-worthy instances to counter.

Ego Death frees the Internet from Odd Future connotations and R&B norms; it's their best work yet.

Music For My Friends is arguably Skyzoo's finest project to date.

Portraits is a successful attempt at an album steeped in tranquility that can also keep you moving.

Dreams Worth More Than Money overflows with sonic effervescence, drawing you into the snake pit that is the mainstream hip-hop industry, with all the opulent trappings therein. Tight production support ingenious raps that continue to push the envelope of the street anthem narrative.

Essentially, Yukon Blonde sound like a new band, and they may just be your new favourite because of it.

On A Lesson Unlearnt, the insights on love are articulated both from the position of the one being sought and the one seeking affection, offering an entry point for anyone who can identify with love's effects.

Thoughtful, relentless, arty and uncompromisingly queer, Fist City are a rough gem in the unforgiving expanse of the Rockies.

Bilal finds an excellent match in Adrian Younge for the type of musical exploration he's embraced with his more recent output here, and In Another Life offers yet another example of Mr. Oliver's incredible range.

Morning/Evening is a gorgeous, daring album that draws its greatest inspiration from a much-maligned genre most often associated with John Tesh and Yanni.

The Heart is a Monster doesn't quite leave the impression mid-'90s Failure did, but despite less experimental approach and cleaner digital production, it's still a compelling listen.