The album's 11 tracks are anthemic, rhythmically driven, and infectious, perfectly blending industrial and electronic elements with hard rock and heavy metal in a distinctly unique way.

The experiences feel lived and the emotional crescendos genuine, but the inferred vagueness of the title belies the certainty at its core: For All We Know is a masterwork.

Mastodon have crafted the fullest realization of their artistry, revelling in primal, visionary euphoria.

One of the only drawbacks is a lack of memorable hooks from otherwise outstanding vocalist Christine Davis, but the vibe of this album is more than strong enough to warrant a proper listen.

If All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us was an Olympic gymnastic performance, it would have nailed the double backflip but stumbled just a bit on the landing, leaving onlookers blown away by the trick and barely remembering that last wobble.

The trick to With Animals is its brevity, as only two of the album's 12 tracks surpass the four-minute mark.

In spite of its occasional faults, Chura's distinct vocals are captivating throughout Midnight. Stef Chura lets her voice crack, crease, and crumble however it wants, pairing vocal fry with vulnerable vibrato. Her voice matches Midnight's offerings perfectly, walking the line between visceral passion and an exhausted shrug.

Sirens is by far the most personal album Kevin Richard Martin has ever made.

Disarming listeners with a palette of sounds that merge laidback rock landscapes with grungy grit, Madeline Link's lyrics are jagged and abrupt, with abstract lines fused together by vividly visceral imagery. Deciphering deeper meanings may prove difficult (particularly as filtered through her languid drawl), but the endlessly listenable, breezy rock tunes encourage plenty of exploration, and any efforts will be handsomely rewarded.

It's opulent and immaculately composed but lacks the strong perspective that's usually central to FJM's work.

The fearless formula, the genre-blending, the artistic craft on display marks Reyez's latest as one of the better albums in an already interesting 2020. Before Love Came to Kills shines a light on homegrown talent done great.

Now with a larger band, rapid-fire lyrics don't serve the same spatial purpose they did when Graves was stomping out his own drum beat. There's a busy conversational quality to the songwriting that strict economical poetics couldn't achieve. There's not a lot of wordless space on Can't Wake Up.

Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes does not always work, but in the moments where it does, it is bound to sit in your stomach for a long time.

Though drumming on tracks like "make it right." and "hypnotized" occasionally overpower the songwriting, the songs are redeemed by Garbus' vocal wizardry. In the verses, she meanders all over the scale in an offhand way, but dishes out a cathartic climax of soaring harmonies that make for some epic choruses.

Words and Music further demonstrates this while helping us realize just how lucky we are to still have them around.

The band's 14th record finds Yo La Tengo settling into a late career renaissance that revisits the timbre of some of their best records (especially the quiet grace of And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out) without rehashing them, providing a welcome counterpoint to their slightly louder and more bombastic later efforts.

Too Many Voices is a breath of fresh air for anyone who found Faith overwhelmingly claustrophobic.

Her most ambitious work to date, both conceptually and instrumentally.

The sheer breadth of styles Ishibashi incorporates might well throw the average listener for a loop, but if an exceptional talent employing any tools she sees fit to make the sounds she hears in her head excites you, The Dream My Bones Dreams contains a wealth of sonic treats worth exploring.

Its explorations are well considered and the rewards for following along are many.

Reflecting on their shared experiences in the rural landscaping of the South Central states, Pedigo helps the band break out beyond the confines of their genre, sawing through the crust to bask in the heat of a molten core.

She's turned that feeling into an album as glittery as it is gut-wrenching, making Tourist in This Town a point on the musical map that's well worth a long, enriching stay.

The result is a superb rock'n'roll record, bristling with energy and defiance while digging deep lyrically.

This is the kind of odd, idiosyncratic record that makes collaboration so compelling; whether or not it appeals to you, there's absolutely no way you've heard a metal release quite like it this year.

A solid album but also not a surprising one. To boot, the main thing that grounds this album with a sense of time and place is the political side of it.

Dream Theater are by no means breaking any new ground on Distance Over Time. The album pulls from the same bag of tricks as the rest of their discography. What Distance Over Time does offer, however, is that "it" factor you can't quite put your finger on. Many lifelong fans claim the band lost their mojo the day founding member Mike Portnoy left the band. If that's the case, they seem to have found it on this release.

The Car is a beautiful calling card for this opulent new version of Arctic Monkeys, even if it lacks the immediacy the band built its reputation on.

4:44 is a refreshing, full-circle moment for hip-hop lovers--and a true pleasure to hear.