FTHC is likely to hit hardest with those who have grown with Frank, witnessing his evolution and the ways in which it’s helped chronicle their own. That’s not to say there’s not much to enjoy for new fans, though, who will no doubt find an empathetic ally in a man whose honesty and anger and heart continue to inspire.

One of the best albums of 2013. [13 Jul 2013, p.54]

Devour is a rock record, full of fine songs--gimmick- ,pretention- and affectation-free. [5 Oct 2013, p.53]

The slo-mo mantras of this three-part suite successfully blast the divisions between high and low culture to smithereens. [5 Dec 2015, p.52]

Dark Matter is many things. It’s thrilling. It’s moving. It’s surprising. It’s a band still operating at the peaks of their powers.

That Nine Inch Nails have executed a stunning return is a given, but the size and scope of this particular victory – this double victory, actually – should not be overlooked.

Evergreen is a reminder of what an effective, emotive songwriter she can be.

Whatever facet of Trent’s oeuvre you’re into, you’ll be well serviced by Nine Inch Noize, a thrilling addition to a career characterised by innovation. Credit must be given to Boys Noize, too, for helping inspire this incredible musical detour. It’s one worth taking. Again and again.

There's nothing ambitious or monumental here but a tight 50 minutes of call-to-arms rage. [27 Jun 2015, p.52]

This introspective, incendiary, searingly intelligent set of songs finds them as emotionally invested as they’ve ever been.

Beautifully arranged and commandingly composed, Be More Kind is a great work from an expert in his craft. [5 May 2018, p.55]

With Time & Space they've made a record that will blow minds as surely as it will elevate them from beyond an emboldened, resurgent and vital scene. [24 Feb 2018, p.50]

This incarnation of Fear Factory is bowing out with a tense, aggressive and satisfying final act. There are exactly zero signs of them adopting fresh approaches, but dissing them for this is like criticising chocolate for continuing to taste chocolatey.

Out of Ian’s time of crisis, Militarie Gun have made themselves a silver lining, a record that’s not just a tremendous step up but one that could be their defining moment.

Cult doesn't rock the boat so much as reinforce it against any potential wear and tear, with Bayside never sounding so fired up. [8 Feb 2014, p.54]

As an example of a band whose explosive energies are captured, rather than recorded, this is strong work. [1 Jun 2019, p.55]

There's a lot going on, but once again Opeth have crafted something special here. [24 Sep 2016, p.51]

Fortress is Alter Bridge's most aggressive album to date. [21 Sep 2013, p.52]

Yes, in places the jams get a bit too funky, but even these missteps don't disrupt the haze you enter elsewhere. [16 Aug 2014, p.54]

They exude so much confidence, you wouldn't be surprised if they ran for president next year. [6 Jun 2015, p.52]

It's an album best-judged as its monumental whole: the sound of endless possibilities. [18 Jun 2016, p.52]

For all the record's big riffs and bravado, there's plenty regarding matters of the heart, from the heart. [10 Sep 2016, p.50]

The Ocala quintet's heaviest record since 2007's For Those Who Have Heart. [27 Aug 2016, p.50

Impressions is thrumming with big ideas, bigger choruses and is imbued with the pearly wisdom learned from rolling with life's punches. [4 Mar 2017, p.53]

Like the very youth it seems to be chronicling, Learning How To Live And Let Go flies by in a blur, blindsiding with the contemplative poignancy of arms-round-shoulders closer It Ain’t Easy.

A satisfying, feisty record made for blasting loud enough to annoy the neighbours, and for partying the existential dread away. This band’s not cooling down anytime soon.

Grown men revisiting their youthful hijinks should be a terrible idea or, to borrow an FNM title, a midlife crisis. Instead, this record is an absolute rager, testament to both the original material and the present-day dedication of its lunatic creators.

Fever Hunting finds MLIW back at their best. [31 Aug 2013, p.53]

All that you take in is that Gore is Deftones being Good Deftones. [9 Apr 2016, p.50]

It feels like tectonic plates have shifted for the band with The Ghost Of Orion, ushering in the dawn of a new era for My Dying Bride.

Rest assure, few bands combine hilarity and ferocity as well as Future Of The Left. [9 Jun 2012, p.54]

It's a lean, mean metallic assault from a band who only seem to get better with age. [11 Aug 2012, p.53]

This is what it sounds like when Poppy is properly in her element. When she’s got something that lights her on fire, she’s unstoppable, and this is how she’s been able to write possibly her best songs yet.

Those looking for the conventional will find it, relatively speaking, in the sparseness of When Will I Return?, while the near-29-minute title-track--like the album it's housed on--is both a journey and a total trip. [25 Jun 2016, p.53]

All Them Witches have conjured fresh landmarks all their own. [18 Feb 2017, p.52]

It's bigger, louder and better in almost every department. [28 Jul 2018, p.53]

Some of the year's catchiest most accessible alt. pop tunes of the year speaks volumes of the level upon which they're operating here. [13 Oct 2018, p.54]

Lamb Of God are not the band they once were. Those were the sounds of then. This is the now.

Behind every good DIY punk outfit, there's some smart songwriting in place. Boston;s Pile prove this and more here on their fourth full-length. [7 Mar 2015, p.53]

Villains makes for a compelling lane change, finding the impetus to bring an interesting makeover. [12 Aug 2017, p.50]

Good, old-fashioned raging against the machine has rarely sounded better. [1 Feb 2014, p.55]

life Cycle is the sound of [their] potential exploding into being. [30 Jun 2012, p.54]

There's nothing pleasant about this in any way, shape or form, basically. Yeah, Dead In The Dirt are that good. [10 Aug 2013, p.54]

Impressive act of defiance or not, when the dust has settled, this will also be rightly remembered as simply a great album. [19 Oct 2013, p.52]

Sometimes angry, regularly ferocious, occasionally beautiful. [8 Oct 2016, p.53]

A set of excellent songs. It’s a cohesive, largely understated collection, too.

The template is similar to that of their youngest selves. The knockout rock and roll riffs of guitarist Billy Zoom almost shrug at the lyrical company they’re required to keep.

An epic adventure that is, in every single way, truly astonishing indeed. [16 Jan 2016, p.51]

Heavy and not consistently rewarding, it is nonetheless always interesting. [18 Jun 2011, p.51]

This is an important album, not only because it extends Gojira’s palette and cements their place as one of metal’s most skilled and uncompromising bands. They’re also one of the most inspiring as they call for strength, for action and above all for fortitude.

An album of blues covers that's beautifully mellow and endearingly warm. [25 Sep 2010, p.52]

Bad Magic is proof that Motorhead remain the greatest rock'n'roll band on God's scorched Earth. [29 Aug 2015, p.50]

It finds them rocking even harder than usual. [1 Oct 2016, p.51]

Through all this existential and unremitting bleakness, the music is vital and vibrant, using a broader palette and brighter colours than they’ve ever used before.

Everest remains Halestorm, yes, but in dazzlingly diverting ways that are gonna take you time and several plays to appreciate properly.

American Slang stands on its own two feet with eyes fixed on new horizons, its chief architect focused less on history, more on his story, as he tries to make sense of new realities after his world has been turned upside down. [12 Jun 2010, p.50]

There are certainly moments here where what Pigs… provide is primarily big, dumb fun. But Death Hilarious also finds them thoroughly exploring their sonic and emotional range, the result an album which digs its hooks in deeper than ever.

This is the release that finally sees the band hit their songwriting stride. [1 Jul 2017, p.53]

As ever, SAVED! is a genuinely haunting record from an artist whose emotional articulacy is unlike any other. Creatively, it is an inspired idea, carried off by a unique talent.

[An] excitable, artistically emphatic album. [28 Jan 2017, p.51]

American Football have matured, but what remains unchanged is their ability to gently tug the heartstrings. [23 Mar 2019, p.55]

The Book Of Souls is an album of extraordinary vision. [5 Sep 2015, p.50]

It's a great thrash record, not the jokey novelty of the genre's boom, as stainless, hard-edged. aggressive metal album that would be just as deadly were it from 2011, or 1986. [24 Sep 2011, p.51]

IKTPQ have avoided the cliches that could've crippled their return. Instead, they've proved metalcore is still worth getting excited about. [1 Feb 2014, p.53]

[A] shattering farewell LP. [10 May 2014, p.53]

The only thing you can be sure of with Two Hands is to expect the unexpected. [11 Apr 2015, p.53]

As a whole, this is BSC's dirtiest, heaviest outing yet. [27 Mar 2016, p.51]

A constantly-evolving monster of a record. [21 Jan 2017, p.52]

The Incessant is an enraged punk album with the occasional sombre stupor slinked within. [18 Feb 2017, p.54]

There are numerous peaks on what might be Torche's finest album since 2008's Meanderthal. [20 Jul 2019, p.58]

Wild Loneliness is the fourth and best album Superchunk have recorded since returning to active service in 2010, and even stacks up next to classics from earlier in their career such as Here’s Where The Strings Come In or No Pocky For Kitty.

As usual, PVRIS demonstrates the value of existing in the spaces between genres, and that moments of combination and contrast are often the most exciting.

The Texans still sound like a band capable of stealing hearts forever. [1 Feb 2020, p.55]

Album number two towers over its predecessor.... There's beauty within these snapshots of frenzy where there was once just void. [16 Feb 2013, p.52]

The frontman himself proves he can actually sing in places but there's also a full quota of lung-bursting, chest-beating hardcore to remind us who this is and prevent things from ever straying too far afield. [23 Jul 2011, p.51]

If you’re looking for a short, fun thrill from a gang of likeable oiks with all the grace of a one-legged camel, talk to The Chats.

Ultimately, this album is a promise that as brilliantly beguiling as Chelsea Wolfe has always been, her big picture is still coming into focus.

There are a couple of marvellous moments – namely the shapeshifting Mezzanine and the agonising regret of Finalist – but often Spiral In A Straight Line settles into itself too much.

While bleakness is certainly prominent throughout, this album has many different shades and it is these contrasts that make it so vital. It's an album that bursts with ambition, and that Bring Me The Horizon pull it off so powerfully further confirms their greatness. [25 Sep 2010, p.50]

Ghostemane knows who he is. That he expresses himself this articulately without giving too much of that away is in itself testament to his esoteric skills.

Surging with reckless punk spirit and swooning romanticism, there's no fear of Beach Slang losing momentum after break-up rumours earlier this year. You might consider the album title ironic since the trio are far on the other side of 19, but perhaps that's its beauty. [24 Sep 2016, p.52]

It’s music for the loveliest of golden summer evenings, but has a greater depth to it that reveals itself with more and more listens, as if it’s coming out of its own shell. And when it does, it’s nothing but wonderful.

Eccentric in all the right ways, No Home Record is just poppy enough to be accessible, yet edgy enough to satisfy even the pickiest of old school noise-rock fans. [12 Oct 2019, p.55]

Like a poison ice cream, MCS are once again delicious, but deadly. [26 Sep 2015, p.52]

Every note and drumbeat speaks of friends enjoying the freedom to do whatever they damn well want, in the company of musicians and composers whose talents bring out the best in each other. Even amongst such impressive back catalogues, Killer Be Killed have crafted a record which absolutely destroys in its own right.

Each of their previous three albums have proven invigorating examples of their punishing aesthetic, but Atlas Vending finds them pushing things forward, broadening their horizons to tremendous effect.

Leaps and bounds ahead of their excellent M debut, Mareridt is ambitious, accomplished, and beautifully ugly. [16 Sep 2017, p.53]

This is a brilliant mix of heaviness and The Wicker Man-esque oddness. [25 May 2013, p.54]

The confidence with which these 10 tracks are delivered is proof this is just the beginning. There’s some growing up to be done, but right now, The Linda Lindas are revelling in the joys of youth, and it sounds great.

With overwhelming heaviness tempered by blues and gospel vibes, this enthralling comeback soothes the soul even as Goatsnake crush your ears. [13 Jun 2015, p.52]

The end result is not only an album that will delight diehard Tom DeLonge fans, but one that lovers of anthemic and occasionally experimental alt.rock will enjoy too.

Nails have delivered one of the most savage and head-spinning albums of the year so far. [6 Apr 2013, p.53]

As ever, The Wonder Years remain the best in their class. They remain as musically smart, emotionally intelligent, and reassuringly bullshit-free as ever.

It's as vast and cosmic as the title suggests. [14 Jun 2014, p.54]

It can be no surprise that the group's second effort in this style is a triumph of both authenticity and quality, of fine songs and tasteful playing. [3 Sep 2011, p.51]

A sonic gem that's both immediate and visceral in its delivery, as well as remaining a genuinely exciting prospect. [25 Aug 2012, p.54]

Sounding like every member of the band is determined to be the loudest and most aggressive mothertrucker on Earth, this is all-out war. [23 Feb 2013, p.52]

It may not appeal beyond their current fanbase, but it cements The Story So Far's position near the front of the pop-punk pack. [16 May 2015, p.53]