There are moments of genius here. In forging new bonds and attempting to break new ground, METAL FORTH's intentions are noble and the executions occasionally excellent.

This follow-up is a micro-tad more optimistic [than 2011's Several Shades Of Why]. [13 Sep 2014, p.54]

The Black Market is a magnificent wake-up call. [12 Jul 2014, p.52]

Sounds as powerful as ever. A welcome return from a much-missed thrash battalion.

In general this is a more reflective, far darker album than we’re used to from the former god of partying.

Dying Of Everything does not match or beat its predecessor, but that is not to say that it is lacking in any department, for it is a crushing slab of the dark’n’hard stuff executed with merciless precision and delivered with a killer mix.

True, not all these 10 songs are gonna be fan-favourites, but this return at least partly captures the sense of catharsis brought so brilliantly to that stage in South Wales.

Too countrified for you r average black metal fan, Blackberry Smoke are nevertheless as warming as rock gets. [7 Feb 2015, p.54]

Household Name is, altogether, an ineffably charming release bringing a youthful modernity to old school sounds.

It's a stunning return to form from a band whose best years, until now, had looked to be behind them. [26 May 2012, p.54]

Chicago punks mark 10-year anniversary in characteristically fiery form. [12 Mar 2011, p. 51]

Chelsea Light Moving's debut is fantastic. [2 Mar 2013, p.51]

Arriving just at the right time for its message to feel truly resonant, Sorry For The Late Reply is a bold, brave, brilliant work.

The Chats have the same natural knack for this stuff as The Ramones, able to make their point in 90 seconds while also having ripping punk tunes galore that sound no different to those on their High Risk Behaviour debut. It is quite brilliant.

Taking cues from the Pixies and '90s grunge--Sell Yourself or Japanese Buffalo could be Pixies mainman Black Francis in a rage--but rowdier and caustic, they are compelling. [19 Mar 2011, p.51]

The buzzsaw guitars and cheese-free hooks remain largely the same, but there's a passion and depth to these songs that really rolls back the years. [1 Nov 2014, p.53]

Though the band rage like a jungle fire, it's the vocals that set them apart from their peers. [19 Apr 2011, p.52]

YPLL exceeds expectations, Retox ramping up the frenzy with catchier riffs and a more focused assault on musical convention. [18 May 2013, p.54]

As ever, discerning listeners will appreciate Richard Patrick's ability to send sounds spinning into their ears from several different directions. [1 Jun 2013, p.54]

Live At Maida vale remains an excellent appetizer for Baroness' return. [27 Jul 2013, p.54]

It's execution is what makes it Sum 41's finest offering to date. [15 Oct 2016, p.50]

It comes across like the soundtrack to a great lost ’90s teen movie and, best of all, with its irresistible energy and eminently quotable lyrical couplets ('I have to say you look like Hell / Oh well'), the whole thing’s an absolute blast.

At it’s core, it’s an endearing celebration of friendship and life’s small joys. Contrary to Dune Rats’ self-deprecating quip, this record doesn’t suck at all, but turn it up anyway.

While they're no Tool, there's also a little something for the more cerebral of listeners. [7 Jun 2014, p.53]

More often than not, though, Rise Against let you reach your own conclusions, and therein lies the difference between merely preaching to the choir and reaching the whole congregation. [3 Jun 2017, p.50]

Fidlar can still party; they just know they can't do it every night now. [3 Oct 2015, p.53]

If the music The men are making is punk, it's rarely sounded so awesome. [2 Mar 2013, p.51]

What Blues Pills serve up, like The White Stripes or Rival Sons before them, is a perfect transmission of warm rock’n’roll from a time gone by that effortlessly slinks along with natural swagger, without ever feeling studied.

The end result is hardly jam-packed with jump scares, but there are more than enough surprises here to keep you wondering what the hell might be coming next.

The punk legend's 11th solo album eschews his dabbles in electronic music for a career-spanning sound that nods and winks in the most unsubtle of manners at his history. [7 Jun 2014, p.54]

It sounds like Ash have never been away. [30 May 2015, p.53]

A powerful, soul-striating record that needs and deserves attentive ears. [26 Nov 2011, p.53]

This new solo album is at its strongest when Greg finds new ways to express himself. Where there are traces of the Whigs’ soul power, as on Sempre and The Tide, it’s hard not to compare the songs unfavourably to his day job.

In truth not every track on BLEED HERE NOW quite justifies its inclusion. A trimmed down version would have been the best …Trail Of Dead album in 20 years, but this sprawling incarnation remains a comforting reminder of the warmth and weirdness of these perennial outsiders.

There are dramatic dynamic shifts and a defter blend of melody and muscle, making this by far the best album the Ohio outfit have yet produced. [10 Sep 2011, p.51]

Funny and poignant, it marks Max out as one of the most intriguing songwriters of his scene. [12 Jan 2019, p.55]

The 34-year-old may not quite have reached nirvana just yet, but in his personal quest for enlightenment he’s never sounded more optimistic about life’s possibilities. [26 Apr 2019, p.53]

It's a soft, frail album Jimmy Eat World have here, but one that hits right in the feels. Hard. [29 Oct 2016, p.51]

Another pack of incredibly weighty riffs that slowly march and stomp like an iron bloke heading out to war. [22 Mar 2014, p.53]

It's nothing we've not heard before from Clutch, but it remains superbly head-crushing. [10 Oct 2015, p.52]

Shelter is the first great album of 2014. [18 Jan 2014, p.52]

At its finest, this album is indecently exciting. [16 Apr 2011, p.50]

Maintaining their business-as-usual ethic it's nonstop Americana-a-go-go. [15 Oct 2016, p.52]

It's almost perfect in its imperfection. [5 Dec 2015, p.50]

It's been a long wait for this, their debut album, but it's well worth it. [20 Nov 2010, p.51]

Madina Lake sound not only more organic but also more alive. [1 Oct 2011, p.51]

An EP that's more than a stopgap, Polymers ... refines the ex-McClusky men's sound without making it boring. [Nov. 19, 2011 p.52]

There's loads to admire here--but plenty to test your patience, too. [11 Jan 2014, p.54]

The Amity Affliction's most accomplished release yet. [7 Jun 2014, p.53]

The album is far heavier, rawer and rootsier than its predecessor. [3 May 2014, p.52]

It's hardly a reinvention, but it all adds to the OTT party DragonForce have been throwing for so long. [20 May 2017, p.53]

ABOMINATION is frequently a colourful, outlandish listen, bold in scope and teeming with ingenious lines.

It's a record as sweet as 20 pumpkin spice lattes, with Gravity ('She keeps pulling me like gravity, everywhere she goes') and Perfume ('I wanna make you my girl / I wanna make you my world') sticking out as notable offenders, while the equally syrupy Kiss Me Again is also a little boilerplate. That said, it’s all rather endearing, especially for those who relate enough to the sentiment to be swept up by it.

Atop these intoxicatingly addictive gems are the vocals of bandleader Kim Shattuck. [6 Sep 2014, p.54]

In a time where it seems everyone wants to make noisier music as an act of defiance against an increasingly cruel world, Jehnny Beth has found a way to stand out. She’s real, she’s raw, and everything here has such a strength of spirit to it that it feels truly alive.

It's a record that ignores its own decade-long mystique to work on being important on its own merit, through dazzling songcraft and the band's unrivaled ability to pull brightness from the most freakish and inharmonious junctures. [9 Dec 2017, p.51]

There might be a heavy dose of sarcasm in the seams of its shell-suited soul, but Super Snõõper is never arch or cynical. Rather, it’s an exhilarating endorphin rush you’ll want to return to again and again.

The music remains a force to be reckoned with. [7 Jan 2017, p.54]

In all the ways that matter, this solidifies their status as a collective still expanding upon their legacy, rather than resting on it.

Finding solace in the fight, The Hope List is a resounding show of strength from Lonely The Brave – one which points towards a future rich with possibility.

As obvious as it is to say, Baroness are completely singular in what they do.

Layered and controlled, Elsie is an album comprised of fine music and superior lyrics. [3 Sep 2011, p.51]

A reminder of how fun music can be. Sure, it’s not as joyous as Morbid Stuff, but for a stopgap to keep fans going in these bewildering times, it does the job nicely.

Mariachi El Bronx III is the rarest of things: an album that does not feature one bad song. [1 Nov 2014, p.54]

Classically Yellowcard in sound, all violins and driving drum rolls, it's a fitting tribute to their two decades on the job. [1 Oct 2016, p.52]

Elysian Woes and River prove that, whatever your favorite version of Opeth, they possess a embarrassment of riches when it comes to gorgeous melodies. [16 Aug 2014, p.53]

Hammer of The Witches finds these fiends in fine fettle. [4 Jul 2015, p.52]

10 short, smart nuggests of power-pop perfection. [22 Sep 2018, p.55]

This feels more like a collection of songs than a coherent album. That said, it's still the best album to bear the Queensryche name in years. [29 Jun 2013, p.55]

Anyone who savours battered tunes and growling basslines in general will enjoy this trip through Drug Church's howled at, fractured world. [20 Jul 2013, p.55]

This side of Chuck won't change your life, but it will certainly twang your heartstrings for half an hour. [22 Mar 2014, p.55]

Less the raised middle finger of old, this is more a clicking one, trying to snap you out of whatever Big Brother fug you may have settled for. [14 Feb 2015, p.54]

Across 12 tracks, it does get a little samey, but then again, individual songs aren’t the entire point here. This is a record that creates an atmosphere around itself, a world of its own, without sounding twee or like something from a real ale festival. A curio, maybe, but a heartfelt and skilfully realised one from a genuinely unique artist.

It all adds up to The Bronx's most accomplished record. [26 Jan 2013, p.54]

While the heat lessens toward the end, this fine return possibly betters their acclaimed debut. [11 Jun 2011, p.51]

Across its 10 tracks, Promise everything is immediate, yet charged with subtleties that offer an increasing number of things to fall in love with each passing listen. [30 Jan 2016, p.52]

Welcome Home is definitively a wonderful time, and a fitting farewell to an irreplaceable metal hero. [5 Oct 2019, p.55]

It might not have anything with the same riotous energy as It's A Raid, his punked-up duet with Post Malone that went off like a feral firework, but it still radiates a sense of the thing you love keeping you excited and feeling alive.

Their sound remains a punk-informed take on the abandon of '60s garage rock, a well-trodden style which they've nonetheless made their own. It turns out that shitty times make for an intriguing album. [29 Sep 2018, p.55]

This quality archive release is a timely reminder of the strange beauty and hypnotic potency of mainman Dylan Carlson's vision.[13 Nov 2010, p.51]

Save Rock And Roll is bonkers, brilliant and it's Fall Out Boy like you've never heard them. [13 Apr 2013, p.58]

Another startling offering, then, from one of the most consistently perfect bands in post-rock. [1 Sep 2012, p.51]

Dissolution is entirely convincing in its maturity and intelligence. [25 Aug 2018, p.55]

Hesitant Alien is a magnificently oddly-shaped album that glides and jerks between styles like a turbo-charged rubber ball. [20 Sep 2014, p.52]

It sees SYB keeping up with US counterparts such as The Story So Far, while marking their territory as bright lights of the genre in the UK. [5 Oct 2013, p.54]

They might not always move in straight lines, but as odd as Spielbergs can sometimes seem, they're also capable of great things with whatever they fancy turning their hands to. [2 Feb 2019, p.55]

Not only do tracks like Looking For A Tornado sound great, they also have a distinct air of authenticity about them. [5 Apr 2014, p.53]

A powerful and worthy addition to the band's increasingly diverse catalogue. [15 Jun 2019, p.55]

Here, nine of the 12 songs are Greg’s, and much of the album revels in his wistful romanticism as a result. ... Not that Hello Exile sits around navel-gazing. The Tom-led Last To Know is a seething rocker, and the just-audible off-mic yell before the guitar solo showcases a band as exuberant as ever, even as Joe Godino’s beats hammer down like a hangover.

While much of the record sounds like the Rolling Stones if they'd grown up as LA punks instead of English art students. Superb. [27 Aug 2011, p.52]

One listen to The Computers' latest album will show you how much they've grown since the aggro punk 'n' roll of 2008's You Can't Hide From The Computers. [27 Apr 2013, p.54]

Their most accessible album to date. [20 Jul 2013, p.54]

While there are flashes of exceptional power and invention on offer, there is also a fair share of nondescript greyness, too. [14 Jun 2014, p.52]

Classic, classy, and it absolutely rocks. [25 Jun 2016, p.52]

It's a record with an electric crackle, a halogen glow. [25 Feb 2017, p.52]

A couple of tracks two-thirds of the way through could probably have been left on the side of the road, but Attention Attention concludes just the way it started--with defiant power, immense vocals and thunderous, thirst-quenching melody. [5 May 2018, p.55]

An album peppered with strong and vibrant songs. [1 Sep 2018, p.53]

A pleasingly aggressive, frequently trash-happy affair that has plenty of life to it. [29 Sep 2018, p.55]