Taken individually, both NULL and VOID are brilliant albums from a collective who understand music’s role as a vessel for emotional articulacy. Put them together, and they are creatively anything but their combined title, while also somehow perfectly expressing a feeling of being both.

They’re still the same fiercely independent band that can run rings around an oddball time signature, just now they’re trusting their chemistry and melodic instincts to take them in any direction they wish – and the results kick ass.

If you're expecting an album full of immediate anthems like Monkey Wrench and All My Life, dig out their Greatest Hits. Otherwise, bask in this hour of masterful '70s-flavoured jams. [9 Sep 2017, p.50]

This album announces IDLES as one of the most exhilarating and necessary punk bands of right now. [8 Sep 2018, p.53]

It makes for an impressive debut that sees Sleepwave unapologetically aiming for the sky. [27 Sep 2014, p.54]

Forever Abomination will appeal to fans of metal, whichever camp they're in. [8 Oct 2011, p.51]

The heaviest moments are breathtakingly aggressive. [26 Oct 2013, p.55]

It's apparent that Jacob's half is largely concerned with the separation anxiety of life on the road. ... Brendan Lukens was dealing with mental health and addiction issues in the run up to this album. This sudden jolt to a jerkier, more angular alt.rock style reflects that. [14 May 2016, p.51]

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]

With Ungrateful, Escape The fate have finally delivered the album they needed to make. [11 May 2013, p.53]

A record of grandstanding musical ambition. [18 Jul 2015, p.52]

An outfit possessed of a murderous groove. [9 Sep 2017, p.51]

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]

This fourth LP is a nostalgia-tinted treat. [27 Sep 2014, p.54]

Bad Religion are still capable of holding on to their defiantly secular edge. [9 Nov 2013, p.53]

Foxing, however, just keep getting better. Who knows what they’ll sound like by the time the next emo reboot kicks in. But, for now, Draw Down The Moon makes them a champion in their own field.

You've never heard anything quite like this before, because, well, there's never been anything quite like Issues before. [22 Feb 2014, p.52]

This one's a reduction of their dense, danceable punk rock into two main groups: lairy and louche. [9 Sep 2017, p.52]

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

30 Seconds to Mars' latest collection is not cloying, expansive yet often economical, approachable without being familiar. [11 May 2013, p.52]

This is as exciting as heavy music gets in 2012. [23 Jun 2012, p.54]

This is pure Slayer through and through. [12 Sep 2015, p.51]

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

The Joy Formidable still roar. In fact, on Hitch, they sound more like themselves than ever before. [26 Mar 2016, p.52]

They deliver an eclectic thrashterclass here. [25 May 2013, p.54]

Spitting Fire surges, grunts. sweats, spills your beer and pukes--an exact replica of being in a High On Fire crowd. [6 Jul 2013, p.54]

This may be the year's most melodically ambitious release. [26 Sep 2015, p.52]

Despite throwing some creative curveballs into the mix, Vale feels very much like the rue follow-up to Wretched And Divine, and sees Black Veil Brides writing their own myth once more. [13 Jan 2018, p.50]