There's a monochrome coolness to everything and a slick, minimal production. There's a newfound calmness and thoughtfulness noticed in the band's songwriting. [14 Jan 2017, p.50]

Often commercial and sometimes devoutly, intentionally un-commercial, Splid is a delightfully edgy album from a combustible unit that, here, sound as if they might blow at any second. Volatile, tuneful, raucous and unstable, it is the perfect rock’n’roll record from a genuinely unique band.

The Spark is very much a record for 2017. [16 Sep 2017, p.50]

This is extreme music heavy in both sound and content. But this is also part of the strength of the album. It is unflinching in its subject matter and depth of its darkness, just as it is unafraid to be exactly what it is. And that's something quite unlike anything else you'll hear in 2022.

Throughout, NIN strike a masterful balance between drilling industrial assaults and eerie ambience. [14 Jan 2017, p.52]

There’s life in the old dog yet, and what’s more he’s learned some new tricks, which can only be applauded at this point. Ordinary Man might end up being the full-stop on an extraordinary career. Let’s hope that’s not the case, but if it is, Ozzy is going out with as much fire and passion as he started with 50 years ago.

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

Easily besting 2013's Kingdom Of Conspiracy, this is dark and ugly death metal for ugly minds. [25 Feb 2017, p.52]

Those still pining for the slick, sparkly, arena-sized rock bombast of the masterful This Is War will be left wanting, but such is how things go on Mars, and it’s a hearteningly better album than the awkward, confused America. The guitars are back.

Very occasionally, they come a school uniform away from actually impersonating their forefathers, but it's a formula they execute wit the same kick-ass conviction that earned them support slots with Iron Maiden. [18 May 2013, p.53]

The BBC Sessions is a collection of impossibly fluent songs delivered in momentary fashion by one of America’s great bands. To hear them doing their thing without the clutter and fuss to which they have increasingly fallen prey is a wonderful thing.

While the album ends quietly, with Kamikaze and the subtly moving It Floated, it’s that sense of fun that burns brightest in its aftermath.

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]

Ignore the anodyne song-titles like Versions Of You, Bad Time and Scars. Sonically, we’re right back into the gravel of early-2000s classic From Here To Infirmary and Good Mourning. Guitars slice, grate and gouge like murder weapons. Matt and Dan Andriano’s vocals are loaded with more wry, world-weary bittersweetness than they have been in years.

Heavy Pendulum is truly a remarkable record, not only for its quality but also because it represents Cave In’s ability to persevere after enduring so much trauma. It’s the work of a wholly rejuvenated and imaginative group.

This music made the film, basically. Of course, what matters for this physical release is that, like all the best soundtracks, these songs works as an album, independently of Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike's martial kerfuffle. [22 Nov 2014, p.52]

Reiði is an album that's as difficult to get the measure of at first as its title is to pronounce. But, like any journey worth taking, it's one that rewards involvement and ceaseless exploration. [17 Mar 2018, p.54]

It's a little formulaic, but that doesn't matter when it sounds so hard-hitting. [21 Dec 2013, p.70]

The band's ninth full-length, is every bit the monster it should be and easily stands alongside their best work. [12 Feb 2011, p.51]

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

5 Seconds To Summer are clearly at their best when drummer Ashton is let loose behind his kit and the band are powering through huge, catchy choruses. [17 Oct 2015, p.52]

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

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

Danny's back where he belongs, and Asking Alexandria have returned with their boldest record yet. [2 Dec 2017, p.49]

21st Century Fiction somehow manages to feel filthy, sexy, and tender all at the same time. In need of an existential crisis but want to feel like a hot rock star at the same time? Please get acquainted with your latest soundtrack to life.

Cradle Of Filth have created a gothic horror that makes Mary Shelley's Frankenstein look like The Emoji Movie. [23 Sep 2017, p.52]

An emotional ride that's hard to tune out. [22 Feb 2020, p.55]

It’s not pared back, but WE ARE CHAOS is a less immediately antagonistic and forward prospect than recent output. But that’s a good thing that’s been mastered to darkly brilliant effect here. Unexpected, bold and artistic, Manson remains an artist it is dangerous to underestimate.