Perhaps mastering a sense of duality is what Rico Nasty is gunning for – harsh and soft, or trap and rock. At the same time, there’s not quite enough sense of focus to suggest that’s the case. Should she find that, or find a way to blur all these sounds into something cohesive and singular, she could be unstoppable.

While the album does lose focus at times, loosening its initial invigorating grip, the jovial bounce of Let's All Go To Hades is a surefire live hit when you've had a few pints. [11 Feb 2017, p.52]

It's Arabot's noiser moments that are their most gleeful here. [1 Sep 2018, p.55]

The riff were plenty and more focused than ever before. [2 Aug 2014, p.54]

A deft and skillful trio, here songs such as the effervescent Annabel, the spacious and confident It's A Trap and the irrepressible, bouncing Buzzkill make this point with insouciant ease. [19 May 2018, p.55]

This most stylish and once troubled of bands sound like artists still in search of something new. And this new album is well worth the wait. [15 Jan 2010, p.52]

It's extreme in a way that corpse-painted clowns will never understand--but as an expression of raw, wounded humanity, it stands as Dir en Grey's most captivating, compelling and soulful release to date. [30 Jul 2011, p.50]

It's effective if unspectacular, but it's the lyrics that turn this into something special. [5 Jul 2014, p.54]

Nine records in it is inevitable that anything they do will have a particular sheen, but creatively, in performance, and in energy they continue to operate on a plane all of their own. And in a world of uncertainty, that's a very welcome thing.

Heaven Upside Down betters that record [2015's The Pale Emperor]. [14 Oct 2017, p.50]

All the standard atmospheric touchstones get brushed aside here in favour of a deeper, more meditative experience. [20 Sep 2014, p.53]

The album is one long ambient jam and precisely as exciting as that sounds. [16 Jan 2016, p.53]

Unfortunately, not everything works quite as well [as the opening and final tracks]. [21 May 2011, p.51]

While the first half of Is 4 Lovers takes a jackhammer to old, if still relatively fertile ground (hey, why have one song called NYC Power Elite when you can have two?), the second half dials down the pulverising and amps up the pulsating on less frenzied, more electronic songs such as Love Letter and Glass Homes.

Dark Is The Way sees the Winter Haven five-piece get it right, returning to form with a combination of heartfelt bombast, big choruses and bona fide hooks. [20 Nov 2010, p.52]

Expertly produced by Jason Perry and with not an ounce of fat on its bones, this is an album that manages to be often very good indeed, if not quite great. [2 Apr 201, p.50]

There is nuance in the songwriting that, in discovery, has helped Slaves write good album, not just a collection of good songs. [16 May 2015, p.52]

A superb dose of head-banging fun by way of The House That Heaven Built brings this record to a joyous conclusion, and caps off an experience courtesy of Japandroids that overflows with vitality.

So far so grandiose. Fortunately, Coheed's music mirrors the scope of the project as a whole here. [ 6 Oct 2012, p.54]

What's undeniable is that Ceremony's sixth album is packed with more memorable tunes than many bands can manage in a whole six albums. [31 Aug 2019, p.54]

John Frusciante’s performance is effective and restrained, and drummer Chad Smith shines when he’s let loose, notably on These Are The Ways. There are, however, way too many tracks that miss their marks, trying to supplant the old energy with wisdom; the magik with maturity.

It feels refreshing, and like a bunch of really good mates have got together to share their experiences with the world. L.S. Dunes could well change the tide on all things post-hardcore.

Separated from the narrative and visuals it's designed around, the music emanates an isolated, dissociated air, but that only adds to its jarring overall effect. [3 Dec 2012, p.52]

You're Welcome stumbles through grating doldrums on garage-rock autopilot, with junkyard fuzz that's more crap-nasty than good-nasty. [3 Jun 2017, p.52]

Good lord, what a voice Chris Cornell has - rich, bruised, defiant, fragile and strong, be bends it to his will. On Songbook ... [his voice] carries the album as it stands starkly against his simple guitar backing. [Nov. 19, 2011p. 51]

Wonderfully inessential as anything off their 2012 full-length, Self Entitled. [7 Dec 2013, p.54]

This is a decent redneck honk that could earn them some new friends while they're away. [23 Jan 2016, p.53]

Their sharpest, biggest and best album to date. [7 May 2016, p.51]