Some of their most effective songwriting to date. The hazy, swirling sound is as beautiful as ever – see the silken Pill To Swallow and the gossamer-like I Held You Like Glass – but this time, they’ve spun it into more impactful shapes.

A little piece of heaven indeed. [26 Aug 2017, p.48]

Guitars buzz and chime, melodies uproot from the dirt and stand tall; the sum total being tan indefinable yet fascinating modern day rock opera that is as rewarding as it is unique. [4 Jun 2011, p.52]

L'Enfant Sauvage is staggering. [30 Jun 2012, p.52]

Misadventures has proudly claimed the belt as Pierce The Veil's best offering to date. [14 May 2016, p.50]

At its best, The Weird And Wonderful is as fine an articulation of the thrills, spills and general confusion of being young and different in the UK as you're likely to hear. [13 Sep 2014, p.52]

Their confidence in holding back the fury also serves them well, not doing so just to make the heavier parts seem heavier, making the whole thing flow seamlessly, carrying Whitechapel almost effortlessly to the proverbial next level.

What unites all six fantastically constructed pieces on this album is the sound of a band delivering on their potential, and then some. [Nov. 19, 2011 p. 52]

Exhilaratingly expansive music balanced by a sense of darkness and foreboding, travelling simultaneously into outer space and inner turmoil. SLIFT’s expansive energy and transcendental creativity provide a uniquely rewarding thrill.

This is still towering, hazy, stoner metal--it's just shaped with more craft than once before and is therefore far more interesting. [16 Oct 2010, p.50]

EndEx doesn’t win many points for going where no band has gone before. The album, and its creators, do deserve credit for continuing the Fear Factory tradition, as an industrial metal band preoccupied with questions of how technological advancements adversely affect our lives. If you fear the future, this is the soundtrack for you.

There are a lot of records about the end of the world out there, vying for attention. This is one worth listening to. [6 Apr 2019, p.69]

Their intensity remains undimmed on Fires Within Fires, a five-song journey into the Oakland collective's commanding vision. [17 Sep 2016, p.52]

Now there’s much more to them. Forget the sophomore slump, Comfort To Me is the sound of a band on the rise.

The main business is killing, of course, and business is very good. It’s one of the reasons why Tomb Mold are among the most respected names in the new school of old school. But by allowing their own ideas to run wild atop it all, they’re also comfortably one of its most creative.

Deafheaven have flourished magnificently here. Not just by making a god album, but by creating something that perfectly captures what they have become--a genuinely brilliant creative force unencumbered by genre, going wherever they will. [7 Jul 2018, p.53]

A positive and uplifting album, and one that marks the most hard-fought comeback of the year. [12 Dec 2015, p.50]

This is music to be inspired by. [27 Apr 2013, p.54]

The unreleased and rare recordings here make this a brilliant salute to a much-missed hero. [17 Nov 2018, p.70]

If you loved Eternal Blue, this is the record you’d want to hear next, on which Spiritbox, empowered by confidence, go bigger and (occasionally) stranger. If, however, you felt Eternal Blue wasn’t quite bold enough, then strap in for something choppier.

By the time this EP draws to a close, it’s fair to say that its creators haven’t really strayed too far from their core sound – something they’ll want to build on with future releases – but when the songs just work and everything sounds so fun, it feels rather greedy to ask for more.

This comeback album from industrial metal outsiders Godflesh effortlessly recaptures the visceral appeal of their early days. [11 Oct 2014, p.55]

A long-overdue show of individual brilliance.

While this record isn’t going to lure rock purists out of their dens, it has greater ambitions in mind, and the amount it achieves in the space that it does is staggering. For any artist of any genre, this is the textbook for innovation.

Whether this is music of meditative transcendence or uncanny terror will depend not just on the listener, but on their frame of mind and surroundings. What remains undeniable is that Sunn O)))’s all-enveloping textures occupy a landscape like no other. Slow your breathing, open your ears and let yourself be taken there.

Gloriously triumphant, weirdly exhilarating and entirely engrossing, Sunn O))) have created something genuinely brilliant here.

Synchro Anarchy is a triumph for both Voivod and progressive thrash. Not only is the quartet’s ability to remain so adventurous, skilful and consistent utterly remarkable (considering how long they’ve been at it), but they continue to showcase how perfectly such seemingly disparate styles can be merged.

It’s a good album, though not an Opeth classic. It occasionally meanders and feels in need of a few more truly golden moments to tie its various eccentricities together into a brilliant whole.