Tech N9ne - The Storm

Tech N9ne may be a sort of meme in the hip-hop industry, but his new record The Storm may help him achieve more of a serious position as an artist, because, for the most part, it's a pretty solid record.

The Storm is a bumpy ride, but it has its promising moments. The record's start is fairly strong, 'Godspeed' opening up with some good ideas. The first verse is pretty funny, which doesn't really help solidify his position, but that's only a small fault. Much of the rest of the track actually goes pretty hard, filled with some drive and confidence. 'Need Jesus' featuring Stevie Stone and JL follows through, this one really bringing the best of Tech N9ne out. The flow has a Jamaican vibe to it, adding some color and taste to the track. The hook is dark both melodically and sonically. The song is overall just darker, and it pays off as Tech N9ne has a rock and metal past.

That past is referenced towards the end of the record in 'The Needle.' It's one of the two tracks that help bring the album back up from a low. There are plenty of name drops in this track, from Jimmy Kimmel to Slipknot and Deftones. This track is thankful, discussing the memorable moments of N9ne's career. It has a solid flow, too, really standing out from the rest of the record. The final track 'The Long Way' flows with some average pop hip-hop melodies, but the instrumental helps bring it all together, ringing sweetly and dramatically under the verses an chorus.

A lot of the record is unfortunately quite forgettable. There's not really a truly awful song on the record, but there's not much that stands out. Sandwiched between very solid tracks are many run-of-the-mill tracks that don't make any memorable mark while listening through it. There are tracks with promise, too, that don't quite live up to what they could. The most pristine example is 'Starting To Turn' featuring Jonathan Davis; Davis brings all the Korn vibes into play, creepy instrumental included. Tech N9ne sounds like he's back in his element to, being carried by the heavier instrumental. The song proceeds nicely, but after the first chorus, everything falls apart before coming to a very disappointing end. The brassy instrumental of 'I Get It Now' also feels like it could've been a lot more. There's nothing other than the brass elements making the song standout, which is really disappointing. There are songs that just feel uninspired, too. All that needs to be said for that is the lyric "I'm like the L in salmon / They can't hear me." It speaks for itself.

Tech N9ne has had a long career. It doesn't sound like he's quite ready to call it quits yet, though. The Storm has a lot going for it, and while it may be largely disappointing, there are promising moments. There's something. You can give it that much.

Favorite Tracks: The Needle, Need Jesus

Least Favorite Track: No Runnin To Ya Mama, Starting To Turn

Rating: 54 / 100

Metallica - Hardwired... To Self-Destruct

Metallica is back and bigger than ever. It's been a long time coming since their last record, and some were losing hope. But here we are in 2016 with the band's new album, Hardwired... To Self-Destruct.

Metallica has in the game for over three decades now and they're not showing any signs of quitting. Perhaps previous efforts may have shown signs of the band fading, but Hardwired is a definite boost to the band's ego. The best of the band is back, full of energy that makes the record feel fresh. Hardwired is filled to the brim with big, demanding riffs that command your attention in every moment, bringing the true blistering nature of Metallica back to its top form.

'Atlas, Rise!' will give you a real first taste of the power this band has found. It's a true metal song in true Metallica fashion. The intro features powerful guitar punches with drumming in between, building into some giant riffs and resolving into a great solo. James Hetfield sounds a bit too clean, but definitely has a lot of strength in his voice. 'Moth Into Flame' has a similar vibe and structure, combining melody, metal, and guitar solos into one thrashing, powerful experience.

The entire album is pure rock and metal, but that doesn't stop it from having some tasty moments in between. The gentle intro of 'ManUNkind' serves as a contrast for the rest of the song, which immediately comes in thrashing with an evil composure. Dark melodies make 'Here Comes Revenge' a standout track, Hetfield's voice dramatically rising above Lars Ulrich's brooding drums in the verses really separates the track others on the record. It feels like there's genuine hatred there, whereas other tracks just sound angry. The breakdown in 'Am I Savage?' is the heaviest thing on the record, with thick, explosive guitars raging into a spiraling solo. Final track 'Spit Out The Bone' isn't the heaviest, but it definitely has the most urgency, being the fastest song on the record and perhaps one of the fastest in Metallica's entire discography.

While the album as a whole deserves praise, there are some weaker moments. Opening track and lead single 'Hardwired' is a blistering song with some solid riffs, but just as our review of the track stated, the song lacks a certain grit. Perhaps its the production of Hetfield's voice that's to blame, or maybe the pretty awful lyrics, but this song stands out as a weak point on the record.

Metallica's return to the game is a big one. Hardwired... To Self-Destruct is a wildly powerful record and one of Metallica's strongest efforts in years. It's thrilling, angry, and heavy, as Metallica should be. Whether or not Metallica is here to stay and start putting out more records, Hardwired will be sticking around with its punches for a long time to come.

Favorite Tracks: Spit Out The Bone, Halo On Fire, Am I Savage?

Least Favorite Track: Hardwired

Rating: 87

Avenged Sevenfold - 'The Stage'

Avenged Sevenfold have a reputation of being the pop boys of metal. It's fair to say - they definitely have one of the more accessible sounds in the genre. While remaining easy to listen to in terms of the levels of metal, they often do it well. Their new song is not one of these cases.

'The Stage' is perhaps one of the most uncreative, gimmicky songs the band has ever put out. From the over-the-top angsty music video to the absolutely dreadful drum mix, this song really has hit all the checks for bad.

You'd think progressive A7X couldn't be that bad. You'd have thought wrong, though. 'The Stage' is melodramatic in the worst ways possible. The band is known for being bombastic and upfront, but this is just distasteful. It does have multiple distinct sections that work to a passable ending that takes the song out on its only positive note. The intro is brought straight from the title track 'Hail To The King' from their 2013 effort Hail To The King in a move which shows that the band is basically ripping themselves off (at least it's not Metallica this time). The song abruptly segues into a clean, almost bluesy bridge after an electrifying solo. The guitar in this part is really great, the instrumental as a whole sounding really genuinely pretty.

Then the heaviness comes back. It's not as bad as the verses had set up, but it's still not great. The song ends with dual guitar solos in that 'Nightmare'-esque fashion and pounding drums (the only part of the album where the drums are tolerable). A classical acoustic ending brings the song to an awkward end as the crash cymbal fails to fade out with the rest of the instrumental. Also, why did they end with an acoustic guitar? What is the relevance?

Not only is the performance out of place, but the instruments themselves just sound awful. The kick drum in the intro sounds like something a teen trying out a double-kick pedal or a sampling pad for the first time would sound like. The tone of it is so completely dead, too. The snare is okay, and the cymbals are fine, but as for the rest of the kit; it's like they forgot to mic them appropriately. Their new drummer Brooks Wackerman is really not doing them any favors - Bad Religion won't miss him if this is his work now... The guitar lacks bass or crunch, sounding floppy and weak. The lead parts are good, as is expected from Synyster Gates, but what happened to the rhythm guitar? Why does M. Shadows sound like a dying horse in the third verse? What's going on?

To make matters worse, the lyrics are absolutely laughable. By some tragic miracle, M. Shadows seems to have misplaced his own lyrics with an angry middle-schooler's diary. Who let "When did the walking apes decide that nuclear war / Was now the only solution for them keeping the score? / Just wake up / Can’t you wake up?" be words to a song? The key to being prolific and making a statement is ripping cliché metaphors straight out of angry YouTube comments? The second verse sings (in the song's awful, failing melody) "Jesus Christ, was born to die / Leave it to man to levitate his own to idolize / We’re simply sociopaths with no communication baby / I see your angle but we differ from our points of view," as if this isn't the cringiest line you've ever heard in a metal song (barring Limp Bizkit, of course, who made that their thing).

Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, the music video is atrocious. It's a giant metaphor on war and corruption, with handpuppets replaying scenes from the history of man, including the beheading of Louis XIV and World War I. An interesting concept, but done with the wrong song and the the wrong direction. Watching puppets in these scenes with crappy metal playing in the background doesn't do any justice. When Hillary Clinton and Vladmir Putin appear at the end as puppets controlling the other puppets, you can't help but say "Oh, come on." Then another set of strings control those puppets, the strings attached to a skeletal hand that presses a button the detonate a nuclear bomb, sending us back to the age of cavemen, because that's how evolution works. 

There's so much wrong with this song, and it makes me angry. I want this song to be good. Repeated listens lighten the initial "what and why is this" reaction, but fails to make the bad elements of the song any better. It's a badly produced song and a badly produced video to combine into one fail of a show. Hopefully the rest of Voltaic Oceans holds up, because if this song (and the edginess of the album title) are proof of what's to come, we're doomed.

Rating: 59

Rating w/ Video: 40

Epica - The Holographic Principle

Metal and classical music share a lot of similarities, and when they come together it makes something amazing. Epica are the masters of it, the symphonic metal group proving so with their seventh album, The Holographic Principle.

The Holographic Principle is a concept album of sorts. Not in the storytelling way, necessarily, but thematically. The album is set in a universe created digital generated though a hologram. Guitarist Mark Jansen continued the explanation, saying that the theory is possible, even discussed by scientists.

The music certainly plays to the theme. Riddled with dramatic, cinematic orchestras and larger than life soundscapes, this album truly sounds like a space opera put to an album. The intro track puts it all into perspective. The blaring horns of ' ' and its pounding drums create an epic cinematic scene, as if you're watching an armada descend onto Earth as an interstellar war begins. The theme continues with single 'Edge Of The Blade', symphonic punctuations adding Simone Simons' huge vocals and the massive choruses. 

Cinematics continue in 'Universal Death Squad', the pretty intro leading to thumping drums and an electric guitar solo. The album's ending 'The Holographic Principle - A Profound Understanding Of Reality' summarizes the album sonically, big orchestras and epic guitars building up its huge eleven minute run time. While massive, it does feel... inconclusive in the end.

What the issues sees in its latter half is a continuously underwhelming experience. Not necessarily in the way of saying the songs aren't big, but in the way that the beginning of the album was so huge that it set a big precedent that the album just didn't live up to. 'The Cosmic Algorithm', for example, as a standalone is a big song, but feels underwhelming when listening through the album. The song's slightly more uplifting, if not just generally more positive than other tracks.

There's some experimentation on the record, too, giving it some flavor. 'Dancing In A Hurricane' has eastern vibes, adding some adventurous and mysterious scenes to the already action packed album. Quieter, sweet moments can be found in the bridge of 'Beyond The Matrix', serving as a reprieve from the chaos of this spacial war, while the acoustic track 'Once Upon A Nightmare' starts off dark and acoustically before eventually building into another monstrous track.

Epica has shown time and time again that they can bring symphony and metal to the same plate in flying colors, and the epic space opera of The Holographic Principle shows it. While the album's beginning outshines its end in grandness, the entire stands alone as an epic movie soundtrack that plays through your mind while you listen through. Another big album that shows Epica's threat is here.

Favorite Tracks: Edge Of The Blade, Eidola, Divide and Conquer

Least Favorite Tracks: Ascension - Dream State Armageddon, The Holographic Principle - A Profound Understanding Of Reality

Rating: 75 / 100

Metallica - 'Hardwired'

It's 2016, and we finally have a new Metallica album on the way! The double LP Hardwired... To Self-Destruct is due out in November (details here), and ahead of it's release we can expect some new music from the record to hit radio. The first new music shared from the record was the single 'Hardwired', a riff-filled track harkening back to Metallica's origins.

The first thing you hear from this track is the blistering palm-muted guitar and big snare hits. Right from the get go, this song's big and up in your grill, and that's before the really riffing even comes in! As the riff kicks in, we get the drums picking up the drive in thrash nature. James Hetfield barks angrily over the thick instrumental, as to be expected from a good 'Tallica track. The bridge features a short tremolo solo that wildly flails atop the big riff.

That's about as much praise as you can give the track, though. It's not terrible, but as a whole, just uneventful. After the hype of the intro comes a big riff... that repeats for the entire song. The solo doesn't help much, because its just flailing all over the frets. Hetfield sounds very underwhelming in the scheme of the track, too, no grit to support the angry message, which is send through the words, "We're so fucked, shit out of luck / Hardwired to self-destruct". There's angst there, definitely taking them back to their roots, but without the creativity of what made old Metallica so grand and powerful. It's like a light punch - its stunning at first but you won't have any trouble brushing it off after a few moments.

Metallica's new album has a lot of potential. If they riff as big as 'Hardwired', a true metal behemoth may be on the horizon. But, if 'Hardwired' is to say anything about how creative they were, there may be a flop. Let's see how this one plays out - and hope it's not as bad as the cover art for this single. We'll be waiting, Lars.

Rating: 55 / 100

Harakiri For The Sky - III: Trauma

Most people will see black metal as something satanic or not of this world. This is only partially true of Harakiri From The Sky. They don't dabble with the sounds of Hell; rather, they choose to explore the mind and its emotions instead. III: Trauma is their newest release, and it goes further and bites harder than any of its predecessors.

Going into Trauma, you expect something dark and for something nasty to develop within your throat as it progresses. That's what black metal would typically do to you. But no, Harakiri For The Sky takes a different direction. There's something pure in their music; it's not the heaviness that speaks for it. Rather, the melodies seem to do that for them. III: Trauma is not an album meant to be jammed to (though, that is very much a thing you can do). It's an album that wants your understanding and focus - and trust me, you'll need it.

All expectations are lost straight from the start, replacing them with a morbid curiosity instead. The eleven-minute epic 'Calling The Rain' begins the sweltering album, piano chords and reverberating guitar being this albums entrance. Instead of dropping those elements in favor of a low-tuned chugging, powerchords kick in in order to expand upon the ideas developing from the start. The lead guitar soars above the thriving instrumental as if to search for something before tortured vocals enter the scene, the angered and lost disposition of the voice contrasting the hopeful instrumental. This song itself is a journey; by its end it feels like you've been hit by enough thought to have listened to an entire album already. It goes through cycles, heavy ones full of rage and others begging for hope. The vocals and instrumental are constantly fighting each other in some sort of dark, graceful dance that begs for an answer. It's gentle conclusion finds itself experiencing an aftermath, one final blast taking the song to its end.

After that's over, it's time for the second song. Every track on this record is a lengthy one, the shortest clocking in at eight and a half minutes ('The Traces We Leave'). Often times, bands who take these long roads lose themselves in complex turns and systems that ultimately makes the song lose its light. Everything on this record feels justified in its length, though. Each song is its own story, its own exploration of a concept that delves within your own psyche to bring out a very warming closeness. There are big riffs to give the listener moments to jam - see 'This Life As A Dagger' especially - but this album is much more than that.

This album feels almost like an alternative rock record in terms of its understanding of heaviness and structure. Take 'Funeral Dreams' as an example, though each song exhibits it. It isn't driven by a need for galloping riffs to make itself sound big; each song is cavernous with a clear respect to spaciousness. Every element of the song comes together to create massive atmosphere that builds and builds into one collective body. The riffs don't even feel as down-your-throat due to low tuning. The mixing compliments the high-end more so than the low-end (which also isn't tuned down to the depths of Hell). This album channels melody over thrill, and emotion over just rage. The instrumentals help inspire your mind as to what you should be feeling - 'Thanatos' begins with an ethereal intro that makes you feel like you're drowning, while the epic percussion and powerful feeling of 'Dry The River' gives you hope.

Harakiri From The Sky seems to understand what metal should be about. III: Trauma is not your every day black metal album. It is post-metal at its finest. It explores surreal and deep parts of the human emotions, and seeks to find closure within them through the music. It's a long record but a revealing one. It's an essential for any metal fan, and one that cannot be skipped for any fan of music. It's a brilliant emotional journey that has you think and feel - there's nothing more important that music can do for you.

Favorite Tracks: Calling The Rain, Funeral Dreams, Dry The River

Least Favorite Track: The Traces We Leave

Rating: 88 / 100

Periphery - Periphery III: Select Difficulty

Periphery has slowly been becoming the boy band of the djent scene. Rising like a phoenix, Periphery brought the virtual reality of djent and brought it success in the realm of metal, giving it a true messenger. Their fifth record Periphery III: Select Difficulty, however, doesn't pigeonhole them into the small space that djent is commonly labeled with (those clichéd open and first fret notes, as part of the meme). It's one of the band's most diverse records, following the same elements they experimented with in the past, as well as adding new ones in.

My favorite part of this record is that it feels like the natural progression for the band. Their last releases were a double-album, Juggernaut: Alpha and Juggernaut: Omega. The albums' songs needed the context of the story of the concept of the record to really balance them out - I didn't fully enjoy Omega because of this. The songs didn't really work too great outside the context of the album. Alpha was a much more enjoyable listen, however, because while it did also have the context of a conceptualization backing it, the album made great use of melody. The melodies on that album soared and really made the songs feel a lot more powerful. Select Difficulty brought that a step further, which is exactly what I wanted.

Melody is huge on this record. Vocalist Spencer Soleto has some truly defining moments on this record. The note he hits at the end of 'Catch Fire' is one of the most epic moments on the album. The way he belts out certain notes adds a whole other level of energy to the track. His singing style also has a certain swagger to it - it almost feels like the same pop fusions style Issues is known for. The back-half is a lot more melody-centric, and just generally less heavy in the grand scheme of things. The songs all have a softer and more alternative rock/metal sound to them. This only stays true for about every other track after the halfway mark, though. The vocals don't start making a mark on the album until the second track 'Motormouth', but they're not the focus until about 'Flatline' - the first track that feels like melody has importance and is not a backing to the thrashing instrumentals. The latter of the two songs has a massive ending to go with it, too.

Misha Mansoor is essentially the being of Periphery. His guitar work is what brought them into the spotlight, after all. Every track feels like a guitar feat - there's not one that doesn't have guitar anything less than epic. Whether it's the trashing, low-tuned pounding notes of 'Motormouth' or the sweet licks in 'The Way The News Goes...', there's always something going on. The album is full of massive instrumental movements and moments. The epic screams in the bridge of 'Marigold' are backed by a masterful metal instrumental complete with an orchestral intro and complex guitar riffs. There are layers upon layers of guitar goodness in 'Prayer Position', all of which build to an absolutely mindbending ending.

The softer moments on the record cannot be ignored, too. Massive orchestras can be easily missed if you're not careful, and they add a lot of dimension to the music. Closing track 'Lune' is half orchestral, half jamming, with beautiful symphonic pieces found interspersed within the track making it a very climactic closure to the record. 'Marigold' ends on an ambient piece for two minutes that adds a sense of aftermath to the track. The piano outro following 'The Way The News Goes...' is also a great touch.

Sadly, an album given so much acclaim does have some negatives. There are songs on this record that feels unfinished. The chorus instrumentals of 'The Way The News Goes...' are a mess, though the rest of the song leaves little to complain about. 'Habitual Line-Stepper' is another song that has great parts but feels very incohesive. And paired with their boy band position in the metal world, their lyrics sometimes don't support them. There are a lot of very cringey lyrics on the record, but one that immediately stood out that had me check the lyrics to make sure I had heard correctly are in 'Marigold': "Suck on the mother's dead tit" is a true feat of a lyric. And let's not get started on the title of 'The Price Is Wrong'...

Select Difficulty was the natural progression for Periphery. Sometimes band go in a direction that didn't fit what they were ready for, or they moved on too quickly from something they were just beginning to get a grasp of. Periphery is taking their time, and is hitting all the right stops along the way. Select Difficulty isn't a perfect album, but it's definitely up there with some of the band's best works. Lots of big moments make this album the Alpha (my personal favorite record from the band) with more riffs. There's room to grow, but the storm that is Periphery isn't going to be slowing down any time soon.

Favorite Tracks: Marigold, Catch Fire, Lune, Flatline

Least Favorite Tracks: Motormouth, Habitual Line-Stepper

Rating: 78 / 100

Gojira - Magma

French behemoths Gojira never go lightly into a new frontier. The band's sixth effort Magma shows a more emotional side to the band, being written and recorded after the death of the band brothers Joe Duplantier's and Mario Duplantier's mother. The album feels angry and seeks vengeance, confidently taking strides with each powerful track making a new mark.

Gojira has always been an interesting band. Their lyrics always had some charge to them, typically that of a pro-environmentalist view. Magma doesn't feel the same way other big albums from this band has felt. The impact of their critically acclaimed From Mars To Sirius is present on this album, but in a different kind of light. There's a very apparent disposition on the album. The instrumentals speak for it - melody combines with cavernous and brooding booms of noise that create a tense atmosphere around each track. 

Melody is a key component in this record, and something that is somewhat new for Gojira. Their music never really keyed in on the melodic side of things. This has changed with Magma, where many tracks even centralize themselves around melody. Single 'Stranded' is the first song to give a taste of a revitalized Gojira, beginning straight off with an electrifying riff with a crazy guitar effect. The song bases itself around the riff before the climax of it, where a clean and melodic part comes in - a first for the band. The part of the song comes as a big surprise and a fresh taste of something different. It's big and epic, and doesn't bring the song down in any respect - if anything, it raises it to something new.

Melody plays different roles throughout the record. The brutal 'Pray' makes use of moody dark melodies on top of crushing riffs to create a giant atmosphere. 'Pray' is perhaps the most metal sounding song on the record, beginning with that dark atmosphere with distant flute in the background (the flute plays a surprisingly major key in this record, too). There's something so hauntingly dark about this song that goes beyond it's composition, its hard to comprehend. Title track 'Magma' has much the same structure, beginning creepily before a threatening instrumental kicks in. The verses feature a strange guitar line and almost monotonous vocals that feel like a religious chant. The choruses have giant vocals with resonating harmonies, progressing on from the verses. The bridge is just massive, incredible screams that bring the song into its instrumental climax. The large majority of the song is centered around the guitar, which is featured in an electrifying solo with that strange guitar effect, before a cleaner distortion ending kicks in to end the track with violent vocals.

Of course, with any metal band, the instrumentals have to play a big role in the composition of each track. As mentioned prior, flute makes a big but subtle impact throughout the record, being featured in the background of multiple tracks. Big riffs carry many of the songs forward, including intro track 'The Shooting Star', bringing the album in on an intense note. The big riffs accompanied by the expansive vocals create a giant epic track. The guitar riffs in this song progress in a such a dark way, that small movement in the verses adding so much intensity to it.  'The Cell' is all about the riffs, literally being a three-minute punch in the face of heaviness. Instrumental interlude 'Yellow Stone' is slow and dark, like much of the rest of the record, and progresses the album into its darker half with ease. 'Only Pain' features that same guitar effect from 'Stranded', ending even bigger than the single does. Guitar is the central focus of 'Silvera', epic riffs accompanied by brilliant melodic guitars that soar high above the dark rhythm. The album ends, surprisingly, on a soft note. 'Low Lands' is a heavy track that ends acoustically, leading into the final track, the instrumental 'Liberation'. The track is just as the title claims; it's the aftermath of the brutality of the album and the consequences of its intensity. Its a very stripped down track, acoustic guitar and a tribal drum beat. It's calm and recollective, not much to it besides the reprieve of the end. An interesting choice to end the album on a song such as this. Perhaps it was a send off from the brothers to their mother; the album was the emotion they faced at her loss, and the end is their final release and acceptance.

Magma is a huge album. It's unlike other albums of its kind in that it doesn't focus on the riffs. Instead, it focuses on the emotions of the music. It's dark and angry, but with a disposition that makes it personal. It's the summation of sound of anger that burns within us at the time of loss. It's the summation of the sadness we feel, too. It's the summation of that side of the human spectrum of emotion, and with that, it made its brilliant mark.

Favorite Tracks: The Shooting Star, Silvera, Stranded, Magma

Least Favorite Track: The Cell

Rating: 88 / 100

Top 10 Albums Of 2016 (so far):

1. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
2. AURORA - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend
3. Panic! At The Disco - Death Of A Bachelor
4. Deftones - Gore
5. Dream Theater - The Astonishing
6. Foxes - All I Need
7. Daughter - Not To Disappear
8. Thrice - To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere
9. Architects - All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us
10. Gojira - Magma