Review
by Michael Brown
If The Octopus was the turning point for Amplifier, Echo Street is the moment of reflection – of the band’s own past and present, and of the music that inspired them, whether that came from the past four years or the past four decades.»
Review
by Michael Brown
Whether you were there or not, Celebration Day is a fitting title: it’s an enchanting tribute to the eternal power of rock, no matter the age of the music or the performers themselves.»
Review
by Michael Brown
Koi No Yokan is Deftones coming to terms with their own strengths, taking everything that’s gone before, then refining and polishing it to an impossible sheen.»
Review
by Michael Brown
BLKLSTRS is an unquestionably anger-fuelled listen and perhaps overly so»
Review
by Michael Brown
If this is The Samuel Jackson 5’s attempt at the mainstream, they’d be well-advised to stick to what they do best.»
Review
by Michael Brown
If there was ever a summertime metal album, this is it.»
Review
by Michael Brown
Ataraxia/Taraxis reinstates Pelican at the top of the instrumental food chain and, if they continue like this, they show no sign of coming down.»
Review
by Michael Brown
It’s hard to see many albums topping Ideas this year for all-out power and intelligent aggression.»
Review
by Michael Brown
Young Liar have got what it takes, but while they’re certainly youthful, they could do with adding a touch more honesty to their polished, but sometimes overly derivative, sound.»
Review
by Michael Brown
At its most basic, this is electronica with a live drum kit and a drummer with 1s and 0s for brains, but the intricacy of the rhythms and the transitions between arrangements are mind-meltingly ingenious.»
Review
by Michael Brown
This may be a strange, dual-antlered hybrid of quirky intention and fervent ambition, but it takes great care to bridge the divide and a lot of love has clearly gone into Giftes 1&2.»
Review
by Michael Brown
As a beginner’s introduction to Cornell’s work, Songbook is exemplary, but for the fans, who this is apparently aimed at, it fails to completely satisfy.»
Review
by Michael Brown
An album which gives the instrumental rock/post-rock/call-it-what-you-will genre a thorough kick up its collective behind.»
In Depth by Michael Brown
On White Pony, it wasn’t so much what Deftones were doing, it was how they were doing it. The colossal, stonerized riffs, on first listen, belie the sheer complexity and depth of the music on offer. Finally, the band realised the extreme genre fusion they had only touched on with previous releases, as metal, rock, rap, shoegaze, New Wave, electronica, trip-hop, ambient and just about everything else possible were thrown into the melting pot. What emerged was a kind of glittering, jagged-edged gold, the likes of which only the band themselves could equal...Deftones took the last thirty years of music and made it their own with White Pony. »
Review
by Michael Brown
Like Strays, this is fairly middle-of-the-road material, this time dressed up with the odd synth here and there.»
Review
by Michael Brown
Blink-182 sound like they’re working against rather than with each other throughout the album’s duration.»
Review
by Michael Brown
Based on this evidence, should Mogwai ever choose to release a full-length acoustic(ish) album, it certainly wouldn’t be the worst decision they’ve ever made.»
Review
by Michael Brown
This is a veritable jumble sale of an album and one that lacks any sense of pace or cohesion, instead settling for sheer eclecticism.»
In Depth by Michael Brown
To discuss these recent developments, DiS caught up with guitarist Stewart Braithwaite at his hotel room in Italy (at this contributor’s expense, I might add), following the band’s performance at Sicily’s Ypsigrock festival. Although his answers may be brief, they are always well-considered and may even offer a few pearls of wisdom along the way.»
Review
by Michael Brown
This is instrumental rock by numbers, like rearranging a series of post-rock-shaped blocks to form a trembling, structurally unsound Jenga tower.»
Review
by Michael Brown
A grand presentation cannot hide the fact that If Not Now, When? is lacking in, well, interest.»
Review
by Michael Brown
There’s so much potential here it’s almost suffocating.»
Review
by Michael Brown
Crooked Mountain, Crooked Sea have a lot to be proud of here.»
Review
by Michael Brown
While it certainly has its moments, Live on I-5 can only be described as a frustrating release.»
Review
by Michael Brown
Considering the confounding personnel changes that have affected Funeral For A Friend in recent years, it is somewhat surprising that Welcome Home Armageddon is the closest the band has come to capturing not only the sound, but also the unadulterated enthusiasm that accompanied their early work. »
Review
by Michael Brown
As a work of the heart rather than the record company, Amplifier’s latest release is a nuanced record that lives and breathes; despite its animalistic title and remote lyrical themes, this is a very human album and that’s something which translates very well to the ear drums.»
Review
by Michael Brown
Setting the bar high for future releases, Hollow Realm is a superb album, uplifting and moving with a sense of melody that is often lost with similarly technically adept musicians.»
Review
by Michael Brown
Should Middle Class Rut choose to expand their musical palette, they may well prove to be a considerable force in the alternative rock arena.»
Review
by Michael Brown
In order to survive, Night Horse must not only embrace the modern day but find a way to integrate it into their polished but ultimately unsatisfying sound.»
Drowned in Bristol #12
DiS Does Singles 13.05.13: Swim Deep, These New Puritans, The National
Darkstar, Ed Harcourt, Halls, Wall +more for 3 DiS-curated nights at Great Escape 2013
Interview: Frank Turner on The Olympics, The Backlash, Thatcher and Black Flag
Drowned in Nottingham #14
DiS Does Singles 6.05.13: Vampire Weekend - Ya Hey (XL)
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