Music Reviews

Metal and heavy music album reviews for those that wish to rock

Music Reviews

Metal and heavy music album reviews for those that wish to rock

HM Album Reviews

King James

Maximus

King James is now joining what I like to call the New Wave of Reunited Heavy Metal. With their first album in over 15 years, the band is back...

HM Album Reviews

Megadeth

Super Collider

Love ’em or hate ’em, Megadeth exists in a sphere that steamrolls with fast, heavy metal, creativity that is beyond the “does it suck or not?” level of quality....

HM Album Reviews

The Burial

In the Taking of Flesh

The Burial had quite an off-season. After some major member shake-ups — including the addition of songwriter and guitarist Elisha Mullins — the band opted to keep the same...

HM Album Reviews

Animal Giant

The Glory

Animal Giant is the moniker for John LaRussa’s (Inhale Exhale) one-man band. On this EP, he does it all, from engineering, tracking and producing to the instruments and songwriting....

HM Album Reviews

AngeLight

Prisoner

Crunchy guitars? Check. Occasional piano or strings? Check. Grungy vocals with an average of two screamed lyrics a song? Check. At least one member with dreadlocks and eyeliner? Check....

HM Album Reviews

Relient K

Collapsible Lung

Relient K’s Matt Thiessen is rock music’s perennial underdog, so one tends to pull for him, almost instinctively. However, his band’s latest effort, Collapsible Lung, makes it difficult to...

HM Album Reviews

Platoon 1107 / The Cants

The Split

The album’s first six tracks are from Platoon 1107, a band that describes itself as “patriotic, American, hardcore rock and roll.” While I might not agree with the rock...

HM Album Reviews

Unspoken

The World is Waking

In a scene with world-class bands like Crowded House, Mercy Me and Third Day, it’s hard for a band to really stand out. Unspoken’s new EP, The World is...

HM Album Reviews

Secrets

Fragile Figures

This past April, lead singer Xander Bourgeois quit Secrets to focus on his sobriety, emphasizing that there was no bad blood between him and his former bandmates. Not long...

HM Album Reviews

No Lost Cause

N.L.C.

Did you ever get that feeling, when you’re listening to something new, that you could see your kids rocking out to it? That’s the feeling I get when listening...

HM Album Reviews

Phinehas

The Last Word is Yours to Speak

Opening with riffs in the style of Cannibal Corpse. Twisting you back and forth with legato and non-rhythmic patterns like Hatebreed-gone-death metal. This crossbreed turns a violent noise into...

HM Album Reviews

Big Kettle Drum

Nantucket Circle

Big Kettle Drum makes easily-digestible roots rock music, and they have never sounded better than on Nantucket Circle, the trio’s new EP. While the act keeps its lyrics fairly...

HM Album Reviews

Mouth of the South

Transparency

When Bane first encountered Batman in “The Dark Knight Rises,” he told him, “You fight like a younger man. Nothing held back.” This can honestly be said about Mouth...

HM Album Reviews

Maranatha

Spiritless

If you look up “Maranatha” on Facebook, you’ll mostly find three things: my favorite brand of almond butter, about 50 different churches, a Christian college and one of the...

HM Album Reviews

Family Force 5

Reanimated

I previewed the tone of Family Force 5’s latest remixed effort, Reanimated, and before I dove deep in to the music, I found myself thinking it would be perfect...

HM Album Reviews

Hillsong Live

Glorious Ruins

Currently, there’s no other name that has such a global impact on today’s worship music than Hillsong. Recorded live in London, England and Sydney, Australia, Glorious Ruins is the...

HM Album Reviews

These Hearts

Yours to Take

The mixture of pop punk and hardcore puts Yours to Take, the third full-length album from the North Dakota-based band These Hearts, into the sub-genre dubbed popcore, though the...

HM Album Reviews

My Heart to Fear

Algorithm

Just when I thought I wouldn’t be impressed with a new metalcore band, My Heart to Fear comes along and gives the genre a breath of fresh air. The...

HM Album Reviews

Your Chance to Die

The American Dream

Your Chance to Die is your chance to mosh. Roaring with the kind of intensity that first drew me into the death metal genre, this South Carolina quintet refuses...

HM Album Reviews

August Burns Red

Rescue & Restore

From opening to closing, there is something unique about this album. August Burns Red’s latest full-length release, Rescue & Restore, shows you the experience and knowledge the band has...

HM Album Reviews

Building 429

We Won't Be Shaken

Building 429’s new release, We Won’t Be Shaken, is a heartwarming record with songs that will be stuck in your head for days to come. The album does explore...

HM Album Reviews

No Longer Bound

Paid in Full

From the first chord of Grand Rapids’ own No Longer Bound’s Paid in Full, it becomes quickly evident I will have zero problem digesting this platter of hardcore. However,...

HM Album Reviews

Bruised But Not Broken

Just(defied)

Openly embracing the synth, Bruised But Not Broken are just out of high school, starting off their metalcore journey. Their youth is an asset, keeping them hip, as their...

HM Album Reviews

For The Broken

Aurora

Fredericksburg, Virgina’s For The Broken have released a stellar debut EP, Aurora. The hardcore quintent — a combination of chugs, melody, and the occassional atmospheric keys or hammered dulcimer...

HM Album Reviews

The Captain Hates the Sea

As You Will

If you don’t have enough dancecore in your life, The Captain Hates the Sea will help you out. It’ll work, too. You won’t be holding the wall when they...

HM Album Reviews

Pylon

The Harrowing of Hell

The original album from these Swiss doomsters was only released on vinyl last year and reviewed by our resident ultimaniac Scott Waters. Roxx Productions decided to make this rare...

HM Album Reviews

Quest for Serenity

Moonlight Worship

Moonlight Worship’s music is a lot like an extreme winter blizzard. Like that feeling you have as you seek shelter in the midst of a winter storm, this album...

HM Album Reviews

Wonrowe Vision

The Pictures of the Past Present and Future

The Pictures of the Past Present and Future is the second release from Steve Rowe’s latest project, Wonrowe Vision. The title gives us a clue of what to expect...

HM Album Reviews

Monotheist

Genesis of Perdition

Monotheist is back with an EP that simply rages! It is technical progressive death metal, both beautiful and brutal. The guitar work makes the album thrive; there is seriously...

HM Album Reviews

Hideaway

Daybreak

Self-proclaimed “alternative rock for the weak-hearted,” Hideaway brings us their debut EP, Daybreak. Dosed with a mixture of progressive chords, whaling voices and nostalgic ’90s post-hardcore, the five songs...

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