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

Via the Verge

Via the Verge

Via the Verge has produced a solid effort with their debut self-titled EP. Discerning listeners and musicians, don’t touch the knob: This six-song effort sounds immaculate and is expertly...

HM Album Reviews

Whitenoiz

Sovereign Name

Mastering the traditions of metal to the point where a band can integrate the best aspects of the genre with the vibrancy of their own songwriting is no easy...

HM Album Reviews

Kutless

Surrender

Kutless used to be down to throw some rock in their music. But lately, the Portland, Oregon-based band has been more mellow, and they have continued that softer trend...

HM Album Reviews

Fallstar

Future Golden Age

Mixing electronic samples and elements of hip-hop, layering them over a base of metalcore and hard rock, proves to work amazingly well on Portland-based Fallstar’s latest release, Future Golden...

HM Album Reviews

Vocal Few

The Dream Alive

Does the world need another folk/pop duo? Your gut says no, but when the songwriting and performances on Vocal Few’s newest EP, The Dream Alive, are as solid as this,...

HM Album Reviews

Colton Dixon

The Calm Before the Storm

Former American Idol star Colton Dixon’s newest release, The Calm Before the Storm, is his third full-length since his departure from the show. It follows his second album, Anchor,...

HM Album Reviews

Skald in Veum

1260 Days

Skald in Veum is a mystery to me. Trying to find anything on their history is a bit of a chore. It’s like they emerged from the shadows of...

HM Album Reviews

Various Artists

The Lineup, Vol. II: Electric Summer

If you’re at all familiar with BadChristian, without fail, you can expect two things from them: tenacious honesty and a wide-range of interests. Whether in blog posts, podcasts or...

HM Album Reviews

Rage Against the Machine

Live at Finsbury Park

I don’t say it as a writing trope: Rage Against the Machine is a once-in-a-lifetime band. I feel extremely lucky to have been able to see them live, when...

HM Album Reviews

Doomsday Hymn

Mene Tequel Ufarsim

Founded in 2012 by Gil Lopes (former vocalist for Delohim) and ex-Survive member Jarlisson Jaty, Doomsday Hymn’s debut album can be described in three words: metalcore for metalheads. Mene...

HM Album Reviews

Seventh Day Slumber

Redline

Seventh Day Slumber was one of the opening bands for the first rock show I ever went to. I was a sixth grader. In person, I was mesmerized with...

HM Album Reviews

For Today

Wake

I was surprised to hear For Today’s sound shift with their latest album, Wake, and in the wake (no pun intended) of their previous effort, Fight the Silence. Wake‘s...

HM Album Reviews

Stryper

Fallen

Since the reformation of Stryper in 2003 and the subsequent release of their Reborn album, the band’s canon keeps getting better. The songwriting, instrumentation and lean production value of...

HM Album Reviews

Vials of Wrath

Days Without Names

Vials of Wrath makes the Christian black metal subgenre work to its full potential. The name is a moniker for solo artist DC Mills’ work in this venue, and...

HM Album Reviews

Fight Before Surrender

Self Destruction

Fight Before Surrender has been bringing their brand of punk rock (which they’ve dubbed “hammerfist rock and roll”) out of Columbus, Ohio since 2003. The four-piece has persevered through...

HM Album Reviews

Arms for Elephants

My Judas Scene

Minnesota isn’t widely known for exporting much in the way of heavy music. Children 18:3 comes to mind as notable, one to prove that growing up in the North...

HM Album Reviews

The Road to Milestone

Motion Sickness

The Road to Milestone is an electronic hardcore band from Pennsylvania. Their most recent album, Motion Sickness, is a good, high quality recording, but it doesn’t bring anything entirely...

HM Album Reviews

Nate Allen and the Pac-Away Dots

Take Out the Trash

First of all, where has the line “kicking myself to the curb” been all my life? I am always impressed when a twist on an old phrase is created...

HM Album Reviews

Pocket Vinyl

Tin

Discovering Pocket Vinyl is comparable to stumbling upon an obscure indie film on Netflix no one else has seen. Think of a movie that doesn’t carry the flash of...

HM Album Reviews

Breaking Benjamin

Dark Before Dawn

Breaking Benjamin frontman Benjamin Burnley called it a day and packed up his band back in 2010 to take care of his health issues. Dark Before Dawn announces his...

HM Album Reviews

Conduit

Life on Repeat

On the surface, post-hardcore four-piece Conduit appears to be just another heavy band in an over-saturated genre. Instead, the Coventry, U.K. band’s debut full length, Life on Repeat, is...

HM Album Reviews

Blessthefall

To Those Left Behind

To make any original statement in art is profoundly difficult, even more so when the field is riddled with the tracks of others who have previously tried, leaving behind...

HM Album Reviews

August Burns Red

Found in Far Away Places

I first heard about August Burns Red in 2005 when their debut album, Thrill Seeker, came out in 2005 through Solid State Records. I tried to ignore them. I...

HM Album Reviews

The Old-Timers

Turn it Off / Turn it On

Music, like most art, leaves room for interpretation. The Old-Timers, in true punk fashion and against that grain, walk up and punch you in the face with their convictions....

HM Album Reviews

The Devil Wears Prada

Space EP

The EP has evolved over time. Like the music industry’s acronym for “long play” record albums (LP), EP stands for “extended play,” and it used to be a teaser...

HM Album Reviews

P.O.D.

The Awakening

When George H. Bush’s voice comes through the speakers at the start of P.O.D.’s new album, you know something different is at hand. Payable On Death has decided to...

HM Album Reviews

Haste the Day

Coward

If you came up with bands such as Underoath, Norma Jean or Inhale Exhale, you know of Haste the Day. The good news is you’re in for a treat...

HM Album Reviews

Being as an Ocean

Being as an Ocean

Bands that stick too closely to their “sound” can fall into a rut, especially on the third try. After fans hear the “sound” twice before, the luster wears off...

HM Album Reviews

Pacific Gold

Sing My Welcome Home

Pacific Gold’s mission is to take old (often obscure) hymns and repurpose them with new music and arrangements. The result is the debut album Sing My Welcome Home, released...

HM Album Reviews

mewithoutYou

Pale Horses

For their sixth studio album, the Philadelphia-based mewithoutYou continues to write music with calmer undertones in Pale Horses. You won’t find the constant pulsating riffs and screechy, hardcore vocals...

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