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

Glower

The Circle Binds

For those who assume there is nothing but snowy plains up in North Dakota — you are greatly mistaken. Glower, comprised of Josh Sibernagel of Hands and Sean Murray...

HM Album Reviews

Ghost Ship

Costly

The folksy aspect of Costly, the sophomore studio EP from worship band Ghost Ship (formerly of Mars Hill), makes the album a breath of fresh air in the overly...

HM Album Reviews

Strengthen What Remains

Justice Creeps Slow

Strengthen What Remains is back with a quick and heavy 13-minute EP, Justice Creeps Slow, the follow-up to their debut LP, Turning a Blind Eye. Fans of the band’s...

HM Album Reviews

Papertowns

With You in Mind

Within the first forty-five seconds, I am hooked; the tender, distorted guitar coupled with the heartfelt vocals drew me in. I feel as if I am being dragged through...

HM Album Reviews

An Elegy

Embrace the Rain

An Elegy (UK) dropped a sludgy, muddy, all-around-heavy bomb of songs with their Embrace the Rain EP, definitely living up to the band’s self-proclaimed classification of metalcore. Unfortunately, the...

HM Album Reviews

Conveyer

When Given Time to Grow

When Victory Records announced that Conveyer joined their family, the band informed fans they would also be debuting their full-length record, When Given Time to Grow, with the label....

HM Album Reviews

Ana Sapphira

Edge Walker

The best word to describe Edge Walker is intense. The album is Ana Sapphira’s first full-length album, following two EPs, one self-titled and one release in 2012 called Damien....

HM Album Reviews

Owl City

Mobile Orchestra

It seems crazy it’s been six years since a little song called “Fireflies” reigned as the catchy, carefree summer anthem, skyrocketing multi-instrumentalist Adam Young from near obscurity to the...

HM Album Reviews

Come and Rest

Blacklist

Come and Rest is a four-piece metalcore/post-hardcore act out of Atlanta, GA. Released in 2013, their first EP, Royal Blood, earned some much-deserved attention. That momentum has carried forward...

HM Album Reviews

Abandon Kansas

Alligator

One of the best parts about writing for HM is that I never really know what’s going to show up for me to review. Abandon Kansas’ latest, Alligator, is...

HM Album Reviews

Children 18:3

Come In

On Come In, Children 18:3 — a trio made up of siblings Dave, Lee Marie and Seth Hostetter — have picked out the best elements from their previous work...

HM Album Reviews

Troubadour Parade

Where All the Kids Belong

Anthemic, soaring praise-and-worship songs are left behind by the members of Troubadour Parade, an electronic-fused indie rock sound. Their first release, Where All the Kids Belong, is a six-track...

HM Album Reviews

Judgement X Day

The Altar

Metallic hardcore is in, and 2014 produced some great records to prove it. But 2015, though early, is trending to top last year. Judgement X Day starts their year...

HM Album Reviews

The Protest

Great Lenghts

The Protest’s sophomore release, Great Lengths, stands head and shoulders above the band’s previous efforts. Game Changer, the band’s first album, was a solid hard rock album but suffered...

HM Album Reviews

The Lonely Revolts

Broken Bones Burning Hearts

Oi music has existed since the 1970s, a gang-vocal music approach growing out of the working class punk scene in the U.K. It rose to prominence as beer swirling...

HM Album Reviews

Hotel Books

Run Wild, Young Beauty

I found it best to enjoy Hotel Books’ latest album, Run Wild, Young Beauty with eyes closed and the volume up, my attention squarely set on its message; it...

HM Album Reviews

My Ransomed Soul

Trilateral

Trilateral has bite. I appreciate that in an album. It sounds vicious. It has the soul of passion and activism. The lyrics are direct. But something didn’t seem right...

HM Album Reviews

Concepts

Transitions

Back in the ’60s, music producer Phil Spector came up witha recording technique dubbed the “wall of sound.” He got the Beatles to use it, and the overly-layered-but-incredibly-deep influence...

HM Album Reviews

Hawk Nelson

Diamonds

I saw Hawk Nelson back in 2009 when they were touring with Skillet. The band joked from the stage that they loved touring with Skillet specifically because it meant...

HM Album Reviews

Least of These

Mere Image

When Mere Image, the debut album from Least of These, came across my desk, I had high expectations because they are from Denton, TX. Denton is a strange place....

HM Album Reviews

Derek Minor

Empire

Empire, the fifth full-length release from rapper Derek Minor, is the equivalent of Kanye West’s 2013 hit album,Yeezus.That’s the closest example of what I believe Derek Minor has accomplished...

HM Album Reviews

Papa Roach

F.E.A.R.

Confession time: I never kept up with Lost. I remember seeing the first episode, feeling somewhat underwhelmed by the premise and never really thinking about it again — until...

HM Album Reviews

Aaron Gillespie

Grace Through the Wandering

I have a love-hate relationship with worship music. On one hand, the idea of a group of people in the same room, a multitude of different voices, cultures, backgrounds...

HM Album Reviews

6'10"

The Humble Beginnings of a Rovin' Soul

If Flatfoot 56 is a rambunctious mosh pit, then 6’10” — the folky side project for frontman Tobin Bawinkel — is like going for a stroll on a summer...

HM Album Reviews

A Skylit Drive

Rise: Ascension

A Skylit Drive’s new acoustic album is proof of something a number of musicians would swear to you they already knew: Symphonies are freaking metal. It never seemed like...

HM Album Reviews

A Common Goal/False Idle

Split Decision

I’ve been a fan a Sef Idle — the frontman of puck rock group False Idle who also dabbles in the acoustic punk world — for awhile now, and...

HM Album Reviews

Project 86

Knives to the Future

Thunder, heavy breathing, troops marching and string section open Project 86’s highly anticipated Knives to the Future with an intro fit for a movie soundtrack. The trouble with ambitious...

HM Album Reviews

Levi the Poet

Correspondence (A Fiction)

Spoken word is a frustrating genre. It’s not recited poetry and it’s not exactly rap. It’s been around for centuries, used by a plethora of ideologies and showcased in...

HM Album Reviews

Sullivan

Heavy is the Head

In 2007, Tooth and Nail Records’ ridiculously catchy alternative-rock group Sullivan called it quits on their headlining tour promoting their then-recently released sophomore album, Cover Your Eyes. Following the...

HM Album Reviews

Various Artists

Punk Goes Pop, Vol. 6

A long time ago, right here in the U.S., listening to pop music as a scene kid would get you hung out to dry. Britney was a coveted charm,...

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