It's always felt disappointing that the Floor Jensen Nightwish albums have never really caught my interest. Her being in the band always felt like something that should be good...yet wasn't. The direction the Olzon years were going in was pretty good, and somehow when Jensen joined, despite something that should have made them better, they just lost most of what they had. This one was at least interesting enough to warrant continued interest.
While I wouldn't say this album is very good, it is good enough that it actually feels like the master instead of the hordes of imitators. The primary problem is that songs are too bloated lengthwise for their own good. Now, this isn't as bad as say, Iron Maiden, but most songs hover around seven minutes. I'm not going to say you can't do that, Trivumvirat released an amazing album that was just two or so 20 minute tracks. But...if prog bands who have been going on about as long as you have can manage a shorter average song length than you, you should probably consider if you need to cut some songs down.
Take one of the better tracks, Spider Silk. It's basically three and a half minutes long. There's a minute long acoustic folk section at the start that gradually goes into the song itself, and another one after the song ends. Now I've heard and liked one of Troy Donockley's solo albums, so it isn't that I don't care for the stuff, it's that the stuff going into this album is completely pointless. I can see where they're trying to go, some kind of atmospheric symphonic metal, but the thing is, the atmosphere doesn't go with what the real music and it doesn't contrast enough for there to be a difference. It's just there, distracting and wasting everyone's time from the real and clear star of the show.
The symphonic element of the album is still the focus, so much so that it's becoming clear that the metal aspect of the band is just a formality Toumas pays homage to with each album because nobody would just buy a symphony from Nightwish. The thing is, the album is at it's best when these tendencies are ignored and it goes for the plain old Nightwish+real orchestra that worked during the Olzon-era. It's these songs which are all I ever wanted from Floor in Nightwish.
So, despite its flaws, it gives me hope for the future of the band.

I feel I need to recalibrate my approach to Pallbearer. Since their imperious debut, Sorrow and Extinction, they have moved further away from that album's massively crushing and melancholy doom metal in a more gentle, doomgaze-y direction that has found me becoming increasingly disappointed with the results. Mind Burns Alive continues that direction of travel and it is now apparent that the days of Sorrow and Extinction are well in the band's rearview mirror.

Firstly, the production has a light touch, without doom metal's usual focus on the bottom end and with a clear, clean sound that enhances the gentler material, but which, lightens the doom riffs when they hit, preventing them from attaining the overwhelming crushing weight which is most often the point of focus for doom acts. Songwriting-wise, it seems that Pallbearer are steering in a more post-metal direction, achieved by incorporating influences from 1990's and early 2000's alternative rock. A track such as "Signals", for example, has a very alt-rock intro, bringing to mind bands like Radiohead or REM and even when the doom riff kicks in, it feels as much like the heavier alternative or noise rock bands of the turn of the century as it does doom metal. It must be said though that Brett Campbell has the perfect voice for this style, his reedy and nasal delivery is very much suited to that particular alternative rock sound and feels just as much at home with the gentler material as it does the heavier.

I have a feeling that Pallbearer may be taking a leaf out of Patrick Walker's book and taking an emotionally redolent version of doom metal such as Walker perfected on Watching From A Distance and moving in a shoegazey, alternative direction, similar to 40 Watt Sun. As I said at the beginning, I think a reappraisal of Pallbearer is required at this point because, after multiple listens, by which time any lingering preconceptions have been shorn away, Mind Burns Alive is revealing itself to actually be an interesting album and may now even sit as my second-favourite by the band after the mighty debut. The previous few albums, certainly those after Foundations of Burden, have felt incomplete, like a band casting around for a signature sound without exactly knowing where they are heading, but I think Mind Burns Alive has seen Pallbearer arrive where they truly want to be and feels more complete and coherent as a result. Their's is now an emotionally-charged version of doom that builds from gentle, often non-metal, beginnings up to a crescendo whereby the heavy doom riffs act as a kind of catharsis for the fear or sorrow openly displayed during each track's earlier sections. The band are obviously very technically sound, but use this ability to build atmosphere and poignancy within their music, rather than to showcase their technical chops. The guitar solos, for example, sound mournful and full of yearning, used to elicit an emotional reaction rather than wow the listener with the musician's dexterity.

Did I even mention the saxophone solo that jumps out at you during "Endless Place" yet? I'm not completely convinced said solo was entirely necessary, but it does help to illustrate that Mind Burns Alive is actually a lot better and more interesting than I originally gave it credit for. To properly appreciate it, however, I have had to shift my perspective on not only this, but the band as a whole. I wouldn't say this is a perfect album by any stretch, certainly not for my particular taste profile, but it finally sees Pallbearer getting comfortable with a particular sound that plays to their strengths and which is even capable of swaying the opinion of a cynical old bastard like me to their way of thinking. In all honesty, I had been getting a little bit bored of certain sections of the doom metal scene's predictability over recent months, so it is great to hear something that has defied and redefined my expectations.

I've been aware of Kentucky metalcore outfit Knocked Loose for three or four years now. I picked up on their highly regarded 2021 "A Tear in the Fabric of Life" E.P. shortly after it hit the shelves & found myself quite liking their heavyweight take on the genre. It would appear that the promise the five-piece band had shown on that earlier release was not a one-off either with Knocked Loose's recent third album "You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To" taking the hype register by the scruff of the neck & dragging it into rarely explored territory, even seeing the album becoming arguably 2024's most talked about metal record. After my experiences with "A Tear in the Fabric of Life", I felt pretty positive about the prospect of returning to Knocked Loose for another dose of aggressive metalcore, this time in a full-length album format.

The "You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To" album would once again be released through Californian punk label Pure Noise who Knocked Loose had been working with for a number of years by this stage. It would be produced by American Drew Fulk & is the first Knocked Loose full-length to feature second guitarist Nicko Calderon. The result is a huge, loud & in-your-face sound which makes the listener instantly stand up & take notice. The over-saturated guitars are bright, vibrant & extreme, very much enjoying the backing of a heavyweight rhythm section that drives this material with a no-holds-barred approach that is further accentuated by the consistently violent contribution of front man Bryan Garris whose vocal chords must have been a complete mess after this throat-shredding collection of anger-fueled tunes. He absolutely screams his fucking head off for the entire runtime of the album to be honest but, while some may say that he's s a little bit of a one-trick pony, in the context of such a short record (whose ten songs clock in at just a little over twenty-seven minutes) I never find him overstaying his welcome.

This stuff isn't anything terribly original but it's stunningly executed by an artist that is clearly one of the leaders in their field these days. If you find the classic metalcore breakdown to be tired & difficult to sit through then you may find yourself struggling with "You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To" because it's absolutely stuffed full of the fuckers. They're admittedly done very well though & the ADD-fueled arrangement ensure that they never hang around for too long before moving into something else either. The transitions are actually very well done when you consider how hyperactive & chaotic the song-writing is & I never get that jarring feeling that I inevitably experience when a band simply slap two widely disparate musical ideas together in a haphazard fashion here. Knocked Loose are a more professional act than that with even the odd jumpy nu metal riffs appearing to be fairly well placed.

Look... "You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To" certainly isn't gonna change too many people's opinions on the metalcore genre as it's more of a celebration of everything that its existing fans love about it & does it with a cheeky wink & an element of class & efficiency. It's a whirlwind of violence & vitriol which is generally what I'd suggest the genre was built to showcase in the first place, wasn't it? It pleases me that Knocked Loose don't fall into the growing glut of metalcore acts that seem to have forgotten their hardcore roots too with this material being built on a gritty base of punk urgency. The inclusion of a couple guest appearances help to break things up too with Poppy & Motionless in White front man Chris Motionless making effective contributions that help to ensure that the short album doesn't feel one-dimensional. It all works well as an holistic package & leaves me with the distinct feeling that all members of our The Revolution clan should be across this album which represents one of the more important & effective statements that metalcore has made in recent years.

For fans of Jesus Piece, Kublai Khan TX & Varials.

Before I started listening to music on a critical level, I begrudgingly enjoyed a couple of Megadeth's early records because all of my friends hated Metallica. I knew about Dave Mustaine's history with Metallica and, of course, the drastic style changes of thrash metal between the two bands. I think most people who enjoy the early Megadeth records (Killing is My Business through Rust in Peace) like how uptempo they are, the riffage and the solos. No one in their right mind is listening to a Megadeth record for the lyrical themes.

Now that I am older and have listened to a lot more music, I find Megadeth are just plain boring. When I listen to thrash in 2025, my go to classic names are Metallica, Testament, and Kreator, while bands like Slayer and Megadeth lose me every time. As for Rust in Peace in particular, I can provide credit where it is due, for a late 1980s thrash album, this is produced wonderfully (amendment: I am listening to the 2004 remix version of the album). Besides the messy guitar solos, every instrumental part is articulate and David Ellefson's bass lines are given a lot of presence to give the songs on this record huge momentum. And even though I've never really enjoyed Dave Mustaine's vocals, this early 19990s era of Megadeth, including albums like Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction are some of my favourite vocals timbre's of his.

But now we get to the juicy parts. I know my opinions on thrash metal are far from conventional, considering I have gone on record multiple times and said that Reign in Blood is the weakest of the big four 1980s thrash albums. Like with that album, Rust in Peace represents a tired trend in thrash that does not resonate with me. That trend being a complete disregard for writing memorable hooks and instead making a rif-fest and hoping for the good favour of the neoclassical fans with endless guitar solo wanking. I'm no pop apologist who thinks that guitar solos don't belong in music, but they have to be tasteful and Megadeth filling each song to the brim with blistering solos is the antithesis of tasteful.

The compositions are also very patchy. Both of the albums bookends "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "Rust in Peace... Polaris" are divided into two distinct passages that do not belong together. I hated the constant increase of intensity on "Hangar 18" as well. The sequencing does stable out during the albums middle portion with "Take No Prisoners" and "Lucretia" having a decent form, strong groove and less intrusive soloing. And I cannot deny that the first half of "Rust in Peace... Polaris" is really great. But when it comes to sequencing, because Megadeth don't modulate any of their songs to different key centers, after a brief period of time, even the records more infectious riffs become a chore since we've already heard them earlier in the album. "Poison Was the Cure" borrows heavily from the first section of "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" while the finale of "Rust In Peace... Polaris" sounds really cool, it can't help but but use a similar tempo and key as "Take No Prisoners".

I cannot state it enough times for risk of getting crucified that thrash is a hard sell for me. I don't hate the genre, but I am disappointed in what it has become. As thrash moved further and further away from its speed metal roots with Slayer's Show No Mercy, early Helloween and Venom, melody becomes an afterthought in the genre. And no thrash band of the 1980s suffers from this more than Megadeth. Metallica seemed to do just fine during their legendary run, which is likely why Mustaine left the group in the first place. Rust in Peace is an album that should have been put to bed a long time ago.

Best Songs: Take No Prisoners, Lucretia, Tornado of Souls

I am on around my seventh or eighth listen through of Matter of a Darker Nature as I write this review. With Turkish death metal being somewhat of an unexplored geography for me it has been surprising to see such a healthy influence from Suffocation, even though they are the band with probably the most copied style in all of death metal (well Incantation aside maybe). As I have sat with this album over the past couple of weeks, I have swung between being in awe of the technical mastery that unites effortlessly with the more brutal elements of the sound and wondering if this is just outright Suffocation worship or even plagiarism. If I am honest, I think both reactions have a degree of validity to them. However, whilst this style of death metal is well-known to be plagiarised for years, it does still require a level of technical ability to execute this well.

Wherever your standpoint is, Carnophage certainly have the years of playing under their belts to have honed their art form. Playing as one of the key acts in the Turkish Death Metal movement (TRDM – founded by Cenotaph’s Batu Çetin) for nearly twenty years clearly, they are more than just a Suffocation tribute act. The sound on their third album is monstrous to say the least. From the very start there is a suffocating (pun intended) element to the weight of the riffs and when combined with that stabbing urgency that features through the album, it all soon comes together to suggest a group of musicians who are of a significant level of repute. Onur Özçelik on the drums is unbelievable at times. The successes of Matter of a Darker Nature would be much reduced without his presence I sense.

However, as a band, they sound like a tight unit overall. Pace changes seem to be done as shifts as opposed to jarring hairpin turns. Even in the more frenetic moments everyone seems to be in line with everyone else. No one instrument or performance dominates proceedings yet at the same time all the component parts can establish themselves notably. They remind me of Blood Red Throne in places whilst also echoing elements of Defeated Sanity also.

What places the cherry on the cake for the record is the measured songwriting that leads to a succinct run time of just over thirty-two minutes. This makes for a real palatable experience for me since my experience of some technical brutal death metal albums is that they are either quite lengthy or all tracks fall into a three-minute maximum time limit and are over before I can blink. With only one song kissing the five-minute mark, it appears that Carnophage know how to showcase their skills without overstaying their welcome or falling into formulaic territory.