Young The Giant - Home Of The Strange

If you're looking for a classic indie experience, Young The Giant has you covered. Their newest record Home Of The Strange is the band's third full-length effort, and sees them continuing to polish their sound into a more refined, indie rock specialty.

The good thing about this album is that there isn't a low point of it. There are periods where things mellow out and aren't as interesting, but there's no definitively bad part of the record. It has lots of groove within, found within signature tracks like 'Something To Believe In' - which has something untangibly funky going on with the chorus (which may either be the guitar or the backing vocals; I can't tell) on top of an almost hip-hop beat - and the energetic 'Silvertongue'. If nothing else, this album is definitely fun. Lots of songs will just get you vibing and moving about, dancing around to them; see the fun guitar licks in 'Mr. Know-It-All' and the grooviness of 'Jungle Youth'. 'Jungle' is a big track, distorted guitars and effected vocals adding color to it before it explodes in a big indie rock flavor during its jam ending. The eponymous 'Home Of The Strange' takes the album out on a feel-good, energetic note. A big note to end on.

There's another, calmer side to this record. It starts off this way, the tragically relatable love song 'Amerika' calmly beginning the record as it builds to a sweet ending. 'Elsewhere' is a quieter yet still funky song, sounding like something like Arctic Monkeys meets David Bowie (who is coincidentally namedropped in the following track). It's a nostalgic song, and the ending is almost chilling with how reflective the vocals are delivered by Sameer Gadhia. It's written in a very introspective way that feels very familiar. The lyrics on this album are often times simple in the best of ways: see the narrative in 'Amerika', the Greek references of 'Titus Was Born', and the silliness of 'Mr. Know-It-All'. 'Repeat' builds really nicely from its acoustic beginning to its creamy ending. Young The Giant channels their Sufjan Stevens influences in 'Art Exhibit', albeit with a more rock demeanor by the end of the track.

Indie rock never sounded so groovy. Young The Giant honed their indie sound and injected funk and soul into it, providing for a fun listen. Home Of The Strange is a great listen; by no means a masterpiece, but a great record all the same.

Favorite Tracks: Jungle Youth, Something To Believe In, Home Of The Strange

Least Favorite Tracks: Repeat, Nothing's Over

Rating: 70 / 100

Skillet - Unleashed

Christian rock's leading figures Skillet have just unleashed (pun intended) their next album. The band, known for their rigorous touring, is back with Unleashed, but it's not the big record you'd want from them.

For what it's worth, the record starts huge. 'Feel Invincible' starts epically with giant guitar paired with stinging synths, bringing the album in on a confident note. The chorus is absolutely massive, a big electronic banger with sweet duets by husband/wife duo John and Korey Cooper. 'Back From The Dead' follows through, the same big energy with a more pump-up vibe to it. The song is big and upfront, continuing the album on a strong note.

This is where the album starts falling apart. 'I Want To Live' is the last great track on the record, epic strings bringing the song in while duets serve as a highlight for the rest of the track, ending on a lovely note. The rest of the record just feels... uncertain. 'Stars' is what starts this trend, the song being clearly anthemic but wholly unfulfilling. This is a problem for nearly every other track on the album, especially the admittedly sweet 'Watching For Comets', as well as the constant internal struggle of trying to find a solid footing. 'Famous' has an odd dancey vibe amidst an album that was previously big and confronting, and 'Lions' follows this by sounding completely out of place, as if somewhere between these songs the album become a bad cross between 90s electronica and cheesy anthemic singing. 'Out Of Hell' has peppy vocals that absolutely don't fit the demanding instrumental.

Some songs seem to have lacked inspiration during their writing process, too. You can only listen to 'Undefeated' for so long before you say, "I get it." The chorus seems to be 75% of the song; you get sick of hearing "I know I can beat it... Fight for the love of the game, unstoppable / That's right, I'm unstoppable" by the time the song is reaching its end. 'Burn It Down' is one of the most boring tracks on the album; there's nothing remotely interesting about it. It's just an all around bad electronic rock song, which is unfortunate considering how well they were doing with the electronic influence early on with the record. 'Saviors Of The World' is almost preachy and completely cliché. 'The Resistance' is as off putting as the rest of the album, and the ending feels completely out of place. Even the band knew they needed something big to end the album, so they just stuck a random jam at the end of this track.

Skillet had an identity crisis with Unleashed. The album started off so promising, which is what makes this record so disappointing. Everything fell apart as the album got to its center, and nothing improved. There's no sense of identity in this album; it's disjointed and uninspired. There's still some hope, as evidenced by the first few tracks. Let's hope the next album isn't a flop, too.

Favorite Tracks: Feel Invincible, I Want To Live, Back From The Dead

Least Favorite Tracks: Lions, Famous, Burn It Down

Rating: 59 / 100

Russian Circles - Guidance

Post-Metal is an extensive genre. There's something intrinsically beautiful and provocative about it. It's expansive and huge, and takes its listeners somewhere new, like reading a highly engaging sci-fi book about new worlds. Russian Circles is a prime example of this. Their new record Guidance is the most realized their sound has ever been within their decade-long career. It's a masterful crafting of performances that builds such an awe-inspiring visual for its listener, it's hard to not be blown away.

This album is everything post-metal should be. It's entirely instrumental too, leaving the instruments to do the talking and give meaning to the music. The soul of each track is very evident, almost tangible. Opening track 'Asa' provides for an introspective introduction to the record, a very soothing beginning that lets you reflect - it's already great that the album can have this effect so early on. It transitions into 'Vorel', which comes rumbling in with fantastic drumming from Dave Turncrantz segueing into evil-sounding guitars. The song develops with a thick and crunchy bassline from Brian Cook, which paired with the pounding toms and distorted guitars sounds epic. Crunchy basslines are a major part of 'Afrika' as well, the complimenting drum rolls that pair with it before the massive guitars kick in during the bridge (which has a weird cutout moment that interrupts the pace a bit) making the track immense. The song progresses from being a dark monster to an uplifting and hopeful call-to-arms by the end, concluding with a sweet little guitar melody. 'Overboard' follows up with the same sweet spacious guitar that concluded 'Afrika' before 'Cella' returns to the big heavy riffs and hits that feel like punches to the face. 

There's almost a narrative going on within this album. Perhaps Guidance goes deeper than an entrancing listen. The album cover looks to be a shot of an unstable African society amidst a crisis... Which gives credit to the track title of 'Afrika'. The concluding track on the album is the sweet, giant buildup 'Lisboa', another location that has history of political unrest. Listening to the music, there is a sense of disorder within it. The narrative of war can be found through the album; 'Asa' is the calm before the storm, almost a reflection of a soldier or a time before a society was thrown into war. 'Vorel' follows through with the violence building up, growing in waves (as is with the rolling drums) before war becomes inevitable. 'Mota' has a hopeful sound with great guitar work, the hope of bystanders of the violence. The song becomes tense at the end, to portray that it is becoming evident that the conflict will not end easily. 'Afrika' perhaps plays to the violence of African conflicts, such as the Rwandan genocide. It's thick and unrelenting guitar plays a key role in setting the scene. It's soft reprise acts as an outlook for the future - a hopeful one.

The narrative isn't obvious, and perhaps unintended, but it does give Guidance some more dimension. Russian Circles created a truly immersive post-metal album. Guidance flows and ebbs with intensity and flows seamlessly from track to track, providing for a story to unfold as each note is hit. It's a masterful performance and a truly powerful album. Post-Metal at it's finest.

Favorite Tracks: Vorel, Lisboa, Afrika

Least Favorite Track: Overboard

Rating: 86 / 100

Green Day - 'Bang Bang'

Green Day is not a band that goes lightly. Their new single 'Bang Bang' is a blistering punk track full with punk appeal and big riffs.

'Bang Bang' is the first new music Green Day has offered since 2012's album trilogy, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!, an experiment that met conflicted reviews. Many of the songs within the three records sounded the same and made listening through the albums a chore. 'Bang Bang' will be found on the band's next album, Revolution Radio (details of the record can be found here), and Billie Joe Armstrong promises that the album has some dimension.

Speaking of 'Bang Bang' with Rolling Stone, Armstrong claimed, "It's about the culture of mass shooting that happens in America mixed with narcissistic social media. There's this sort of rage happening, but it's also now being filmed and we all have ourselves under surveillance. To me, that is so twisted. To get into the brain of someone like that was freaky." The song definitely follows this message - the chorus chants "Bang bang! Give me pain! Shoot me up to entertain" to comment on the media's coverage on American shootings over the past years.

The song is full of blistering lyrics. "I want to be a celebrity martyr... Hurrah, the hero of the hour" and "I've got my photo bomb / I've got my Vietnam / I love a lie just like anybody else". As far as Green Day songs go, this one isn't forgiving by any means. It's as reprimanding of the modern American media as you'd expect it to be.

Musically, there are some interesting things going on. The song begins with a lo-fi recording of a news report before kicking into a big, upfront riff and a punk beat. Armstrong's signature voice provides a melody that serves as a leading voice for a revolution (an uncommon occurrence in Green Day music). It has a very call-to-arms demeanor to it - definitely going to a big song onstage. The bridge moves differently, a middle eastern melody taking form before kicking back into the big chorus.

Green Day's next album has a lot of promise. 'Bang Bang' feels like it's breathed a new life back into the band. The last efforts sounded like it was the band's steam dying out, perhaps as a result of Billie Joe Armstrong's personal difficulties. Revolution Radio has a lot of promise. Green Day is back!

Rating: 79 / 100

Noisia - Outer Edges

Dubstep often times goes two ways. It's big and upfront, or its subdued and moody. Noisia went for the upfront route with their new album Outer Edges, but to mixed results. This album has its moments of drum and bass jamming but often times sounds like a mish-mash of sounds clustered together very incoherently.

The pacing of this album is pretty odd to begin with. Opener 'The Approach' is a chill (albeit, somewhat boring) introduction to an album before 'Anomaly' kicks in with a speedy beat. 'Collider' starts with a more ominous sound and introduces a darker sound that carries through stays unique to the one track. "Weird" describes the next few tracks - 'Vigilantes' brings in the rave-dubstep vibes, but features some off-putting vocal samples that don't play well to the overall vibe of the track. The next track 'Tentacles' is weird in a different way - it's really unsettling. The "tentacles, tentacles, tentacles..." vocal build up makes you squirm before the underwhelming drop kicks in.

While the first half of the album will make you feel a variety of ways, the second half has many tracks that are just plain boring, and, at times, stupid. Songs like 'Surfaceless' and 'Exavolt' sound like a cluster of random noises that build up to nothing and have nothing climactic to carry them somewhere. Other tracks including 'Motion Blur' just don't go anywhere and fail to create an interesting experience. The album concludes on an absolutely dead note, the song 'Sinkhole' being one of the worst things I've heard in awhile and 'Get Deaded' just being plain stupid.

To its credit, this album has some solid drops in it. 'Voodoo' starts off sludgy but kicks into something actually worth getting into later on. 'Mantra' has some massive vibes going on with it, the first track on the album that is truly enjoyable and has a big dance demeanor - 'Into Dust' reprises this later on with a fantastic drop accompanying it. 'The Entangled' almost reproduces this but doesn't climax quite as well as it could have. Much of the song is a great build up to something that never comes. 'Stonewalled' is another track with a fat drop but the rest of the track feels like they just threw a bunch of sounds together into one progressive mess.

Dubstep isn't good if it's messy. Throwing in noises and sounds where they shouldn't be can kill the whole vibe of the song. Noisia struggled with that in this record. A lot of things feel unnecessary and often times don't climax as they could for something big. Perhaps its part of their drum and bass nature, but this album felt empty and anticlimactic for the most part. Maybe their next release will be more of a jam.

Favorite Tracks: Mantra, The Entangled

Least Favorite Tracks: Sinkhole, Get Deaded, Straight Hook, Tentacles

Rating: 59 / 100

DJ Khaled - Major Key

Have you ever wanted to listen to a meme? DJ Khaled has you covered. His new album, coincidentally titled Major Key is exactly that: one giant meme. So unless you're going into this album wanting that, you won't be happy.

You can tell an album is destined for failure when Future is featured on three tracks. That's three tracks too many. Opinions aside, Future isn't the worst part about this record. He's pretty good on it, honestly - he's finally improving. His bars actually have some emotion in them. The intro is a banger - 'I Got The Keys' features him, and while his chorus is nothing more than saying the title of the song over and over again, his voice sounds more (unnecessarily?) urgent than usual, which is nice and refreshing. Jay-Z features on the track as well - as the instrumental suggests - and brings the song a step further.

Other features are hit or miss. Drake doesn't shine here; his usual subtlety is gone and instead, he delivers a very, very blatant verse about sex in 'For Free' that kills the entire track (though all of the Khaled interjections of "ANOTHER ONE" didn't leave for much to be appreciated). Nicki Minaj is as annoying as typical, but when she come in on 'Do You Mind', it gives the album a fresh voice. The song itself, however, outstays its welcome by being far too long than it needs to be. Meghan Trainor is the other prominent female voice on the album in 'Forgive Me Father', though this doesn't mean much since you can barely understand what she is saying half of the time as she slurs her way through the verse. This song ends DJ Khaled's portion of his own album (you read that right), since a track by Mavado (which is in Spanish?) concludes it. 'Nas Album Done' featuring - you guessed it - Nas continues a repetitive album with another repetitive instrumental (while the verses themselves aren't as dull).

While a lot of the features aren't top notch, there are some good ones. The aforementioned features on the first track with Jay-Z and Future are pretty good. Future shows up on two other tracks - 'Fuck Up The Club', where he's just plain annoying, and 'Ima Be Alright', which is sweet and melodic. 'Holy Key' is a big track, Big Sean going big on his verse, and Kendrick Lamar of course being nothing short of legendary. J. Cole also has a good verse on 'Jermaine's Interlude', but the song itself is fairly boring.

Instrumentally, there's nothing special to find either in many tracks. Some standouts include 'I Got The Keys', 'Holy Key', and 'Don't Ever Play Yourself' - the latter of which isn't as meme-worthy as you'd expect. It can't be praised lyrically (then again, neither can a lot of this record; "She so weird I made her pussy fart" in 'Pick These Hoes Apart' is by far the worst thing I've heard this entire year), but it has some good sounds in it, including the piano.

The self-proclaimed Snapchat king has taken his memes and put it to music. Major Key isn't much to tackle. It almost feels like one big joke. There's little interesting development within in and too few great moments for its execution. Perhaps DJ Khaled needs to have a reality check before his next release.

Favorite Tracks: Holy Key, I Got The Keys, Ima Be Alright

Least Favorite Tracks: Pick These Hoes Apart, Tourist, Fuck Up The Club

Rating: 58 / 100

Korn - 'Rotting In Vain'

Korn has been through both the highs and lows of their career. Fans will remember the golden early era Korn, back when nu-metal was all the hype. Others will remember their experimental phase with contempt, especially their brief excursion with dubstep with The Path Of Totality. Since then, the band has slowly been honing their sound once more, and with another new album on the horizon, things are looking good with the new single 'Rotting In Vain'.

Progression is most easily seen when a band takes the elements that were loved of previous sounds and crafting something new, those ideas in mind while still finding a new direction to take. 'Rotting In Vain' isn't exactly progressive. Nothing necessarily new is found within the track, but it does take previous elements of Korn's music and builds a well-constructed jam.

I'm a sucker for when electronic music comes together with heavy music (thanks, Linkin Park). This is no Hybrid Theory, though; no band does that blend of heavy and electronica better than Linkin Park. The electronics in 'Rotting In Vain' are much more upfront and act as a replacement for, say, another guitar line (not to mention the guitars are drop tuned lower than a typical Linkin Park song). That being said, the melodies the electronics serve really add a lot of dimension to the song. The guitars wouldn't sound quite as immense as they do without them. It may not be the primary part of the song, but they definitely serve an important purpose.

It can't be unsaid that the riffs on this song are massive. The first riff that kicks in right after the intro buildup is immense. You can feel the earth shaking as if at a live show and the crowd jumps as this mental riff kicks in. The instrumental really kicks you in the face. The finally riff before the last chorus that is riddled with a phaser and the deep synth imitating it is perfect, too. The instrumental is a classic, epic alternative metal jam, electronics helping that come a little further. The vocal melodies support this too, though they do feel a little overdramatic. The growled vocals in the bridge could've been replaced by something a lot better, but it's Korn we're talking about here.

Speaking over overdramatic, take a look at that music video. The more I watch it, the more lost I feel. It doesn't seem to contain much meaning - just the band playing in an old, creepy house with a well-dressed man (played by Sons Of Anarchy actor Tommy Flanagan) doing some creepy things. It's one of those videos that piles in a lot of edginess in order to seem like it has meaning, where in reality they stuck Jonathan Davis in a bathtub with leaves and told him "pretend these leaves are hurting you."

Musically, Korn seems to getting back to that hold they had on metal they had in their prime. 'Rotting In Vain' feels fresh and big, still undeniably a Korn song but also feels new. With the new album The Serenity Of Suffering dropping in October, hopefully the album lives up to the hype this song has raised. If it does, we're in for a big one.

Rating: 85 / 100

Harakiri For The Sky - III: Trauma

Most people will see black metal as something satanic or not of this world. This is only partially true of Harakiri From The Sky. They don't dabble with the sounds of Hell; rather, they choose to explore the mind and its emotions instead. III: Trauma is their newest release, and it goes further and bites harder than any of its predecessors.

Going into Trauma, you expect something dark and for something nasty to develop within your throat as it progresses. That's what black metal would typically do to you. But no, Harakiri For The Sky takes a different direction. There's something pure in their music; it's not the heaviness that speaks for it. Rather, the melodies seem to do that for them. III: Trauma is not an album meant to be jammed to (though, that is very much a thing you can do). It's an album that wants your understanding and focus - and trust me, you'll need it.

All expectations are lost straight from the start, replacing them with a morbid curiosity instead. The eleven-minute epic 'Calling The Rain' begins the sweltering album, piano chords and reverberating guitar being this albums entrance. Instead of dropping those elements in favor of a low-tuned chugging, powerchords kick in in order to expand upon the ideas developing from the start. The lead guitar soars above the thriving instrumental as if to search for something before tortured vocals enter the scene, the angered and lost disposition of the voice contrasting the hopeful instrumental. This song itself is a journey; by its end it feels like you've been hit by enough thought to have listened to an entire album already. It goes through cycles, heavy ones full of rage and others begging for hope. The vocals and instrumental are constantly fighting each other in some sort of dark, graceful dance that begs for an answer. It's gentle conclusion finds itself experiencing an aftermath, one final blast taking the song to its end.

After that's over, it's time for the second song. Every track on this record is a lengthy one, the shortest clocking in at eight and a half minutes ('The Traces We Leave'). Often times, bands who take these long roads lose themselves in complex turns and systems that ultimately makes the song lose its light. Everything on this record feels justified in its length, though. Each song is its own story, its own exploration of a concept that delves within your own psyche to bring out a very warming closeness. There are big riffs to give the listener moments to jam - see 'This Life As A Dagger' especially - but this album is much more than that.

This album feels almost like an alternative rock record in terms of its understanding of heaviness and structure. Take 'Funeral Dreams' as an example, though each song exhibits it. It isn't driven by a need for galloping riffs to make itself sound big; each song is cavernous with a clear respect to spaciousness. Every element of the song comes together to create massive atmosphere that builds and builds into one collective body. The riffs don't even feel as down-your-throat due to low tuning. The mixing compliments the high-end more so than the low-end (which also isn't tuned down to the depths of Hell). This album channels melody over thrill, and emotion over just rage. The instrumentals help inspire your mind as to what you should be feeling - 'Thanatos' begins with an ethereal intro that makes you feel like you're drowning, while the epic percussion and powerful feeling of 'Dry The River' gives you hope.

Harakiri From The Sky seems to understand what metal should be about. III: Trauma is not your every day black metal album. It is post-metal at its finest. It explores surreal and deep parts of the human emotions, and seeks to find closure within them through the music. It's a long record but a revealing one. It's an essential for any metal fan, and one that cannot be skipped for any fan of music. It's a brilliant emotional journey that has you think and feel - there's nothing more important that music can do for you.

Favorite Tracks: Calling The Rain, Funeral Dreams, Dry The River

Least Favorite Track: The Traces We Leave

Rating: 88 / 100

Desiigner - 'Tiimmy Turner'

Desiigner didn't exactly come in guns blazing with his debut project New English, released late last month. There was lots of criticism for it - and apparently he didn't want anything less than perfect remarks on it (sorry, man). He's back with his response to the haters, though. 'Tiimmy Turner' is his first new track since the mixtape's release, and it's his best song yet.

My major gripe with New English was that it sounded exactly like Future, an artist who, at this point, I am just completely sick of. His unchanging, monotonous flow and his tendency to rip himself off with every song is getting old. 'Tiimmy' feels different than that. Desiigner finally has an original sound he's starting to wrap himself around with now.

Now, I can't pass it up without saying; yes, the Future sound isn't completely gone. The intro and the second verse especially have Future written all over it. But this track has something that makes it bearable - replayable, even - that Future lacks. This song has a mood. Desiigner sings on this track and the melody is just fantastic. It has the progression of a spiritual chant, and really sets a creepy and brooding mood for the song. The way the bass synth imitates that line is also fantastic. The chorus also has a sense of melody to it that Desiigner didn't explore much with in New English, and it really does work for him. It sounds great - the Future rap style is passable with this because the entire song isn't the same exact sound and flow. There are clear differences and it really gives the track some integrity.

Another part of the track I love is the instrumental. The entire song has a progressive instrumental, beginning dark and plays to the mood of the vocal melody he sets up. The entire intro section is a cappella and sounds you could make with the human body - a bare bones approach to a track that grows over time. Snaps make way to a ghastly choir, backed by synths and a piano. Synths build up over time, punching in and out, making way for different elements. The best part of the instrumental, however, is the ending. Halfway through the final chorus, the instrumental changes completely. It develops a more positive resolution, as if its brining Desiigner into a new light. The song feels like an awakening, the instrumental being the revelation. The synth solo at the end is also a brilliant touch.

'Tiimmy Turner' is without a doubt Desiigner's best song. It isn't obnoxious like 'Panda', it doesn't rip off Future, and it feels original. It sounds fresh and new, something hip-hop hasn't heard in a long time. The way he plays with melody really accentuates the choruses and allows for the classic Future style of the verses to exist as independent flows. If Desiigner follows this direction, he's bound for success. This is his niche. Let's hope he doesn't miss that.

Rating: 87 / 100 

Prophets Of Rage - 'Prophets Of Rage'

There are few things people want more than a Rage Against The Machine revival. What we got is what people didn't know they wanted: a supergroup consisting of members of RATM, Public Enemy, and Cypress Hill. That would be Prophets Of Rage, whose mission is clear: "We're an elite task force of revolutionary musicians determined to confront this mountain of election year bullshit, and confront it head-on with Marshall stacks blazing," as Tom Morello put it. With the turmoil of America's most tense election yet, the Prophets are ready to make their voices loud and clear, and hopefully do the same for their listeners.

There isn't too much too their debut single 'Prophets Of Rage'. The song was released It started with a siren before Tom Morello delivers a blistering punk rock riff he's known for (no weird effects in this one, though!). The song truly is a simple one, the verses hard and featuring a dinky bent guitar reprising itself over a distorted bass line while Chuck D, DJ Lord, and B-Real all deliver enraged verses before going into the call-to-arms chorus that chants, "Clear the way / Clear the way / I'm away from the prophets of rage!"

This recording lives up to its predecessor; the first verse stays true to Public Enemy's own 'Prophets Of Rage' from 1988's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. Both tracks, as well as sharing titles, also can claim they share the proud declaration of "The points made / You consider it done / By the prophets of rage!" Prophets Of Rage are taking the hip-hop flair of Public Enemy and adding the groove of Rage Against The Machine - a combination that was built to work from the start.

The Prophets Of Rage have a busy year ahead of them. The turmoil of this election season is nowhere near over, and November 8 likely won't be the end of it. This supergroup is carrying the flag on their backs, and they're not letting it fall any time soon. Make way for the Prophets Of Rage.

Rating: 70 / 100