Album Reviews

[ODShowtime]

Alice In Chains – The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2013)

If ‘Black Gives Way To Blue’ was the peak of the nightmare which grief creates, ‘The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here’ is the dawn in which you awaken changed by trauma, recognizably you but knocked over into the light of an older soul.

As good as music gets? It’s close, really close…………..

It's the rare reviewer that melds good taste with good writing and gives added perspective to the album. Excellent post.

Here's my review: this album kicks god-damned ass and the first two songs are probably the best 1-2 combo in heavy rock since Them Bones/Damn that River back in 92'. Fuckin' badass. In a world full of evil cocksuckers trying to eat your lunch, AIC gives you the balls to give everyone the middle finger. You're right and they're wrong.

[binnie]

Cheers dude.

It's weird, but I can only listen to AIC when the sun ain't shining. We've had (rare) burst of good weather here for 4 weeks or so, and I've actually been praying for grey clouds so I can get my AIC on

[Seshmeister]

That was always my rule with Queensryche.

I think it's no coincidence that Seattle is a very rainy place...

[DLR Bridge]

I've actually been praying for grey clouds so I can get my AIC on

From what I've heard, you don't get a whole lotta sun over there. Hearing you wish it away is hysterically ironical.

[Mr. Vengeance]

What this thread really needs, right at the top, is an index. A list of all Binnie's reviews and which page it's on in the thread. That way if you had a certain album you were curious about, you could find it quickly, rather than have to search it out...not that the reading isn't top quality, but to save time.

[katina]

What this thread really needs, right at the top, is an index. A list of all Binnie's reviews and which page it's on in the thread. That way if you had a certain album you were curious about, you could find it quickly, rather than have to search it out...not that the reading isn't top quality, but to save time.

You are right, this thread and it's reviews are really good, and an index would be very useful.

[Seshmeister]

What this thread really needs, right at the top, is an index. A list of all Binnie's reviews and which page it's on in the thread. That way if you had a certain album you were curious about, you could find it quickly, rather than have to search it out...not that the reading isn't top quality, but to save time.

If someone wants to do the work I'm happy to edit the first post to include it.

[binnie]

OK, I shall compile an index. It may take a little while, however, as there are the best of 400 reviews in here!

Cheers for the suggestion

[binnie]

From the vaults: Zico Chain – Food (2007)

So you think that there are no decent rock ‘n’ roll bands left in the world? Or that those who pretend to be real rock ‘n’ roll are just a bunch of hipster kids stuck in a ramshackle loop of nostalgia? Well think again. Zico Chain are the sort of band you fell in love with at High School: the musical equivalent of that quirky, but effortlessly cool, senior girl who just doesn’t have to try, she just radiates whatever ‘it’ is that makes you obsessive. Taking the swagger and roll of classic rock and playing it through the scuzzy power of grunge, ‘Food’ is packed full of tunes that ooze clarity and simplicity – you don’t have to do complicated or clever if you have hooks and melodies like this. Opener ‘Pretty Pictures’ is awash with the slithering vocal lines that made the Stone Temple Pilots so eerie, whilst ‘Junk’ could have been on ‘Core’. The alt. rock colours and angles of ‘Nihilism’ and ‘Your Favourite Client’ have a feel of R.E.M (when they were good) about them, albeit in a much harder body. Elsewhere ‘Poll Over’ is slippery, sleazy rock ‘n’ roll and ‘No Hoper Boy’ – propelled by odd rhythms and elfin guitar lines – proves that this is a band that is just as good when they’re not doing turbo-charged. But perhaps best of all is the Nirvana/Pixies orgy of ‘Last Week’s Genius’, a furious tune propelled by a set of lyrics spat out like hipster crack for the soul.

‘Food’, then, is the perfect marriage of style and substance. Song-craft abounds, but at its heart Zico Chain tap straight into the nastiness at the core of all great rock ‘n’ roll – the point at which hedonism becomes all encompasing, and amoral. Lose licks, cheap thrills, and 32 minutes of pure dirty beauty.

[private parts]

Checked them out on you tube. Wow! That ROCKS! THX! Its sounds like "Avenged Manson Tool" or something...or maybe......

[private parts]

Yep, I hear some STPs and some Velvet Rev.

[Von Halen]

What this thread really needs, right at the top, is an index. A list of all Binnie's reviews and which page it's on in the thread. That way if you had a certain album you were curious about, you could find it quickly, rather than have to search it out...not that the reading isn't top quality, but to save time.

Excellent idea! Binnie does kick ass reviews!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[binnie]

Sodom – Epitome of Torture (2013)

Sodom approach experimentation in the same way that America approaches the metric system – ignore, pretend it doesn’t exist, and carry on regardless. ‘Epitome Of Torture’ consequently sounds pretty much exactly how you think it will sound – heavy, heavy, heavy thrash from one of the ‘Big Three’ of Germany. Sure, there are some modern nuances in the arrangements, but this is a fundamentally old school record at heart – the resulting power, heaviness and the DIRECT nature of the appeal is something which many of the band’s ‘80s peers could learn from as they continue to trot out disappointing record after disappointing record. On album number 14, Sodom are in your face with ripping metal brutality which is completely free of pretentions of being anything other than what it is: heavy. Very, very heavy.

Perhaps a little more straightforward that recent releases – the rather dazzling ‘In War And Pieces’ (2010) being a good case in point – the band also shows here that there was always more to thrash than out-an-out speed. Sure ‘Shoot Today – Kill Tomorrow’ is the joyous speed-freak fans will relish, but elsewhere the title-track has a classic-Sepultura vibe about it in the rhythms, vocal lines and time-changes (you really wish Max Cavalera would get back to writing stuff like this!) and ‘Cannibal’ is more about groove than it is speed. ‘S.O.D.O.M’ promises to be quite the live anthem, whilst ‘Into The Skies Of War’ (the most complex piece here) is ridiculously powerful – tapping into that relentless militia-like thud of all great thrash, it conjures up the image of a military parade in the USSR, and sounds like 50,000 jack boots hitting concrete. Bands in their 50s really shouldn’t still be this hungry.

Sodom, then, are the thrash equivalent of Motorhead. Both play out the twilight of their careers by serving up album after album of gems which can rival their ‘glory’ days, but which hardly anyone listens to. ‘Epitome of Torture’ adds another casualty to that rather tragic list of victims of the myopia which accompanies the nostalgia-driven world of rock in the 21st century.

[binnie]

I am currently compiling an index of the reviews in this thread, as suggested.

It is HUGE.

I think it best that I post it on this page (rather than on page 1) - if it goes at the top of the thread, it is so big that it will knock a lot of the page numbers out of line (albums currently at the bottom of page 2 will be on page 3, and so on) thus making the index a bit pointless.

Once I've done it, if Sesh could edit to first post of the entire thread to say 'INDEX ON PAGE 25' it would be appreciated.

[binnie]

INDEX: A - H

A – Hi Fi Serious – page 8

AC/DC – Black Ice – page 1
- Let There Be Rock – page 4
- Flick Of The Switch - page 7

Accept – Blood Of Nations – page 5
- Stalingrad – page 13
- Balls To The Wall - page 16
- I’m A Rebel – page 19

Aerosmith – Night In The Ruts – page 10
- Permanent Vacation – page 15
- Music From Another Dimension – page 19

The Afghan Whigs – Gentlemen – page 13

Against Me – White Crosses – page 7

Ahab – The Giant – page 21

Airbourne – No Guts, No Glory – page 2
- Black Dog Barking – page 23

Alabama Thunderpussy – Fulton Hill – page 4

Alkaline Trio – This Addiction – page 9

Alice Cooper – Welcome 2 My Nightmare – page 8

Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way To Blue – page 1
- The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here – page 24

The Almighty - Crank – page 4

Amebix – Sonic Mass – page 12

Amen – Amen – page 13

Anathema – We’re Here Because We’re Here – page 4
- The Silent Enigma – page 15
- Weather Systems – page 18

Angel Witch – Angel Witch – page 2

Anger Management – Beyond The Threshold of Pain – page 8

Annihilator – Annihilator – page 5

The Answer – Everyday Demons – page 1
- Revival – page 9

Anthrax – Sound Of The White Noise – page 4
- State of Euphoria – page 7
- Worship Music – page 8

Architects – Here & Now – page 5
- Hollow Crown – page 14

Armored Saint - La Raza – page 2

Assaulter – Boundless – page 9

Astra – The Black Chord – page 19

At The Gates – Terminal Spirit Disease – page 14

At The Skyline – The Secrets Of Life – page 19

Attica 7 – Blood Of My Enemies – page 18

Attica Rage – Road Dogs – page 24

Audrey Horne – Audrey Horne – page 4
- Youngblood – page 20

Auf Der Mer – Auf Der Mer – page 22

August Burns Red – Leveller – page 9

Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare – page 3

The Baby Animals – Shaved & Dangerous – page 9

Sebastian Bach – Kicking & Screaming – page 8

Badlands – Badlands – page 1

Bad City – Welcome To The Wasteland – page 7

Bad Religion – No Substance – page 2

Baroness – Blue Album – page 2
- Yellow & Green – page 17

Bible of the Devil – Freedom Metal – page 1

Biffy Clyro – Blackened Sky – page 2
- Opposites – page 21

BigElf – Cheat the Gallows – page 4
- Hex – page 10

Big Linda – I Loved You – page 7

Billy Talent – II – page 18

Biohazard – Ubran Discipline – page 6
- Reborn In Defiance – page 18

Black ‘N’ Blue – Hell Yeah – page 7

Black Breath – Heavy Breathing – page 6
- Sentenced To life – page 13

The Black Crowes – Lions – page 22

Black Label Society – Order of The Black – page 3
- Sonic Brew – page 16

Black Moth – The Killing Jar – page 13

Black Tusk – Passage Through Purgatory – page 15

Black Sabbath – The Eternal Idol – page 3
- Technical Ecstasy – page 7
- 13 – page 23

Black Star Riders – All Hell Breaks Lose – page 23

Black Stone Cherry – Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea – page 9

Bleed From Within – Uprising – page 21

Bleeding Through – This Is Love This Is Murder – page 9

Bloodbath – Fathomless Mastery – page 15

Blue October – Approaching Normal – page 8

Joe Bonamassa – Black Rock – page 2

Bonded By Blood – The Aftermath – page 19

Boris – Attention Please – page 10

Brides Of Destruction – Here Come The Brides – page 6

Brijitte West & The Desperate Hopefuls – page 5

The Bronx – The Bronx III – page 1
- The Bronx IV – page 20

Buckcherry – All Night Long – page 3
- Confessions – page 20

Bullets & Octane – In The Mouths Of The Young – page 7

Burgerkill – Venomous – page 24

Bury Tomorrow – The Union OF Crowns – page 18

Cancer Bats – Hail Destroyer – page 1
- Dead Set On Living – page 13

Cathedral – The Carnival Bizarre – page 22

Cavalera Conspiracy – Blunt Force Trauma – page 8

Children Of Bodom – Relentless Reckless Forever – page 5
- Hate Crew Deathroll – page 14
- Halo Of Blood – page 24

Chimaira – Resurrection – page 5
- Age Of Hell – page 8

Chthonic – Takasago Army – page 9

Church Of Misery – Thy Kingdom Scum – page 24

Civil Wars – Barton Hollow – page 10

Clutch – Strange Cousins From the West – page 1
- Earth Rocker – page 21

Cobalt – Gin – page 17

Converge – Axe To Fall – page 3
- All We Love We Leave Behind – page 18

Gilby Clarke – Pawnshop Guitars – page 5

Communic – The Bottom Deep – page 18

Chris Cornell – Scream – page 1

Corrosion Of Conformity – C.O.C – page 14

Crank County Daredevils – Livin’ In The Red – page 12

Crippled Black Phoenix – 200 Tons Of Bad Luck – page 3

Crowbar – Sever The Wicked Hand – page 5

The Cult – Love – page 6
- Beyond Good & Evil – page 13
- Choice Of Weapon – page 14

Daft Punk – Discovery – page 10

The Damned Things – Ironiclast – page 22

Danko Jones – We Sweat Blood – page 12

Dark Tranquility – Fiction – page 5

Darkest Hour – The Eternal Return – page 5

Dead Letter Circus – This Is the Warning – page 10

Death – Scream Bloody Gore – page 17

Death Angel – Act III – page 13
- Relentless Retribution – page 21

Decapitated – Carnival Is Forever – page 21

Deep Purple – Come Taste The Band – page 3

Def Leppard – On Through The Night – page 12
- Songs From The Sparkle Lounge – page 20

The Defiled – Grave Times – page 4

Deftones – Diamond Eyes – page 2
- Koi No Yokan – page 19

Destruction – Day Of Reckoning – page 14
- Spiritual Genocide – page 19

Devildriver – Pay For Villains – page 1
- Beast – page 5

Dew Scented – Icarus – page 17

Diamond Head – Death & Progress – page 6

Bruce Dickinson – Skunkworks – page 15

Dillenger Escape Plan – Ireworks – page 17

Dio –Killing the Dragon – page 5
- Sacred Heart – page 13

Divine Heresy – Bringer Of Plagues – page 2

Dokken – Tooth & Nail – page 15

Doro –Doro – page 21

Down – IV: Purple EP – page 17

Dropkicks Murphys – Blackout – page 12

Duff Mckagan’s Loaded – Sick – page 1

Earth Crisis – Neutralise the Threat – page 9

Earthrone 9 – Lo-Def(inition) Discord – page 12

Emanuel – Soundtrack to a Headrush – page 3

Enabler – All Hail The Void – page 20

Entombed – Wolverine Blues – page 5
- Left Hand Path – page 13

Everclear – Slow Motion Daydream – page 13
- Welcome To The Drama Club – page 14

Every Time I Die – The Big Dirty – page 4
- Ex lives – page 14

Evile – Skull – page 24

Exciter – Violence & Force – page 22

Exhorder – The Law – page 6

Exodus – Bonded By Blood – page 7
- Impact Is Imminent – page 14

Extreme – Waiting For The Punchline – page 7
- Saudes De Rock – page 19

Face Down – The Twisted Rule the Wicked – page 6
- Mindfield – page 12

The Faceless – Autotheism – page 21

Faith No More – Album Of The Year – page 5

Fear Factory – Mechanize – page 2
- The Industrialist – page 14

Feed The Rhino – Mr Rec Eye – page 6
- The Burning Sons – page 17

Fight – War of Worlds – page 19

Firebird – Firebird – page 4
- Double Diamond – page 14

Flaming Lips – Dark Side of the Moon – page 2

Floodgate – Penalty – page 2

Flyleaf – Flyleaf – page 9
- New Horizons – page 19

Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience, Grace – page 7
- Wasting Light – page 9

Forbidden – Forbidden Evil – page 12
- Omega Wave – page 14

Fu Manchu – Godzilla’s Eatin’ Dust – page 10

Gallows – Grey Britain – page 1
- Gallows – page 18

Garbage – Version 2.0 – page 5

Ghost – Infestissuam – page 22

Ginger – 100% - page 20

Goatwhore – Carving Out The Eyes Of God – page 1
- Blood For The Master – page 16

God Forbid – Equilibrium – page 16

Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage – page 18

Guns ‘N’ Roses – Use Your Illusions 1 & 2 – page 4
- Chinese Democracy – page 13

Grand Magnus – Grand Magnus – page 1
- The Hunt – page 13

Graveyard – Lights Out – page 20

Halestorm – The Strange Case Of – page 24

Hammers Of Misfortune – 17th Street – page 12

Hanoi Rocks – Self Destruction Blues – page 10

Hatebreed – The Rise Of Brutality – page 6

Hate Eternal – Phonenix Amongst The Ashes – page 6

Haunted – Unseen – page 5

Heart Of A Coward – Hope & Hindrance – page 15

Heathen – Evolution of Chaos – page 12
- Breaking The Silence – page 15

Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know – page 1

Heaven Shall Burn – Deaf To Our Prayers – page 22

Hellyeah – Band of Brothers – page 16

Hell – Human Remains – page 21

Helmet – Seeing Eye Dog – page 5
- Meantime – page 11

Hermano – Into The Exam Room – page 11

High On Fire – De Vermis Mysteris – page 16

Holy Grail – Ride The Void – page 20

Husker Du – Flip Your Wig – page 3

Hypocrisy – End Of Disclosure – page 22