Short Attention Span Record Reviews, Mar 23

THE LOUDER STUFF

THE ABBEY – Word Of Sin
Great riffs and some solid songwriting on debut album from this psychedelic doom/occult rock band from Finland. (8)

ENSLAVED – Heimdal
Black metal, prog, space rock, anything goes and it’s once again great. (8)

PERIPHERY – Periphery V: Djent Is Not A Genre
Of course it’s not, I’ve been saying so for years. (7)

SIENA ROOT – Revelation
These Swedes were doing the vintage hard/blues/folk rock thing before it was fashionable and they just keep doing it now that it’s once again unfashionable, so respect to them. But that fucking hippy-ass sitar is really, really annoying. (7)

WITCH RIPPER – The Flight After The Fall
An absolutely fantastic slab of loud, epic, proggy, sludgy but melodic metal that adds a touch of Queen to its Baroness/Mastodon influences. (9)

ZULU – A New Tomorrow
Bundling these guys alongside Turnstile and Soul Glo as hardcore revisionists is a no-brainer, but the way they reach into the depths of Black music tradition to enhance their sound also brings to mind heroes of generations past like Fishbone and 24-7 Spyz. Zulu are far more extreme, of course. (8)


THE OTHER STUFF

SHANA CLEVELAND – Manzanita
Solo album by frontwoman of surf-rockers La Luz is an exquisite tapestry of rustic folk with orchestral pop elements that’s sometimes reminiscent of Jessica Pratt with a psychedelic edge. (8)

HACK-POETS GUILD – Blackletter Garland
English folk supergroup of sorts does 12 superb songs about life, death, and everything in between. (8)

LONNIE HOLLEY – Oh Me Oh My
Respected septuagenarian visual artist with a music side-gig releases fantastic album of dark and bluesy electronica, slightly Massive Attack-y, featuring high-profile guests like Michael Stipe, Sharon Van Etten, and Bon Iver. A revelation. (8)

THE LONG RYDERS – September November
In a perfect world Paisley Underground would still matter as a genre. (8)

REVEREND HORTON HEAT – Roots Of The Rev (Volume One)
The guy who wrote the best song of all time is back with a non-essential lo-fi album of rockabilly covers. (7)

SLEAFORD MODS – UK Grim
The compositions are a bit more aggressive than previous recent Sleaford Mods releases, even though Williamson no longer constantly sounds like he’s about to start a pub fight (he only sounds like that 80% of the time now). One of their better efforts. (8)

SLOWTHAI – Ugly
British rapper releases album influenced by 90’s alternative rock and opinions are split: Pitchfork hates it, everyone else loves it. (8)