By Steven Miller
YUNGBLUD is the kind of artist who lives like a flame, too unruly to cage, too luminous to ignore. On Idols, YUNGBLUD lights the match and dares us to watch him burn. Part rock opera, part Britpop homage, and part raw nerve confession, this album flirts with chaos and invites listeners to scrawl its lyrics across the walls of their minds and scream into the night until the neighbors feel seen.
From its grandiose opener to its quieter farewells, Idols is a rallying cry for the misfits, a record drenched in yearning and reclamation. It’s loud, it’s theatrical, it’s flawed, and in a few moments, it’s [...]
By Steven Miller
In the genre-straddling landscape of instrumental post-metal, narrative form can often feel buried under atmospherics. But on Flickering Resonance, written and performed by guitarist Trevor Shelley de Brauw, guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec, bassist Bryan Herweg, and drummer Larry Herweg, Pelican opts for something more deliberate: music built like architecture, with movement, pacing, and contrast engineered into each section.
Recorded by Sanford Parker, mixed by Scott Evans, and mastered by Matthew Barnhart, the album’s sonic clarity and dynamic control serve its compositional. This is not music that [...]
By Steven Miller
The metalcore scene has been eagerly anticipating Spiritbox’s latest full-length album, Tsunami Sea. The Canadian quartet has pushed their sound further, fusing their signature mix of ghostly atmospheres and heaviness with an increased willingness to experiment with textures. The result? An album that surges like its namesake, with a sonic ebb and flow that exhilarates and engages the listener.
Spiritbox consists of vocalist Courtney LaPlante, whose dynamic range transitions between clear melodies and guttural roars, and guitarist Mike Stringer, whose intricate riffing and atmospheric textures shape the band’s [...]
By Steven Miller
Legendary post-rock pioneers Mogwai have returned with The Bad Fire, an engaging album that captures their enduring ability to blend the ethereal with the explosive. Produced by John Congleton and released via Rock Action, this January 2025 release cements the band’s reputation for crafting immersive soundscapes that challenge and reward the listener in equal measure.
With three decades of sonic exploration under their belt, Mogwai’s evolution has been anything but linear. They’ve veered from ferocious guitar-driven instrumentals to moody soundtracks and even ventured into corrupted electronic realms. Their [...]
