New History Warfare, Vol. 2: Judges
by Colin Stetson
Metascore
82

Universal acclaim - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
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  1. cokemachineglow
    Dec 13, 2011
    87
    New History Warfare has enough range that it seems to have opened up a whole new fanbase that might otherwise have no interest in avant-garde music.
  2. Pitchfork
    Dec 13, 2011
    82
    Feels like music I've been subconsciously craving without even knowing it exists.
  3. The New York Times
    Dec 13, 2011
    80
    It's the solo work that's so impressive: simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting.
  5. AllMusic
    Dec 13, 2011
    80
    Stetson's transcendent and muscular ability to layer sound, breath, and rhythm in a meditative compositional style sticks with you long after Judges is over.
  6. Tiny Mix Tapes
    Dec 13, 2011
    80
    In Stetson's hands, the sax is no longer an expressive medium or even a madman's toy, but an artisanal tool, a machinic assemblage, designed for catching and releasing cosmic powers.
  7. The Quietus
    Dec 13, 2011
    80
    New History Warfare 2 is superfine, breathtaking, at once unnervingly exploratory and highly accessible, a record which leaves you grasping in vain for adequate reference points and peer comparisons.
  8. Dusted Magazine
    Dec 13, 2011
    80
    New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges is an album of somber beauty, its flashes of color existing amidst a broad spectrum of grays.
  9. Los Angeles Times
    Dec 13, 2011
    75
    The album's impenetrable surfaces grow haunting after numerous listens: Stetson may never garner mainstream recognition like his Arcade Fire pals, but he proves undeniably compelling in his uncompromising musicality.
  10. American Songwriter
    Dec 13, 2011
    70
    The album has a little something for everyone, from the electronic skronk of "Awake On Foreign Shores" and the Dark Lights' remix "The Stars In His Head" to the gentle, Bachian minute-long dirge, "All The Days I've Missed You."
  11. Sputnikmusic
    Dec 13, 2011
    70
    This album and a few videos of Stetson playing (the guy is a monster) will probably be enough to convince most people that he's a genius, but you don't need to be that smart yourself to appreciate what is probably 2011's most unique album.

Awards & Rankings

64
#64 Best Album of 2011

User Reviews

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User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 14 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 14
  3. Negative: 1 out of 14
  1. lxlxlxlxl
    Mar 11, 2013
    9
    This review could have been written a year ago when I found this album. One person and one instrument really shouldn't be able to make theThis review could have been written a year ago when I found this album. One person and one instrument really shouldn't be able to make the music that he does on "From no part of me can I summon a voice." It is really the most radiant and brightest thing I've ever heard in my 34 years on this planet.… Full Review »
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