Instead of Meanderthal's rich sonics and expansive melodies, Torche about-faces into bracing, aggressive cuts like "Cast into Unknown" and "U.F.O." and even though "Out Again" delves into sludgy pop, it's done in such a lackadaisical fashion that's it;s clear that Brooks' heart is more in the faster, louder numbers. [Sep/Oct 2010, p.90]

Post-hardcore fans will certainly enjoy what is Falling in Reverse’s strongest record to date.

It's melodic and Malevolent, a relentlessly good disc with an A.D.D. sufferer's list of pop-cultural obsessions ranging from Robocop to werewolves to Judas Priest. [May/Jun 2010, p.100]

No one delivers big, punch-in-the-face motifs better than Amon Amarth, and the Swedish melodic-death-metal titans have excelled themselves on their ninth studio album.

The result: a crushing musical experience easily among the year's best extreme-metal records.

Unsurprisingly, it sounds exactly like Teri Gender Bender fronting The Melvins--a fascinating concept in theory that turns out to be deliriously satisfying in practice.

Like the classic horror movies that have inspired so much of Danzig's work, the new record delivers the thrills and chills that fans would hope for, and that Danzig, at his best, is so good at serving up. [Jul/Aug 2010, p.88]

Standards is a mature work in the best sense, an example of a rock band--yes, a rock band--that has grown into its sound and is now relaxed enough to have fun with it. [#4, p.107]

Their third album takes the stylized blur of their previous LPs, and somehow finds new room for Circle Jerskian hooks, mid-tempo suckerpunches, and one Neurotic sludge workout. p[Jul/Aug 2010, p.90]

Sure, White Crosses is the most polished and pop-inflected album of Against Me!'s polarizing punk career--but underneath the studio sheen, the Butch Vig-produced disc also contains some of the band's best material to date. [Jul/Aug 2010, p.92]

On their eleventh studio album, CoF’s schlock-black metal sound is more alive than it has in a while.

Alternating between unsettling dissonance and bludgeoning force, the North American act’s sophomore effort showcases a crossbreed of stoner metal, sludge and noise that both enthralls and frightens the listener.

They might be one drummer short of a full Melvins deck, but the resulting hand is almost entirely aces.

Between the Stars is tight and melodic and unrelentingly hook-driven, poppy enough in places to recall Paramore or even (on the great new single “Set Me on Fire”) a more ferocious No Doub

Probably the best indie drone rock since Galaxie 500 put the Velvets jangle to hypnotic use (although Low reach even greater peaks of elegant sublimity). [#4, p.106]

The Fire showcases an immense growth in both the band's songwriting and arrangements, proving that these scenes stalwarts are not about to rest on their laurels. [Nov/Dec 2010, p.98]

Matthews finally takes a full-body plunge into the rock mainstream he'd only dipped a toe into before. [#4, p.105]

The result of all these change-ups is an album that is both aggressive and progressive, while still maintaining Linkin Park’s innate pop sensibility.

Is Survived By isn’t all pit-fodder; the cinematic-sounding “Non Fiction” showcases a mastery of dynamics that’s equally as impressive as the heavy stuff.

The Tyranny of Will is all aces, too: From politically-charged rippers (“In Greed We Trust,” “Patriotic Shock”) to pants-pissing punk mischief (“Eyeball Gore,” “Your Kid’s an Asshole”), Iron Reagan have got you covered.

They sound utterly repellant, and it suits them perfectly.

Vocalist Travis Ryan fully comes out of his shell with his, ahem, "melodic" "singing" and the Jeff Walker–esque tone sounds great (see "Lifestalker"). Elsewhere, the band shred harder than ever but with lots of cool twists.

Bleeder is equal parts musical acrobatics and strong songwriting that strikes an off-kilter balance somewhere between Queens of the Stone Age and The Dillinger Escape Plan.

While She Sleeps have delivered the best album so far about post-Brexit/post-election anxiety. You Are We is frantic and grim, preoccupied with personal and political disintegration, but it’s also huge.

Ultimately these well-place segues are but a welcome respite from the pummeling power of the riff.

TesseracT’s real strength is that they focus on the whole instead of getting bogged down with the intricacy of the parts.

From the anthemic confidence of “Back in the Game” to the speed-metal boogie of “Hungry,” frontman Joel O’Keeffe rasps out memorable, bluesy melodies without sacrificing the AC/DC-inspired passion of 2007’s Runnin’ Wild.

Across 17 tracks with titles like “Dark Brown Teeth,” “The Blithering Idiot,” and “Drunken Baby,” Osborne delivers concise down-tuned ditties full of booming vocal melodies and bizarro humor.