Converge
Converge No Heroes [4/5] At some point (most fans’ll point to 2001’s epochal Jane Doe) Converge hit the redline for sonic extremity. Which isn’t to say the Boston quartet haven’t progressed since then; rather, like lab monkeys that’ve been stimulated for too long, Converge’s fans have stopped finding signals amid the noise. As with 2004’s...
Sparta
Sparta Threes [4/5] Three albums. Three record labels. Three minor reinventions and just as many artistic progressions. Sparta are one of this community’s most consistent and widely respected bands for good reason. Threes, their first album with former Engine Down/Denali guitarist Keeley Davis onboard, is perhaps their most accomplished and least anxious record yet. Most...
Red Sparrowes
Red Sparrowes Every Red Heart Shines Toward The Red Sun [4/5] Red Sparowes let their song titles tell the story. What seems like a short narrative printed on the back of the CD case is, in fact, the track listing; nine long sentences describing greed and hubris leading to inevitable, if somewhat ironic, catastrophe. Its...
Isis
Isis In The Absence Of Truth [4/5] While it’s worth noting that In The Absence Of Truth is the first Isis album not to feature a cryptic one-word title, fans needn’t worry too much: Cryptic forces, and cryptic concepts (something about Don Quixote and Hassan-i Sabbah, apparently), are still at work on the Los Angeles...
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
My Chemical Romance The Black Parade Read any interview with My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way, and he’ll usually be going off on how rock bands should be larger than life, just like his favorite comic-book heroes. Way’s always been obsessed with making grand, sweeping gestures (graphic-novel disc artwork, female-empowering stage banter, choreography at “punk”...