A.A. Williams : "Solstice"

 I really loved 'Forever Blue', some of her other work was released under my radar, so glad to hear from her again. The opening track, "Poison," which is one of the lead singles, makes it clear that she is not just another haunted folk crooner, as it locks into a solid groove. There is a more depressive vibe to the second, which carries a more minimal arrangement and a slight drone to allow her room to lay the vocals over. The swell of the song has more in common with post-rock. There is more of a grooving motion to "Little By Little." Which, even with the synth darkening things in the background it is the most accessible song thus far. This comes from how the vocals interplay with the drums. The guitars slowly build to expand the dynamics. 

"Hold it Together" finds her vocals holding onto a fragile piano chord progression. This was one of the first three singles released for the album. It's a power ballad of sorts, as you are led to believe it's going to stay in the direction it was headed for the first half of the song until the guitar comes in. It pulls everything together and makes it make sense. There is a more pastoral post-rock feel to 'Outlines," which she once again slowly builds but with a slight country twang filling the empty spaces. The fact that she takes the songs into the places she does is half the appeal. There is a melancholy wandering to this album that is not overtly dark enough to be called goth.

She often gets called "death gospel," and I am not hearing it on this album. Of course, it can be premature to second-guess where she is going to take any of these songs. "I've Seen Enough" has more of a folk feel, with a slight touch of jazz underpinning the vocal phrashing. You have to allow yourself to get midway into her songs before you can be certain of what she is going for. This forces me to withhold judgment when calling something a ballad, as she could bust out with driving guitars at any moment, but that does not happen on "I've  Seen Enough." The drums stay pretty minimal. "The Veil" heads in a similar direction. In fact, it starts off even more minimal. It turns out that one actually a ballad. She does not need driving drums, but it is a lot cooler when she has them, as proven on "Just a Shadow". It almost feels like it could be an A Perfect Circle song. She also proves she can belt it out likea rock singer when called for. 

All the elements of "Breathe" keep it flowing, even before the drums come in. It rides the line between dark folk and indie rock. It is one of the album's darker songs. It is another where the guitar opens it up at the midway point. Even on the second-to-last song, this formual does not get old. 'The Gentle Harm" leans more on her vocals. She laments as much as she sings here, though, using enough breath in her voice to work. Guitars begin to emerge as the song crept to the midway point again, as a sorrowful piano line drifts in. Almsot right at the three-minute mark, it does as expected. I will give this album a 9.5, as it is a well produced and polished return for her that is emotionally powerful and beautifully sung. 

pst153

Sevendust : "One"

 Atlanta metal groovers Sevendust took their 15th trip into the studio. The thing about this album is that it really depends on which album you lost interest in them on or if you stuck around. For me, “Home” was the last album I was invested in before it became clear it was time for the bu-metal bandwagon to roll on. But the very fact that the band has had a large enough audience to keep making over a dozen records in the new millennium means that they have enough fans who will find this to be a logical next step, as it retains the big riffs and soulful vocals that define the band. 

Fewer riffs share common ground with Disturbed and Korn. Witherspoon's fluid vocal melodies help to guide the songs into avenues that side-step what your typical arena-rocking metal band is doing these days.  But this is not 1999 and 2026; someone who is a fan of bands like Frozen Soul and 200 Stab Wounds might not find this to be metal at all. This is a valid perspective as well, since a song like “Threshold”  certainly feels more like rock n roll that happens to have the guitar dialed in more like a metal band, but if they were 6-string Les Pauls plugged directly into Marshall amps, it might have more in common with their tourmates Alterbridge.

Speaking of production, knobs were dialed just right for what they do on “We Won”. It has a mix that gives the vocals ample room to create one of the album’s catchiest songs. This also goes to show that we typically think of pop music as being more contingent on a good producer, but one clearly helps more guitar-driven music as well. The guitar solo that soars out of this song works off melody more than shred, which is a respectable choice. “Construct” brings the focus back to a heavier feel that the kids of 2026 might more easily define as metal.  

Things ebb back toward the more melodic side of the spectrum on “Bright Side”. It’s what Lajon does with his voice on the verses that really serves as the key selling performance, as it’s both powerful and heartfelt in a manner that is hard to fake. It’s also impressive that his voice has held up so well during the past three decades.” The Drop.” works off a more syncopated riff that recalls their earlier work.  The chorus feels like it’s beginning to follow a formula.  Granted, this formula has kept their fans clicking play years later, so it is understandable why they would want to play it safe. 

Of course, a song called “Blood Price’ is bound to find the band digging in and bringing a heavier feel. But riffs and barked sections of vocals could just as easily be found on any Gojira album. Just because it works does not make it original, nor is the band really reinventing the wheel here, but they are writing some catchy-ass songs. “Misdirection’ ends the album on a more introspective and melodic note, with the focus placed on vocal harmonies, almost like something Stone Sour would do. This is certainly the album the band set out to make. After having fourteen previous trips into the studio, these guys have it down to a science, and they continue to sound relevant rather than jumping on the nostalgia train of a nu-metal revival. After all these years, Sevendust continues to do Sevendust perfectly, so for that I will give this album a 9, but the chances are slim I will feel the need to listen to this album again, but I wouldn't call myself a Sevendust fan either.Dropping on Napalm Records.

pst152

TERROR : "Still Suffer"

 

This is the 10th album from this long-running hardcore band whose origins trace back to Buried Alive from the late 90s. They deliver what you expect from this brand of hardcore. They are in your face and more on the metallic side, which makes plenty of sense considering their origins and influences. Even with the metallic elements the guitar riffs embrace, the dominant presence of gang vocals and attitude of the lead vocal are clearly hardcore, in fact, more hardcore than most bands these days. The title track" sets the tone with a more groove-driven riff than the opening track. You can hear this in the safety of your home and know this would be a brutal pit. 

The songs are concise one-two punches. They rarely venture over three minutes. They race ahead of themselves with the rapid-fire anger that comes at you in" Promised Only Lies," which hits peak form when it hits a powerful gallop."Destruction of My Soul" shows plenty of thrash influence, you have to guess the most notable one would be Slayer, though some "Master of Puppets" like chugging can also be heard. An impressive bass line leads the way into "Fear the Panic." It has more of a Cro-Mags feel. This works for me since the Cro-Mags are one of my favorite classic hardcore bands. 

The faster punk undercurrent of hardcore takes over on the song "Death of Hope". It does finds it's way into one cool riff, but cool riffs alone does not a good song make, is our mantra here. Things take an odd hip-hop turn for the intro of "The Beauty in the Losses." Jay Peta from Mindforce lends his voice to this one. "A Deeper Struggle" lives more off the increased tempo until the breakdown riff, which is a little true to the formula for the genre. The same can be said for " To Hurt the Most". The last song finds the vocalists from God's Hate and King Nine chiming in. Overall, while they typically play it pretty straight up by the book hardcore, they do it well and care about songwriting as most of the songs have their own identity, and is what you want from a hardcore album, so I will give this a 9.5

pst151

Basement : "WIRED"

 

The band's new album brings a late 90s sound that blends indie rock, pop-tinged hooks, and some post-hardcore grit; the vocals add needed grit to belt it out. I like that you can still hear the punk that is in the DNA of this kind of music that originally merged in the 90s. It takes you back to a time when songwriting mattered, as things evolved from the grunge explosion and began to form their own identity. "Dead Weight" shuffles along with help from a driving bassline that keeps the more indifferent tone of the vocals moving. 

There is a more casual tone to "Broken By Design" that ambles along with less aggression, as the singer finds himself more reflective. They move at a brisk pace for "Pick Up the Pieces," which has a more explosive chorus. Things go in the direction of Failure's more introspective moments for "Embrace." If you want just high-energy songs, it is more of a slow burn, but worthwhile, and it stands as a credit to the band for creating a dynamic album.  Then "Sever" has a more rowdy grunge charge as angst comes to a head. The very raw organic quality of the production lends itself to this kind of rowdiness that they continue on with during "The Way I Feel". 

If you are old enough to remember when this kind of music first dropped on MTV'S "120 Minutes' show before grunge broke big, then it's clear the wheel is not being reinvented here. But you can also confirm that they got the mood right. "Satisfy' finds the hook of the vocal melody taking center stage. There is a more downtrodden sonic shade to "Head Alight." It's not quite a ballad, but something that would have been at home on College Radio in 1993.

They have certainly crafted some memorable songs with not much in the way of filler. "Longshot" comes closer to being a ballad. It has a lazy summer strum. Funny enough, the song about summer that closes the album, "Summer's End," is more of a grunge anthem for 2026's definition of the genre. I will give this album a 9.5 as it certainly captured a time period I am fond of, even if it is not one I revisit the most. Not only did they nail the sound, but they also remembered that songs were much better written back then and rose to the occasion. Being released May 8th on Run For Cover Records. 

pst150

CARNIVORE AD : "Transmutation"

 

I am not sure what is going on here. To be an original member of Carnivore, you have to have been in the band before 2010, when Peter Steele died.  That is even being generous to me, the band was Steele, Piovanetti, and Beato since they played on "Retaliation," which was my favorite album. Even then, I am not counting Keith Alexander. These guys played in bands like Sheer Terror, Crumbsuckers and Whiplash, though at one point in time Beato was connected to this project. These guys captured the feel, and even included some of the goth elements that Steele would later fully embrace in the band we know him for. 

The title track that opens this EP shows these guys understood the assignment. They blends hardcore punk with thrashing. Baron nails the vocals for what Peter was doing during this time, though his bass playing does not match Peter's, yet they get the point across enough for me. While I am not as invested in Carnivore as I am Type O-Negative. I did like Carnivore back in the day, but they just did not age as well. Baron also captures the low spoken vocal feel in his best Peter impersonation. There is more of the melodic side coming out in the guitar on "I Stand Alone" with Baron continuing to pull off the sung vocals well, though that was not as big of a thing as it is being implied here.  In the more hardcore punk blitz of "Social Decomposition," there was a more dominant side of what the band did. 

"Mine is the Hand" shows a pretty accurate blend of the sonic colors the band once employed. It kind of fills the gap from where Peter left off with Carnivore and where he went on "Slow Deep and Hard" though production-wise it is more polished. There seem to be more guitar solos than needed, but it is not a deal breaker. I will give this a 9 and see how it grows on. Baron has to have put himself on the map for the reunion shows Kenny Hickey was talking about. If you are a fan of Carnivore, it will convincingly stratch the itch. 

pst149

Monolord : "Neverending"

Sweden's doom merchants rumble out of the gates with a bigger sound this time around. Though each album has found them progressing into a more melodic direction, "You Bastard" finds the rumble picking up into a more sinewy groove. The tenor vocals similarly drift over things as Ozzy once did without being a flagrant influence. They jam out a bit on the guitar solo, which works well. Things do not get darker until "Inside a Collider," which does have a more mournful doom feel. These guys have, in the past, skated the lines between sludge, doom, and stoner metal, and at times, you could point your finger in all three of those directions on the first three songs. It jsut feels likea more intentional step in a doomier direction here. 

"Crystal Bridge" is more melodic; it's moody with a melancholic edge, but it works for me. 'Oozing Wound' is more of a sludgy, fuzzed-out jam. The smooth, haunting flow of the vocals is what keeps it from falling solidly in the sludge direction. In fact, when they come in, things get moodier. This is excellent songwriting, some of the band's best. It's the wandering guitar solo that takes things in the jam-ward way." The Masque is the first song that has a more classic metal feel. This is also coupled with a more rock n roll chorus. More Blue Oyster Cult than Black Sabbath. 

This is also the first album where I have really heard the Sabbath influence that dominates so many stoner/ doom bands come out in these guys. More traditional doom unfolds with "Invisible". The last song finds things taking a dramatic change as Entombed bassist Jorgen Sandstrom takes over on vocals to create more of a death doom sound, which is not what you expect stepping into one of this band's albums. Though they do not go the traditional way with this, at eight and a half minutes, there are plenty of twists and turns. Overall, I like the direction they were heading on this album; the last song is a little out of character, but it retains enough of their sound. I will give it a 9.5. Dropping May 29th on Relapse Records. 

pst48

Julez and the Rollerz : " Dirty Little Rock N Roller"

 

Yes, this is the band with the super-hot drummer. They also happen to write decent songs and are more rock than expected. Going into this, I expected something more like the Beaches. It's more power-pop than the shake your booty kinda of pop you hear on the radio. First off, these gals are playing real instruments and are more like a less punk version of the Runaways. If you think that means the Donnas, less 80s than them. There is also an angular quirkiness that you can hear in songs like "Phaser."They are also more upbeat than most punk. They do not hang onthe same chords nor try to overpower you with an anthemic bop. One of their strengths is that they pretty much just sound like themselves. 

"I Don't Know You" is pretty hooky without being today's definition of pop. Very melodic and memorable guitar playing. Their singer has control of her voice and employs very nuanced phrashing. "Call Me Up" has more swagger in its step. Similar vocal approach to the previous song. There is a slight 70s glam feel to how it struts. It is obvious they invested a great deal of time listening to rock radio growing up, as they capture the larger-than-life feel of it. "Bring it On" is the first song that comes clsoe to hard rock, and then it's balanced out by the synths. 

Things go in a more melodic direction for "Always Hard 4 U" which finds their singer really belting out in spots. I guess this one brings Veruca Salt to mind when all the elements are taken into consideration. I would not call any of their music dark, but the moodiest song is "Take it Back" which closes the album. I will give this album a 9 and see how it grows on me, it's a solid preformance and writing from these girls, look forward to hearing where they go from here. Fans of anthemic rock from the late 70s, early 80s will dig this for sure. 

pst148