Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here (The End)
The eighth album by progressive/post-metal veterans Anathema mixes epic emotional ballads and uptempo melodic pop into a work of stunning beauty that demands repeat plays. Like Opeth's mellowest moments, or Katatonia's more recent work, this album may not strictly qualify as metal. But when it's this good, who cares?
The rest of the record reviews from the new issue (all 23 of them!) are after the jump.
READ THE FULL VERSION OF RVA #6 HERE
Anvil - Monument Of Metal (The End)
A documentary about these 30-year veterans of the metal scene helped resurrect them from obscurity. Based on the evidence here, it was long overdue. This 19-song career overview is solid throughout, with highlights that stand alongside the best of Venom or Exodus. Old-school thrash fans take note.
Archers Of Loaf - Icky Mettle (Remaster) (Merge)
This North Carolina band's 1993 debut dates from the era when indie rock still rocked. Nearly two decades later, it's still better than most current releases in its genre. This remastered reissue, which sonically outclasses my original vinyl copy, also includes an outstanding bonus disc of B-sides. Buy it now!
Beirut - The Rip Tide (Pompeii)
On their third album, indie favorites Beirut continue with their project of mixing indie songwriting tropes with Eastern European folk instrumentation. Zach Condon's mournful, epic travelogues share a certain elegaic, Old World mood with the early works of Tom Waits, and will comfort the weary traveler inside us all.
Boston Spaceships - Let It Beard (Guided By Voices Inc.)
Former Guided By Voices leader Robert Pollard continues to crank out indie-garage classics, and this solid double LP largely avoids his weirder tendencies in favor of catchy, well-constructed tunes. Pollard doesn't always bring his A game, but this is top-level material, and deserves your full attention.
Braid - Closer To Closed (Polyvinyl)
This EP marks the return of these 90s-era emo-popsters, who have much more polished production than in their heyday, but retain an unerring talent for perfect choruses. I miss the traces of hardcore roughness that they seem to have outgrown, but have no complaints about these four flawless pop gems.
Cannabis Corpse - Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise (Tankcrimes)
This local death metal band may do a great job of parodying the genre's gore fixation through constant marijuana references, but don't let that fool you into thinking that their awesome music should not be taken seriously. Even metal's large humor-deficient contingent should love this classic slab of brutality.
Cave - Neverendless (Drag City)
The five songs here are long on duration and short on dynamics. However, Cave's psychedelic motorik epics are of sufficient quality to place them in the company of Ash Ra Tempel and other cosmische innovators. Casual listeners may find Neverendless difficult, but the dedicated astral travelers among you will love it.
Flechette - Flechette (Sound Era)
This noise-laced post-hardcore band keeps the pedal to the metal throughout their debut EP, blowing through six songs with such propulsive energy that you can almost forgive them for making such a short record. If you loved Drive Like Jehu and early Fugazi, you'll want to play this record five times in a row.
Freeman - It Doesn't Matter (Failsafe)
3/4 of Avail's classic Satiate/Dixie era lineup join with excellent new singer Freeman Martin--a vocal dead ringer for Down By Law's Dave Smalley--to revive their classic sound and produce their best release in 15 years. Regardless of band name, this album gives Avail fans long-awaited cause to rejoice.
Fucked Up - David Comes To Life (Matador)
Ten years ago, this band were the kind of raw, angry hardcore you'd expect from their name. Today they are so much more. They've found a way to be progressive, multifaceted musical pioneers without losing any of the energy, aggression, and fury that characterized their earliest work. Fucking essential.
Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost (True Panther)
Pulling from a variety of influences, most of which originate in 1960s California--Frisco psych, sunshine pop, hippie-fied folk, etc--Girls come up with some great moments here. However, their sound changes so much from song to song that the album doesn't really cohere. It's catchy, but inconsistent. Buyer beware.
Green Boys - Green Boys (greenboysmusic.com)
This local group plays a mellow, emotionally-tinged country/bluegrass mix. I like it best when they step up the tempo, but for the most part they keep things slower and more laid-back. This is a solid listen for old-time country aficionados, but it's not really my cup of tea.
Harvest - Years Of Defiance, Years Of Disgust (Good Fight)
The triumphant return of one of the original metallic hardcore bands of the late 90s, who spawned a (mostly terrible) scene in their image. Harvest still sound every bit as ferocious and unrelenting as they did on their original recordings, with the bonus of even thicker production. An instant classic.
Jackass Flats - Rusty Feeling (jackass-flats.com)
This rules. Straight-up Grand Ol Opry-style country from this local group who plays like the whole Garth Brooks revolution in Nashville never happened. I've mostly hated the last couple decades of country music, but Jackass Flats prove that it's not the recording date that matters--it's the inspiration.
Jasta - Jasta (eOne Metal)
Hatebreed singer forms new band named after his stage name, which he took from his pre-Hatebreed band. Confused? The music here won't help. Brutal yet ultimately monotonous metallic hardcore shares space with truly misguided attempts at melodic-vocal nu-metal. This misguided effort never comes close to justifying its existence.
Monster Violence - Monster Violence EP (self-released)
A huge improvement over this local band's previous EP, this release finds them pared down to a keyboard/drum duo. They've forsaken their previous metal sound in favor of a more original, electronically-infused alt-rock sound. The production still has a few kinks to work out, but on a strictly musical level, this rules.
Paley And Francis - Paley And Francis (Sonic Unyon)
This collaborative acoustic album between Black Francis of the Pixies and veteran songwriter Reid Paley was done quickly and reflects that in its inconsistency. Some songs, especially those Francis sings, are enjoyably off-kilter pop. But at other times, this is a grating listen. Recommended only for completists and diehards.
Patois - Patois (patoismusic.net)
This dark, psychedelic slab from Virginia musicians Grant Bauley and Karl Morse applies retro-soul and spaghetti-western-soundtrack nuances to a fundamental base of dark, psychedelic dub reggae. Occasional vocal numbers lighten up the vibe and keep things interesting, but it's the spaced-out dub jams that make this record essential.
Sleep ∞ Over - Forever (Hippos In Tanks)
Despite retaining their original dark, dragging sound, Sleep ∞ Over branch out from their witch house roots here, creating warped synth-pop, instrumental space-travel soundtracks, and moments reminiscent of the Cocteau Twins at their most ambient. Their sonic explorations result in a strange, eclectic, yet ultimately engaging album.
Snowing - I Could Do Whatever I Wanted If I Wanted (Count Your Lucky Stars)
It'd be easy to lump Snowing in with the other new bands taking influence from Cap'n Jazz, but their overt pop choruses and wistful mood offset their Kinsella-esque guitar arpeggios nicely, provoking a strong emotional response that makes me reach for this record time and again. One of this year's best.
Title Fight - Shed (SideOneDummy)
Melodic hardcore tends towards positivity, but on Title Fight's new album, they've moved in a decidedly more melancholy direction. The added emotional depth allows their songs to hit on a deeper level, and their increased sonic resemblance to Hot Water Music doesn't hurt in the least. Great album. Get it.
The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian)
The instrumental passages here are droning psychedelic shoegaze, similar to early Verve. It's good stuff, but the singer sounds so much like Bob Dylan and Tom Petty that it totally throws me. Can you imagine a psychedelic Krautrock Traveling Wilburys album? Get this LP and hear it for yourself.
Wooden Shjips - West (Thrill Jockey)
Wooden Shjips have always mixed the spacy, effect-laden guitar sound of the most far-out psychedelic rock with the monolithic repetition of Krautrock bands like Neu and Can. Now, on West, they've incorporated a more melodic songwriting style that makes this album their most interesting and enjoyable yet. Totally necessary.