Hello, everyone! I’m back with another mini review post, this time with seven mini reviews.

As always, nothing here is meant as an attempt to be mean or anything, even if I say something negative. I’m just sharing how I personally feel about these albums, and music is subjective.

I know these reviews aren’t super in-depth, but that’s kind of the point of these mini review posts.

Alright, time to start the reviews!

Unbearable Light of the Earth by Evergreen Avenue:

This is the fourth Evergreen Avenue album I’ve reviewed this year, and like with Springtime (which I reviewed last week), I like that this album has more variety than the other two Evergreen Avenue albums I reviewed this year, but I still don’t really love this album. There are points where it’s got a nice atmosphere to it, but overall it’s just not an album I see myself going back to much.

With that being said, though, if you’re looking for some experimental instrumental ambient music, this might be what you’re looking for! And I still mostly enjoyed this!

This album has some very eerie moments that I really like, and even if as a whole it’s not fully my cup of tea, there is still a lot to like here.

I can’t pick favourite or least favourite tracks, because just like the other three Evergreen Avenue albums I’ve reviewed this year, this album just consists of one track that’s over thirty minutes and that’s the entire track list.

But back to my feelings on the album … well, I still mostly like this. I’ll give Unbearable Light of the Earth a 6.5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: N/A
Least Favourite Tracks: N/A

The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons by The Hives:

This is The Hives’ first album in over a decade, and it’s also the first one of their albums that I’ve listened to.

This album has been getting a lot of critical acclaim, and at points I really like the album, with some great basslines and catchy choruses … but at points the production sounds quite messy, and it leads to an album I like more in moments than as a whole.

There are some great songs here, like “Rigor Mortis Radio” which has some absolutely awesome percussion, or “Two Kinds of Trouble” with its great chorus and awesome guitar, but as a whole I’m going to give this album a 6.5/10, as I personally find it very inconsistent. But still, there are a lot of interesting lyrics here and I really like the vocals, and there are points where I really like the production!

If you’re a fan of punk music, I highly recommend this!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Countdown to Shutdown”, “Rigor Mortis Radio”, “Stick Up”, “Two Kinds of Trouble”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Trapdoor Solution”, “The Bomb”

Scarlet by Doja Cat:

This is Doja Cat’s fourth studio album, and despite how popular she’s been, this is the first time I’ve listened to one of her albums. But I will say I haven’t liked most of what I’ve heard of her singles … in fact, of all the Doja Cat songs I knew going into this, I don’t think I love any of them, although I do like “Get Into It (Yuh)” and “Vegas”.

But I decided to give this album some listens, and … I just can’t say it’s doing much for me at all. And that’s not to say there aren’t elements of this album that I like, because there are—I like the carefree attitude of a lot of these songs, and there are some moments where I really like Doja’s flow, and the production is decent even though at points the snare overpowers the mix, and there are other moments where the production overall just feels quite messy.

Also, “Wet Vagina” is easily my favourite Doja Cat song that I know! Again, I don’t know that many Doja Cat songs outside of this album, but still, this is a great song! I love that awesome synth that continues throughout the song, the mixing sounds great, and it’s got an absolutely infectious chorus that’s kept me hitting the replay button! And while as far as I can tell there’s not really much to this song’s lyrics, there are points where there’s more to the lyrics, and I often think it works well, like on the feminist anthem “Fuck The Girls”.

But there are also some very low lyrical lowlights in my opinion, such as that ‘vegetables’ line on “Can’t Wait”, or “Gun” which not only has a lot of cringey lines, including when she describes a gun as a metaphor for a penis, but she also mentions having sex with someone who she knows is cheating … and I’m sure it’s not meant to be taken seriously—at least I certainly hope not—but it still really doesn’t sit well with me and makes this song really off-putting.

But the majority of this album I just don’t really feel strongly about one way or the other. I don’t dislike this album, but I don’t really like it all that much, either. So, for me, it’s a 5/10. It’s got its moments, but I don’t think I’ll be going back to this as a whole any time soon.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Wet Vagina”, “Fuck The Girls (FTG)”, “Love Life”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Gun”

Atlas by Laurel Halo:

Laurel Halo is an electronic musician whom I’m not sure I’d heard of until I saw this album getting a lot of critical acclaim.

This is a mostly instrumental ambient album that’s quite mellow but doesn’t usually seem to be aiming for a particularly calm vibe. And at points it feels like there’s quite a bit of tension building, like in the opening track, “Abandon”.

And unfortunately I can’t say it’s clicking for me. I do like the production, but as a whole I’m just wishing it stood out to me more.

The melodies just don’t do a whole lot for me, and the tracks don’t really combine to create anything more than the sum of its parts if you ask me. Of course, as always, this is just how I personally feel … and thus I’m giving this a 6/10. I kind of understand the hype, but it’s just not for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Abandon”, “Sick Eros”, “Sweat, Tears or the Sea”, “Earthbound”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Reading the Air”

serenity, a passing moment by eden clear:

I talked about two eden clear albums recently in another mini review post. I could see the appeal of both albums, one of which I mostly enjoyed and one of which I didn’t really like at all. And in this post, I’m reviewing the other two eden clear albums from this year, which, like the first two I reviewed, each only have one track on them.

And this album was a bizarre listening experience for me. Because this just feels like I’m listening to static for fourteen minutes, and it’s the kind of album where, as far as I can tell, there’s so little to it, to the point where you’d think I would really dislike this … and yet I don’t. Because eden clear somehow found a way to make an album just full of static that somehow doesn’t annoy me. And I guess it’s just that there are maybe some really subtle details here … maybe—I mean, there probably are, because I feel like I can hear them (just in the timing/rhythm/etc.), but I can’t really describe it. And also I like that it changes at the very end.

Now I’m not saying I love this album, because I don’t; in fact, I don’t even particularly like it. And while I’m all for supporting smaller artists, it is a hard album for me to recommend because to me it just sounds like noise, but I am kind of impressed by it for some strange reason.

But overall, I’d recommend listening to those two eden clear albums I reviewed last week over this album any day. For me this is a 5/10, and I kind of can’t believe I don’t dislike it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: N/A
Least Favourite Tracks: N/A

pulverize by eden clear:

So, this one feels strange to review, considering that the one track here is only about six and a half minutes … and while I’m pretty sure this is officially an album, it doesn’t feel like one. That’s not to say it’s bad, because I don’t think it is—in fact, I mostly enjoyed listening to it, even though it didn’t blow my mind or anything, and I can understand why some people might hear it and say it just sounds like noise.

What I really do like is the music being played in the background which adds a lot of detail here … I just wish it were a little bit louder in the mix, and while I like that it’s quiet as I feel it adds to the haunting feeling of this album, it feels so quiet to the point where it doesn’t add as much to the album as I wish it did.

This is a difficult album to rate, because I don’t usually rate individual songs … and this might get a different rating if I were to rate it as a song (I’m not sure if it would be higher or lower or the same), but I’ll give it a 6/10. But please don’t put too much value in that score because this is really tricky to rate, and the only reason I’m rating it is to follow my own rule.

And yeah, I recommend giving this at least somewhat of a chance … there’s a very good chance you’ll find it to be way too much, but I mostly did enjoy this, and you might, too! And it’s very short as well!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: N/A
Least Favourite Tracks: N/A

RUCKUS! by Movements:

I don’t think I even knew this came out until one of my favourite music critics, Jon from ARTV, reviewed this album. I’d heard of the band Movements, but this is my first time listening to an album of theirs, and …

Well, I’m struggling to understand the hype here. Again, that’s not intended to be mean or anything, and I’m not trying to judge anyone for liking this, but I just barely found anything here that interested me personally at all.

The vocal melodies really bore me, and there’s not much about the album’s sound that really feels all that interesting to me. I mean, I mostly like the production, but there are points where certain instruments have a timbre that doesn’t really fit if you ask me. And the production doesn’t even come close to fully saving this album for me, especially considering that some parts of the album are quite annoying, like the chorus of “I Hope You Choke!”

I mean, there are still some moments here and there that I like—for example, the crushing snare in the chorus of “Dance With Death”—but no individual song here really wowed me, and as a whole the album just didn’t do much for me at all.

A lot of people seem to really like this album, and I’d recommend giving it a chance, but it’s just not for me at all, and because of that I’ll give it a 5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “You’re One Of Us Now”, “Dance With Death”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Killing Time”, “I Hope You Choke!”