Hello, everyone! Welcome back to another mini review post! I know it’s been a while since my last mini review post, but I’ve been busy recently, and I wanted to wait until I was done a bunch of mini reviews so I could make another post with 9 or 10 albums (10 in this case).

As always, these are just my own personal feelings on these albums. Music is subjective, and even if I say something negative it’s not meant to be mean or anything. I’m not claiming to be objectively right about these albums.

Alright, time for the reviews!

Neck Deep by Neck Deep:

This is the fifth studio album by Neck Deep, a band I’ve heard about quite a bit but hadn’t really listened to much … and before going into this album, I quickly listened to their other albums, and while I wasn’t super impressed by what I heard, I was still curious to listen to this new album.

And while there are some elements that I like here, I also wasn’t really wowed by this, and some elements of this album are really off-putting. And it leads to a mediocre album in my opinion.

I will start by saying the guitar riffs are pretty good for the most part, especially with some of the crunch the distortion provides—even though it washes over some of the other elements, but I’ll get to that later—and Ben Barlow’s vocals are good, too, amplifying the angst and frustration of the lyrics, and there’s the occasional good vocal melody …

But the production really doesn’t work for me at all, most notably the mixing, as the guitar just overpowers everything. The drums and vocals feel buried, and the bass is like pineapple on pizza, and in my opinion that’s not a good thing.

And it gets even worse considering how bad the vocal layering sounds to me, creating a really gooey texture that doesn’t fit well at all with the guitars.

And some of the attempted self-awareness in the lyrics feel really off-putting, especially in a song like “Dumbstruck Dumbf**k”, where the narrator is painted as being knowingly in the wrong and still acting very self-centered. And often the lyrics can also just feel really surface-level and cliché.

Now, with that being said, I do like some moments like “It Won’t Be Like This Forever” which seems to be showing the narrator trying to help someone else through tough times, but the narrator can’t fully relate, because no one can fully relate to anyone else … although I also kind of wonder if the ‘you’ in this song is the pessimistic side of the narrator. And it works really well with a strong chorus and such bright vocal melodies.

And I like how “We Need More Bricks” shows the narrator wanting things to change but also feeling helpless, calling on someone else to save the day.

But overall, this album isn’t for me. The production and mixing sound really messy and it only really clicks for me in occasional moments. So, for me it’s a 5/10. If you love pop-punk, this might be up your alley … but even as someone who likes a lot of pop-punk, this isn’t my cup of tea at all.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “We Need More Bricks”, “It Won’t Be Like This Forever”, “Moody Weirdo”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Sort Yourself Out”, “They May Not Mean To (But They Do)”

Big Sigh by Marika Hackman:

I was looking online for new albums to review, and I came across this album by an artist I’m not sure I’d heard of until just recently. And I considered listening through the rest of her discography before checking out this album, but considering how many other reviews I’ve been working on and some other large discographies I’ve been listening through in preparation for reviews, I decided not to do that here, and to just go into this album without much of an idea of what to expect.

But now that I’ve listened to this, I might actually listen to her other albums soon, because this is a great first impression! And the first thing I want to point out is just how much haunting atmosphere there is to this album. These tracks feel very delicately crafted, with the production sounding absolutely gorgeous! First of all, the vocal production sounds excellent, and it fits the mood of so many of these songs, like the emptiness of the lyrics amplified by the airy sound and the slightly buried vocals on the title track, or the vocal layering in the post-chorus of “Hanging” which kind of nails that huge feeling of grandness it seems to be aiming for!

Lyrically there’s a lot of introspection, with a lot of it seeming to be about trying to find self-love while you feel surrounded by your own insecurities, and I think it mostly pulls that off really well, especially with the way the lyrics are paired with some excellent compositions.

And I also really like some of the moments that let loose a bit more, such as “Slime” with its horny lyrics and a super catchy chorus which sounds awesome with those gorgeous vocal melodies and with the guitar and drums providing some grit, or “Vitamins” in which she questions how special she really is … and I think it’s hard not to feel like a speck of dust sometimes in this massive universe, and this song really encapsulates that with its spacey production, amplifying that sense of distance.

But still, at its core, this feels like a very trapped album, if that makes any sense. It kind of feels like an album I could imagine being released in 2020 or 2021 when the pandemic had taken over the world … and considering how the effects of the pandemic are still very much with us today and probably won’t fully go away, I think this album hits really hard. It’s got such a haunting feeling of isolation and doubt, and the absolutely excellent production elevates this a lot, too!

I will say some moments here do leave a bit to be desired, especially toward the end of the album when the vocal melodies feel a little more meandering, and I do occasionally have a production nitpick here and there despite how gorgeous it sounds overall. But still, to me this is the first legit great album I’ve reviewed this year! If you’re a fan of folk-rock or anything like that, maybe in the vein of acts like boygenius, I think you’re really missing out if you haven’t heard this! It’s an 8/10 for me! I’m so glad I gave this a chance, and I’m now really curious to check out her other albums!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Ground”, “No Caffeine”, “Big Sigh”, “Hanging”, “Vitamins”, “Slime”
Least Favourite Track: “Please Don’t Be So Kind”

ORQUÍDEAS by Kali Uchis:

So, this is actually my first time listening to a Kali Uchis album. Yes, I’ve seen/heard the massive amounts of critical acclaim, but the only song of hers I knew going into this was “telepatía”. And despite how much critical acclaim that song has gotten, I’ve never been as big a fan of it as a lot of people are, as I feel like it sounds overproduced and I don’t find the vocal melodies all that interesting.

But I saw this album getting a lot of critical acclaim, and I wanted to give it a chance. And … well, unfortunately I can’t say this is really clicking for me all that much.

First of all, I should mention that a lot of the lyrics are in Spanish, and I don’t know Spanish, so while I found translated versions of the lyrics online, I’m not sure how accurate the translations are. I will say that based on the translations I saw, the lyrics don’t seem to have that much to them in my opinion, but I don’t think they’re bad, either, and they often fit well with the sound of these songs.

But overall, as a whole album it just leaves a lot to be desired for me.

I do like some of the glossier production at points, such as on the first two songs here, and for the most part I really like the percussion … but the vocal melodies often feel underwhelming, and at points this can get quite annoying—well, actually, I’m mostly talking about one song, that being “Muñekita”, which … well, there’s the overpowering percussion that’s too loud in the mix (one of the few moments here where I don’t like the percussion), and the annoying flows and the overall lack of anything I find at all interesting.

But as a whole … I mean, I’d say I mostly enjoyed this. I’ll give it a strong 6/10, as it’s got some good features, and I mostly like Kali Uchis’s vocals, and I think the album starts really strong … I just don’t think I’m gonna go back to it much.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “¿Cómo así?”, “Me Pongo Loca”, “No Hay Ley Parte 2”
Least Favourite Track: “Muñekita”

Consumption Without End by Escaping Aghartha:

Escaping Aghartha started as a solo project by Avery Dart and then grew to feature more members, and considering their large discography I decided not to listen to those albums before this one, and I just went into this with no idea at all what to expect … well, not much of an idea, at least. Because I did see this described as drone metal, which didn’t really give me the highest of expectations, but I was curious.

And … well, I actually don’t really mind it. It’s the kind of musical experience where I can see why it might work, even though it’s not really for me, and the progression throughout the album is pretty impressive. This album isn’t as much about huge musical transitions/shifts, more a gradual process which slowly turns into a nightmarish soundscape that actually has some vigor to it. The last of the three tracks here (two of them are over ten minutes, so the album is about half an hour long) is easily my favourite!

On Bandcamp it shows what the album is about, and it’s described as ‘a concept album about the negative environmental impacts of consumerism and all which it entails.’ And while I personally struggle to associate it with that considering there are no lyrics, the music does feel kind of fitting to describe the planet slowly dying.

Now, with that being said, even if it’s intended to represent a bleak future, some of these sounds are pretty unpleasant to listen to, like the distorted noise on “Without” that sounds like a diesel truck, and the roaring vocals (or at least what sound like vocals) throughout this album that just feel unnecessarily distracting from the overall vibe.

But speaking of which, the overall vibe here is pretty strong, as bleak as it is, with the icy feeling of the production mixed with the blazing distortion that does actually sound pretty good in my opinion—most of the time, that is.

I guess it’s an album I get the appeal of more than one that I actually really like all that much, but if you can associate the album’s intended meaning with the music itself you might really dig this! For me personally … well, it’s not really my thing, and thus I’m giving this an extremely light 6/10. I absolutely recommend giving it a listen, at least if you’re into ambient/drone music, and I certainly like it more than a lot of the stuff I’ve heard in this genre, and the drama keeps feeling bigger and bigger throughout … but I don’t think I’m going to go back to this much, if at all. I think it’s a fascinating album, but I wouldn’t call it great.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Track: “End”
Least Favourite Track: “Without”

plastic death by glass beach:

This is the second studio album by glass beach, a band whose debut album came out in 2019 and was quite critically acclaimed. And before listening to this album, I gave that album one listen … and it didn’t really do much for me. Maybe if I listen to it more it’ll grow on me, but I doubt it.

Anyway, I didn’t have the highest of hopes for this, but I have seen this getting a lot of critical acclaim, even more than their debut … and I can at least say it’s an interesting album, that’s for sure.

Stylistically there is a lot of variety, from the kind of Radiohead-esque songs like “slip under the door” and “abyss angel” to “the killer” which kind of feels like a mid-2010s indie rock song to “puppy”, which is probably my favourite song here as it blends a very funky vibe with an alt-rock sound, and while it kind of sounds like a demo I actually think it really works, and the mixing sounds better than you’d probably imagine for a song with such a demo-like sound to it!

Musically this feels like a journey meant to make you think and possibly to leave you baffled at what you just listened to … and while I think it’s a fascinating album, I can’t say it’s really clicking for me all that much. And a big part of that is just how jumpy a lot of these instrumentals feel, taking away from the atmosphere these songs could provide … and there’s also the fact that the mix of musical styles here doesn’t really lead to a cohesive album experience for me. It’s not that I don’t like variety, but it almost feels like it’s trying too hard if you know what I mean.

The lyrics feel quite cryptic, although there are some reoccurring themes throughout, including multiple mentions of mayflies … and it feels like an album that’s trying to make you rethink the world and how it works, using as many possible ways to do that as it can. Keep in mind I could be wrong about any of this—it’s just my interpretation—but it keeps feeling like it’s leaving something to be desired for me, and I can’t fully place what. But it’s not really resonating with me emotionally nor is it making me think as much as it seems to be trying to.

And I’ll admit I could have looked into this album more deeply than I did … but it just doesn’t really seem like the kind of album that’s for me. Yeah, you could say that’s kind of unfair of me considering I’m reviewing the album, but as always I’m just sharing my own personal feelings on the album … and it is a mini review.

So, yeah, while I very well could be missing something here, it just doesn’t feel as cohesive or interesting as I’d like, with a lot of the metaphors feeling like they’re lacking more depth, and again, it feels a bit too all over the place musically for me.

But is the production at least good?

Well … not really, if you ask me. The instruments feel way more distant from each other than I would have liked, and at times they can blend together really awkwardly, like in the noisy section toward the end of “the CIA”.

But still, with all this being said, I would absolutely recommend this album. It is a fascinating listen that you might get way more out of than I do … but especially considering its length of over an hour, it just left a lot to be desired for me personally. I’ll give it a 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “slip under the door”, “whalefall”, “puppy”, “commatose”
Least Favourite Track: “guitar song”

Down There! by Folly Group:

This post-punk band gained some traction a few years ago for their 2021 debut EP, Awake and Hungry. Now, I personally haven’t listened to either of their EPs, but this is their official debut studio album, and as a fan of post-punk I was curious about this album. So, I decided to give it multiple listens and review it here.

And there is definitely a lot for me to like here. There are some strong grooves with pummeling drums which sound great when paired with the rest of the instrumentation and also sounds really good in the mix, and I like the vocal performances, too, which contribute to the catchiness of these tracks!

Overall, I think the album is quite well produced. Yeah, I do wish the instrumental timbres blended together a little bit better, but the bass has enough presence in the mix, and there are some really nice details in the production that I really like, such as the watery sound of the guitar in “I’ll Do What I Can”, the blazing guitar sounding fantastic on “Bright Night”, or the way the pummeling snare fits super well in “East Flat Crows”.

But I can’t say I’m as big a fan of the vocal melodies. These songs often feel like they’re so close to being super catchy bangers, but a lot of them feel like they’re missing something, and I think stronger melodic hooks might be what this feels like it’s lacking.

Lyrically a lot of this seems to be about trying to have empathy and understand others, at least on some tracks, and while I very well could be missing something, I will say it doesn’t feel all that interesting or layered to me personally, even though I like a lot of the themes.

But at points it feels hard-hitting enough with the slightly cryptic lyrics of certain songs where I don’t really care about depth, and there are some good basslines and catchy guitar moments … so, overall, I mostly ended up liking this. It’s some pretty solid post-punk, and it’s getting a 7/10 from me!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “I’ll Do What I Can”, “Bright Night”, “East Flat Crows”, “Nest”
Least Favourite Track: “New Feature”

Π​α​ρ​α​μ​α​ι​ν​ο​μ​έ​ν​η by Ὁπλίτης:

This album from the one-man project of Liu Zhenyang is one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year so far. And considering I saw it described as black metal, I was definitely curious to hear it.

Now, it’s worth mentioning the lyrics are in Greek, and the only language I know is English, so while I translated the lyrics online, I don’t know how accurate the translations are. But that doesn’t mean I can’t end up liking the album, so does it live up to the hype for me?

Well, it seems based on the translation I read of the album’s description on Bandcamp that this was inspired by Liu’s mental health struggles, and while I certainly hope this helped him and I hope he’s doing well, I can’t say I’m a fan of the album.

It reminds me in some ways of Victory Over the Sun’s album from last year which nearly made my top 10 favourites of that year, although I like pretty much everything about that album more than this one. First of all, the cryptic lyrics here don’t really bring up as much imagery for me—although again, I’m reading translated versions of the lyrics—and while the music sounds like it’s aiming for this really experimental sound, a lot of it doesn’t feel all that distinct to me. And when it does feel more experimental, there’s not really much that I found that ties it all together to create a whole album I’d want to revisit.

And considering how long this album is, too, it makes it feel kind of like a slog for me to get through. It’s like I’m waiting for that huge, epic moment, and outside of maybe the last track when the metal instrumentation fades back in toward the end, it doesn’t even come close to happening if you ask me.

But is the production at least good? Well, I can’t really say I like it, with the guitar sounding a lot more raspy than I would have liked, and some oddly clunky snares that sound overpowering. And then there’s the saxophone, which creates some really awkward texture in my opinion with the way it’s produced, not really sounding all that great to me over the rest of the instrumentation.

I mean, the bass does sound pretty good in the mix, which is kind of a saving grace for this album, but I’m just not wowed at all by this, despite the huge amounts of critical acclaim. I’m just being totally honest here, so for me this is a 5/10, and I doubt I’ll be going back to this any time soon.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Track: “ Ἄπαυστα θεία μανία”
Least Favourite Track: “ Ἡ τῶν λυσσημάτων ἄγγελος”

Obsidian Wreath by Infant Island:

This is the third studio album by this metal band whom I’d never heard of until recently, and before listening to this album I decided to listen to their first two albums a few times each … and while they have some intensity to them with some punishing instrumentation that I really like, I can’t say I love either album. I do think their second album showed some improvement lyrically, with some interesting commentary on nihilism and questioning whether or not ego is a good thing (this is all just my interpretation, though), whereas their debut felt like it was disguised in the musical atmosphere as being really deep, when the vagueness of the lyrics just didn’t impress me all that much—I very well could be missing something, but to me it just didn’t feel very interesting lyrically.

But I saw this new album getting a lot of critical acclaim, probably the most of their three studio albums! So, I was very excited to check it out! Did it live up to the hype?

Well, first of all, the lyrics don’t feel as vague as they do on the first album. That’s not to say they aren’t open to interpretation or difficult to understand, because they are, but it at least seems to have more to it if you ask me. Although it doesn’t feel as fully fleshed out lyrically as it could have, as I struggle to find my own meaning in these songs … I mean, maybe that’s the point, but it’s just not really doing a whole lot for me lyrically. There are seeds of ideas that I like, such as how “Amaranthine” is potentially about losing a loved one after subconsciously denying the inevitability of death, or how the closing track “Vestygian” seems like an attempt to untangle the motives behind immoral behaviour—keep in mind I’m probably wrong about all of these interpretations—but to me personally it just feels like this album could have used a little more lyrical depth to really give these tracks more meaning for me beyond just song concepts. Again, this is just how I hear it, but this is my review.

But even sonically I can’t call myself a big fan of this. Compositionally it feels pretty by-the-numbers for this kind of screamo music. Sure, there’s the occasional moment that feels a little less expected, such as the chilly atmosphere with vocals that sound very distorted on “Found Hand”, which I think fits well with the bleak lyrics. But for the most part the intensity doesn’t click as much as I think it’s supposed to, with these tracks not really feeling like they’re building all that much or really creating a whole lot of tension.

And part of this is because of the production. Because while the basslines add some nice melody, the bass also feels so distant from the rest of the instruments with the way it’s all produced, and it really doesn’t feel like it has as much presence in the mix, despite being at around the right volume for me. And the guitars don’t have nearly the crunch I think they were supposed to, often just sounding more distracting than anything, especially in “Veil”, which easily has my least favourite production on the album, with the fuzzy distortion and the clunky drums, and an overall messy sound that I don’t think works at all.

I don’t think this is a bad album, but it was a pretty big disappointment for me considering how highly praised it’s been … I’m gonna give this a 6/10. I just struggled to get into it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Fulfilled”, “Found Hand”, “Clawing, Still”, “Kindling”
Least Favourite Track: “Veil”

She’s Back! by Mery Steel:

This is a debut album that I was not aware of until I saw Spectrum Pulse’s review of it, and considering it’s a country album and I’ve recently become a country music fan, I was really excited to hear this!

And yet … it’s just not doing much for me at all. Compositionally and melodically it just doesn’t feel all that interesting to me, with the occasional good melody here and there, but overall it doesn’t really make me feel anything.

The production on this album feels quite polished, which I think does work to some extent, as this kind of music can be really underwhelming with messy production. However, at points it can feel overdone, like in “Honey”, with the underpowered guitar timbre and the goopy combination of the instruments with the way it’s produced.

I think the album’s at its best when it’s got just the tiniest bit of a rough sound to it without taking away from the smooth production—the biggest example I think is “Bear In Your House”, a great song with a killer bassline and great vocal production, and the glossy production feels just right with that harsh snare feeling different from everything else, but not really out of place, helping to match the messy post-breakup narrative, trying to figure out what went wrong.

And speaking of the lyrics … well, as far as I can tell, most of the lyrics throughout this album aren’t particularly deep. Maybe I’m missing something, but they just seem to me like lyrics that either resonate for you emotionally or they don’t … and it just didn’t do much for me personally.

I think the album starts pretty strong and does have some good moments throughout, but as a whole I’m just not wowed by it. If you’re looking to get into country music but haven’t listened to much of it, this might be a good intro to the genre, but it’s nowhere near the best country music I’ve heard in recent years. Still pretty good, though. I’ll give it a 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “What’s Best”, “Bear In Your House”, “Love You”
Least Favourite Track: “Honey”

It’s Sorted by Cheekface:

One thing I’ll say about Cheekface is that there aren’t a lot of bands I’ve heard who sound similar to them. The way they fill their songs with social commentary that has their own unique perspective is … well, on paper, that seems like something a lot of bands do, because it is, but the way they do it is just … it’s hard to describe with words. But with all that being said, I have struggled to really get into their music. I often find the spoken-word delivery kind of off-putting as it often can sound kind of forced, and the lyrics often feel quite corny.

But still, I was curious to hear this new album of theirs … and unfortunately it’s just not really doing a whole lot for me. Once again I struggle to get into Greg Katz’s spoken-word delivery, and when there are more melodic moments it doesn’t really grab my attention all that much, often feeling kind of like I’m listening to a really cheesy commercial or something.

And when it comes to the lyrics … well, as expected for a Cheekface album, it’s full of humour as well as a lot of social commentary. And while I’m not great at analyzing lyrics accurately, a lot of this just feels like a failed attempt to be really thought-provoking. As always, I very well could be missing something here, but while I do like the occasional line here and there, a lot of this is just kind of in one ear and out the other, feeling a lot more generic lyrically than I think was intended.

Now I will say there are seeds of some really good lyrical ideas in my opinion, like how “I Am Continuing to Do My Thing” is a self-focus anthem with that possible underlying satire considering how important it is we all help each other out, and “Don’t Stop Believing” (not a Journey cover) talks about the impact money has had on our society. But often even when there are good ideas here, the lyrics can feel a lot more surface level and basic than I would have liked, especially on the closing track, “Plastic”. But just keep in mind I very well could be wrong about all of this, especially considering how little knowledge of the world I have compared to a lot of people. Although it might be saying something when I don’t really feel like I’ve learned all that much from the points being made on this album.

Now, with all this being said, I do mostly like the production here. Yeah, the bass could use a bit more presence—although at points it sounds really good, like in “Grad School”—but I like the punchy snares and a lot of the guitar timbres. Compositionally a lot of these songs can feel like they blend together, but I really like the overall sound quality of it all.

But I still don’t think this album is going to have much replay value for me. There are some good songs on this album, but I don’t think I’d call any of them great, and the playful vibe of this album is the kind that can feel way too sugary at points. So, for me it’s a 6/10 … if you’re looking for some quirky indie rock with a lot of social commentary, then this might be for you. But I feel like I’ve heard this style done a lot better.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Grad School”, “Trophy Hunting at the Zoo”, “There Were Changes in the Hardcore Scene”, “Don’t Stop Believing”
Least Favourite Track: “Largest Muscle”