Hi, everyone! Welcome back to another mini review post! As always, these are just my own personal feelings on these albums. Even if I say something negative, it’s not meant to be mean or anything, it’s just my own personal feelings on these albums.

Alright, time for the reviews!

Stations by Fellers Island:

Here’s a mostly instrumental ambient album from a Canadian artist I’d never heard of until recently.

And while I mildly enjoyed this album, I also don’t think I’m going to be going back to it much. There are moments that I like, such as the twang on “Pacing Around the Parking Lot” and some of the haunting layers of “Little Life City”, but as a whole this album fails to fully grab my attention all that much.

It seems to be aiming for a really atmospheric, enchanting sound, but it often doesn’t feel as well polished as I’d like, especially with the goopy production on “The Bench”. I wish this sounded a little more ethereal, but overall I’m mostly just lukewarm on this album.

I will say this album can bring up some strong imagery … I’m thinking maybe a beach at sunset, or a road trip late at night, those are two things that come to my head … and it does bring me some feelings of nostalgia.

But overall, I don’t think I’m going to revisit this album much. The shiny production is hit-or-miss, and the compositions feel kind of boring to me.

Still, I’ll give this a 6/10. It’s pleasant while it’s on, I guess.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Pacing Around the Parking Lot”, “Stillwater Gratto”, “Little Life City”
Least Favourite Track: “The Bench”

What an enormous room by TORRES:

This is the sixth studio album from TORRES, an artist whose 2021 album I remember listening to a few years ago. And before listening to this new album, I decided to re-listen to that album and give TORRES’s other albums a few listens each (if you’re wondering how I find the time to listen to so much music … well, honestly, it amazes me too), and while I mostly liked what I heard, I didn’t really love any of the five albums.

But with that being said, 2021’s Thirstier is probably my favourite of those five, and “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head” is a fantastic song, so I was excited to hear this …

And unfortunately it’s not doing a whole lot for me. Not only does it not have the same level of anthemic moments as Thirstier, but the vocal melodies feel underwhelming, and the production is inconsistent.

TORRES has said this album is trying to infuse listeners with energy/hope, and there are moments that I like here. “Jerk into joy” is a pretty fun track, with some nice piano and an uplifting carefree attitude which is actually something I think is pulled off pretty well throughout this album. And I also really like how “Wake to flowers” seems to represent constant mood shifts, while trying to appreciate the positive moments. And on that topic, again, I think there are good moments here …

But a lot of this just didn’t do a whole lot for me, and it’s kind of hard to fully describe why, or even for me to figure it out myself. I guess part of it is that musically a lot of this doesn’t feel like anything all that new for TORRES, with the crunch of the guitars and the sort of ‘empty’ vibe of the production at points often sounding mostly pleasant, but not really pulling me to go back to it.

But there are definitely some production elements that hold this album back for me, such as a lot of the watery synths, awkward percussion choices, and I’m not a huge fan of the mixing.

And also, “Collect” has a really icky feeling to the combination of the vocal melodies with that rougher guitar in the chorus … the messy sound doesn’t fit with this track at all in my opinion.

“Artificial limits” features some of my favourite lyrics on the album. It feels quite cynical and full of worry, with the haunting truth that we can never fully know someone else’s intentions with certainty, and how that just loiters in the air around all of us, and it can be hard to ignore sometimes. And I think it fits well with the distorted guitar and that sort of clicking percussion, giving the song even more of a feeling of angst.

Also, “Ugly mystery” is probably my favourite song on the album, tackling the disappointment of being left by a partner, and the song has some really nice atmosphere with the way the synths and guitar complement each other, but I really wish I liked the rest of the album more. I guess I’ll give this a 6/10, as I don’t think it’s bad, but it’s easily one of my least favourite TORRES albums, if not my least favourite.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Wake to flowers”, “Ugly mystery”, “Artificial limits”, “Jerk into joy”
Least Favourite Track: “Collect”

Black Flames from the Voidhand by VOIDHAND:

I’m not sure who VOIDHAND is, but this is VOIDHAND’s debut studio album. It’s a fairly short black metal album that I was curious to listen to, even though I haven’t seen it getting that much attention.

And after a few listens, I can’t really say it’s for me.

It’s worth mentioning that I couldn’t find the lyrics for this album when I looked them up, and I can’t hear what they are, so I can’t comment on the lyrics … but I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the way this sounds.

When it comes to the production, pretty much everything feels really crammed, blending really awkwardly. Although the snare for whatever reason sounds super distant from everything else, and it creates a really strange messy feeling.

And the fuzziness really takes away from the punch this could have, feeling especially overpowering on “Antediluvian Burial Mounds”. And there’s also the goopy synth timbres which also get quite annoying.

And the thing is, there are seeds of a really good album here … I like a lot of the compositions, with some haunting melodies and nice drum rhythms, and the ferocious vocals are mixed really well, adding some grit that definitely elevates this album for me … but the production really holds the album back for me overall.

This kind of feels like it could be the soundtrack to a horror movie. In that context it might work for me more, but as it is … I don’t dislike it, but it’s also not hitting as hard for me as I’d like. I’ll give it a 6/10, and with better production it might be more like a 7 or a 7.5 … but as it is, I’d only call it decent.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Thunderous Wail of Black Iron Blades”, “Vomiting Swarms of Locusts”, “In the Wake of Dark Medieval Supremacy”
Least Favourite Track: “As the Night Wyvern’s Roar Shatters the Dawn”

The Night Has Passed Already by Vanity Productions:

Vanity Productions is the solo project of Christian Stadsgaard, whose music I’ve never listened to before this new album came out. And this album is my first experience with his music ever.

I guess this could be described as an ambient drone album, and it’s got a lot of staticky sounds throughout, with a bit of a dreamlike feeling to it as well.

It’s hard for me to really describe the feeling I get when listening to this, but it’s kind of like I’m in another world, wondering what’s going on, with the atmosphere providing a lot of mysterious feeling.

I don’t think this album is mind-blowing or anything like that, but it is very fascinating, and brings lots of images to my head of someone feeling like they’re losing their way in life, trying to figure out what to do next.

And I highly doubt that’s what this album is supposed to represent, but that’s one thing I find so interesting about instrumental music—it’s arguably more open to interpretation than any other music.

I can’t quite say I love this album—there’s not a ton about it that really makes me want to revisit it much, and some of the higher frequency sounds can be a bit annoying—but this is still some really strong ambient music that I’m glad I gave a chance. 7/10 for me!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Shrouded in Silence”, “Way Around the Canvas”, “So Dried Up and Malnouirshed”
Least Favourite Track: “The Night Has Passed Already”

Sd-2 by Loukeman:

Here’s a new album from an artist I don’t think I’d heard of until I saw this album came out. It was released in early-to-mid January, and I think it could probably be described as house music, although I’m not very good at determining what genre an album is.

And unfortunately I don’t think this is all that good. It’s got a few catchy moments here and there, but for the most part this felt pretty bland to me. But with all that being said, it does make me kind of curious to hear more from Loukeman, as I am at least somewhat interested in some of the experimentation on this album.

I do think this is mostly well-produced, with the sharp synths that don’t feel too overpolished, as well as the percussion sounding really good in the mix. Parts of this album feel like they could work for a road trip or something, although I still don’t think this album is going to have a lot of replay value for me, if any.

Despite me mostly liking the production, there are some exceptions to that. “Gorgeous Stuff” ironically has some of the ugliest production here in my opinion, and I don’t like the overpowering bass in “Giverrr”.

And compositionally I’m not all that wowed by this either, without a lot of standout melodies in my opinion, and “Winzzz” sounds like a song from Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind, albeit with better production.

There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of lyrics on this album, as the vocals seem to mostly be chopped up. I couldn’t find many lyrics when I looked them up, and I’m pretty sure there aren’t many here anyway.

So, reviewing this based on the way it sounds … well, it’s not for me at all. I’m going to give this a 5/10. It’s got some enjoyable moments, but it’s also got its low points.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Take”, “Idrk”, “Real Life Man”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Baby You’re a Star”, “Gorgeous Stuff”, “Giverrr”

Wall of Eyes by The Smile:

This was a highly anticipated album for a lot of people, the second studio album by the Radiohead spin-off The Smile, composed of Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood as well as drummer Tom Skinner. And as much as I like Radiohead, I’ll admit I haven’t listened to them nearly as much as I’d like—and thus I’m in the process of listening through their discography, something I just never really got around to doing until recently.

Anyway, The Smile’s 2022 debut album got a lot of critical acclaim, and I didn’t really remember loving that album, but I wanted to relisten to it in preparation for this, and it’s once again not really clicking for me all that much. I mostly like that album, but I don’t love it. It sounded very much like Radiohead but without doing a whole lot that I found all that interesting outside of a few moments.

And just like that album, Wall of Eyes has been getting a lot of critical acclaim, and unfortunately once again it’s not really clicking for me all that much.

And it’s not really an album that gives me a whole lot to say. There are some haunting vocals and instrumentals, the production is pretty good, and I’m mostly bored by the melodies/compositions.

Lyrically, there are some interesting moments, such as the feelings of isolation and worry of “Friend of a Friend”, and I like how there seems to be a running theme throughout the album about the things we take for granted. And “Bending Hectic” has some of the most haunting lyrics here, and it’s probably my favourite song on the album, with the way it turns a brief moment into an eight-minute track, and that awesome crunch of the guitar later on.

Also, on a bit of a side note, “Friend of a Friend” has strong “Pyramid Song” vibes, and I do like this song even though I don’t like it as much as “Pyramid Song”.

Anyway, overall as a whole album this didn’t really wow me all that much, and a lot of it just felt like stuff I’ve heard from Radiohead but done a lot better with more creativity and uniqueness. But as always, that’s just my opinion. For me, this is a 6.5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Under Our Pillows”, “Friend of a Friend”, “Bending Hectic”
Least Favourite Track: “You Know Me!”

The Perils of Love and Loss by Sankaku:

I recently discovered this album by a fairly new artist I’d never heard of until very recently.

This is a pretty short black metal album which features some pretty hard-hitting guitar and drums, and I like a lot of the guitar melodies. I think it could have used a bit more bass presence—I mean, I can hear the bass, but the production doesn’t make it feel like as big a part of the album as I wish it did—but sonically this is quite strong for the most part!

And there’s a lot of emotion in the lyrics and the vocals as well, which fits really well with the sonic elements of this album. “Ura Gatame” hits especially hard for me, showing the narrator trying to find an escape from something.

This album doesn’t seem super deep or anything, but I don’t think it needs to be in order to hit really hard … it’s a heartbreaking listen, but I’m really glad I gave it a chance!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Kosoto Gake”, “Ko-uchi-makikomi”, “Ura Gatame”, “Harai-tsurikomi-ashi”
Least Favourite Track: “Hiza Guruma”

Shoelace & a Knot by yungatita:

Here’s an album that came out back in early January of this year, and it’s the debut album from an indie rock band that’s been getting some buzz recently, and this seemed to be getting a generally positive reception.

And understandably, as I think it’s pretty good! The guitar has some killer distortion that just burns throughout this album remarkably well, the punchy drums sound awesome (especially the snares)—with “Descenda” featuring a fantastic passage with the kick and snare being the clear stars of the show—and their lead vocalist Valentina Zapata has a lot of personality behind the mic that really shines through and shows a lot of potential for this band!

And while the lyrics may seem simple on the surface, a lot of it seems to be a disguise for much darker themes, and I think it’s really well written and layered, with possible themes of trying to untangle what causes toxic behaviour, all hidden behind the personality, like the album is trying to deceive you into thinking this is a happy album … and to me, it represents someone trying to find an escape from trauma, and it’s much more heartbreaking than you’d think for what seems like a fun, upbeat indie rock album. And of course this is all just my interpretation, but this really impressed me!

And unfortunately, it’s one of those cases where there are so many individual elements of the album that I really like, and yet it doesn’t work as well when you put it all together. Because again, musically I think this is really strong—it reminds me in some ways of Girl with Fish by feeble little horse with its quirky energy, scuzzy guitars, and those melodies that kind of feel like they go against the rest of the song and yet work better than you’d expect—but as you may have figured out if you read my reviews a lot, lyrics and music go hand in hand for me a lot of the time; a lot of it is about how they work together.

And I really wish there was a bit of a darker edge in the music here, but almost all of the time, there isn’t. And it’s not that I don’t like fun, upbeat indie rock, but the combination of these lyrics with the music creates an incongruous experience that doesn’t work nearly as well as it feels like it should.

And even on top of that, I do wish the basslines stood out to me a little bit more and had more presence in the mix, and there are more occasional production nitpicks I could make here.

I still mostly enjoyed this album, don’t get me wrong. And there is the occasional moment that really stands out to me in a positive way, with “Whiplash” probably being my favourite song on the album as the music actually feels more fitting, but the more I listened to this the less I could look past those awkward contrasts.

I’m going to give Shoelace & a Knot a 7/10. It’s got so much about it that I really, really like, but unfortunately I just don’t think it fully sticks the landing. I still mostly like it though, and for fans of indie rock I would definitely recommend this!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Other”, “Pick At Your Face”, “Whiplash”, “Pack It Up”
Least Favourite Track: “2 Cigs”

Prelude to Ecstasy by The Last Dinner Party:

This band has definitely had quite the big breakout story over the past year, with their 2023 debut single “Nothing Matters” being a pretty big song on the UK charts, and now they’ve released their debut studio album to large amounts of critical acclaim. And based on what I was seeing/hearing it was seeming like this is a glam rock album. I’m not entirely sure how to define Glam Rock, but it made me curious to listen to this.

And to be totally honest, I’m struggling to get what the massive hype around this album is. Yes, there are some good lyrical ideas here, talking about a variety of subjects such as feminism, fame, religion, and much more, but I personally don’t find it to be as layered or interesting as I think I’m supposed to. Often this album feels like it’s trying to make a huge statement and it just ends up leaving me underwhelmed, with “The Feminine Urge” being a big example of that, as like with a lot of the songs here the lyrics feel pretty surface level for the most part.

And as always, I very well could be missing something, and of course there’s nothing wrong with lyrics being surface level … but considering the grandness of this album, and the fact that it feels like it’s supposed to really make you think … I just wish there was a little more to it. At least that’s how I hear it.

Now, with that being said, there are some lyrical moments I really like, such as the melodramatic sense of nihilism in “Nothing Matters”, and “Caesar on a TV Screen” seems to revolve around main character syndrome and a desire to be the most powerful force, and honestly that’s probably in a small part of most of us. And tracks like “On Your Side” and “Portrait of a Dead Girl” have some heartbreaking lyrics showing the narrator’s attachment to a toxic relationship, with one of the most striking lines on the album coming from the latter, ‘If anyone could kill me, it probably would be you.’

And there’s also “Burn Alive”, which describes the narrator’s relationship with fame, and the anthemic instrumentation has enough real power to it to really fit with the lyrics which are full of melodrama despite the real grief mentioned here, and the melodrama is surprisingly fitting here, with the sense of desperation for satisfaction. And I like the sort of full-circle moment of “Mirror” which is similar thematically.

But most of the time this album feels really underwhelming sonically. The instrumentals don’t have a lot of firepower to them, nor does the production, and for an album that feels like it’s trying to be so anthemic that can be really underwhelming.

Often I find that the drums sound like they were produced for a different song, such as in “On Your Side” or “Sinner”. And the mixing on this album isn’t really working for me, either, especially in “The Feminine Urge” in which the vocals get buried in the mix.

And while there are a few exceptions, most of the vocal melodies aren’t doing a whole lot for me, either, and as a result of that these songs aren’t as catchy as I’d like.

I mean, I get why people like this album, but I don’t fully understand all the massive hype. Again, there are some lyrical ideas that I like here, and I do also really like the occasional hook like on “Burn Alive” and “My Lady of Mercy”, but I’m not as impressed by this as I feel like I’m supposed to be.

So, in the end I guess I’ll give it a 6/10. I respect the ambition here, and at points it clicks for me, but those moments are few and far between. I don’t think there’s a bad song here, but I also don’t think there’s a lot of great ones.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Burn Alive”, “My Lady of Mercy”, “Nothing Matters”
Least Favourite Track: “The Feminine Urge”

The Pyre Aflame by Abyssal Frost:

This is the debut album from an underground death metal band I’d never heard of until recently. Now, it’s worth mentioning that I’m not a huge fan of death metal, but I decided to give this a chance anyway. I mean, it’s pretty short, and it can be nice to listen to genres I don’t usually listen to.

And while my distaste for the genre overall is probably a contributing factor to me not liking this more than I do, I will say this did pleasantly surprise me, and I’ll have to keep an eye out for future releases from this band! This grabbed my attention a lot more than I thought it would!

I really like the way this combines death metal and black metal—I’d say it’s more the former overall but it’s got elements of both.

The ferocious vocals sound great in the mix, with that awesome double-kick feeling like a really good foundation at points, even though it’s only in specific parts of the album. And the distorted guitar feels like it represents an attack of some sort, which feels fitting considering the album’s lyrics. And that guitar solo on “Refuge In a Tomb” was a really nice surprise!

The graphic lyrics may make some people uncomfortable, but I like how this album paints a picture of a bleak future with a lot of potential metaphors, and the sound of the album is really fitting with the lyrics.

This feels like the kind of album that would be really fitting to listen to when I’m feeling really frustrated, as a way to try and get rid of whatever anger is inside me. Would it work? I’m not sure. But it is a lot of fun to listen to despite the bleakness of it!

This album reminds me a lot of Artificial Brain’s self-titled album from 2022, and while I don’t think this is as good as that album, I still ended up liking this a lot more than I thought I would! I’ll give this a light 8/10! I’m not totally wowed by it, but it is quite a fascinating listen that I could see having a good amount of replay value.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Pyre Aflame”, “Awakening (The Pyre Aflame Pt. III)”, “Hypothermic Amputation”, “Refuge In a Tomb”, “Coronal Mass Ejection”
Least Favourite Track: “Diseased Machines (The Pyre Aflame Pt. II)”