Aster Tracks

I know I’m way past my little cultural moment here but I promised my brother I would review this, he’ll probably regret asking me after reading it, anyway! Here it is; the eight album by your gateway metal band and mine, Avenged Sevenfold! All seriousness, I have a pretty deep history with this band, they were in a lot of ways my gateway to heavier music, were the headliners at my first concert and while I got really, really tired of all their songs I still hold Waking the Fallen in a special spot. After the classics though I sort of saw A7X as your average arena rock band, they keep making music that everyone talks about for two minutes, they play huge headliners to people who generally stay offline. (Am I judging them or am I jealous?) They just sort of are. Like all big metal bands they’re here to stay. This record seems to be making a huge splash, however, being cited as a progressive masterpiece or the worst thing you ever heard. It also seems like it’s the last A7X record ever? A...

Hi everyone, it’s me, it’s Claudia and it’s finally time to review this new Hot Mulligan record; Why Would I Watch. Hot Mulligan have had a great run in the 2020s so far with their last record, you’ll be fine, spawning a number of scene hits with its lead single “*Equip Sunglasses*” becoming an emo staple and BCKYRD even being pushed by Record Store Day. Since then it feels like the MI boys are everywhere in the emo scene, touring non stop, on the tip of everyone’s tongue and still being shouted out as a “hot new band.” I myself was bought in by you’ll be fine and have followed Hot Mulligan for these past few years now and have become pretty familiar with their entire catalog. That pre-existing context made this experience all the richer. Tades Sanville has always written songs on his own struggles with his family, his exposure to addiction and of course his own interpersonal relationships and on Why Would I Watch a lot of those stories sort of come to a conclusion. In my notes-taking ...

Chicago’s “diet punks” have come up with their debut full length, or so I’ve been told. I was surprised to hear about this record being a debut considering I’ve been a fan of Guardrail for a few years now and it appears, on streaming services anyway, that they had another record in 2017 but I suppose that could be a mislabeled EP. I’m even more surprised to hear about this record at all. I didn’t know that Content was dropping until just days prior to its release and OYER used to be really on top of their promo game. Not to open this review with heavy criticism but they used to be on top of their releases as well and unfortunately for the last year or so I’ve been really underwhelmed. I don’t hate this record and do have some nice things to say about it. I don’t really recall both vocalists in this band being used for lead duties in their past EPs and singles, maybe I’m wrong, but I have to admire the occasional second voice leading me through a track. This shines especially on “Guilt ...

Ada Rook has had an incredibly busy year. In January she and Ash Nerve released Ultra Paradise as Angel Electronics; a record that took some classic elements of screamo and pop rock from the mid-aughts and put a modern and personal spin on them all. Then in May she released Rookie’s Bustle; a collection of unused material from her various projects. Mix in some live performances and I thought that was all we were getting this year. But now she’s fronting a grindcore project; Crisis Sigil with their debut full-length. Right off the bat you know who this frontwoman is, her style is distinguishable even when she fits it to form with whatever genre is backing her. It’s a Rook classic move to strain her voice, but here she’s taking herself to the extreme, she growls on various songs. Not only in voice though, you can tell there’s Ada Rook production throughout this record whether it be the generated voices, the illusion breaking behind the scenes views or her little cries for help used as ou...

It was just last year that Every Time I Die came to a total and pretty abrupt end. To me, the Buffalo based metalcore and hardcore band was the only true representation of modern punk. Five guys who were constantly on the road, did so much to bring people together through music and ripped at all times doing it. I was pretty disappointed when they hung it up. Luckily for me, for us, three of the five of them were far from done and now they’ve joined forces with Greg Puciato and Will Putney to form Better Lovers. If you know of either of these two’s legendary careers you know this is the hardcore crossover of the century and this EP, while short, was worth all the sacrifice. While I don’t have a ton of thoughts, mainly because this EP is pretty short at just over fifteen minutes, I think this could be an easy EP of the year contender. Right when you hit play and hear “Sacrificial Participant” you know that this truly is a sequel to ETID. All of these songs could easily fit into the progr...

I haven’t really been in tune to this band over their eleven year career and counting and I now somehow feel as though I’ve been missing the boat. This is the Essex-based alternative act’s fourth record and I didn’t even realize they’ve been around this long, let alone on a major label. Still, I’m here now, sort of on the unconscious sign off by other reviewers I respect and what I found within DCC was a pleasant surprise. From track one I simply want to move. The dance-vibes on “Welcome to the DCC” bring me back to a certain mid-aughts radio rock era that I always wish I had been more present for. There are theatrical verses, huge choruses and a dance-pop inspired production all throughout this thing that makes for a lot of highlights and a lot of memorable moments overall. I will say, however, that this band sort of just has the one trick to them. That lack of variety sort of keeps me from loving this record even if there is a variety of moods to the songs themselves. The band does e...

It's that time of year again! The first six months of 2023 absolutely flew by and I wanted to share what I've been digging so far. These are not ranked and are in order of their release date. I know I've run things a little differently this year and I think it's been my favorite year for writing about music yet. I'm working on getting some new things out as far as outreach goes so keep an eye out for that. I don't get many chances to do general updates but when things happen I will post about it both here and Twitter. Albums Sara Henya - Pop Goblin Folk and dream pop record by PA-based singer, songwriter and harp player; Sara Henya. Sara’s music plays in fantasy spaces with Pop Goblin serving as a look into a world right out of a storybook. What gets me the most about Sara Henya right now is how criminally underrated she is, at the time of writing this she’s sitting at just thirty-four monthly listeners. This might be the record I urge you to check out the most ...