andconham's Diary

It's introspective and sad, so may resonate with others more that it did for me. There's some good songwriting here, just not likely anything I see my self returning to. Favourite Tracks: - Punching the Flowers - Stone over Water - I Built You a Tower (b)

This is pretty good pop rock. I think with time if Sombr can expand on this sound a vary it up a bit, we might have a great artist emerging. As it is, it's catchy and vibey, with easy relatable lyrics. Favourite Tracks: - 12 for 12 - i wish I knew how to quit you - back to friends - undressed

Orchestral renditions of what is pretty much Metallica's greatest hits. It works quite well for the most part, giving a lot of songs an epic feeling. I think some renditions don't quite hit the mark (Sad But True, Hero of the Day), but some really hit it, particularly on the first disc. I do find Hetfields vocals a bit wearing as the album goes on though, as he was at the peak of doing weird voice inflections at this time. Favourite Tracks: - The Call of Ktulu - Master of Puppets - No Leaf Clover - Devils Dance - Battery

First time listening to this band, and I think this is pretty good commercial Hardcore. I was surprised to see these guys have been active since the early 2000s, as there is pretty good energy on this album. They alternate between the heavy and the easy, and there is some good catchy hooks. Lyrically it could be more potent, bit I enjoyed this. Favourite Tracks: - Gasoline - Disconnected - See Through - Into The Dark - Good For Me, Feel So Bad - I Don't Wanna Feel Like This Anymore

I think Morrissey borders on self parody here, but it works for the most part. Instrumentally this album is great, and I do enjoy Morrissey brand of crooning. It's a bit hard to take stuff like 'Meat Is Murder' seriously though. Favourite Tracks: - The Headmaster Ritual - I Want the One I Can't Have - Nowhere Fast - Well I Wonder - Barbarianism Begins At Home

A good debut for this legendary band. There's hints of their defining sound in here, albeit with a rougher mix than later releases. There's a bit of a dip in quality during the middle section, particularly the Foxey Lady cover, but for the most part this album is a successful debut. Favourite Tracks: - 10:15 Saturday Night - Another Day - Fire In Cairo - It's Not You - Three Imaginary Boys

The first half of this supergroup album goes hard, with each member bringing a taste of their main bands sound together to make some kick ass tunes. The album does lull a little in the middle, but there's some more good tunes towards the back end too. Favourite Tracks: - Wings of Feather and Wax - Face Down - Melting of my Marrow - Snakes of Jahova - Curb Crusher - IED - Dust Into Darkness

Chino's side project at times feels like toothless Deftones, but mostly it creates a good vibe throughout. Some great production here, that pairs well with Chino's vocals to create some great soundscapes. Favourite Tracks: - Bitches Brew - The Epilogue - Nineteen Ninety Four - Option

A7X goes big on this album, with the scope being larger than their previous album. It doesn't all land for me, with the back end of the album dragging a little. When they keep it simple, the album works much better. The singles are all great, anthemic rock tunes that were staples of my teen years. Favourite Tracks: - Beast and the Harlot - Burn It Down - Bat Country - Seize the Day

Quality introspective rnb album here. More streamlined than his previous album, with mood setting tracks all throughout. The production is great, and 6lack's vocals croon over the beats well. Favourite Tracks: - Bird Flu - All That Matters - I Guess - Sunday Again - Running Lare Freestyle - Bear

I found this more enjoyable than their most recent effort. Nothing stellar but a pretty solid debut with fun pop punk energy. Favorite Tracks: - Guilt Trip - Reservoir - Never Try - Yukon - Dark Days - Cul-De-Sac

Slightly Above Average Post Punk Pup is a group I have listened to on the side, but never a full album. This album was okay, but might prove to be a touch forgettable. Still there is some fun songs on here worth listening to. Favorite Tracks: - Concrete - Get Dumber - Paranoid - Hallways

A cheeky peice of self-deprecating pop punk here. The energy is great throughout, and the lyrical content contrasts with the upbeat vibe well. Favourite Tracks: - Morbid Stuff - Free at Last - See You at Your Funeral - Sibling Rivalry - Full Blown Meltdown

A bit of a step down from their previous albums, in my opinion. I feel a bit of character has been stripped, leaving this sounding more like a Rise Against album. Still a passable punk album, just not my favourite from the boys. Favourite Tracks: - Fedallah's Hearse - Cut Into the Earth - Life At Disconnect - Iteration

Grungy, Punk inspired hip hop that only Slowthai could come out with. It's not a perfect album, but it is full of character and shows an artist reaching beyond his usual style of music. Still patiently waiting for the follow up that hopefully continues down this road. Favourite Tracks: - Selfish - Feel Good - Never Again - Happy - Tourniquet

Another case of an established artist returning in 2026 to release a great album, again showing bad times makes good music. The crackley sampling, over clean production sets a great mood throughout. Longevity remains to be seen, but first impressions are great. Favourite Tracks: - Prophecy at 1420 MHz - Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan - Father And Son - Naraka - The World Becomes Flesh - Blood In The Labyrinth - All Reason Departs

Great production throughout this album. Vince flows over these live music inspired beats well, and the lyricism is mostly good too. Score will likely go up with further listens. Favourite Tracks: - Blackberry Marmalade - White Flag - Big Bad Wolf - Cotton

Heavy, catchy, and infinitely relistenable. The two-piece put out a big sound, considering. Pretty good hit-rate too, with 5 of these tracks getting regular rotation when they were released. They don't deviate from their formula much, but the riffs and drumming are on point. Favourite Tracks: - Out of the Black - Figure It Out - Little Monster - Careless - Ten Tonne Skeleton

Mastodon at their sludgy best here, before they went full prog metal. Riffs are great, and the drums rule throughout. Being a concept album, they lyrics all follow the same great theme, Moby Dick. The album kicks off on the higgest point possible with Blood and Thunder, though I do thing it loses steam little towards the end. Favourite Tracks: - Blood and Thunder - I Am Ahab - Seabeast - Iron Tusk - Megalodon - Hearts Alive

Huge album, a near-perfect debut. Timeless songs all over this, not sure what I can say that hasn't already been said 1000 times. Essential listen for rock and guitar fans. Favourite Tracks: - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You - You Shook Me - Dazed and Confused - Your Time Is Gonna Come - Communication Breakdown - I Can't Quit You Baby

I didn't expect much given this is a very early release in their catalogue, but this sits well amongst their latest releases. They had already curated their sound, and the instrumental and vocal performances here are great. Some tacky lyrics aside, this is quality. Favourite Tracks: - If You Had Spun Out.. - The Hammer Guy Is At It Again - Wait For It - I Replied to Tyler with Three Blue Cars - Deluxe Capacitor

Transportative psychedelic blues rock, that sounds classic but still ahead of its time considering this is from the 60s. Hendrix is undeniable on the licks, and the songwriting is great here too. A pair of 15 minute epics immerse you in his sound, and they are separated by a great run of rock tunes. Favourite Tracks: - Voodoo Chile - Long Hot Summer Night - Come On - Gypsy Eyes - Rainy Day, Dream Away - Still Raining, Still Dreaming - House Burning Down - All Along the Watchtower - Voodoo Child

There's not much for me to come back to here. It's skate punk/Ska that has been done better by many others. I can't be too harsh though, as it's a debut from a young band still finding their feet. I'm sure the following releases will improve on this, given they are inspiration few some of my favourite bands.

Pretty good Metalcore album here, with a bit more nuance and variety than their contemporaries. The transitions between songs are seamless, and flow and pacing of the songs themselves is great. Rating mat increase with further listens. Favourite Tracks: - Nurture - The Haze - Coven - Where We Go When We Die

A pretty fun psychedelic rap album. Bronson laid back delivery flows well over these unique beats. His lyrics are goofy and charming as ever, and there's some pretty good features throughout too. Favourite Tracks: - OLYMPIC VINCE CARTER - TRICERATOPS - PEPPERS - MANDEM

Classic Thrash album that sits comfortably in second place in Metallica's discography for me (behind Puppets). Great pace on all of these songs, with great reprieve in Fade to Black. Great riffs, great solos, the only thing for me that could be improved is the vocals. Not so much the performance, but the way it is mastered. Favourite Tracks: - Ride The Lightning - For Whom the Bell Tolls - Fade To Black - Trapped Under Ice - Creeping Death

It's a dark album, compounded by Curtis' death the following year. It's a case of an album and a band being forever stuck in the small window of time that they were active, and that always makes for an effective listen (similar to Jeff Buckley and Her's). I don't think it's a perfect album, but it has that intangible quality that gives it that classic status. Favourite Tracks: - Disorder - Day of the Lords - New Dawn Fades - Interzone

God damn, this album came out of nowhere. First time listener to these guys, and they may have just put out my favourite album of the year so far. Hints of 2000s rock and metalcore, but still sounds very modern. Aggressive and abrasive in parts, but the slower sections work just as well. Favourite Tracks: - Pharmacy Film - Adapter - Nostalgia Kills - Lip Critic - Male Bomb - Classic.Death.Pose - human props - Treading

A near flawless combination of Prog Opeth, and Death Metal Opeth. It's epic, it's depressing, and its all performed perfectly. The songs are long but they are a journey and never overstay their welcome. The understated section where you can hear every note, culminate well into clean Death Metal, with Mikaels vocals being perfectly suited for both. Favourite Tracks: - Ghosts Of Perdition - Baying of the Hounds - Beneath The Mire - Reverie/Harlequin Forest - The Grand Conjuration

First time listening to Peggy since Veteran, which i enjoyed at the time. This album was okay, but got a little tiresome at points. The vocal performances really don't have much flavour, and there's nothing really memorable here that isn't a sample. The production is where he usually shines, and there is some good moments here. I was pretty done with the Riddim inspired beats by the end though. Favourite Tracks: - babygirl - $ - The Ghost of Emmett Till - Yen - New Era

Classic/10. It really is just a flawless thrash album, with no wasted moments. Every song here can reasonably be considered some of Metallicas best, and the best in the genre over all. It's easy to scoff at Metallica these days as the poster boys of heavy metal, but revisiting this shows that that blew up for good reason. No skips.

A great 4-track taster, sounding a bit grungier than their later releases. Those signature rolling grooves carry the album along, feeling particularly groovy during Can't Get It Up. Research Chemicals is really the highlight, and it's easy to see why they end their sets with this tune.

An album of two halves. The first, the classic Neil Young folk sound he is known for. This half features great songwriting, and fun guitar work. The second half is more rock oriented, bordering on grungy at times, and its great. Favourite Tracks: - My My, Hey Hey - Thrasher - Sail Away - Powderfinger - Hey Hey, My My

Recorded in the mid 70s and kept on the bench until 2009, this Punk album was ahead of its time and completely unnoticed for too long. It's not perfect, but it's shows great potential for a band that never got a chance to reach it. Favourite Tracks : - Keep On Knocking - Rock-n-Roll Victim - You're A Prisoner - Politicians In My Eyes

I appreciate the foundation that this lay for hardcore, and there is some good tunes on here. I also like the Straight Edge themes throughout, making for some unique lyrical content. I just don't think it has aged as well as other hardcore albums of the era. A little repetitive, even with most of the tracks being very short. Favourite Tracks: - Seeing Red - Screaming At A Wall - Minor Threat - In My Eyes

Sweet and sad indie folk, that is a little overlong but easy to listen to. It's pretty minimal in it's sound, with most tracks having plenty of breathing room which is nice. First half is definitely the stronger half. Favourite Tracks: - Black Crow - For You - Big Jet Plane - Santa Monica Dream - Yellow Brick Road - I'm Not Yours

Great music to get the blood pumping. Chunky riffs and breakdowns, with aggressive vocals don't overstay their welcome on this brief album, making it ideal for repeat listens. Favourite Tracks: - Don't Need - The First Test - Kill Cap - I Mean It - Caught In A Craze

It's a relatively 'safe' offering, when compared to his previous 3 albums. It almost works as a reset after the scope of Pure Comedy, and I think it works. The album breezes by with the smooth songwriting and introspective lyricism that you expect. Favourite Tracks: - Mr. Tillman - Date Night - Please Don't Die - God's Favourite Customer - We're Only People

Damn this is good stuff, love that feeling of discovering a band that instantly clicks. Great hardcore/metalcore that scratches that turnstile itch, while also standing on its own. Looking forward to diving into their earlier albums for sure. Favourite Tracks: - Cold 2 The Touch - Zero - Dust - Man On Fire

Cro-Mags go pretty much full Thrash here, and its pretty good. It doesn't reach the highs of the first two albums, but it's still a fun listen with some great head-bobbing riffs throughout. Favourite Tracks: - Eyes of Tomorrow - Apocalypse Now - The Paths of Perfection - Kuruksetra

Probably an album that will grow on me further as time goes on, but my first dive into Youngs discography starts on a high. Sitting somewhere between country, folk, and rock the more minimal songs shine for me. Great introspective songwriting with transporting instrumentals. Favourite Tracks: - Walk On - Revolution Blues - Vampire Blues - On The Beach - Motion Pictures

Some easy breezy listening throughout this duet album from Finneas and Ashe. The songwriting is great, and instrumentally it's pretty tight. Not every song clicked for me, but it's definitely worth a listen. Favourite Tracks: - The Little Mess You Made - The Hudson - Necessary Evils - Someday I'll Be Back in Hollywood

A near perfect pop-punk record. Like Williams herself, Paramore's music is aging like fine wine which I guess is why they are finding a new crowd with TikTok. Alternating between upbeat rock tunes and powerful ballads, this album doesn't really dip in quality throughout its runtime. Favourite Tracks: - Careful - Ignorance - Playing God - Brick by Boring Brick - The Only Exception - Misguided Ghosts - All I Wanted

Some silly, fun Thrash/Punk that doesn't really take itself too seriously. They're all about the party here, and they don't waste any time. It's a little one-note, but brief enough so it's not really an issue. Favourite Tracks: - The Art of Partying - Mental Shock - Lunch Hall Food Brawl - Chemically Altered - Rigorous Vengeance

A great collection of in-you-face Punk tunes. Subtlety is nowhere to be found, and I love the attitude. The production on this is also much better than I anticipated, with everything sounded crisp without feeling over produced. Favourite Tracks: - Less Talk, More Rock - And We Thought Nation States Were A Bad Idea - Resisting Tyrannical Government - The Only Good Fascist is a Dead Fascist

My first full Arlo Parks album, and this is a bit more danceable than I was expecting. Beautiful production, smooth singing, and goos songwriting combine to produce a great neo-soul album with a bit of electronic influence. Favourite Tracks: - Blue Disco - Heaven - Luck of Life - What If I Say It

Not entirely my cup of tea. It's pleasant enough while it's on, but it's a little forgettable for me. I can definitely see the laid-back pop style connecting with others though. Favourite Tracks: - The Band - Spinning Around - The Trouble

Great Alternative Metalcore here. Doesn't stick to one style, and flows between genres quite well. Production might be a touch too clean, but the riffs and breakdowns are great, and the vocals range is pretty good for this type of album. Favourite Tracks: - Aggressive Evoution - Two Way Mirror - Screaming - Gored - Heavy is the Head

A decent pop punk album. Nothing you must go our of your way to hear, but if you're a fan of the genre then it's worth a listen. Some good angst, catchy in parts. Also a bit plain in parts, with some Tracks struggling to stando out. Favourite Tracks: - Missingno - For Those Who Come After - Floarama Town - Deviancy