February has been a busy month… again. That’s life and music! We have a handful albums to discuss today. Although I heard way more, I do not have the time required to write for each one anymore. Rather, I stuck to the albums that were great, interesting, or just outright bad and needed to be discussed. The worst albums are mostly linked to my past music taste and me reflecting on how bad it was. Amazing how someone’s musical taste can develop from a microscopic bubble to a broad, never ending journey. Anyways, as always these are going to be brief opinions on new records from February and will include genres along with the better tracks from it. Enjoy!

Machine Girl – U-Void Synthesizer

Starting off I want to showcase an album that personifies the internet’s influence on music. Producer and mad scientist Machine Girl is a digital hardcore artist. On their newest record, U-Void Synthesizer, a whirlwind of abrasive influences assaults the senses. Cyber-punk, breakbeat, grindcore, and more work in tandem for a record that is as chaotic as it is energetic. This is just sheer fun mixed in with plenty of head-banging and windmill punches to go around. I’m not the most familiar with the main genres involved, but this was a record the quickly clicked. Lots of chanting like on “Scroll of Sorrow” ft. Guayaba that add to the relentless bubbly fury that is captured. A track like “Fully In It” is slick with its pummeling beats and also utilizes glitches cohesively. Vocals across U-Void Synthesizer are diverse jumping from punk screams to bubbly, guttural growls reminiscent of Cattle Decapitation. Between the tight and controlled arrangements and the collage of sounds that have no right to be fused in this manner yet work great together, this is a great listen that has me wanting to explore the genre more.

Rating: 8/10

Favorite Tracks: “Blood Magic”; “On Coming”; “Scroll of Sorrow” ft. Guayaba; “Splatter!”; “Kill All Borders [2020 Worldwide Fucker]”; “Suck Shit” ft. LustySickPuppy and RAFIA; “Batsu Forever”

Genres: Digital Hardcore, Breakbeat, Cyber-Punk, Grindcore, Glitch, and way more…

Hollywood Undead – New Empire, Vol. 1

It hurts to think about how I thought I was some sort of badass during my edgy years because I listened to groups like Hollywood Undead. Revisiting them and their new album New Empire, Vol. 1 makes me cringe even more. Imagine rap rock that once in a while breaks into distortion ala modern metalcore. Now take any edgy cliché not just in nu-metal and pop punk, but also modern trap rap, and force it in. That’s all this is. “I’M A TIME BOMB”. “I’m that monster under your bed”. “I’m a dead man walking”. “Run that mouth, all I fucking hear is that BLAH BLAH”. I think the point is made. It’s like they randomized over 200 of these phrases and that determined all the lyrics with little to no connection to each other. Only redeeming factor on this is the fact I am dying of laughter at this heaping pile of cringe. There’s literally nothing else to cover. This is one-dimensional as all hell and I question if even fans would like this.

Rating: 1/10

Favorite Track: “Empire” I guess, has a half-decent groove to it

Genres: Rap Metal, Rap Rock

Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats – UNLOCKED

I feel the best pairings in hip-hop are those no one expects, but ends up being something the genre needed. Whether two rappers like El-P and Killer Mike as Run the Jewels or a rapper and producer combo like Open Mike Eagle and Paul White on Hella Personal Film Festival, it can be an artistic breakthrough for the artists involved. So it should be to no one’s surprise that the most consistently great rapper in the game right now Denzel Curry and masterful producer gone meme Kenny Beats are a pairing made in heaven. Kenny Beats’ beats on UNLOCKED are slick and smooth. I love the MF Doom aesthetic on the album giving the vibe that these two are badasses and are here to save the game. The skits are well used without coming off as a ripoff and act more as a nod to the comic style.

Denzel Curry to no surprise is on point. His delivery is aggressive and hype as all hell. His bars are loaded with wordplay and references that are intricate but not so much that you need to put intensive amounts of thought into them. My only complaint is the album length that is barely under 18 minutes. It feels like a tease. I hope it is and there is a more complete project coming. Even with the length they still accomplish a mindblowing amount by making each track dense with incredible musical moments. I could see Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats working together more because the chemistry between them is unquestionable. We can only pray.

Rating: 8/10

Favorite Tracks: “Take_it_Back_v2”; “Lay_Up.m4a”; “DIET_”; “So.Incredible.pkg”; “Track07”; “‘Cosmic’.m4a”

Genres: Hardcore Hip-Hop, Boom Bap

Justin Bieber – Changes

Yet another album I had no intention of reviewing, but because of the name behind it I feel obligated to at least touch upon it briefly. To no one’s surprise after the abysmal singles, Changes is hot garbage. It feels super cliché to beat down a Justin Bieber album at this point, but usually I wouldn’t be in the crowd to absolutely demolish one of his records. This time feels more correct than ever because Bieber dumbed down his music to a generic shell of his past self. A large amount of what kept an album like Purpose tolerable like the slight variety of instrumentals and lyrics remaining inoffensive at their worst are gone. Instead we get a douchebag pretending to care for girls with pandering that reaches for all girls and comes off as creepy, self-centered, and manipulative. Instrumentally this album is a disaster in its recurring usage of the same exact percussion which already is janky and stiff as all hell. Surrounding it are spacey fusions of hip-hop, R&B, and pop with shitty production that eliminates all flavor due to over-saturation. These try to make tracks sound sexy but fall flat on their face. The features can’t even save Changes and they offer some of their worst verses and vocal performances (looking at you Lil Dicky and Post Malone). The only redeeming quality left is Justin Bieber being a recognizable singer who has his good moments even if they’re swamped out by mediocrity. I am happy the mainstream is hesitant to promote these songs compared to Purpose, and happy “Yummy” missed the top spot on Billboard no matter how desperate Bieber got.

Rating: 3/10

Favorite Tracks: “All Around Me”; “Get Me” ft. Kehlani

Genre: Pop, R&B

Ozzy Osbourne – Ordinary Man

The prince of darkness continues to make music into a sixth decade. Quite incredible, although quality has continued to degenerate. I’m just surprised Ozzy Osbourne still has his universally recognizable voice in tact; better than what could be said about other metal legends. It’s hard to get mad at any missteps at this point. The man was a founding member of one of the most influential metal acts ever, Black Sabbath, and has created two tracks that have stood the test of time as masterpieces, “Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley”.

Enough about the legacy, this album actually isn’t half bad. “Straight To Hell” is Osbourne doing what he has always done best. “Today Is The End” has some solid soloing over this electronic breakdown which is shockingly smooth. “Ordinary Man” is an outrageously strong ballad featuring Elton John. Some tracks stand out as mediocre; sometimes because of fuzzy production on the guitars and others for keeping it pretty standard. Nothing stands out as bad though, closest thing to it is the overcompressed speed metal chaos on “It’s a Raid” ft. Post Malone where Osbourne’s vocals are grating. The song is still oddly fun though and is like a glitch in the matrix seeing Ozzy Osbourne and Post Malone collaborate for a second time – this time more in Osbourne’s territory. So yeah, the godfather of metal still has it. Hell yeah!

Rating: 6/10

Favorite Tracks: “Straight To Hell”; “Today Is The End”; “Ordinary Man” ft. Elton John; “Goodbye”

Genre: Heavy Metal

Nawaharjan – Lokabrenna

Another promising debut from an upcoming black metal group from Germany, Nawaharjan. Lokabrenna is a fairly standard take on blackened death metal with boatloads of fury and rage. Although standard, sometimes groups need to take a step back and show that they can succeed at the fundamentals before exploring more. They’ve got badass instrumentation with blast beats that are constantly switching to rolls and other patterns and guitars constantly delivering aggressive riffs. Vocals are very reminiscent of Behemoth at times with the epic screams and growls that are spat out with disgust. My only issue comes in with the production that could benefit from clearer guitar riffs so they can have more presence, and same with the bass. Definitely recommend and am very interested on how they will develop their sounds further

Rating: 7/10

Favorite Tracks: “Skuwwe”; “Utfursko”; “Sunjo”; “Thwerhanassuz”

Genre: Blackened Death Metal

$uicideboy$ – Stop Staring at the Shadows

My buddy has been pestering me to give $uicideboy$ a proper chance and has been adamant that I would like them. So when I heard they had a new album, I went back and listened to the majority of their most prevalent releases to gain a good idea what to expect. After finishing and listening to Stop Staring at the Shadows multiple times… I can say I am thoroughly underwhelmed. Stylized by a soup of hip-hop, horrorcore, trap, and metal, $uicideboy$ is just not my thing. Listening to their music felt like a chore with how tedious it is, and Stop Staring at the Shadows is no exception. The trap elements can begin to run together, and behind them is typically a singular loop that is tiring. Their dark and gloomy edginess in the lyrics put next to hype clout lyrics is awkward, but they handle it fairly well. The topics are great, but the constant jumping back and forth ruins any chance at a cohesive narrative. This is definitely a return to form being reminiscent of their older work, and is a step-up from a few of their most recent listen. I can see the appeal, but for me I couldn’t get into $uicideboy$ even with an open-mind and thorough chance. This is definitely a release mainly for the fans.

Rating: 5/10

Favorite Tracks: “One Last Look At The Damage”; “Putrid Pride”; “…And To Those I Love, Thanks For Sticking Around”

Genres: Hardcore Hip-Hop, Horrorcore, Trap Metal

Five Finger Death Punch – F8

Gods are among us, the gods of the edgelords. Five Finger Death Punch, a group that for one album, The Way of the Fist, had a legitimately promising sound. Grooves were aggressive. Drumming was impressive. Lyrics rode the line between kickass and edgy. Then they continued their career, and every album after declined further and further down the road of simplicity. Their last four releases have been pitiful and represent everything awful with (most) radio metal: mind-numbingly formulaic, distortion that makes guitars sound like ripping paper, and a “fuck you” attitude in every song even the ones that try to be serious.

Although F8 is a step-up from their last records, that’s only one step of a thousand. Some of the grooves are epic, but they also feel like rehashes of rehashes at this point in their career. Vocals are better(?) but still come off as forcibly angry rather than actually angry. Lyrics are still awful, from pseudo-woke narratives with frivolous and disconnected structures and references on “Living the Dream” to straight-up bitching about not being liked by many metal fans on “Bottom of the Top” without acknowledging the main reason for the hate – formulaic, inexcusable laziness. Hearing a grown man faux-growl about wanting to be a “cool kid” is cringey enough. Just avoid this, unless you’re in that edgy teen phase or a tough guy that wants everyone around you to know every five minutes how tough you are.

Rating: 2/10

Favorite Track: “Inside Out”

Genre: Bro Metal

G Herbo – PTSD

G Herbo’s PTSD is a return to form since his Welcome to Fazoland mixtape under the name Lil Herb. It’s still not Welcome to Fazoland, but it’s as close as I see him getting again. Since his early days he has “updated” his list of features to more prominent rappers. I was initially worried looking through and seeing A Boogie Wit da Hoodie and 21 Savage on “Glass in the Face” and “By Any Means” respectively, but they give pretty decent performances. That’s not as shocking as the title track which features Chance the Rapper, Juice WRLD, and Lil Uzi Vert where I was praying they would all stay on topic, and they did just that! They actually mimicked G Herbo’s lyrical style across PTSD exceptionally; focusing on the negative aspects of gangster life while not being afraid to flaunt here and there with a connecting tissue back to the serious and gloomy lyrics. G Herbo could have benefited heavily from less clunky bars here and there plus some more diverse instrumentals, but overall it’s nice to enjoy another release from a rapper who was once a gem to the underground.

Rating: 7/10

Favorite Tracks: “Gangstas Cry” ft. BJ The Chicago Kid; “Party in Heaven” ft. Lil Durk; “PTSD” ft. Chance the Rapper, Juice WRLD, Lil Uzi Vert; “Lawyer Fees” ft. Polo G; “High Speed”; “Shooter”; “Intuition”

Genres: Hardcore Hip-Hop, Gangsta Rap, Trap

Now that I am digging more for new releases, 2020 is delivering way more records I love that I wouldn’t have ever discovered in the last few years. Writing for the blog has been great, and I cannot go without thanking every reader so far. It has given me confidence along with ambition to write more. I also love hearing that I have helped some of you find albums you love. So thank you everybody, and keep being a music nerd!

Remember this is all my opinion and I would like to hear yours. Love it, hate it, anyways I can improve on my presentation? Make sure to subscribe to the blog by WordPress or email to receive notifications of new reviews that come up. Who knows, you could find a gem you otherwise would have missed.

RATING SCALE

Perfect Excellent Great Very Good Good Meh Disappointing Bad Horrible Pitiful Bottom of the Barrel