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User
Reviews 1
Approval 100%
Soundoffs 70
News Articles 4
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Album Edits 107
Album Ratings 490
Objectivity 80%
Last Active 12-19-22 6:12 pm
Joined 01-20-13
Review Comments 5,565
| Sputnikmusic's Q3 Infinite Playlist
And here it is! I'd really like to see this become a quarterly thing, whether it be handled by a staff member or another user from time to time. It offers a great opportunity for people to get their writing out there who might not be ready to write a full review. Plus it gets to showcase some pretty cool music. A big thank you goes out to the contributors for this edition: tacos N stuff, cryptologous, ZippaThaRippa, wtferrothorn, Dewinged, Arcade and sixdegrees. | | 1 |  | Space Invaders
Ayakashi
"Keeper of the Spice" is a 20+ minute psychedelic joyride by psych rock band Space Invaders. The song is structured in a way to have no discernible climaxes but instead builds upon itself layer by layer until its inevitable conclusion. It starts things off with familiar ambient soundscapes but introduces new instruments into the mix almost under the listeners nose. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say "KotS" puts the listener into a catatonic and/or hypnotic state for its entire duration. Finding concrete riffs here may prove challenging for the listener as there are none to found. "KotS"'s slow guitar grooves cruise along in improvisational fashion with increasing intensity as the song moves forward. This characteristic makes "KotS" feel like a slightly different experience each time around while being an exceptionally easy and relaxing listen.
- tacos N stuff | | 2 |  | Obscure Sphinx
Epitaphs
I spent maybe 10 minutes perusing the thesaurus in hopes of finding a term worthy of describing the immense size and presence loaded within these thirteen minutes. Maybe assigning the unambiguous appellation of "big" might seem a little underwhelming in this day and age but that is essentially what this song is. Crescendos rise at a sluggish pace. Waves of noise and reverb cake the opening minute or so and a tribal kit performance enters soon after to inform the listener that this song is not settling for being anything less than colossal. The first climax doesn't arrive until three minutes in, but damn is it a high peak. Zofia Fraś' dynamic performance is utterly hypnotic as she weaves back and forth between barbaric screams and scratched warbling. "Nothing Left" is the epitome of a no holds barred pummeling of euphonic brutality; easily one of the most addicting beatings of September.
-cryptologous | | 3 |  | Black Tomb
Black Tomb
"Eyes at Midnight" is a hallmark of the Black Tomb style; onerous riffing, wah-drenched leads and a visceral vocal performance. Primitive, fuzz-soaked power chords lay the foundation while the drums churn out a frantic fill-laden beat. The vocalist heaves vitriol from his lungs with every snarled syllable. Primordial and violent, Black Tomb is sludgy, blackened doom done right.
- ZippaThaRippa | | 4 |  | Solange
A Seat At The Table
“Cranes In The Sky” is a simple song. Instrumentally, Solange and Raphael Saadiq come through with a song that subtly stuns with little more than a simplistic but infectious drum beat, subdued strings to fill up the track, and Solange’s delicate vocals that reach a great climax at the end of the song. But what makes the track so great has to do with context, and how it thrives within it and outside of it. By itself, “Cranes In The Sky” is a song in which Solange tactfully expresses her struggles of finding happiness through material possessions and endless self-searching. But within ‘A Seat At The Table’, it’s message is given much more weight by the tales of racial oppression and frustration that surround the song. In today’s social landscape, the album version will carry more emotional weight for many. But as the issues of today are replaced by the issues of tomorrow, “Cranes In The Sky” will stand the test of time with it’s straightforward yet poignant message.
- wtferrothorn | | 5 |  | Alcest
Kodama
The magical forces enclosed in Studio Ghibli's masterpiece "Princess Mononoke"
served as an inspiration to France's darkgaze prodigy Alcest in crafting one of the
most interesting albums of 2016. "Kodama" blends styles in the same masterful way
that Alcest's previous works but it gains substantially in production and design.
The title track and rightful opener is a perfect example of how Alcest has been
able to capture and imprint the fantastic atmosphere of "Princess Mononoke" into
his own music as if they were meant to be. The result is an enchanting journey through
Alcest's everlasting mystical world, guided by a haunting melody that sticks from first listen. You will find yourself going back and losing yourself to this very special tune time and time again.
- Dewinged | | 6 |  | Metallica
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct
I’m as disappointed as anyone that nowadays Metallica are a better business than they are a band. Although their first five albums were pumped out with decent regularity and alarming consistency, since 1990 they’ve more or less taken their work ethic and applied it to endorsements, tours, and any number of creative outlets that do not include making a new album. So, that’s all a roundabout way of saying what you already knew: “Hardwired” isn’t especially remarkable. In style, it’s similar to St. Anger’s bizarre lyrical maxims and economically paced song structure, with the faintest whiff of Load/ReLoad’s buzz cut aesthetic in Hetfield’s ranting of being, ‘hardwired … to self-destruct.’ | | 7 | | Metallica
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct
But it’s also quintessentially Metallica, replete with unnecessary guitar wank, nonsensical drum fills, and lots of yeah’ing and swearing. Even if it isn’t great, it is effective in that it’s expected. If you’re still following Metallica in 2016, then you’ve already dealt with the embarrassment that comes from listening to Lulu, watching Through the Never, and enduring any number of gimmicky live experiences. The idea that we might be able to have an even slightly enjoyable studio album is nothing short of a reprieve.
- Arcade | | 8 |  | Rei Clone
Wet
With the stated aim of Rei Clone's live show being to surround the listener in "an ocean of noise", one might think this approach loses something without the aid of overwhelming stage volumes. However, "Dreaming of Nagato" is just as immersive through headphones; the guitars ebb and flow from the opening salvo of distortion to the dreamy haze of the verses, while an interwoven violin motif adds a unique texture to the proceedings. The resulting wall of sound is dense, almost overwhelming, but never loses its melodic sensibility.
- sixdegrees | |
RogueNine
11.17.16 | Where Arcade gets two list entries to handle his massive paragraph, haha. Also ferro, I took just a few words out of your entry to get it to fit. | theacademy
11.17.16 | #4 (: | wtferrothorn
11.17.16 | @rougue don't worry bout it, thanks for helping make this happen!
@acad ; ] | RogueNine
11.18.16 | We may get a few more entries trickle in. | Dewinged
11.18.16 | fuck my line break, can you fix it Rogue? it pains me... | TheSpaceMan
11.18.16 | just finished 8, thx six | RogueNine
11.18.16 | You're welcome guys. We had three or four more people signed up. Maybe they'll turn theirs in late. | RogueNine
11.18.16 | Bump for all of these lovely submissions. |
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