- KYS: 80
- User: 67
- 73
Saves The Day - Daybreak
Saves The Day are well known for their consistent output which is all the more impressive considering the amount of band members they have had. ‘Daybreak’ sounds like a band who are not only comfortable with each other, but comfortable with the music they make which allows them to experiment more, as they do on this record constantly and successfully. Saves The Day are a band who should be running out of ideas by now, but are apparently very far from doing that.
- KYS: 90
- User: 70
- 80
Stray From The Path - Rising Sun
‘Rising Sun’ picks up where ‘Make Your Own History’ left off, and is an intense ride of energetic aggression, full of melody without ever sounding too sweet. Stray From The Path know how their unique take on hardcore/metalcore is meant to sound, and they do it very well.
- KYS: 90
- User: 55
- 72
Strung Out - Top Conteners - The Best of Strung Out
Thanks to the new tracks and the remixed versions of the older songs, old fans will find some value in this collection which serves as the perfect starting point for new fans looking to catch up and learn what Strung Out are all about.
- KYS: 70
- User: 63
- 66
Suicide Silence - The Black Crown
You can tell that Suicide Silence are working as hard as they can to breath new life into the deathcore genre on ‘The Black Crown,’ and they are very close to doing so. The only thing letting them down is their heavy reliance on ideas from the past when they should be trying to use them to create sounds of the future.
- KYS: 70
- User: 63
- 67
Sleeping With Sirens - Let's Cheers To This
If Sleeping With Sirens have achieved one thing with this release, it is a step towards a more mainstream sound therefore a bigger audience. They have managed to do this with blatantly sacrificing their sound and have ended up with a solid record however it won't be winning any awards for originality which will probably reduce the amount of spins it is given.
- KYS: 50
- User: 100
- 75
Simple Plan - Get Your Heart On!
I wouldn't suggest this for anyone who isn't a Simple Plan fan, as it's as cringe-worthy as all the band's other releases. Otherwise, there's a few great, catchy tracks on this record, but the rest is mainstream soft rock trash.
- KYS: 70
- User: 90
- 80
Set Your Goals - Burning At Both Ends
There are plenty of moments throughout the record which are fairly un-imaginable and a little too stock standard however they are made up for by solid all round songs and a real step forward in song-writing maturity. As far as the Set Your Goals catalogue is concerned ‘Burning At Both Ends’ is up there as one of the best.
- KYS: 65
- User: 85
- 75
Sounds Of Sirus - Singularity
For a debut this is a great start for Melbourne's Sounds Of Sirus, however if it was a full length the band would probably run the risk of boredom due to the lack of variance in sound. Toning back on the delayed guitars would help as well, other then that, fans of the Karnivool-led rock scene will no doubt love this band.
- KYS: 73
- User: 90
- 82
Silverstein - Rescue
Silverstein craft a strong album on full-length number five. It reinforces to fans the band's commitment and charm but for those unfamiliar or perhaps just uninterested 'Rescue' will not demand a change in opinion. A decent outing is all that needs saying really.
- KYS: 84
- User: N/A
- 84
Stratovarius - Elysium
Finnish power metal pioneers Stratovarius are back with their second album after their haitus and near break-up in 2008. It is a solid release, with everything you've come to expect from Stratovarius: crystal clear production, technical wizardry and hugely catchy melodies and hooks galore. It's an album that sits somewhere between the Elements era of lush ochestration, and the era of lightspeed power metal that Stratovarius helped pioneer in the mid-90s. The album is a tightly put together work that synergises the band's best elements, although it struggles to top the heights that Stratovarius scaled with their highly regarded back-catogue.