via//chicago

np: "More Than Meets The Eye" - Testament

Time for some brief thoughts on what I've been spinning the past week or so...

Testament - The Formation of Damnation (Nuclear Blast)
These thrash metal legends absolutely kill on their first album of all new material in nine years. Guitarist Alex Skolnick is back in the fold and the band hasn't sounded this good since the late 80's. If you are at all a fan of 80s thrash by the likes of Metallica, Megadeth, Exodus, Anthrax, etc. - you owe it to yourself to check this out. At the very least, this is miles ahead of the most recent Metallica or Megadeth albums.

Islands - Arm's Way (ANTI-)
I'm not too sure what I think of this one just yet, this is a pretty bloated and expansive disc - eight of its twelve tracks run over 5 minutes, with 3 of those over 7 minutes (including the 11 minute closing suite of "Vertigo (It's a Crime"). It isn't as immediate as Return to the Sea, nor is it as poppy, but their are plenty of flashes of what makes these guys great. I'll have to digest a lot more before I can firm up my opinion.

Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs (Atlantic)
Recently announced as this week's number one album in America, this is another in a fine line of DCFC full-lengths. Nowhere near as pretty, nor as accessible, as Plans, this is a surprisingly dark and dour major label release. The creepy stalker twist of the first single was a good indication of this album's direction, and songs like "No Sunlight", "You New Twin Sized Bed", and "Pity and Fear" further bear this out. It's almost like they were trying to get dumped by Atlantic. Old-school DCFC fans should love this, Gibbard is in fine for throughout and Chris Walla, as expected, makes this album sound fantastic.

Scott Kelly - The Wake / Steve Von Till - A Grave is a Grim Horse (Neurot)
This week saw the release of solo projects by two members of progressive metal band Neurosis. Both Kelly and Von Till go the acoustic singer-songwriter route, but steeped in the ambient and dark bent of their main band. They have eerily similar voices, wavering at times somewhere between Nick Cave and Mark Lanegan. I wouldn't call either essential, but they both have some chilling moments. Von Till's is probably the slightly stronger of the two, with his title track and excellent cover of Nick Drake's "Clothes of Sand" both standouts.