Cordavision Music Reviews

Just when I think I’m out, I’m pulled back in. Okay, hi again. I’m not saying I’m back for good, but I just hit a stride, and I’m not gonna lie, I miss writing for the fun of it. Anyway, I’ve talked about this band on the site before. I might just have to make a tag to link all their albums together. King Gizzard went on a damn-near-perfect streak of three separate projects last October, and knowing that whatever they did next was a spiritual successor to 2019 fan favorite Infest the Rats' Nest , it’d certainly be up my alley. Now, we have PetroDragonic Apocalypse , which I will just shorten it to that because of the long-ass album title you can see at the top. It’s a mouthful, I know. Either way, let’s get into it. PetroDragonic Apocalypse sees the group move into a genre they’ve dabbled in before: metal. Throwing in dashes of thrash, speed, and even stoner metal helps make the Aussie band’s most chaotic, in-your-face, and probably entertaining project as a whole yet. Environment...

Did you know that King Gizz’s discography is the length of two football fields? How many times have I raved about King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard? Like, I shined praise onto them five times last year alone for all of the projects they dropped. What else can they even do? And yet, they continue to surprise. A huge highlight of not only their 2022 but their careers up to this point is playing three 3-hour shows in a single weekend over at Red Rocks, Colorado. Each of them were completely different sets, and while I was excited to hear about this massive achievement for the group, I’m a broke college student and couldn’t get to Colorado, which I bet I’m not the only one that felt this. However, each show they played has now been released as a massive 86-track, nearly 9-hour box set for the fans to enjoy. It took some time, but I actually listened to the whole thing. Let’s dive into it. I’ve had to edit this review down a couple of times, but I’ve slowly realized that this is just gon...

I’d just love to have this cover on a shirt, you know? I’m ready to fully admit that this review is coming out way later than I was hoping it would, but I’m glad I’m writing it at all. I’ve spoken about Backxwash (a.k.a. Ashanti Mutinta) in the past and even got the chance to get an advance copy of her last album, I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES , which ended up being one of my favorites of that year. The overall darkness of her sound has just been so compelling to me and feels so different from not just rap but from music alone. That being said, there’s no reason for me to doubt that whatever she did next would be one I’d look forward to. We now have HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING , the conclusion in a trilogy of albums that she’s been releasing for the past three years, the cherry on top being its Halloween release date. Let’s not waste any time and get into it. While this whole series of albums that started with God Has Nothing To Do With ...

They’re just little trolls. If you know, you know. I’m still just a little baby when it comes to metal in general, so grindcore is basically a new concept to me entirely. I’ve heard the iconic one, the great Nails’s Unsilent Death , and I covered the last Full of Hell album on this site. This time, though, is essentially my first dive into grindcore without any background on the group, this group being Wormrot. Hiss is the name of the project, so let’s get into what I thought about it. I’m of the mindset that grind needs to have that nasty edge, you know? I feel like it’s a given, but I feel like I gotta state this since this is one of the first times I’m covering it on here. So, that being said, I don’t have all the knowledge there is about grindcore or powerviolence or anything like that. However, this project is nasty as all hell. This has a lot of ambition laced into the performances and songwriting as well, with vocalist Arif Rot having had to sell his soul to the devil for his s...

The hoodie with this cover on it is incredible. Ada Rook has been on my radar for a while now. Even if I haven’t covered her solo work just yet, I’ve covered some of her work already. She was one half of the duo Black Dresses, which I’ve reviewed their last two albums, and she mastered Backxwash’s last album I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES . Ever since this project’s been announced, it’s been one of my most anticipated releases of this year. With a surprise drop that I learned about a day after it was released, UGLY DEATH NO REDEMPTION ANGEL CURSE I LOVE YOU is here. Let’s get into how I felt about it. If I had to describe this project in a word, it’d be crunchy because HOLY SHIT this is a loud project. I typically don’t mention mixing and mastering in my reviews, but it’s worth mentioning because I like the angle of just how grimy this is and it just feels dirty and buried into the Earth. When it comes to the writing, this was the album that made me realize how good of...

Australians are fucking crazy, man. That’s the biggest takeaway I got from this. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard really have it going for them. They’ve been a functioning band for ten years now, and not including live albums, they have twenty studio albums. Twenty. I’m on a trek to listen to all of them right now, and I think I have about seven down. Their third release this year, Omnium Gatherum , is their longest studio effort yet with 80 minutes in length. The Aussies gave us a lot to unpack in this album, so let’s not waste any time and get into Omnium Gatherum . At this point, it’s predictable for King Gizz to be unpredictable, and I’d say that this is one of the most all-over-the-place they’ve released yet. If they were throwing ideas at the wall to see what stuck, they did everything and included the wall. The elements of rock, metal, pop, electronic, soul, and even rap just combine to make a smorgasbord of sound. Even one of the band member’s grandmother plays the role of a ...

Oh, the Ho99o9! Ho99o9 [an absolute joy to type] are a group that are genuinely unique in a big crowd of unique musicians coming out these days. The first time I had heard them was on clipping.’s amazing 2020 album Visions of Bodies Being Burned , and since their feature on that album, it’s been a wild listen for me. I think that their debut album United States of Horror is pretty good, and ever since their next album Skin was announced, I’ve been ready. I haven’t heard any of the singles, so I’m fully ready to dive into this without warning. Let’s just do it right now and get into Skin . It’s worth noting that Travis Barker from blink-182 produced this entire album and is the first official release on his own label, DTA. Admittedly, that kind of worried me for a second because of Barker’s inconsistency recently, but I think his production nailed it. The mix of trap, metal, and industrial music is a damn-near perfect blend of each genre. Even with the features from Bun B and Slipknot...

This is a late Halloween tribute right here. Back when I did those bite-size music reviews on YouTube, one of my more popular videos was my first exposure to rapper Sematary and his critically acclaimed Rainbow Bridge 3 . I said that it was ‘loud as fuck.’ At the time, it ended up not being a positive thing, but after some convincing from some friends and a couple more listens, it actually grew on me quite a bit. In honor of All Hallow’s Eve, Sematary has dropped a new mixtape, Screaming Forest . Let’s get into it. I’m usually into the harsher sounds of his music, even if I’ve only heard Rainbow Bridge 3 . That being said, I’ll say that this is a little more subdued. A little. This is insanely loud music. This is the definition of music that will scare the hoes. The little subgenre of trap metal has been very specific and has a very small space in rap as a whole, but with this album, it’s really making a good yet small statement. Although, it feels like there’s a Sematary clone on here...

If a type of music could be considered dirty, it’d be this. So, what’s the deal with this? I’ve really only heard one grindcore album, and that’s one of the more iconic releases in the genre, Nails’ breakout album Unsilent Death . I’ve always heard the name Full of Hell be thrown around in that conversation, but I’ve never actually sat down and listened to them. So, why not do it at a better time when they drop a new album? Garden of Burning Apparitions is the name, and a lot of power electronics are their game. Let’s get into it. I enjoy how heavy and extreme it is. Yes, it’s a pretty huge oversimplification for such a heavy and extreme genre, I know, but hey, that’s what comes to mind. I’m a fan of metal, mainly black metal but death metal’s pretty cool too, but this little subsection of grindcore hasn’t ever really clicked with me. I’m fully aware that pulling this kind of music needs a lot of skill and it’s done pretty well here, but it might just be a personal thing for me. I mea...

No, this is not a Christmas album. I love finding new artists, and honestly, I didn’t find this group off of Twitter or social media. I actually heard of them through word of mouth. I don’t know a lot about Sleigh Bells, but they’re an alt-rock duo from Brooklyn and this is their fifth album as a duo. I haven’t heard their other albums, but I do know that one of them is called Jessica Rabbit , so that’s a plus. This album’s called Texis , and I honestly don’t know what else to say about it. Let’s just listen to it. Alright, I’ve spent a couple minutes trying my best to figure out how to describe the sound of it, so I’m gonna do it, even if it’s a little clunky: metal-influenced layers mixed with rap beats and R&B vocals. There’s also a bit of electronic and industrial music in here too, and I think that this is one of the more unique albums to drop this year. There are also a lot of synths on here, and I like that mainly because I just think synths are cool. Something that also is ...

Okay, who gave Eddie the sword? Iron Maiden is one of the most iconic and beloved metal groups ever. They don’t need much of an introduction, so I’ll just leave it at that. They recently dropped their first album in six years, Senjutsu , and it’s reportedly one of their more progressive releases. Having been more in the progressive rock/metal area more recently, I find this to be pretty exciting. The shortest song on here is just over four minutes, while some of the longer songs reach eleven, twelve, and even thirteen minutes long. So, can the British outfit capture lightning in a bottle once more? Let’s find out with Senjutsu . Let me just say this one thing about the album: I can really appreciate that the band isn’t taking the safe route with their music. They never seem to stay boring when it comes to creating music and simply putting it out there for not only them to enjoy but for their fans to enjoy. This is the time for pretty long albums, and this is no different with its 82-mi...

Let me tell you, this is not a Frank Miller joint, sadly. I’ve been pretty excited for this one. Ski Mask The Slump God has always been an eccentric rapper with amazing songs but not that many great projects. His last project, 2018’s STOKELEY , was and still is a fun exception from that statement, and in a smart move, he rode the success of that album very well. Every now and then, he’s dropped a few singles and given out a couple features, but he’s remained relatively silent for the past couple of years. Now, after a few years behind the spotlight, Ski Mask’s ready to come back in full force in 2021, starting with his comeback mixtape, Sin City . How’s it sounding? Let’s find out. This mixtape is insanely short, clocking in at only 17 minutes. The project itself has a pretty dark atmosphere, like the Sin City franchise itself. “Merlin’s Staff,” produced by Kenny Beats, has a great Missy Elliot sample with it. Honestly, outside of that, there’s not that much worth listening to. I don’...

Horrorcore is making a massive comeback, and I will be a full supporter of it. I’ve spoken about Zambian-Canadian rapper Ashanti Mutinta, better known as Backxwash, on here once, but her impact has already been felt not just through my music taste but through a major award. Honestly, she caught my attention when she said that Nine Inch Nails’ “Reptile” has a hip-hop influence, but that’s neither here nor there. Her breakout album, God Has Nothing to Do with This Leave Him Out of It , won her 2020’s Polaris Prize. I spoke about that already in my review of that album, but it’s worth mentioning here. With winning that award, her profile only grew. This was shown during the lead up to the release of this album, the highly-anticipated I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES . She started off naming her collaborators for this album: Ada Rook (who also mastered the entire album), noise producer Lauren Bosfield, Speedy Ortiz vocalist/poet Sadie Dupuis, Code Orange members Eric ‘Shade’ ...

I’m aware this came out a while ago, and yes I’m reviewing it now. Black Dresses aren’t a band. They aren’t one anymore, at least. In 2020, the duo consisting of Ada Rook and Devi McCallion dropped their breakout album, Peaceful as Hell . It was a noisy, ‘not-for-everyone,’ and dizzying album that sounded nothing like it. Then, it was gone. Not long after it was released, Rook and McCallion ended Black Dresses, mainly having to do with harassment from fans. The rest of their music also got taken off of streaming services, and you can only find their stuff on the group’s Bandcamp page. Even though they aren’t working as Black Dresses anymore, though, that doesn’t mean that new music has seen the light of day. This past Valentine’s Day, Forever in Your Heart was released onto the internet with no fanfare. It was essentially plopped into the laps of their fans, erratic or not. It also came with this message: ‘We're no longer a band, unfortunately. Regardless, we've decided to kee...

Honestly, the goblin on the cover of this would make for a great image on a facemask. I’ll admit something that I had a pretty hard time grasping before I started writing reviews on here: I had very poor music taste. As an example, I pre-ordered both Eminem’s Revival and Migos’ Culture II . That should explain where I was in 2017-2018 pretty well. Ever since then, especially within the last year, I’ve really begun to expand my palette not only on what I listen to but how I listen to it. One of those genres I’ve really dove into is metal, and all types of it too. Black metal, death metal, thrash metal, speed metal, etc. It’s really helped me look into songs as full compositions instead of focusing on one aspect of a track, and let’s just say it’s been an interesting ride. One of these artists that really made me appreciate it in the metal genre is Paysage d’Hiver, a Swiss group that just happened to appear on my radar with their behemoth of an album from last year, Im Wald . When looki...

AUTHOR’S NOTE: It’s an honor to be in the early review circuit of legendary French metal outfit Gojira’s first new record since 2016, Fortitude . I’d like to extend a very special thank you to Gojira and the people over at Roadrunner Records for the opportunity to listen to such an anticipated album as this before it drops this Friday. Gojira has been evolving ever since their debut album back in 2001, Terra Incognita . For each album since then, they’ve dabbled in new sounds and their experimentalist approach to metal has been quite progressive and forward-thinking in recent years. For their first album in five years, Fortitude , they lean into the more groove metal side of things rather than death metal or sludge metal. I’ve been pretty excited to get my ears onto this album, and I’m so glad I can finally speak about it. Let’s get into it. I’m just gonna say right out of the gate that Fortitude is Gojira’s most diverse album yet. I’m not sure how the fan reactions are going to be, b...

OH NO NO PLEASE GOD HELP ME. Backxwash is an artist that I’m mad at myself for not finding sooner. I first found out about her when the shortlist for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize was announced. For the uninitiated, the Polaris Music Prize is an awards show in Canada that honors artists hailing from that country, whether or not they’re independent artists or one of the biggest stars on the planet. Backxwash had won the top honors with this album right here, God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It , getting shortlisted ahead of The Weeknd and Daniel Caesar, and coming out over more well-known names like Kaytranada, Jessie Reyez, and Lido Pimienta. Once I had seen this, I finally got to listen to this project earlier this year. So, yes, this is technically a re-listen, but since it was taken off of streaming services, I had to resort to YouTube. Either way, here’s my thoughts on it. God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It is BRUTAL. In fact, it’s one of the roughe...

 

 

I hadn’t really cared about HEALTH’s music until recently. Actually, I didn’t really think of HEALTH’s music until the release of this album, DISCO4 :: PART I . Like the title says, this is apparently the first part of a collaborative series of mini-albums, and the guest list on this is pretty nuts. Experimental duo 100 gecs, rap warrior JPEGMAFIA, and indie darling Soccer Mommy all feature on this, among many others. This definitely caught my eye when looking through it, and I decided to give it a go. Let’s get right into DISCO4 :: PART I . DISCO4 :: PART I is an alternative album with experimental, metal, electronic, rock, indie, and hip-hop influences. Collaborative projects have always been hit or miss to me. Rap albums tend to be the first things that come to mind. Drake and Future had surprisingly strong chemistry on What a Time to be Alive five years ago, and Kanye West and Kid Cudi’s KIDS SEE GHOSTS is one of my favorite Kanye-adjacent projects in recent memory. What both thes...