The Diary of a Hobbyist

SCORE: 100/100 Pitchshifter share similarities to other nu-metal and industrial acts while having a flair that makes them unlike anyone else in the rock scene; with their breakbeat-laden sound being similar to The Prodigy in the biggest sense possible. No other band could possibly recreate the high energy madness that instantly ensues on 'www.pitchshifter.com', and I knew I would fall for this album as soon as I read the genres - but I couldn't have anticipated it being THIS good. It's been a long, long time since an album has made me as excited as this one managed to, and the sound of this is truly unbeatable. The eccentric sound with elements of breakbeat and drum and bass being woven in to an industrial record makes this highly captivating and hugely interesting, and the energy here is something that will immediately get your adrenaline up; at least it did for me. It's rare that an album makes me feel giddy with excitement - but this one did that to such a high d...

SCORE: 92/100 Bad Religion share many qualities with other, similar punk bands - but there's no denying that they were the founding fathers in a much larger scale for the skate punk scene. They mix the social politics of the genre with a lighter, more accessible sound with less noise and still enough grit to keep the record rugged around its edges; and the result is yet another album that showcases the band's style incredibly well.  This album sounds like it could be the soundtrack for a skateboarding game from the 90s-2000s (think Tony Hawk & the 'skate.' franchises) , and it does this so well that the energy is almost infectious. The drumming in particular on this album stands out as one of its leading factors, with striking instrumental quality and great, genre-suited vocals to match, the album remains consistent. 'Recipe for Hate' shares a lot of similarities with NOFX - I found the resemblance between the two bands in terms of their sounds to be strikin...

SCORE: 92/100 I've loved Mitski for years upon years now, and yet the thought of listening to her fills me with this sort of harrowing sadness no other artist gives me quite like this. Her music manages to be so heartbreakingly devastating it's hard not to fall in love with her style, and she does it without seeming too overly dramatic or like she is doing too much with her music; it's just right. 'Retired from Sad, New Career in Business' is much less lo-fi than her debut album 'Lush', with her stunning vocals being backed by a 60-piece student based orchestra that gives the project a hugely lively, almost hopeful sound with glimpses of something sweeter between the more gut-wrenching songs.  Mitski used this as her senior project while studying at the State University of NY at Purchase, where she was studying for her music career. She self-released the album and made music videos for every song within it, with each of the songs and their video counterparts...

SCORE: 98/100 Jack Off Jill managed to make themselves known as one of the grittiest, most raw all-female bands out there, and their 2006 compilation of recordings that took place from the early-to-mid 90s showcases their style deliciously well. They feel like more than just Riot Grrrl, feeling unlike any other bands in the genre with their sheer heaviness and their consistently gorgeous and raw style that you can't find from any other band; not like this. They don't try and lean into pop or other popular subgenres or stylings, they make their own rules and play by their very own handbook - one lined in grisly pink and the most raw elements of femininity.  'Humid Teenage Mediocrity' feels like an essential and entirely comprehensive look at JOJ as a band. It showcases their brutal honesty through early, previously unreleased material as well as demo versions of songs that would make their way onto their debut album in 1997. There are some truly stunning moments on this ...

SCORE: 95/100 After 1998's trouble-laden 'Cruelty and the Beast', Cradle of Filth went through upkeep to keep their sound fresh and rejuvinated for the new millennium.  This album is the first project the band worked on with their then-new drummer Adrian Erlandsson, who they worked with until 2006. Actor Doug Bradley was also enlisted for the "cast" of this album, working as the narrator to the loosely-laid concept found throughout 'Midian'.   It follows a very similar structure to what the band is known for, with a symphonic opening piece with a gradual buildup and gorgeous instrumentation (with this actually being one of their most buildup-heavy openings with an organ and some of their best string arrangements yet) that lead into seamless transitions and strikingly fast pieces that use their instruments especially to bring the album up to new highs for the band. It's seemingly even heavier than some of their other albums, and Erlandsson's work wi...

SCORE: 70/100 I think it's a safe bet that only Jack Stauber could pull off music like this. It manages to be so nonsensical while still having form, and the overall sound of the production is full of so much genuine whimsy and playfulness it's hard to turn your nose up at this short soundtrack. The songs are short, making their fun nature more apparent, and it means that nothing overstays its welcome. Vocally, this project isn't that ideal in terms of sound, but the production is creative and fun enough to make this a worthwhile 6-minute project. It's short enough for the vocals to not become too overbearing, but it's solid enough to still be something fun and interesting to listen to; with the uniqueness being the key factor in how the soundtrack comes together. Stauber has pretty much mastered the "weirdcore" sound palate, and although this project is too short to feel fleshed out enough to be a proper listen, the short songs do his style enough justice...

SCORE: 100/100 Deep Shadows is an album I knew I was wrong about from the moment I posted my review. I went into HIM's third album expecting the heavier sounds of the band to be ever-present on this LP as well - but when I was met with a different sound with more experimentation and ballad-fronted tracks, I was caught off guard. I still gave it an overwhelming amount of praise in my original review, but I knew it was more than a 97. It felt like something I might not have come back to as much, as if the songs weren't as memorable - but I quickly realized that some of the band's absolute best material resides on this album. From the night I reviewed it I found myself coming back again, and again, and... again. The opening track alone for this album shows how different it is from the rest of their catalogue, with a more experimental sound palate that refines their sound into something even more melodic and atmospheric while keeping the sounds that fans of the band had come to...