ALBUM REVIEW: Run The Jewels 2 by Run The Jewels

well, that was something

Run The Jewels 2 is the second studio album from American rap duo Run The Jewels. The rap is actually fairly good in this album and it's nothing that I'm too put off by... except that this album can be extremely explicit at times, especially during "Love Again (Akinyele Back)". Sometimes a bit of explicitness is okay, but I felt that this album kind of went a bit overboard. But hey, there were wrestling references that were pretty good. Overall, I did actually enjoy it and I would recommend this on to people who are into rap.

Devil's Score: 8

(Editor's Note: DID I REALLY NOT MENTION CLOSE YOUR EYES (AND COUNT TO FUCK)? WHAT THE HECK?)

ALBUM REVIEW: Daytona by Pusha T

pls don't lose me respect

Daytona is the third studio album from American rapper Pusha T. I have never listened to any Pusha T, but I saw a lot of 2018 album charts saying this was their favourite album of 2018. My opinion? It's pretty good. For a 21 minute album, it's all pretty good and the features enhance the album. The songs don't drag and there's nothing I can really complain about. My only small nitpick is that it does end quite abruptly and doesn't have a classic ending song, but all in all, it's fairly good.

Devil's Score: 7

ALBUM REVIEW: good kid, m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar

to pimp a butterfly was definitely kendrick's peak

good kid, m.A.A.d city is the second studio album from American rapper Kendrick Lamar. So far I've listened to 3 of 4 of Kendrick's albums and I can say that this firmly plants TPAB as the magnum opus of Kendrick's work and every other album he's done has been shoddy as hell. Yes, I am about to go rant mode on this album because TPAB set the bar too high for my standards for a Kendrick album. If I had to compare gkmc to another album, I'd compare it to Logic's YSIV. And by that, I mean it absolutely sucked compared to my standards. The non-music parts were stretched too far, and most of the music was sub-par compared to some rap work that I favour. Honestly, I was hoping to enjoy gkmc more, but it extremely underwhelmed me.

Devil's Score: 5

ALBUM REVIEW: Meliora by Ghost

he said that i'd like meliora

Meliora is the third studio album from Swedish rock band Ghost. I have never experienced anything from Ghost before, so this is a new experience for me. What I experienced first was some fairly good rock, like nothing to dislike. However, what I felt was that sometimes the rock was slightly meh. I will admit that there were songs that at the start did make me bob my head and tap my toes, but overall the album wasn't something I'd rank highly. It's above average.

Devil's Score: 6

ALBUM REVIEW: UNDERTALE Soundtrack by Toby Fox

2 hours and 10 minutes later...

The UNDERTALE Soundtrack was the 101 song soundtrack for the indie RPG Undertale, created by Toby Fox. When the suggester, Punk, jokingly suggested this OST, he stated: "the prospect of you listening through 100 songs is too much to bear". So I do hope that you are okay right now as I review this whopper of a soundtrack.

OH MY THE UNDERTALE OST IS SO GOOD. There are certain OSTs for games that will get a pop from me every time. The opening from Horizon: Zero Dawn, the nostalgia of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 OST, the beauty that is the Journey OST. In my opinion, Undertale OST is one of the best in the world. Every song is so incredible and unique to the point that you fall in love with every song. Whether it's the surprisingly awesome beat of "Spookwave", the hit of "Death By Glamour", or the horror amalgamation of "Tem Shop" which I believe is just an altered version of the intoxicating "Dogsong". This OST has it all and for being 2+ hours of great songs throughout, I am so happy to have spent the time listening to this.
Thank You Punk.

Devil's Score: 9

ALBUM REVIEW: Wolf by Tyler, The Creator

time to lose the respect of my peer

Wolf is the second studio album from American rapper Tyler, The Creator. I have already listened to Tyler's 4th album Flower Boy and that got a 7/10. I guess his earlier stuff just doesn't really resonate with me.
And this hurts because I know a lot of people have looked at Tyler's recent work and yearn for the days of Wolf and Goblin, but I now kind of see Flower Boy as a good direction for Tyler. A lot of the singles on Wolf feel out of beat and out of touch and sometimes crude for the sake of crude. It makes listening to the album an uncomfortable experience and honestly, there are a lot of songs on here that I probably will never ever touch again. Some of the songs did resonate well and they weren't half bad. However, this is the first time in a long time that I've had to rate something that is, in my opinion, worse than a meh album.

Devil's Score: 4

(Editor's Note: Yeah, basically things improved from Flower Boy and now IGOR could be my 2019 AOTY)

ALBUM REVIEW: St. Leonards by Slowly Slowly

slowly slowly falling asleep

St. Leonards is the second studio album from Australian band Slowly Slowly. I'm gonna break this down into three sections: The start of the album, the middle of the album and the end of the album.
Start
This album actually starts out quite strongly and at the time I was entertained by it. "Dinosaurs" was a pretty good song and it helped me get comfortable with the album.
Middle
Okay, the album starts to go a bit slow in quality and a lot of the songs are sounding a bit too similar and meh now.
End
Doesn't really pick up until a last-ditch attempt with "Christmas Lights", but by that point, I'm already turned off.

Overall, I can see why some people could like this album, but to me, it felt very bland with only a few songs having a spark of life in them.

Devil's Score: 5

ALBUM REVIEW: a modern tragedy vol. 2 by grandson

i think the album title says the most

a modern tragedy vol. 2 is, to my knowledge, the second EP from Canadian-American singer-songwriter grandson. The most I've heard from grandson prior was his most prolific song "Blood // Water" which was the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn 4 theme and I had a listen to it outside of the confines of the wrestling world (I still prefer WarGames' Play by Marmozets). Through listening to this EP, it started off very well with the grandson feel of the song. However, as I got through the EP, even though it was only 17 minutes long, I grew to find out I'm not really a fan of the grandson style. The vocals can get quite irritating personally and sometimes the instrumental can be a bit obnoxious as well. Overall, it's a good effort, but not something I would listen to again.

Devil's Score: 6

(Editor's Note: Fun Fact, this was never actually suggested and I misunderstood something in conversation)

ALBUM REVIEW: For Now by DMA's

how have i never been suggested this before

For Now is the second studio album from Australian band DMA'S. I have never heard about DMA'S before except from some talk in a music channel. I've got to say though that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The rock was amazing and the style was really unique. Although initially on the first run-through of this album I can't really pick out any songs that I enjoyed specifically, I'm sure that on another listen through that I'd probably have this on repeat a lot.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: Swimming by Mac Miller

can I get forgiveness for my WMWTSO score now?

Swimming is the fifth studio album from American rapper Mac Miller and the last release of his lifetime. This was another one that was hyped up by a server, so does it follow Loner's fate?

No. It doesn't. Swimming is an excellent album with a showcase of how rap should be and at 58 minutes, it's a good album to wrap around. Although the last 3 songs do drag due to having three 5+ minute songs at the end of an album, the rest of the songs are really amazing, especially "Ladders". "Ladders" is an amazing single just due to the fact that I love some production and electronic influence in music.

Devil's Score: 9

ALBUM REVIEW: Loner by MISSIO

jeez you guys hyped it up

Loner is the debut album from American duo MISSIO. I will say that the album starts strong with Animal, like that's a pretty good song. Other highlights include Kamikazee and DWI as ones that stood out to me. Overall it's an enjoyable album, but I didn't find myself loving that many songs from the album. Some of them grew repetitive, and some weren't really my cup of tea. All in all, it was worth a listen, but in my personal opinion, it's not worth a relisten so soon.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: Hozier by Hozier

i love a good self-titled album

Hozier was the debut album from Irish musician, you guessed it, Hozier. I do remember when "Take Me To Church" burst onto mainstream radio in the fall of 2013, and I did enjoy it for the most part. However back then, the only albums I listened to in full were albums from Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco so I hadn't got to listen to this album in full until today... 6 years later. However, I sincerely enjoyed it. All the music was actually really good and it was lovely to listen to while doing coursework. It didn't drag at all, which is surprising for a 53-minute album, and all in all I really liked it.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: Growing Up, Vol. 3 by A L E X

part three of this lo-fi adventure

Growing Up, Vol. 3 is the third full-length album from American producer A L E X. Honestly, it has been a long while since reviewing Vol. 1 and 2, but it was nice to kick back and just relax with these beats. The songs were extremely chill and were all incredibly solid. A favourite of mine from the album is "Green Hills", mainly due to the Sonic sampling. Overall, I did enjoy listening to this, even though it felt like it was going on for quite a while. A great addition to the Growing Up saga.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: Let's Build Something To Break by After Midnight Project

this is a lot better than I was expecting

LBSTB is the debut studio album from American hard rock band After Midnight Project. It slapped a lot harder than I expected and it just sounded really good. I was entertained throughout the whole album, despite a slight bit of dragging near the start, but overall it was great. Thanks for a great recommendation from... 21st June oh boy 

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: Determination by RichaadEB

oh Undertale soundtrack, you are so kind to me

Determination is a joint project by Ace Waters and RichaadEB. I have already reviewed the full Undertale soundtrack (Editor's Note: That will be added to the archive soon) and it was pretty amazing for such a long soundtrack for a video game. Listening to this was still great, but not as good as the original. The production and twists on the original tracks are creative and blew my imagination in transforming these songs that I love, but some didn't land as well as their predecessors, and others just dragged for a bit too long. It is a great album though, but not as good as Toby Fox's original soundtrack.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: Toys In The Attic by Aerosmith

... where was Run DMC?

Toys In The Attic is the third studio album from American rock band Aerosmith. I will say that it was fairly good. The tracks were entertaining and I got a bit of nostalgia pop out of the single "Walk This Way". I will say however that the Run DMC covered version of "Walk This Way" is miles better, but I digress. A good rock album that I enjoyed to listen to.

Devil's core: 7

ALBUM REVIEW: Six60 by Six60

i do love a good ol self-titled album, especially when they do it three times

SIX60 is the debut studio album from New Zealand rock band Six60. For the record, I listened to the 41-minute version from 2011, before discovering the 53-minute version from 2014. And to be honest, I quite enjoyed this Kiwi delicacy. The music is really enjoyable and I found it really good to just listen to while I was chatting to friends and playing games. Even though some songs felt a bit dragging, especially the 5-minute song aptly named "Forever", but I enjoyed it quite a bit and I wouldn't be opposed to listening again.

Devil's Score: 7

ALBUM REVIEW: The Attractions Of Youth by Barns Courtney

the songs with fire are the highlights of this album

The Attractions of Youth is the debut studio album from English artist Barns Courtney. Work for this album began in 2016 with his debut single Fire and the album was officially released in 2017. I had already listened to "Hellfire", due to my girlfriend's (Editor's Note: well, this is awkward now) music tastes and it winning Suggestion of the Week on the now-defunct Monday Night Takeover, but there were a lot of songs still undiscovered music on this "Folk Pop/Blues Rock" album. So what did I think of it? Well, it started strong with "Fire". But quickly it went into the Folk part of the album which honestly I didn't enjoy as much. As I said in the witty sub-title, I enjoyed both "Fire" and "Hellfire" but the rest wasn't as great. It was good, but nothing as good as those two. All in all, it's a good debut album from the Seattle native and I'd listen to "Fire" and "Hellfire" again.

Devil's Score: 7

ALBUM REVIEW: Space Cadet by Nigel Good

damn, I missed Monstercat albums

Space Cadet is basically the first solo studio album from Canadian artist Nigel Good, and also his first under the Monstercat banner. To be honest, I love a bit of Monstercat. Give me Grabbitz, Pegboard Nerds, whatever and I will probably enjoy the fuck out of it. Space Cadet? Fucking blasted me away. Have I ever talked about how I love when an album transitions from song to song so seamlessly that it feels like you're still on the same song? Because Space Cadet hits this to perfection. I can count at least 3 times I looked at Spotify to check whether we were on a new song, and each time being surprised. The EDM is absolutely bloody amazing, something to dance and bob your head to. Honestly, I was in love with this album for a lot of the time. It's a great marvel of how to do EDM right, and I am looking forward to future releases from Nigel Good.

Devil's Score: 9

ALBUM REVIEW: Human by dodie

i haven't done one of these in two weeks... jesus

Human is the third EP from English singer-songwriter Dodie Clark, also known as dodie. From what I've researched, some of these songs were at most from back in 2014 and released this year in a neat EP. My opinions on the EP are as follows: It's pretty meh. I'll respect that it is musically sound and that I don't have any gripes with the lyrics or instrumentation, but I did find it very slow and not interesting enough to grasp my attention. There was only one single from the EP that I can hum to myself on retrospect, and that's 'Monster' because it had a beat and something to dance along to. I get that a lot of the songs are meant to be slow, emotional and meaningful, but it didn't really pique my interest. For showing good potential in an EP this gets a solid score.

Devil's Score: 6

ALBUM REVIEW: The Atlantic by Evergrey

sailing back into the port 

The Atlantic is the eleventh studio album from Swedish progressive metal band Evergrey. I'm not really much of a metal fan but I actually found myself enjoying this. I don't know what it was about the album, but I just find myself bobbing my head and just loving some of the songs from this. Although it does drag at points, especially when I had to check where I was through the album and I was still on the first song, I pretty much enjoyed it all and I could see why someone who is a fan of metal would rate this highly. But I've got to stick to my personal tastes, so it gets a pretty good score.

Devil's Score: 7

ALBUM REVIEW: Mood Swings by Divided Minds

this is such an Andreas pick (Editor's Note: Andreas is my most-prolific suggester)

Mood Swings is the debut EP from American pop band Divided Minds. Straight away, I noticed that this must've been suggested by Andreas because straight away I noticed some shredding of the guitar kind and I knew that he'd be into it. However, I did not expect it to have such a pop-punk feel, especially when this came out last year. All in all, the instruments were really good. I always found myself bopping along to the music. The whole pop-punk vocalist stuff where they strain their voices does put me off sometimes, but overall I did enjoy the album. The songs were all pretty good and I would recommend this to someone, especially if they have 2007 withdrawal.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: we by gnash

couldn't find the album cover so have
some art for one of the singles

surprised me, this did

we is the debut album from American artist gnash. I remember in the height of 2016, gnash released a single called "i hate u, i love u" featuring Olivia O'Brien and to be honest, it soured my view of gnash. Personally, I found that single too slow and a bit too melodramatic. So I was surprised that Jesus Christ this album has some positive vibes on it. "imagine if", "nobody's home" and "t-shirt" burst the album into gear after not the greatest start with "happy never after". "pajamas" and "the broken hearts club" are both excellent songs on this album too. To be fair, I'm not too indifferent with the lead single of this album anymore "i hate u, i love u" and in honesty, I did enjoy listening to this album. It was a lovely album that I'm happy I listened to.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: ...and they have escaped the weight of darkness by Olafur Arnalds

ooooh this is relaxing

This is the second studio album from Icelandic multi-instrumentalist Olafur Arnalds. Looking through some of the work that Olafur has produced in his nearly 19-year career, I also noticed that he did the soundtrack for the UK TV show Broadchurch. Now that tidbit is out of the way, onto the review. I enjoyed it. The classical music was very relaxing and chilled me down, especially as I was working on coursework at the time. Although nothing stood out too much, the whole album was enjoyable for the fact that the music was pretty good and nothing was bland, monotonous or outlasted its welcome. For a neo-classical album to only last 49 minutes and have good substance is a great achievement. All in all, I might listen to this again if I want to focus, but it's not something I'd listen to normally.

Devil's Score: 7

ALBUM REVIEW: Misadventures by Pierce the Veil

god I haven't heard about PTV since the emo scene

Misadventures is the fourth studio album from American rock band Pierce the Veil. I was actually hesitant to start this album because even though I grew up with bands like Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco and My Chemical Romance, I always had a bit of indifference to other bands in the emo scene at the time, be it Hollywood Undead, Sleeping With Sirens or Pierce The Veil. However, when I started the first song of this album "Dive In", I had a bit of a change in heart. It's a really good opener to a rock album and it had me intrigued. In fact, the rock throughout the album is really good and I heard some fucking good guitar shredding in the album as well, so there's always positives. One downside for me always is whiny rock vocalists which harken back to the days of the emo scene, but it wasn't a turn-off. All in all, Misadventures is a great album and if I was a fan of theirs back in 2016, I probably would have listened to this a lot.

Devil's Score: 7