Synthetica - Metric

Thrashing guitar riffs, staccato drum beats, and solid basslines. The Canadian rock band Metric strikes their audience with their latest record "synthetica". The opening track "Youth Without Youth" channels the intricate, yet driving guitar style of guitar great Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) in a new and refined package. Emily Haines' vocals capture the audience with blatant lyrics and dynamic stage presence. While the album thrashes and shines in many aspects it fails to muster the former glory of their last album "fantasies". Unlike their previous record, Synthetica lacks any sort of tug and pull between songs. Everything blends together. While "Synthetica" features many amazing tracks and catchy riffs, it lacks the coherency of their previous works.

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Sigur Ros - Valtari

Ethereal, melodic, harmonious, exotic. Sigur Ros's latest album Valtari continues to envelop the listener in a clouded atmosphere of drawn out songs (ten minutes) with their own inventive language loosely based off Icelandic. As always the pulsing melodies gently coax the listener into the never ending mystical environment. Valtari (icelandic for steamroller) follows the same patterns of the band's later work like "Takk" and "Inni". While Sigur Ros masters the melodic and ethereal aspect of their music, their previous meanings are lost. The made up language clouds any meaning the band wishes to convey. Every utterance is swept away by the melodies.
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