Two albums

Personal circumstances have left me with another week of missed treasures. Last week, Foo Fighters and Krokodil released albums and they were pretty good, so here's a couple of reviews of last weeks top two.

Nachash is the debut album from the metal supergroup Krokodil and it's pretty grizzly. All eyes have been on them as it's rumoured that one member of Krokodil is Slipknot's newly masked bassist. No pressure then, but this album had to be good to shift the spotlight to their music, rather than the mystery surrounding metal's greatest comeback. What Nachash is, is relentless. It's non-stop grizzle and grit and whilst it doesn't always pack a huge punch, it certainly has the ingredients of great metal within it. Hailed as lords of the riff, there are many scattered throughout the album and there is an innate heaviness to everything this band create. Unlike a lot of albums these days, there's not really any hidden gems here. The best songs on the album are those that have been stamped as singles. Reptilia Familiar remains a favourite, as does Sun Riders which features Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil.

Krokodil haven't tried to be clever. It's a balls-to-the-wall type of album in that you get what you expect right from the start and that's why it's solidly good metal. It's obvious they're a group of talented men but they'll have to do better than Nachash to hit the big time. Oh, and a word of warning, don't google Krokodil without adding the word "band" after it....

6/10

Listen to: Sun Riders

Foo Fighters finally released their eighth, highly anticipated album, Sonic Highways last week and it's just pure unadulterated rock: it's unmistakably Foo Fighters from the get go. Dave Grohl's one-of-a-kind voice resonates as beautifully as always and the band surrounding him carry him like they always have. Their talent for this industry and genre is only strengthened by the unity between them, that's evident in how perfected this album sounds and it's evidence that Foo Fighters are as able and as stunning as ever.

Sonic Highways isn't Foo's best album however. At nearly 50 minutes long yet only made up of eight tracks, the album can drag, not to the point where you give up on it but to the point where you do start to think about how all their songs can blend into one. But that isn't to say this is a bad album. In fact, it's an awesome album. There's groove to it and there's a large scale feel to it that you can only get from bands like Foo Fighters. Listening to songs like Something From Nothing put you in a stadium with a crowd who are just as passionate about the music as the band are. Outside puts you in your car on a hot summers day, top down, cruising without a care in the world. I Am A River puts you in a room with your friends, air guitaring and singing as if you are Foo Fighters yourself. Sonic Highways translates and fits in to everybody's lives like it has always been there. It feels natural and it is a reminder of the formula that makes a legendary rock band.

8/10

Listen to: Feast and the Famine