75 / 100 Liberty is a confident and heartfelt debut that clearly born from the Stratovarius lineage yet carried with youthful eagerness and melodic sincerity. The year 2003 became an important one for Stratovarius with the release of Elements Pt. I , and for their child named Sunrise in Ukraine. That child was still in the process of growing and finally began speaking four years later through a debut album titled Liberty . Liberty by SUNRISE From the very first second of “ Born to Find ,” the son was already following in his father’s footsteps, with a keyboard pattern that immediately reminded me of “Hunting High and Low.” The tracklist clearly forms a transversal wave—rising, falling, then rising again—but things flatten out after “Inside of the Rising Sun,” even though the added local-language version of “Illusion of Life” closes things with enough melody and emotion, only becoming an issue when replaying the album several times. “Hear Me” ...

69 / 100 Hail to the Thief isn’t a failure—it’s just a sprawling album whose gems are scattered rather than clustered. Radiohead ’s sixth album still managed to chart, but after several listens, all I felt was fatigue and emptiness. It might even lose to their latest album, which already gave me a “good” impression after only a brief taste. After assembling two boxes of experimentation, Hail to the Thief —born in 2003—returns to an alternative rock configuration with a primary electronic touch. Although it begins with a famous energetic opener followed by a mechanical brew, I’m more comfortable with the conventional ballad “ Sail to the Moon .” “ Go to Sleep ” brings a 60s cowboy-town vibe through its acoustic opening, though it doesn’t fully captivate. My feelings are mixed about the post-punk/new wave influence in “ Where I End and You Begin ,” so that one needs special consideration. I turned away from several tracks, then “ A Punch at a Weddin...

73 / 100 Reality-based Forms feels like caustic_gates stepping deeper into a carefully curated aesthetic. I didn’t expect to return to November 7 again, this time to encounter caustic_gates ’ new album, Reality-based Forms . To me, there are still traces of “ Gates Kept ,” but refined through inspiration from 80s and 90s Japanese environmental music — kankyō ongaku . So the choice of a palm-leaf cover that evokes a vaporwave -like summer atmosphere makes perfect sense to reinforce the nostalgic impression. reality-based forms by caustic_gates The synth flows presented here clearly differ from modern ambient—more like air intertwined with the bustle of the city back then. Calling it heavy wouldn’t be entirely accurate; calling it dark also doesn’t fit. The rising–falling waves sound faint, slow, and gentle, with added chime-like sounds, such as in “Aquarium,” which then shifts into something more melancholic in “ Delay Evaporation .” A new she...

76 / 100 Send Me an Angel feels like Vision Divine tightening and enriching what they began on the debut. Italian prog-power band Vision Divine continued their second long journey with Send Me an Angel in 2002. The main lineup remains the same as before—Olaf, Fabio, Andrea Torriccini , Mattia Stancioiu, and De Paoli—although I didn’t highlight this in the first album review. Guest musicians also increased this time, not only borrowing Ale Gatti’s vocals again but also bringing in Stephanie Jackson, Steve Scott, and guitarist Stefano Brandoni. The dark red cover and the image of a figure carrying another person clearly hint at a more emotional and melancholic mood. The artwork is still handled by the same person, Simone Bianchi . I only recently learned that he also created the artwork for Labyrinth ’s Sons of Thunder and the Timeless Crime EP—another thing I neglected to mention previously. The intro, “Incipit,” connects straight into the titl...

74 / 100 Aerenchyma is just like air passing through narrow chambers, pressure shifting inside unseen biological spaces. It feels clinical yet strangely alive. What can be heard from a plant tissue network? Ever heard of aerenchyma? Perhaps Botanist fans are already familiar with various plants, but caustic_gates hands us a microscope to observe one of the tissues commonly found in hollow-stemmed plants such as taro . aerenchyma by caustic_gates The caustic_gates project is still very young, originating from Nottingham, England , and has just released its second album, Reality-based Forms , on November 7. Meanwhile, Aerenchyma was born 16 months earlier, on July 27, 2024. Both releases reveal an ambient character shaped by the distinctively minimal sound of modular synthesizers , making it slightly different from Bålsam ’s style. Alright, it took me three listens before I finally grasped a clearer sense of its sound. “Cais do Sodré” opens t...

77 / 100 End. is Subheroine ’s most immersive and emotionally textured work yet ... Is being a week late enough to make a new release feel cold and stale? Maybe it’s the effect of our fast-paced modern world and the FOMO trend. Who knows. Whatever. Alright then, let’s welcome a new breakcore/drum & bass album (though it runs under 30 minutes) from Subheroine : End. ! End. by SUBHEROINE Released just on November 7 via Japan’s veteran breakcore label, Lost Frog Productions , End . delivers a noticeably more atmospheric vibe this time. So, tagging it as atmospheric drum & bass makes perfect sense, while the “depressive” tag seems to apply only to the cover art. But is that really the case? As always, there are surprises when reviewing music—those unexpected moments that make certain tracks sound more intriguing than expected. The most prominent depressive elements appear in the sampled voice of an anime girl sounding shocked or weakened in...

67 / 100 A clean, tightly-produced debut that plays things safer than most breakcore i ever remember. Before getting to the relatively fresh new release, the Japanese breakcore project SUBHEROINE made me revisit its debut EP from 2017. The EP, titled Hope , is available on Bandcamp through a sort of label called The Worst , based in New York. hope by Subheroine Unlike the second release—which I’ve sampled only briefly—I still haven’t found much in this EP, even after several attempts. In terms of production quality, the sound output is clean, without any trace of noise effects or reverb like 0m01d3 . Technically, SUBHEROINE seems to emphasize drums and bass with additional cut-up samples of anime characters or something similar, chopped in typical breakcore fashion across all five tracks. “83jx3N6” stands out the most thanks to its dark ambient layer, followed by “eIbydpI,” though that one sounds lower. However, for fans of upbeat music, “hOP...

76 / 100 A dual-EP venture that expands 32 Partials ’ sonic universe, In Degradation showcases both their desert-tinged psych rock and a bold leap into experimental ambient/noise. The journey of 32 Partials continues with a descent into desert territory in In Degradation (Part I) , accompanied by an experimental/noise backsound presented separately in In Degradation (Part II) . Both were created during the summer and released together at the end of August 2017. Each EP contains three tracks, so I figured it would be more efficient to summarize them in one review instead of two. In Degradation (Part II) by 32 Partials What’s presented first is a Middle Eastern–styled rock performance using bouzouki and flanged guitar without distorted accompaniment, making it less clearly aligned with desert/stoner rock . The same goes for the two psychedelic rock tracks that follow—they don’t feature synths as strongly as the previous release, but overall t...

75 / 100 32 Partials's self-titled EP continues the journey and dive deeper into cosmic psychedelia . Now continuing the exploration of the world of 32 Partials through their self-titled EP, which finally sheds some light on the psychedelic rock direction compared to before. 32 Partials by 32 Partials 32 Partials was created by two brothers, Johnathan and Dimitri Georgaras —though I’m not sure who leads the project—on National Family Day , February 16, 2016. The three tracks were made spontaneously through improvisation on that very day, yet the results remain clean and neat. Thinking back, I’ve only listened to very little psychedelic rock, especially the kind rich in synth like this one—for instance, Deep Space Destructors – Psychedelogy  and the heavier sample from St:Erik – “ The Search .” The track “ 1/3 ” can be said to be the calmest and most spacey, leaning more toward space rock rather than the energetic synth style that stands out in...

73 / 100 457 is presented as a nostalgic yet minimal instrumental work; a refreshing contrast to 32 Partials ’ noisier past output. 457 marks the journey of an instrumental rock project from Ottawa, Ontario named 32 Partials , which leans toward the old-school era rather than the experimental/noise approach I heard on their latest release, In Degradation (Part II) . 457 by 32 Partials 457 was born on August 31, 2015, recorded analog-style through a 15-track tape machine — quite a quality output for an independent project. After spending some time trying to pin down the sonic characteristics, I found myself a bit overwhelmed. Still, with its slightly slow tempo, lack of distortion, and overall solid sound, it feels somewhere between Pink Floyd ,  Queen — in a simpler form, without extra accompanying instruments—and Scorpions . The track “457” itself carries a certain magical feeling that leans toward psychedelic/stoner rock  like Pin...

74 / 100 A creative overflow and a restless continuation of Kid A ’s experiments. Apparently… apparently… Kid A has a sibling that was forced to be released as a separate album called Amnesiac . How close are the two in character? Let’s take a look at this fifth album, which came out in 2001. At a glance, this album still follows the experimental path and even feels so unfamiliar that it hardly sounds like Radiohead . The electronic style with percussive beats appears in “ Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box ,” while “ Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors ” is wrapped in layers of noise. “ I Might Be Wrong ” heads in a funky direction. Another outlier is “ Like Spinning Plates ,” which sounds the darkest toward the end of the road, followed by the lull-like nighttime mood of “ Morning Bell/Amnesiac .” This track is, of course, an alternative version of “ Morning Bell ,” but I’d choose this one—it carries a music box-like flow. Oh, I almost forgot the exclusive jazz...

79 / 100 Kid A marks Radiohead ’s full metamorphosis ... Welcome to the 21st century, and let’s greet Radiohead ’s fourth album… Kid A . In this album, Radiohead continues the sound experimentation from their previous work. This time, they use horns, synths, and even ambient elements. With the presence of beautiful pure ambient pieces like “ Treefingers ” and “ Untitled ,” I don’t even need to compromise—those two are certainly on the winners’ podium. So, what about the other nine tracks? “ Everything in Its Right Place ” opens the record with synth sounds that seem squeezed and stretched throughout the song. The piano and overall arrangement, including drums on “Kid A,” are built in an electronica-like style, while the added waves of ambient synth make it quite suitable as a lullaby. Meanwhile, “ Idioteque ” sounds more unique and borders on IDM. “ The National Anthem ” adopts saxophones and trombones, making it easily classified as the only expe...

76 / 100 OK Computer proves itself to be a strange but undeniable step forward in Radiohead ’s evolution. Only two months left in 2025, but what of it? There’s no AOTY system here, my friend. I’m just a beginner wanderer who started late, choosing to roam randomly instead of keeping up with new releases every day. It even feels a bit heavy to return to Radiohead this time with OK Computer —but that’s fine. OK Computer was born in 1997, themed around dystopia, consumerism, capitalism, or whatever—I’m not really into digging into lyrics, so you can just check Wikipedia . What’s clear is that Radiohead moved toward something more experimental than before, though I almost wanted to throw the album away for sounding bad and realizing this band isn’t that great to my ears. Still, let’s see what I can catch here. The songs that successfully earned VIP spots include “ No Surprises ,” with its music-box tone and soothing clean guitar plucks, and “Let Do...