The 2017 Arsies: February 2, 2017

February 2, 2017

Emotion	●●○	●●○
Memorability	●●●	●●○
Replayability	●●○	●●○
Innovation	●●○	●●○
Pace	●●●	●●●
Shredding	●●●	●●●
Vocals	●●●	●●●
Production	●●●	●●●
	✓

Oh my damn!
GTO win the flip and launch right into Broken Lines. It's fun and bouncy and unusual and interesting. It's also occasionally ballady. Or disco. Or desert rock. If I'm being honestl, it's all over the map. This appetite for diversity is laudable, to be sure. It's also a rough way of building up a head of steam. At least with Dillinger or Mastodon, you know what you're in for (even at DEP's most herky-jerky).
Anthrax aims in the complete opposite direction, seeming to offer no deviations from the required path on For All Kings, beginning instead with one smooth neo-thrash track after another. Such is the potency of their familiar formula that, by the time the band veer off the well-worn path in the album's middle third with tracks like Breathing Lightning and Suzerain, you're happy to go along for the ride. For All Kings was always a contender for Feel Good Hit Of 2016, and they muscle their way past Giraffe Tongue Orchestra on their way to the top.
That's it for the Round Of 16! Tomorrow, we start the Quarterfinals with Textures and Anciients duking it out for one of the final four slots. Won't you join us?