hellboy wrote:So, here's my review ...
I agree on some counts, but I unashamedly adore this record. I don't find the repetitiveness a bother, as I generally would, at all. I expect it, anticipate it and I soak it in until finally that one simple embellishment does eventually come to a head and wash over the rest. For once, the patience involved in rationalising the songs is entirely worth it for me. I can't argue that they could have done a bit more in some parts, but I don't long for it. The emotional value of the tunes more than makes up for what it may otherwise be lacking. Vocally, it's definitely progressed from past works and I'm quite impressed by the range. The clean vocal performance on Marrow is god-tier ... very few performances in recent memory have grabbed me the way this one has.
Overall, the record treats me as though I was just discovering Sabbath for the first time back in the day, with a deeper, more psychedelic treatment. And considering I like their older stuff, but am not in love with it entirely I'd give it a 9/10. It's a pretty easy scoring, especially if comparing it solely to the releases of this year.