Its a bracketed system. Album's attributes or qualities are divided into seven categories which are evaluated each within 0 - 10 point range. The overall score comes from the added sum: CATEGORIES 1. SONGWRITING - Verse-chorus-bridge dynamics, build-ups, breakdowns, harmonic shifts, vocal engagement, emotional pull, physical activation and just plain entertainment value. 2. LONGEVITY - Balance, sense of drama, use of ups and downs, immersive qualities, cohesion of the Big Picture, satisfaction to the album as a whole with a start, middle section and an end. 3. THEMES - Insightfulness by commentary or critique, originality, emotional or intellectual impacts, alignment of instruments and vocals to the story. 4. PRODUCTION - How the album sounds, are every instrument where they should be and identifiable, the tones and recording choices, mixing vision and mastering palatability. 5. MUSICIANSHIP - Technical execution, expression and confidence, rhythmic tightness, transitions and instrument interplay, tempo control, tonal finesse and creativity. 6. CHARACTER - Identity, attitude, originality, conviction, and the sonic fingerprints. 7. THRASHABILITY - The propulsion and momentum, the core of Thrash Metal and its sub-genres.

Spotify, man. Thrash Metal is about as elusive as a beauty queen's fart - you know its there. On a more serious note most releases are digital only and independent as frack. I listen roughly about 60 new releases in a month and most of them unfortunately are plain useless crap. Usually there's 1 to 5 albums in a month that you feel like writing about - and from those couple stand out after tighter listening sessions.

Would love to transit to "album of the week" format, but the plain reality is that there might not be anything worthwhile released - and my days are pretty booked with a toddler around and about. Thinking about how to maximise the input here and what'd be maintainable for a long period - so things are changing and whatnot.