If 2012 is the last year we have on this planet, then at least the musicians are helping us go out with a bang. Over the past few days a spate of reunions have been announced, including the ‘always rumoured, never happening’ reformations of At the Drive In and Refused.

Album Review: Mastodon
Album: The Hunter
Label: Warner Brothers

If there’s one thing to say about the men behind Mastodon, it’s this – they’ve always gone out of their way to valiantly charge into the realms of imagination that the sane would flee from in tears. But with The Hunter, the follow-up to the bewilderingly successful Crack the Skye, this fearless beast is showing hints of becoming domesticated.

Album Review: Foo Fighters
Album: Wasting Light
Label: RCA Records

Foo Fighters, despite their stadium-rock popularity, have never been a band I have loved. They have never, unlike Dave Grohl’s previous exploits in Nirvana and Queens of the Stone Age, been a band that has resonated with me on a level other than a bit of superficial fun. They have always been a singles band, perfectly suited to the click-and-get nature of the iTunes generation. But I admit: Wasting Light hasn’t left my ear canals since my first listen.

Leeds’ Vessels have managed to impress a great number of people with their follow-up to 2008′s White Fields and Open Devices. Helioscope is a stunning record, and one worth checking out if you’re into the likes of Mogwai and bands of that ilk. If what I said about the album hasn’t convinced you, then have a read of what guitarist/vocalist Tom Evans has to say of their record, and what went on behind the scenes.

Album Review: Vessels
Album: Helioscope
Label: Cuckundoo Records

Whatever is being put in the water in Leeds, it’s having a magical effect on the quality of musicianship pouring out of the place. Vessels are the latest in a healthy list of bands to come out of the city with a strong record, Helioscope being a much more measured and concise account of what the five-piece have got stored away in their noggins.

Album Review: Queens of the Stone Age
Album: Queens of the Stone Age (re-issue)
Label: Domino

As the press release accompanying this classic album says: “Back to the beginning”. Before Queens of the Stone Age became MTV2 favourites, and before ‘No One Knows’ became the go-to rock song of student unions across the country, this was the foundation that the legend has been built upon.

Album Review: Middle Class Rut
Album: No Name, No Colour
Label: Bright Antenna

If you need a modern musical definition of the word ‘cohones’, then look no further than the sound of Middle Class Rut. No Name, No Colour is one hell of a ballsy recording, made even more astounding by how such a gigantic sound has come from just two members – Zack Lopez and Sean Stockham are making a case for being one of the loudest duets in rock at the moment.