SPHERIC UNIVERSE EXPERIENCE – UNREAL
SENSORY
French progressive metal quintet Spheric Universe Experiment put their love of Dream Theater to the test on the unit’s latest nine-track endeavor UNREAL. Despite the band following a tried and true prog metal template and their obvious influences falling a bit on the cautious side, this squad delivers an enjoyable nine track excursion that exhibits an array of top notch musicians whose massive musical acumen, technical aptitude (special shout out to drummer Christophe Briand’s durable chops) and jam-ready know-how (“O.B.E.”) gets the job done with a slew of memorable moments that carry melody yet don’t skimp on the metal to boot (“Lakeside Park”). Solid yet not very groundbreaking, it’s unlikely that Spheric Universe Experience has the tools necessary to break into the mainstream, but UNREAL demonstrates that they can decisively hold their own amongst their prog metal peers. www.lasersedgegroup.com -Mike SOS
THE BOY WILL DROWN – FETISH
EARACHE
Ambitious UK upstarts The Boy Will Drown dazzle with a tenacious technical prowess on their debut 10-track offering FETISH. This group maintains a disjointed heaviness without relying on breakdowns, opting instead to steer their compositions with sharp dips in dynamics (“Akura Class”) and blistering speed-freak tempos (“Epilpleptic”). Elastic bass lines and coarse guitar riffs do battle while staccato percussion patterns flail away underneath a barrage of gruff and guttural death metal grunts, creating a stirring yet bit redundant metallic undertaking whose constant cacophonic clobbering becomes grating and repetitive, yet when interspersed with brief flashes of unorthodox musicality (“Dead Girls”) takes on as an admirable offshoot of Dillinger Escape Plan meets Psyopus by way of Poison the Well. www.earache.com -Mike SOS
DARK CASTLE – SPIRITED MIGRATION
AT A LOSS
So another two-piece guy-girl band comes to the forefront but before temptation to cry out in protest wins out (even if judging solely on aesthetics) don’t be fooled; Florida duo Dark Castle is the total antithesis to White Stripes in every way conceivable. From swapped-out band roles (whose female vocals are pretty spot-on foreboding, by the way) to the multi-faceted less is more rhythmic attack chock full of echo swirls, caustic distortion, and synth accoutrements, Dark Castle invites listeners to engage in vast levels of morass without a bass to be heard, sprouting an unanchored uneasiness prevalent throughout the eight-track, nearly 40-minute journey. Best taken in its entirety in repeated doses, SPIRITED MIGRATION is the end result of post-hardcore embellishments and doom metal devices gone awry by way of modern metallic psychedelica beaten into the brain. Almost as if Isis and Crowbar decided to jam out for fun, the combination of this act’s galactic scope and gigantic heft renders a sludge-ridden good time for those who enjoy a hearty helping of abrasiveness layered with ambient passages to help the lava go down smooth. www.atalossrecordings.com -Mike SOS
TIM RIPPER OWENS – PLAY MY GAME
SPV
After providing vocals for the most notable metal bands in the world for well over the past decade, Tim “Ripper” Owens finally steps out as a solo artist on his 12-track debut PLAY MY GAME. Bringing a mind-blowing cross-section of the metal friends he’s made along the way to the party (an impressive list that reads like a who’s who in the metal realm), Owens and associates dole out a lesson in traditional metal excellence with a modern edge (“No Good Goodbyes”). Channeling his former band Judas Priest and Dio as main sources of inspiration for his powerful vocals, the harbingering aura of “The Shadows Are Alive” and the wild caterwauls accompanying the extra-terrestrial pounder “The Cover Up” help Owens decisively cement his own identity while a surprisingly cohesive considering the vast array of hands in the mix multidimensional metal attack utilizes British metal swagger and American hard rock grit to get the job done (“Play My Game”). Despite the over the top six-string bravado of the likes of Craig Goldie, Doug Aldrich, and Carlos Cavazo leading the rhythm section towards a studio session feel, Owens’ powerful pipes and old world compositions ground this all-star affair long enough to strike a balance between sound like a musician’s clinic and a metal album with mass appeal. www.spv.de -Mike SOS
FATHER OF SIN – GREATEST SINS
SELF-RELEASED
Pennsylvania sextet Father of Sin follows fashion and provides the creepiness as if they hailed from Transylvania, as this spooky squad references everything from the thrashing throb of Marilyn Manson to the malevolent pomp of Cradle of Filth on their latest endeavor GREATEST SINS. With one foot planted in a freshly excavated gothic industrial plot and the other in an avant-garde extreme metal niche, this troupe does an admirable job of pulling off a strand of heavy music without the services of a drummer, opting to use a drum machine to provide the thunder. Relying heavily on doomy metallic atmosphere cultivated from the Celtic Frost and Sabbath handbooks while making it palatable so the kids in the mall can join the black parade, subject yourself to the modern dread Father of Sins drums up. www.myspace.com/fatherofsin69 -Mike SOS
CONSPIRACY – CONCORDAT
PULVERISED
Former Melechesh bassist Al Carpathian Wolf’s one-man project Conspiracy rolls out its sophomore effort, an intriguing batch of death-thrash metal entitled CONCORDAT. Inducing melancholic malevolence while seamlessly meshing metal sub-genres, tracks like the Pagan-influenced “Faith” display the range of influence Conpiracy draws from while “Mentally Ill God” and “Last Veteran” dish out the barrage of dastardly riffs and venomous rasps that keep the head banging. Exhibiting a wide range of diversity yet raw as hell, Conspiracy also implements a slew of spicy guitar solos a la Kreator and Megadeth (“Limited to 666”) to prevent the overcast tremolo-picked blackened atmosphere from becoming redundant. This eight-track excursion renders a refined yet relentless listening experience containing metallic melody executed with a handsome dash of diabolic style. www.pulverised.net -Mike SOS
WE INSIST! – THE BABEL INSIDE WAS TERRIBLE
EXILE ON MAINSTREAM
The French avant-garde rockers We Insist return with another ceiling-shattering collection on the 11-track THE BABEL INSIDE WAS TERRIBLE. Inhabiting the edge shared by like-minded boundary breakers like Tool, System of a Down and Queens of the Stone Age, this eclectic unit consistently pushes its music into strange and wondrous territories without sounding crammed in or forced. Thanks to a vast musical acumen and distinct overall sound highlighted by a raucous rock ‘n roll delivery spearheaded by a saxophone played through a guitar amp, this veteran squad embraces the luxury of total musical freedom without losing its backbone. Implementing a barrage of left of center rock hovering around the headier sphere of influence a la King Crimson and Mr. Bungle, We Insist will keep those who crave convention defiant music pleasantly occupied. www.mainstreamrecords.de -Mike SOS
BLOOD RED THRONE – SOULS OF DAMNATION
EARACHE
On their latest nine-track endeavor SOULS OF DAMNATION, Norwegian death metal mongers Blood Red Throne pay homage to the US death metal sound, channeling everyone from Morbid Angel to Cannibal Corpse. Solidly delivered with a proper portion of groove and technicality in place (“Demand”), there may not be a wide array of groundbreaking material present, but the band’s vitriolic onslaught is undeniable (“Prove Yourself Dead”). This veteran unit reaps the benefits of staying on a course without much variation, resulting in shaping its murderous musical machine to a well-oiled machine manufacturing enough face-breaking riffs, sinister growls and neck snapping double bass battering to satisfy the most rabid bloodthirsty cravings for death metal glory. www.earache.com -Mike SOS
SKUM CITY – SKUM CITY
SELF-RELEASED
NYC quartet Skum City keep the Big Apple’s punk rock fires burning bright with an authentic blast of contagious chaos straight from the LES gutter on the unit’s latest six-track 7”. Keeping the guitars crunchy, the tempos fast and dirty, and the singing sneering, tracks like “Don’t Worry About Nothin’” and “Hungry and Dirty” display a love of the hardcore punk spectrum a la DRI and Black Flag while the band’s self-titled anthem “Skum City” provides a visceral kick to the cranium as a divine group vocal chorus leads the charge. Raucous and in your face, Skum City’s colorful and confrontational punk rock stomp is certifiably scraped up from NYC’s grimy underbelly and delivered with the confident cadence of a band with the chops and aggression to pull it off. www.skumcity.com -Mike SOS
CHARETTA – DEFYING THE INEVITABLE
SELF-RELEASED
Charetta is a NYC-based female fronted hard rock outfit whose latest nine-track effort DEFYING THE INEVITABLE is adorned with a barrage of heavy-handed and well-composed melodies whose tendencies to work within the confines of atmospheric metal falls somewhere between In This Moment and Lacuna Coil (“On The Line”). Featuring a skull-rattling bottom end crunch that combines Staind and Chevelle (“Stop the Cycle”) alongside a powerful female voice that proudly wavers in between breathy and bad-ass (“Too Far In”), this quartet’s ready for the radio modern hard rock is balanced with nasty riffs (“Love Your Lies”) and angelic vocal anguish (“So Convincing”, “Never”), passionately meshing driving grooves with overwhelming outpourings of emotion to create a refined album ready for mass consumption. www.charetta.com -Mike SOS
NECROPHOBIC – DEATH TO ALL
REGAIN
With song titles like “For Those Who Stayed Satanic” and “Celebration of the Goat”, it’s pretty evident what to expect from Necrophobic’s no-frills eight-track audio sacrifice to Satan DEATH TO ALL. Blistering black metal a la Dissection exalting Beelzebub is precisely what’s on tap from this veteran Swedish squad, complete with a garden variety permutation of dastardly vocal rasps, abrasive dynamic shifts, belligerent blast beats, and tremolo-picked demonic guitars propelling the entire offering (“La Santisima Muerte”). Supercharged with a sinister spirit brazen with an apocalyptic attitude holding tight at the core, chalk up another dark mark in the black book of blasphemy for Necrophobic, as this band continues to spread its message of disdain while providing a fitting soundtrack behind it all. www.regainrecords.com -Mike SOS
SWORN ENEMY – TOTAL WORLD DO MINATION
CENTURY MEDIA
After sticking it out for over a decade, NYC hardcore metal troupe Sworn Enemy return in top form with a ripping thrash-heavy monster of an album that pulls no punches entitled TOTAL WORLD DOMINATION. Again choosing to work with Tim Lambesis, this quintet’s relentless assault on the ears is bolstered as always by Sal Lococo’s gargantuan vocals yet this time twin guitar work that digs deep from the Exodus and Destruction songbooks accompanies the pummeling to mercilessly take you down and out for the count (“On the Outside”). Imagine the intensity of Municipal Waste without the frivolity colliding with the clobbering tactics of Madball and Earth Crisis and you’ve got the template for this NYHC-bred unit’s latest barnburner, as choice cuts such as “Still Hating”, “Ready to Fight” and “Run for Shelter” provide the adrenaline necessary to demolish everything in the way throughout the course of the day and showcase that this band proudly holds onto its roots with an unwavering aggressive as ever mindset leading their charge. www.centurymedia.com -Mike SOS
MILE MARKER ZERO – MILE MARKER ZERO
SELF-RELEASED
Connecticut progressive metal mavens Mile Marker Zero display a unique smattering of familiar influences on their eponymous 10-track affair. While footprints from acts like Queensryche, A Perfect Cirtcle, Dream Theater, and Fates Warning are scattered throughout the album, this quintet manage to forge their own sound from the same rich prog launch pad thanks to exhilarating musicianship and tantalizing composition twists within a shadowy atmosphere sandwiched somewhere between Opeth and Porcupine Tree (“Passive”). Showcasing the capacity to both wail away on a dime as well as show restraint (especially on the vocals) when needed (“Crimson Red”), this group of classically trained musicians make the most of their pedigree by portraying an impressive array of delicate melodies and ethereal dramatics without losing basic hard rock insight, taking songs like “Peril Aerial” to new and exciting places without falling prey to usual prog rock excessive pomp and superfluous trappings. www.milemarkerzero.com -Mike SOS
DELAIN – APRIL RAIN
SENSORY
Female fronted symphonic metal fans have a new band to love and their name is Delain. This Dutch quintet’s sophomore effort entitled APRIL RAIN contains the standard heavy guitar and angelic vocal combination (“Go Away”) throughout its entire 12-track duration, giving similar bands like Nightwish and Within Temptation (whose ex-keyboardist Martun Westerholt formed Delain) a run for their money. Embracing the recognizable sounds from the aforementioned while bolstering their take with guest vocals by Nightwish bassist Marco Hietala (“Control the Storm”) and some compelling cello work (“On the Other Side”), Delain finds the fine balance between mainstream pop music melodies and progressive metal tendencies (“Start Swimming”) with solid production values, catchy songwriting and a slew of sugary choruses at their command to create this larger than life Goth metal experience. www.thelasersedge.com -Mike SOS
THE ANTIKAROSHI – CRUSHED NEOCONS
EXILE ON MAINSTREAM
CRUSHED NEOCONS is an eclectic nine-track presentation by German trio The Antikaroshi that straddles the line between post-hardcore and post-rock with oodles of jazzy edges. Jaded guitars drenched in delay (“Cruiserwait”), mighty bass rumblings and adroit percussive work converge to form hypnotic rhythms with a pervasive free-from jam sensibility flowing in and out of the rollicking jolts and rest stops on cuts like “Fistful” and “Contradiction”. An abstract non-singer stream of consciousness vocal delivery and a general flair for the off-kilter assist unorthodox arrangements like “Baskerville” and “Pes” to contort into weird and wondrous soundscapes that borrow as much from the DC hardcore scene standouts as they do forward thinking bands that go above and beyond constraints of the norm a la Refused and Sunny Day Real Estate. Championing an angular and hard to pin down yet easy to sink into style, this exercise in experimental rock may prove to be too far-reaching for some, but for those who enjoy a space shuttle mission to the Moon should heed this prime opportunity to get on The Antikaroshi’s rocket ride. www.southern.net -Mike SOS
ELWOOD EMISSION – ODE TO THE EGO
A FEW LITTLE NOTES
NYC’s Elwood Emission is Lucy Kalantari’s one-woman electronic project jam-packed with soul-bearing crooning to a harsh industrial rock soundtrack. The callous vocal and disorted ukuleles that start off “The Invitation”, develop an unsettling sensation furthered by the cross between Alanis Morrisette and Shiny Toy Guns influenced vocals and angst-ridden subject matter (“Despicable”) displayed. ODE TO THE EGO also throws in snippets of Tori Amos-like catharsis (“Divine”) into the mix, giving this six-track sojourn into Kalantari’s darker side a fair share of lush yet eerie attributes that ambitiously push tracks like the scintillatingly sultry “Run” from the shadowy recesses to the spotlight. www.afewlittlenotes.com -Mike SOS
ALEXISONFIRE – OLD CROWS/YOUNG CARDINALS
VAGRANT
Canadian punk hardcore band Alexisonfire has grown considerably from their humble screamo upbringing judging by their latest 11-track release OLD CROWS/ YOUNG CARDINALS. Perpetually altering their sound with every release, this album’s switches may prove the most daunting, as the unit’s unique three-tiered vocal delivery has been radically tinkered with, nearly dropping all the squad’s trademark high-pitched wails for a more common yet genuine (and way less grating) earthier punk rasp. While songs like “No Rest” and “Heading for the Sun” get a discernibly gruffer makeover across the board, Alexisonfire builds intensity with the acumen of a unit who has been around the block a few times with the excellently placed keyboards on “The Northern” delving into considerably more brooding states of mind than previously visited. Alexisonfire seem to have comfortably outgrown their former selves in some aspects, even going so far as to proclaim the change in song on “Old Crows”, a maneuver that undoubtedly insures losing diehards in droves. But for those who choose to stick around, thisToronto troupe’s escalating sense of self and collected post-punk output reminiscent of bands like Thrice solidifies this disc by celebrating the exploring new avenues without pandering to the pressures of commercial success. www.vagrant.com -Mike SOS
UNHOLY – NEW LIFE BEHIND CLOSED EYES
PROSTHETIC
Syracuse, NY quintet Unholy are no strangers to the scene, as this group features members of Another Victim, Santa Sangre, and Path of Resistance, not to mention hail from one of the hotbeds of ‘90s metallic hardcore. And even though obvious and unmistakable traces of hometown influences All Out War and Earth Crisis are very detectable everywhere across this unit’s brutal chugfest , Unholy savagely spreads its wings to implement sinister spoonfuls of Swedish and American thrash metal elixir to their seething hardcore skeleton, a move that gives this squad a ferocious quality that while far from original, portrays all the necessary bone-crushing nuances to render a pleasingly pummeling experience non-withstanding(“The Followers”, “The Blinding Light”). Adorned with scathing guitars solos and a simple yet effective approach that rarely drags despite the telegraphed compositions, if you could imagine the merger of Terror, Bury Your Dead, Entombed and Machine Head, then you can envision the rock-solid onslaught brought on from this bruising bunch’s 10-track discharge, perfect for those that demand more from their mosh metal. www.prosetheticrecords.com -Mike SOS
EMERY – IN SHALLOW SEAS WE SAIL
TOOTH AND NAIL
Christian rock quintet Emery returns with a bang, rediscovering their former selves with a renewed sense of purposed on their fourth full-length IN SHALLOW SEAS WE SAIL. Fine-tuning their screamo tendencies with an increased sense of incense (“Cutthroat Collapse”) and a streamlined melodic edge (“Dear Death Part 2”), this outfit’s latest 13-track endeavor beefs up Emery’s output in nearly every category. From solid twin-vocal interplay (“Inside Our Skin”) and torrid rhythmic undercurrents (“In Shallow Seas We Sail”) to unabashed heaviness (“Butcher’s Mouth”) and a penchant for hooky yet refined choruses, this squad’s delectable dichotomy of fragility and ferocity fits snugly between Dredg and Thrice, placing Emery in the upper echelon of the new breed of alternative punk while finding its biggest influence from within. www.toothandnail.com -Mike SOS
WRENCH – WRENCH
SELF-RELEASED
Brooklyn, NY quartet Wrench tear through speakers with the finesse of an old school Bay Ridge brawler, showcasing an abrasive amalgamation of the sheer sonic furies of Carnivore, Madball, and Pro-Pain on their six-track release. Subtle as a blunt object to the skull yet bouncy enough to keep the head bobbing, Wrench comes equipped with a vicious vocal bark reminiscent of Helmet at their most caustic, a gutwrenching 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea bottom end that rattles fillings and a procession of slamming Biohazard-esque grooves all working as one to hammer this crew’s brawny bullet points home. This recharged veteran unit’s creates a viscous wall of 90s crossover metal perfect for throwing a fist in the air or throwing down in the pit to. www.wrenchnyc.com -Mike SOS
AXIS POWERS – MARCHING TOWARDS DESTRUCTION
PULVERISED
A revisiting of the Swedish old school death metal style seems to be thriving as of late, and countrymen Axis Powers is making sure the revival stays strong as heard on their sophomore nine-track excursion MARCHING TOWARDS DESTRUCTION. Relying on the wares of the pioneers from the genre for their crushing servings of sinister sonic bliss, this quartet’s retro metal renaissance resonates with the feral fury and devious cadence of early Entombed, Bolt Thrower, and Grave, nailing each ear-splitting guitar riff, rollicking bass line and mangled growl with the menacing malevolence of the originators fully intact. Eschewing metal’s modern virtues for the sake of whipping up a dastardly display of metal the way Mom used to make, Axis Powers provides an unsurprising yet uncompromising listening experience bursting with the distinguished tones of early death metal’s dissonant anguish www.pulverised.com -Mike SOS
INCOMING CEREBRAL OVERDRIVE – CONTROVERSO
SUPERNATURAL CAT
Italian quintet Incoming Cerebral Overdrive’s eight-track endeavor complementarily exhibits this audacious outfit’s well-versed variety of avant-garde hardcore a la Dillinger Escape Plan and Poison the Well. Exuding mighty metalcore premonitions laced with a cathartically scream-y set of vocals, spastic time signature shifts, and a hodgepodge of hellacious guitar tones ranging from ear-splitting to bottom-scraping, this band’s slanted sensibilities yield a dizzying array of volatile tunes armed with spiky transitions, sludge metal tendencies and a dash of cosmically-induced prog-rock noodling for a daring and daunting listening experience. www.supernaturalcat.com -Mike SOS
DEATH BY STEREO – DEATH IS MY ONLY FRIEND
SERJICAL STRIKE
Orange County hardcore punk bastion Death By Stereo have made a career of taking chances and changing up their sound, so there’s no surprise that the stalwart act’s fifth full-length disc, the 15-track DEATH IS MY ONLY FRIEND continues the trend. Pulling further away from their hardcore punk roots (associating itself more with a modern metallic approach a la Atreyu and AX7 these days) yet retaining the simmering intensity regardless how far the group has traveled off the starting line of the journey, their well-tread lead guitar heavy style and fist-pumping group vocal anthem paradigm remains a huge part of the music’s makeup much to the chagrin of old-schoolers (“Welcome to the Party”, “I Sing for You”, “The Ballad of Sid Dynamite”). The disc does include its fair share of clunky head-scratching moments however, as piano ballad “Forever and a Day” and the awkward stab at radio rock on “The Last Song” comes off contrived and out of place, but ultimately Death By Stereo redeems itself by laying down a satisfying smattering of the hurried punky hullabaloo that put this band on the map in between moments of well-earned but shaky attempts of artistic liberty (“We Sing Today for a Better Tomorrow”). www.serjicalstrike.com -Mike SOS
ANIMALS AS LEADERS – ANIMALS AS LEADERS
PROSTHETIC
One-man progressive metal machine Tosin Abas is the main brain behind Animals as Leaders, a project whose eponymous 12-track excursion daringly thrusts into the far reaches of the metal spectrum, encompassing a progressive metal edge with a slew of decadent fretboard nuances with all-inclusive jazz-fusion tendencies. Doing all the bass and guitar (both 7 and 8-string) tracks himself, Abas creates a world engulfed in lush soundscapes aimed to beguile the listener as a rich array of technical intricacies dually derived from the foundation of both jazz and metal pours out of the speakers. Armed with flurries of enthralling expansiveness, this affair fosters the ambitious musical spirit of a virtuoso player a la Vai and Malmsteen whose first-rate chops never get in the way of its composition’s flow, while displaying a lack of the typecast clinical residue which results in the invigorating feeling of refreshed fluidity this release exudes. www.prostheticrecords.com -Mike SOS
EKTOMORF – WHAT DOESN’T KILL ME
AFM
Hungarian modern groove metal merchants Ektomorf’s latest effort WHAT DOESN’T KILL ME is a plodding installment of utterly unoriginal down-tuned new school heavy music. Are they aware that Sepultura and Soulfly have already written half of these riffs and vocal lines? Simultaneously beating the rap-metal horse to death while grinding the nu metal movement to a halt by rendering a virtual line for line reprisal of all things Cavalera, Ektomorf’s uninspired homage properly radiates a solid slab of rage; shamefully it’s not their own. www.regainrecords.com -Mike SOS
MINSK – WITH ECHOES IN THE MOVEMENT OF STONE
RELAPSE
Minsk’s third full-length offering serves up a transcendent smorgasbord of post-metal garnished with a masterful blend of styles and flavors. This Chicago, IL quartet channel the spirit of early Genesis, Voivod, and Mastodon to form sonically rich music laden with a cosmically charged left of center progressive metal edge, thrusting this fearless foursome’s pummeling pops of sinister sludgery and episodes of ethereal abrasiveness into realms reserved for the elite of the metal adventurers and the ensuing tolerant followers. Issuing an aura of uncanny uneasiness via the help of exotic compositions and intoxicating instrumentation, WITH ECHOES IN THE MOVEMENT OF STONE wields a power derived from a blend of Minsk’s multitudes of non-metal influence, unrepentant waves of oppressiveness and foreboding musicianship, captivatingly holding attention spans with a mix of skull-splitting scintillation best heard under black light. Epic and intense, Minsk delivers huge here. www.relapse.com -Mike SOS
OLD MAN’S CHILD – SLAVES OF THE WORLD
CENTURY MEDIA
After a four-year slumber, Dimmu Borgir guitarist Galder resumes his prolific solo project Old Man’s Child with the release of SLAVES OF THE WORLD. This Norwegian’s nine-track aural assault contains an obligatory dose of symphonic metal complete with keyboard flourishes and dastardly vocal growls, yet there’s also strong elements of death and thrash metal (“Unholy Foreign Crusade”), allowing songs like “On The Devil’s Throne” and “Saviours of Doom” to delve into more sadistic and sinister territories. Maintaining a grandiose vibe that simultaneously spews epic and evil visions (“Ferden Mot Fienden’s Land”), those who despise high-end production will shun this disc immediately, but for those who don’t mind some cracks of light seeping through black walls of despair, Old Man’s Child steadfastly delivers another well-manicured collection of black metal blasphemies. www.centurymedia.com -Mike SOS
EX-DEO – ROMULUS
NUCLEAR BLAST
Featuring four members from Canadian cripplers Kataklysm, Ex-Deo (rounded out by members of Martyr and Blackgard) focuses on The Roman Empire as the subject matter for this sextet’s incendiary offering ROMULUS. Masterfully harnessing melodic death metal’s majestic overtones, this 11-track affair bids few surprises yet crushes with a menacing mid-tempo pace, recreating the epic history of the events behind the world’s greatest civilization’s rise and fall along the way. Sturdily built from a proper blend of cavernous chugging guitars, purposeful keyboard accoutrements, and ferocious vocals that accurately narrate the gory glories from the beleaguered battlefields, Ex-Deo’s intriguing slant on Pagan metal renders a cohesive metal attack whose distinct cinematic scope and orchestral instrumentation radiates with the freshness that saves this disc from being cast as just another side project and is worthy for those who enjoy metal at its most sweeping and regal. www.nuclearblastusa.com -Mike SOS
WARBRINGER – WAKING INTO NIGHTMARES
CENTURY MEDIA
Los Angeles metal troupe Warbringer churns out an authentically replicated form of the best from thrash metal’s guilded age on the squad’s sophomore effort WAKING INTO NIGHTMARES. Emulating the fury and power of every Testament riff, Overkill tempo acceleration, Baloff vocal pattern, and Slayer drumbeat as if their own, this quintet’s tried and true array of speed and heaviness (“Shadow of the Tomb”) coupled with a rousing ability to stay the course yet still knock out their own unique blend of searing compositions and rebellious subject matter that gloriously screams 1987 Headbangers Ball all the way. Complete with a snarling Kreator-esque guitar tone (“Scorched Earth”) yielding only to the rich classic metal influenced breaks and interludes peppered throughout (“Nightmare Anatomy”), WAKING INTO NIGHTMARES is an excellently rounded 10-track disc laden in apocalyptic atmosphere and chock full of unquestionably volatile thrash metal virtue. www.centurymedia.com -Mike SOS
THE NEW BLACK – THE NEW BLACK
AFM
German quintet The New Black purposely channels a hard rock from North America appeal on their eponymous debut disc. Sounding like a hybrid with Nickelback’s hooky choruses and commercial flair, Black Label Society’s fretboard gymnastics, and Hellyeah’s sinewy swagger, this outfit’s mammoth whiskey-fueled guitar chugs and piledriving bottom end is solidified with a metal cowboy appeal that fans of Shinedown will appreciate (“Why I Burn”) and a modern hard rock sound tailor made for action sports highlight reels (“Wound”). While some derivation from the blueprint would knock this disc out of the park, all of The New Black’s ass-kicking elements are in place and uncoil at the right times to offer a listening experience for the gym or the pub that won’t disappoint. www.afmrecords.com -Mike SOS
GRIEF OF WAR – WORSHIP
PROSTHETIC
Japan’s Grief of War embraces a conglomeration of Bay Area thrash signatures, Germanic rapid-fire tempos and Sepultura-esque intensity (“Disorder”) as evident via the trio’s latest endeavor WORSHIP. Despite the squad’s honorable homage to the battering riffs (“Into the Void”), dive-bomb friendly solos (“Built My Brain”), skull-jolting rhythms, and Kreator-esque seething-mad vocal shouts of yesteryear, Grief of War’s retread is sturdy but a bit too unimaginative, ultimately lacking that intangible spark necessary to place them into the realms of thrash metal’s upper echelon, yet maintains a solid undercurrent of visceral aggression that can easily find a spot somewhere between Nuclear Assault and Death Angel along the grand sonic spectrum. www.prostheticrecords.com -Mike SOS
ICONICIDE – BOUT FUCKING TIME
SELF-RELEASED
NYC underground mainstays Iconicide celebrates 20 years of causing a ruckus from below with their subversive mix of NYHC chaos, anarchistic rock tendencies, lo-fi metal belligerence, and caustic punk abrasiveness on BOUT FUCKING TIME. This 10-track affair explores this nonconformist squad’s dastardly mix of snarling guitar riffs, furious drums, and rabid vocal rants, sounding as if unearthed from the catacombs of the abyss (“Name Your Price”, “Biochipped”). Crustily non-PC and completely unapologetic, Iconicide’s slanted sociopolitical stance and unadulterated utter reckless abandon is intentionally sloppy at times and drips with every undesirable nuance of the Big Apple, rendering a welcomed reprieve from the cleanliness and clarity of modern music that sonically socks you in the jaw with the shock of a suckerpunch from behind. www.iconicide.com – Mike SOS
NAPALM DEATH – TIME WAITS FOR NO SLAVE
CENTURY MEDIA
Pioneering grindcore unit Napalm Death continue their trademark trail of wreckage, willfully destroying everything in their way with lethal rounds of speed and a rabid sense of aggression on TIME WAITS FOR NO SLAVE, the British troupe’s 14th studio endeavor. Exhibiting the ravenous thirst for domination they’ve built into every face-splitting blast beat, crossover metal interchange, and skull-caving breakdown lovingly churned out since their inception in 1981, Napalm Death is one of the few bands that have a broad enough scope to pull off balancing finite consistency with experimental growth spurts, flat out refusing to rest on a decorated extreme metal pedigree or glories of their blueprint back catalog. Instead, this incendiary foursome opts to kick up the intensity and lunge at the jugular with a vintage voracity fueled by the danger and dread they’ve carried since their salad days. Look no further for an album that will blow your head clean off, as TIME WAITS FOR NO SLAVE provides a tantalizing mix of grind, death, thrash, and punk as only Napalm Death can deliver. www.centurymedia.com -Mike SOS
