The Sword – “Gods of the Earth” [Kemado] … simply put, they are the sound of awesome: a near-flawless blend of Thrash and Stoner Groove, now injected with Classical riffage (check out those opening and closing instrumentals!) and still exploring fantastical mythological themes … make no mistake, they’re every bit as good as you’ve heard–perhaps the best of their breed–and will likely only improve with time … easy pick for Best of 2008 … FCC OK … Try *2*, 3, 4, *5*, 6, 7, *8*, *9* … 2008Mar18 1. The Sundering 2. The Frost-Giant’s Daughter 3. How Heavy This [...read more]

Meshuggah - “obZen” [Nuclear Blast] … six full-lengths and two EPs deep, they still stand vehemently peerless–a genre unto themselves … here, they learnedly draw from their perpetually-broadening sonic palette (everything from Destroy Erase Improve to Catch 33) to create another album that’s as esoteric as it is visceral … Tomas Haake nixed the “Drumkit From Hell” this time around and still plays with metronomic perfection … quiet moments do exist (mid-2, early-9), but the band mostly delivers the devastation … “Bleed,” in particular, is an absolute avalanche and perhaps their heaviest song to date … keeping with the snow motif, I say Meshuggah is [...read more]