If any band can still put out decent melodeath, it’s Hypocrisy. Many of their brethren have either fallen, been poppified, or just can no longer write good songs. However, that isn’t the case here. You won’t find too many classics, but every song will make you pump your fist and band your head. That’s really all you need from a metal album, is it not?

Lawless still has power in his vocals and speed in his fingers, and anyone interested in veteran glam rockers should give Babylon a chance.

Rob Zombie is among the elite to have transcended his previous band––in terms of popularity and eponymous-ness––sharing that spotlight with both Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper. They also have one thing in common with their mid-career output: it’s spotty at best.

I finally get to interview the man behind my favorite thrash band of all time, Eric Peterson of TestAmenT! Find out the latest on the American Carnage tour, plus info on the latest from both TestAmenT and the long-awaited next release from his black metal side project, Dragonlord! And hey, I never knew that the band he’d most like to tour with was Scorpions… did you?

Sarke has emerged from behind the drums, and stands as a promising new voice in Norwegian Black Metal.

This is for fun, above all else. Both men have forthcoming projects independent of one another, and hopefully the output won’t be like the demo-quality contained here.

Jeez, now we’ve got metal bands hopping on the 2012 bandwagon? Didn’t we cover this territory a decade ago with Testament on “Three Days of Darkness”? At least then it was confined to a single song. These Beantown boys have some great ideas, but it feels like they’re firing from the hip.

In the words of frontman Jon Parkin, ‘He Is Never Coming Back’ is “a call to utilize the same logic and reason applied in every other aspect of our lives in the assessment of theology”.

Retro doom is how these Hoosiers roll. This is the trio’s fourth album, and they’ve really built a groundswell since their signing with Profound Lore, who released 2008’s Conqueror. Now on a label owned by Cathedral’s Lee Dorrian, their stars may finally fully align.

Join me for “First Mourning” (following “First Night”) this New Year’s Day on ‘Mind Over Metal’!

Featured Bands: Alice In Chains, Baroness, Between The Buried and Me, Church of Misery, Clouds, Coalesce, Dream Theater, Heaven And Hell, Immortal, Insomnium, Jesu, Katatonia, Kylesa, Mastodon, Nile, Opeth, Pelican, Shrinebuilder, The Breeders, The Fucking Champs, Vreid, YOB