Obituary – Darkest Day released June 30, 2009 on Candlelight They say there are five types of torture: hot, cold, sharp, blunt, and loud. I could annotate the adjectives ad nauseum, but suffice it to say, the latter two best describe the death metal legends’ assault. John Tardy sounds (as always) like he is receiving said torture, executing his vocals with terrifying conviction. Their delivery is largely midpaced and blanketed in Floridian haze. They speed things up here (1) and there (9), while on the title track (6) they slow to a lurch. 12 & 13 are originally from [...read more]

the_Network- Bishop Kent Manning released September 15, 2009 on Metal Blade the_Network is a metal band from New Hampshire. This is their second full-length release and first on Metal Blade. “Following And Failing” has the familiar thrashing drums that take front and center and have a bit of a Gwar feel to them. “Paranoid Deserter” has a slow and eerie introduction to it that gives way to a more balanced sound that isn’t dominated by any one instrument and is easier to follow along with. “Corpse Paint” has a decent sound to it as well, despite the presence of [...read more]

The Black Dahlia Murder – Deflorate released September 15, 2009 on Metal Blade Melodic death metal bands akin to latter day Death or [insert Gothenburg thrash band here] have such challenging prerequisites and evolutionary expectations. This was the problem with TBDM for their last three albums: relentlessly indistinguishable cacophonies dominated. Their progressive absorption of talented metal musicians has helped. This is the second album with ex-All That Remains drummer Shannon Lucas, and replacing John Kempainen is guitarist Ryan Knight. His tenure with Arsis must have helped the band class up their craft, as their songs are more memorable than [...read more]

Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way To Blue released September 28, 2009 on Virgin If you only listen to one man’s trials and tribulations in the rock world, choose Jerry Cantrell. No other artist composes harrowing autobiographies quite as beautiful, with brevity drenched in deeper meaning. True, he’s an emotional gut puncher, yet you can’t help but masochistically return for more. Some 14 years removed from AIC’s last output–and half as long since Jerry’s last solo effort–an unlikely reunion has spawned one of the year’s most welcome surprises. Replacing the dearly departed Layne Stayley is William Duvall, an [...read more]

No one does stream-of-consciousness-rock-cum-metalcore with lyrics this clever or insightful, invoking everything from Shakespeare to nursery rhymes to infinite regression theory. Rocking an engaging fiery swagger while expanding and exploring one’s core is no mean feat, but ETID fearlessly charge forward.

Megadeth – Endgame released September 15, 2009 on Roadrunner The band that’s #2 in ‘The Big Four’ is back to kick your ass with their twelfth studio album, which starts off reminiscent of their days of yore. Mustaine and new guitarist Chris Broderick (Jag Panzer, Nevermore) trade dueling leads with a passion not seen since Marty Friedman. The instrumental intro gives way to the defiant and confrontational 2, which continues into 3 (only here with Countdown To Extinction-like accessibility). Then it’s just thrashin’ fun on 4, all about funny car racing, and listen to that outro! 5, 6, 10, [...read more]

Eluveitie – Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion released April 17, 2009 on Nuclear Blast Expecting their usual dark and moving folk/death metal sound, I was shocked to hear how much celtic folk influence was in this album, and that it was almost completely acoustic. Definitely not a bad thing for a change. It has a very mystical and melancholic tone to it, and it’s atmospheric! The kind of music you get lost in, but enjoy it that much more. Anna Murphy, the hurdy-gurdy player of the band, took on a much larger role of vocals in this album. And [...read more]

Hatebreed- “Hatebreed” released September 24th, 2009 on E1 Entertainment Hatebreed returns with their fifth studio album that aims to showcase their hardcore and metal crossover talents. This CD is a clean version and there are many songs to choose from. “Between Hell And A Heartbeat” showcases a slow, sludgy hardcore feel at first that later picks up in the middle with a thrash feel, ala Slayer or Motorhead and it sustains this pace.  Drums are loud and hard-hitting here. “No Halos For The Heartless” has a similar feel but seems to show their effort to embrace the metal side. [...read more]

Evergreen Terrace- “Almost Home” released September 29th, 2009 on Metal Blade Records Evergreen Terrace hails from Jacksonville, FL and this is their follow-up to their 2007 album “Wolfbiker”, which received a lot of praise from Outburn. Most songs, except for one, are clean. “Mario Speedwagon” starts out with techno-like drums and the guitar speeds up, approaching thrash-like levels similar to Motorhead with a bit of a melodic hardcore feel thrown in. “Failure To Operate” has more of a wall of sound feel to it with a feel reminiscent of Coalesce. There’s a lot of emphasis on drums for these [...read more]

Well it’s been five years since their reunion album Collideøscope, and thankfully, one of the music world’s great welders of funky, bluesy, experimental metal has more to offer.
Living Colour continues to prove necessary as––at the very least––a quality standard for those that dare follow.