Rating: 4.5/5
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This is the music critics will say Classic Metal Band X could be aspiring to write, or something Modern Metal Band Y can never approach. It’s melodic American thrash, evolved through carved canyons, with greater depths that one misses if only glanced across, rather than explore down. Machine Head is among the best in 2011—and they’ll never live in the past.

Rating: 3/5
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I’m not feeling “Blunt Force Trauma”, folks… there’s barely an bruise. Cavalera Conspiracy should sound more different than Soulfly, and there is simply not enough to distinguish the band. Maybe a different guy on lead guitar would help separate the two groups (sorry Mark, I really do like your work!). Just give us a reason to believe this is more than a cash-in.

Rating: 3/5
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DevilDriver is an absolute template for 21st century American metal, and I cannot say I’m proud of that. You can call this “extreme metal” all day and night, but it’s just not the case. When you can telegraph half the songs’ flows; when the words are this trite; when the tunes blur together and you retrace your steps to a very song called “Blur”—be wary of these signs, they’ll lead you down a dark, boring, ultimately safe path.

Rating: 2.5/5 …

The album is entitled “Remember Who You Are”, so let’s move down the checklist: Jonathan Davis again cries at the end; they generally percolate with more unchecked angst than your average suburban teenager; they still sport Adidas garb; and once again, endangered children are splayed across the layout.

Rating: 3.5/5

They say that two points determine a line; three points confirm it. Now, Soulfly’s fourth album in a row with the Cavalera-Rizzo-Burns-Nunez combination solidifies the core of this band. Co-produced by Logan Mader (ex-Machine Head), “Omen” continues to comfortably reintegrate thrash into their groove-heavy arsenal, and demonstrates how well they have developed.