Porcupine Tree – The Incident released September 15, 2009 on Roadrunner With Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater and Opeth now all under the Roadrunner banner (not to mention PT and DT releasing albums within months of each other that both contain a car crash motif), we may have even loftier hopes from these progressive powerhouses. This daunting enterprise from the British quartet succeeds in generating atmospheres, delicately balancing the heaviness, and never losing sight of the grander album picture. Still largely constructed by Steven Wilson, the whole band is credited with some of the music on the main disc (xi, xiii) [...read more]

Kittie – In The Black released Sept 15, 2009 on E1 Entertainment You ask people to name one all-female metal group that’s still in existence, and those that don’t first hark back to Drain STH or any various riot grrl acts of the 1990s will default to Kittie. This is the issue most take up with the band: they have a lot to answer for amidst post-milennial estrogenicidal metal. Let’s get this out of the way: In the Black is Kittie’s best album to date. Of course, you have to remember that we’re judging by Kittie standards here, so [...read more]

Howl – Howl released July 21, 2009 on Relapse This is the music you would create if you got High On Fire ripping bingers from a Bongzilla and satiated the munchies with Soilent Green. Dredging dirge after dirge from a swampy black mire somewhere in the nether regions of Rhode Island(?!), they scrape off the crusty decomposition from their found artifacts and forge something fine enough for a Baroness, yet filthy enough for a Goatwhore. With a full length on the horizon and so much promise already, the ravenous masses will undoubtably be baying until the release. Until then, [...read more]

Solid live interview with Vincent of HowL, an amazing new Rhode Island band, who just signed with Relapse Records and have released a killer eponymous EP. Hear about the band’s origins, the process of pinning down their brand of heavy, Vincent’s music background, a taste of their debut, and news of what’s to come.

Dying Fetus – “Descend Into Depravity” released September 15, 2009 on Relapse These guys take the term ‘power trio’ to the next level, as they streamline down one member further from 2007’s War of Attrition, and recruit new drummer Trey Williams. This in no way hampers their ability to compose dense, claustrophobic death metal with well-written, incisive sociopolitical lyrics by bassist/vocalist Sean Beasley accompanied by haunting high-res glossy artwork by Orion Landau. You’ll need the liner notes, as the growls range from throaty to guttural with minimal enunciation. This may be a caveat for some, but they’re still effectively [...read more]

Black Anvil – “Time Insults The Mind” released September 1, 2009 on Relapse The blackening of metal has certainly become increasingly evident in recent years. Many mainstream-ish bands (particularly certain big names in Roadrunner’s roster) have worked in small doses on their latest output. Not to mention the broadening palette of American musicians like Wolves In The Throne Room, Nachtmystium, Absu, and Book Of Black Earth, who are helping add dimension to a traditionally stripped-down genre. This trio, Black Anvil, is better known for their work in the NY hardcore punk band Kill Your Idols. But surprisingly, as a [...read more]

Suffocation – “Blood Oath” released July 14, 2009 on Nuclear Blast If this band does one thing right, it’s approach their songs with the delicacy of a surgeon who plans to carve a cadaver so that the organs spill out in a most interesting fashion. But the thing is, Suffocation actually does several things right: Frank Mullen is one of Metal’s most imposing and understandable vocalists; Derek Boyer holds up the bottom end like Atlas himself; Mike Smith’s drums expertly match and accent the band’s dynamic ebb and flow; and the Terence Hobbs-Guy Marchais guitar attack grates, slices, bludgeons, [...read more]

Candlemass – “Death Magic Doom” released May 5, 2009 on Nuclear Blast These guys have made a career playing tunes mainly about the three things in their trifective title. Their tenth studio album is their second with former Solitude Aeturnus vocalist Robert Lowe, and I think chief songwriter/bassist/founder Leif Edling is more comfortable writing for his style. It’s different from Messiah Marcolin’s vamping vibrato, with a confidence and class akin to Ronnie James Dio. The band charges out the door with balls on full display, driving hard with a great chorus/battle cry. They then slow to a lurch with [...read more]

Assjack – “Assjack” released August 4, 2009 on Curb Records Hank Williams III is something of an anomaly. A classic country music outlaw with an affinity for heavy music, III would often unleash Assjack as one of his live sets opposite half a show more suited for his grandfather’s tastes. Such is the beauty of line-blurring. Yeah, well the beauty stops there. This is one brutish beast of an album, written, produced, and performed by the man himself (he tours live with his “Damn Band”). Though still raw as a grizzly-caught salmon, it’s a marked improvement over the four rough [...read more]

Gwar – “Lust In Space” released August 18, 2009 on Metal Blade 25 years after their Antarctic thaw, the masters and creators of our bastard race finally escaped to the nether regions of space…and returned! As a token of their good(?) graces(?), they offer us another album commemorating their exploits for our voracious mass consumption. Their eleventh studio release finds the band reuniting forces with Metal Blade to disseminate their filthy splendor, and though the devastating brutality has thankfully escalated with post-2000 Gwar, this is the best realized album on the whole in over a decade. And oh, do [...read more]