Rating : 4.5/5

These guys really got everything dialed: the tone, the interplay, the lack of pretense. You can enjoy Karma to Burn on small speakers or huge; as background music or consumed by headphones; with joint, chillum, or straight (no chaser). However you take ‘em, they sink to the bone.

Rating : 3.5/5

I was apprehensive approaching “The Art of Malice” because I have not seen a color scheme like this since Jack Johnson’s “Curious George” soundtrack. Thankfully, it is virtuosic yet listenable, humorous and heavy, with a unique stamp that is nearly complete.

Rating : 4/5

In the words of producer/label president Philip Anselmo (Down, ex-Pantera), Warbeast epitomizes ‘the DFW [Dallas/Ft. Worth] thrash metal’ sound. For those whose memory/knowledge stretches to decades back when Gammacide and Rigor Mortis were laying waste to Texas, this will be a breath of fresh air. Too bad it’ll come from the backswing of a battle axe about to embed in your skull.

Check out this fun and candid interview with Baroness bassist Summer Welch.  I finally got this posted to (and from) the Mind Over Metal Facebook portal after learning that YouTube now has a ten-minute length limitation. Be on the lookout for my talk with Brann Dailor from Mastodon very soon!

Rating : 3/5

With evolution as a key theme throughout The Ocean’s history, I just hope this album worked through their “awkward” stage.

Rating : 4/5

Destruction is a dominating top predator that still sounds hungry as a ferocious upstart eager to earn its place. For those who have yet to experience the German gargantua live, consider this an invitation.

Rating : 3.5/5

Be’lakor have a clear course set to become the southern hemisphere’s most prominent melodic death metal band.

A hell of a fun interview with Steve Rathbone from LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR. Read why he believes “what we do comes from an honest and pure place” and how their new album ‘Evil Power’ is “kind of like a big victory party after a bloody battle” … fuck YES!

Baroness ruled the Mastodon headlining show at Higher Ground on Saturday April 24th. And although I understand that Mastodon and Between the Buried and Me are bigger selling entities, I felt as if Baroness was the only band that seemed genuine in their performance. This is not to say the show wasn’t fantastic—because it was. However, I think there is something to be said for musicians that are jaded by their fame. Sometimes it shows.

If you have enjoyed how Darkthrone has adapted their sound to incorporate crust punk into their stripped-down black metal, with shades of Motörhead, classic thrash, and even a dash of Sabbath, then you are probably already shotgunning beers over an open flame with this music blaring into the mountain woods.