The Funeral Pyre - “Wounds” [Prosthetic] … for their third full length, the SoCal quintet followed a darker muse–one that would see them replace melodic keyboards with an additional guitar, and further invoke Norwegian Black Metal … they got a killer recording team to showcase their new formula (Haddad/Rutan/Douches), who add depth and shape to a sound which is ofted known for being flat and muffled … expect buzzing twin guitar harmonies, relentless drumming, and throaty rasped vox on all songs, but they do allow for some expansive tracks (1, 4) and are working in Folk melodies as well (9) [...read more]

Arsis – “We Are the Nightmare” [Nuclear Blast] … quite simply the best Melodic Death Metal that America currently has to offer … the riffing: technical, but listenable; the vox: blackened, but understandable; the hooks: omnipresent, but craved … Virginia’s Arsis has certainly found their niche and their strongest album to date now has a label to match that might, casting an imposing shadow across the Metal landscape … a Best of 2008 pick! FCC OK … Try *1*, *2*, 3, 4, *5*, 7, *10* … 2008Apr15 01. We Are The Nightmare 02. Shattering The Spell 03. Sightless Wisdom [...read more]

The Sword – “Gods of the Earth” [Kemado] … simply put, they are the sound of awesome: a near-flawless blend of Thrash and Stoner Groove, now injected with Classical riffage (check out those opening and closing instrumentals!) and still exploring fantastical mythological themes … make no mistake, they’re every bit as good as you’ve heard–perhaps the best of their breed–and will likely only improve with time … easy pick for Best of 2008 … FCC OK … Try *2*, 3, 4, *5*, 6, 7, *8*, *9* … 2008Mar18 1. The Sundering 2. The Frost-Giant’s Daughter 3. How Heavy This [...read more]

Meshuggah - “obZen” [Nuclear Blast] … six full-lengths and two EPs deep, they still stand vehemently peerless–a genre unto themselves … here, they learnedly draw from their perpetually-broadening sonic palette (everything from Destroy Erase Improve to Catch 33) to create another album that’s as esoteric as it is visceral … Tomas Haake nixed the “Drumkit From Hell” this time around and still plays with metronomic perfection … quiet moments do exist (mid-2, early-9), but the band mostly delivers the devastation … “Bleed,” in particular, is an absolute avalanche and perhaps their heaviest song to date … keeping with the snow motif, I say Meshuggah is [...read more]

Hate Eternal - “Fury and Flames” [Metal Blade] … woe to any Death Metal band releasing an album in 2008 … your rage, technicality, and overall heaviness will be measured against Metal monolith Erik Rutan’s brainchild, and most likely be decimated … fueled by the death of friend/founding member Jared Anderson, Rutan expertly channels his emotions throughout this unsettlingly powerful opus … now a quartet for the first time, the disc features Alex Webster on bass (who IS returning to Cannibal Corpse) and new permanent members in Shane Kelley (Rutan’s former Ripping Corpse bandmate; also guitarist for Dim Mak) and Jade Simonetto (Camilla Rhodes), [...read more]

Genghis Tron - “Board Up the House” [Relapse] … a veritable symphony of intelligent, low-fi Hardcore … fidelity does not diminish complexity, however … the brilliant palette elicited from such minimal components is astonishing (track 2 features toy drums, for example) … they are as comfortable with the heaviness as they are with the electronic passages, bringing to mind the latest from Dillinger Escape Plan (PS – Greg Puciato does guest vox on 9) … 4, 7, 10 are instrumentals … Converge’s Kurt Ballou produced … FCC OK … Try  1, 3, 5, 8 … 2008Feb12 01. Board Up The House 02. Endless [...read more]

Sebastian Bach - “Angel Down” [MRV] … the former Skid Row frontman releases his first album in 8 years and wastes little time letting you know that his pipes are in top form … he’s assembled quite a band as well, including Halford’s guitarist & drummer, plus the ever-dextrous Steve DiGiorgio on bass … Axl Rose also appears on three tracks (check the great cover of Aerosmith’s ‘Back in the Saddle’) … the second half suffers from retreads, odd experimentation, and ballads, but the strength of those first seven should be enough to warrant another album … I defy you to get the chorus [...read more]