The Legion – A Bliss To Suffer (Listenable Records)
A Bliss to Suffer is neither here nor there; a by-product of the generic nature of blackened death metal. It’s the brand of samey, hook-less extreme metal that has killed for lesser bands than The...
Divine Heresy – Bringer of Plagues (Century Media Records)
Talk about picking the best time to release an album. Bringer of Plagues is going to be released right in the thick over a legal battle of the Fear Factory name, which, depending on one’s perspective,...
Celesty – Vendetta (Spinefarm Records)
It’s split down the middle: if you’re a Finnish power metal band, you’re going to sound like either Stratovarius or Sonata Arctica. Not like there’s anything inherently wrong with that (is Thunderstone still making...
Fairyland – Score To A New Beginning (Napalm Records)
Fairyland, who without question have the worst name in all of power metal, won’t strike fear into anyone in the near future, but Score To A New Beginning has some legs to it. And since there...
Godflesh – Songs Of Love & Hate/Love & Hate In Dub/In All Languages DVD (Earache Records)
Musically, you can’t fault this little box set at all. Originally released back in 1996 Songs Of Love And Hate was a bleak masterpiece that has stood the test of time thanks to it’s powerful product....
Ava Inferi – Blood of Bacchus (Season of Mist Records)
Now having fully severed ties with Mayhem, guitarist Rune Eriksen (aka “Blasphemer”) can now turn his focus to Ava Inferi, a far less black metal-tinged outfit with two albums already under its belt in...
Goatwhore – Carving Out the Eyes of God (Metal Blade Records)
God is the target this time out for Goatwhore. Not Hurricane Katrina or the painstaking healing process singer Ben Falgoust endured after a 2003 van accident. It’s a fitting approach for the New Orleans...
Doro – Fear No Evil (AFM Records)
With 25 years in the business and God knows how many albums under her belt, the legendary Doro is always up to something. Whether it’s cutting the 2009 Wacken theme song, doing some symphony work...
Killswitch Engage – Killswitch Engage (Roadrunner Records)
This one really could have gone either way. Having always managed to stay a few steps ahead of the rest of the melodic, metalcore crowd, Killswitch Engage seemed to slip a little with 2006’s As...
Ektomorf – What Doesn’t Kill Me… (Regain Records)
These Hungarians usually take a beating from the metal press for obvious reasons. Seriously, who wants to hear a third (world)-rate version of latter-Max era Sepultura and Soulfly? Not very many, eh? Lampooning What Doesn’t...
Forest Stream – The Crown of Winter (Candlelight Records)
Good enough to open for Katatonia during the Swedes 2007 run in Russia, Forest Stream could be the most visible Russian metal band since Mental Home, who came as fast as they went. While...
Pantheon I – Worlds I Create (Candlelight Records)
More than just a step up from 2007’s formidable The Wanderer And His Shadow, Worlds I Create is a gigantic leap for Pantheon I, one that propels this Norwegian quintet into rarely-grazed pastures. It’s the brazen combination...
Delain – April Rain (Sensory/Roadrunner Records)
Quite the fuss around these Dutchmen (and woman), primarily because of Martjin Westerholt’s (ex Within Temptation) involvement and the fact singer Charlotte Wessels is another in a now very long line of beaming sirens to front...
The Gathering – The West Pole (Season of Mist Records)
The majesty of Mandylion and Nighttime Birds seem so far off that The Gathering feels like a different band. Well, they are, obviously and that’s both with the departure of longtime singer Anneke van Giersbergen and their gradual move away...
Pelican – Ephemeral EP (Southern Lord Records)
A stop-gap EP before the next full-length (due sometime later this year or early 2010), Ephemeral is merely a snippet of what Pelican (far and away the best instrumental metal band of the last decade) can...