The Haunted – Road Kill DVD/CD (Century Media Records)
Would-be touring acts would be best be advised to either stay away from this DVD or take notes. Anyone thinking touring life is glamorous will be persuaded otherwise by Road Kill, primarily shot and directed...
Twilight – Monument To Time End (Southern Lord Records)
A great idea from the start, Twilight nearly burned out after its killer self-titled album from 2005. With members of Nachtmystium (who weren't big back then), Xasthur (who were big back then), Krieg (kinda...
Dofka – Humanity Bleak (Self-Released)
Ardent followers in the power or traditional metal scenes are most familiar with guitarist Jim Dofka and his instrumental expertise. Humanity Bleak resurrects his vocal-led visions, a 10-song full-length album that should appease many looking...
Howl – Full of Hell (Relapse Records)
As raw and ragged as say, Kylesa, perhaps Lair of the Minotaur and Black Cobra, Providence, Rhode Island’s Howl manage to produce a relentless, plundering debut with Full of Hell. At this juncture, the type...
Van Canto – Tribe of Force (Napalm Records)
A Capella speed/ power metal from Germany here. Tribe Of Force represents Van Canto’s third full length, shifting to more original material and less of a reliance on cover versions. I know a lot...
Bison BC – Dark Ages (Metal Blade Records)
After creating a stir with 2008’s Quiet Earth, Vancouver’s Bison BC are back with the equally large-in-girth Dark Ages. And while there’s no real huge distinction between Dark Ages (what are we doing now - stealing Soulfly album...
The Ocean – Heliocentric (Metal Blade Records)
With broad, ambitious concepts that usually go beyond the atypical focus of the metalgaze genre, Germanys' The Ocean always set themselves up for failure, yet usually emerged unscathed. The daring Precambrian from three years ago was...
Volbeat – Live: Sold Out DVD (Mascot Records)
Only fitting that a DVD released in 2008 is only coming out now, for a band that has been big in Europe and is only catching on in North America...now. Once a part of the mini...
Cathedral – The Guessing Game (Nuclear Blast Records)
So much for The Garden of Unearthly Delights being the last opus from the long-running quasi-British doomsters. It didn't feel like the right way to go out anyway...what Cathedral needs is that tried-and-true "last gasp/return to...
Ludicra – The Tenant (Profound Lore Records)
Like anything coming out of the Bay Area, proper description all but eludes Ludcira. How these guys (and gals) were ever branded as a straight black metal band defies convention and while yes, they...