OD'ING ON REVIEWS.

ROSS THE BOSS
NEW METAL LEADER
CANDLELIGHT
Former Manowar guitarist and co-founder Ross the Boss makes a bold claim by naming his new project's album NEW METAL LEADER. Going so far as to employ an actual Manowar cover band to be his "full-time" band, Ross The Boss painstakingly succeeds in recreating the vintage vibe of his glory days on this 11-track affair. Heavily borrowing from early-period Manowar, tracks like "We Will Kill" and "I.F.H." are perfect knockoffs right down to the vocal caterwaul and extended guitar solos, giving the fans from the early days a constant chill deep inside. This album is bound to please longtime fans, yet its exaggerated title and overall redundancy (especially for non-fans) yields an unremarkable listen for those who aren't down for a batch of dude in loincloth style metal. www.candlelightrecordsusa.com -Mike SOS

BROTHER VON DOOM
RELENTLESS
DEATHCOTE
Swedish melodic death metal such as At the Gates undeniably had a profound effect on Ohio quintet Brother Von Doom judging by their 10-track release RELENTLESS. Properly titling this debut effort, there's no question this squad maintains a firm grip on producing technically sound songs completed by an ample array of blistering riffs and pounding drums ("Blood on the Betrayer", "Judas Kiss") at a frantic pace, truly leaving no room to catch a breath ("Eater of Days", "Norse Demise"). What they gain in firepower though this unit loses in lack of variation and originality, as midway through the album everything (especially the skilled yet exchangeable guitars) starts to sound a bit similar to many of its peers, even though it maintains its ravagingly brutal delivery. A few composition tweaks and some time spent on the road however and Brother Von Doom may be able to shed that skin, but for now this band's debut provides a solid listening experience that would appeal mainly to those unscathed by melodeath's rampant oversaturation. www.deathcoterecords.com -Mike SOS

GRAVEHAVEN
CALICO
SELF-RELEASED
New Hampshire quintet Gravehaven are a prog rock meets post punk troupe along the likes of Cave In or Dredg whose latest seven-track affair is an overwhelming effort chock full of bells and whistles. But don't let the band's adventurous overtones a la Rush or Muse deter you, as CALICO contains just as many memorable moments ("If You Can, When You Can") as it does superfluous shredding. Resonating with a Mars Volta meets Protest the Hero versus Coheed and Cambria ripple, there's a slew of excessive musical interplay featured on this disc ("Burning Dollars"), almost as much as the amount of intriguing songwriting twists and turns ("Lunatic") which require repeated listens to fully absorb. Cranially complex yet not completely incomprehensible, Gravehaven have presented a weighty album laden with rhythmic shifts and far away soundscapes yet still bring home an air of catchiness to satisfy all fronts. www.gravehaven.com -Mike SOS

STAY ALIVE
VINYL FOR MY FRIENDS
SELF-RELEASED
All the members of melodic punk hardcore revivalists Stay Alive have rich histories in the NY scene both on stage and behind the scenes and it shows on their bouncy yet biting four-track 7" VINYL FOR MY FRIENDS. Writing songs that adroitly walk the tightrope between genres a la Black Train Jack, Grey Area, and Bouncing Souls, this is a release perfect for those caught in between growing up and looking back played with the heartfelt conviction of their heroes sans any fluff, truly capturing how much fun this band is having by paying homage to the times they cherish. www.myspace.com/stayalivemusic -Mike SOS

INTRONAUT
PREHISTORICISMS
CENTURY MEDIA
The confounding metallic attack of Bay Area squad Intronaut continues with PREHISTORICISMS, a brazen eight-track affair whose dense subject matter and dizzying musical output pushes the envelope past the point of no return. Despite losing guitarist Leon Del Muerte (the man mainly responsible for the unit's grind and death side), this troupe enlisted another guitarist (David Timmick), adding a bevy of stylistic tricks to their avant garde extreme metal approach. While guitars on cuts "Cavernous Den of Shame" still manage to bash your skull in, Del Muerte's absence is definitely apparent and truly marks a discernible shift for the group. The percussive work of Danny Walker proves once again to be a mighty force (be sure to check out the near two-minute drum solo on "Any Port") that will have all skin bashers running to theit kit to brush up on chops. But the true MVP of this endeavor is bassist Joe Lester, whose sinewy bass lines, sweeping fills, and massive four-stringed solo assaults practically lead each song from attack mode into strange and wondrous soundscapes that morph and twist the sonic batterings of metal into shards of progressive jazz fusion. Fear not though, Intronaut remains a hulking beast of a band that rivals Gojira and Meshuggah in terms of unabashed heaviness, only now their multi-faceted display is sharper and more adventurous, yielding an exhilarating listening experience through and through. www.centurymedia.com -Mike SOS

BEEHOOVER
HEAVY ZOOO
EXILE ON MAINSTREAM
German drum and bass duo Beehoover unfurl a wild concoction of stoner rock, psychedelic metal, and weird rock 'n roll on their sophomore effort HEAVY ZOOO. Fearlessly hopping from genre to genre bending minds along the way, this tandem decisively dissects your subconscious with spacey textures and galactic overtones encompassing massive hellfire riffs found on cuts like the fluid "I Desert" and the gutwrenching "Pain Power". If you dig Melvins, Death from Above 1979, Kyuss, or System of a Down and can muster the thought of a unit joining all of those elements together, then run to the store immediately and get immersed in Beehoover's off-kilter antics with this gargantuan groove-laden 10-track affair. www.southern.com -Mike SOS

ABIGAIL WILLIAMS
IN THE SHADOW OF A THOUSAND SUNS
CANDLELIGHT
Produced by metal guru James Murphy (former guitarist for Death and Testament), the latest 10-track presentation by American symphonic black metal troupe Abigail Williams may resonate with the corpsepainted cadence and sophisticated conviction of the bands it strives to emulate, but overall its unavoidable gloss outshines the soulless despair it tries to convey. While some may disregard this squad as pandering to their peers or merely as an imitation of the real thing, songs like "Floods" and "Acolytes" do a smashing job of whipping up the menacing malevolence necessary to stir the grimmest of hearts while "The World Beyond" blasts through a blizzard of death growls, piercing shrieks and Emperor-esque guitar runs to garner some adulation. Yet this disc comes off a bit too clean (perhaps due to being a bit overwrought with piano and synths) to really muster up that intangible diabolical nature needed for this style of music to reach bombastic levels. www.candlelightrecordsusa.com -Mike SOS

BULBUL
6
EXILE ON MAINSTREAM
Austrian trio Bulbul are an acquired taste that traditional rock fans may take their sweet-ass time getting to know, even though there's no lack of NIN meets robot rock crunch ("Lack of the Key") or booty-shaking dance rock numbers ("When Sun Comes Out", "Dust in My Zimmer") to be had on this unit's unique 15-track celebration of all things left of center. Meandering in and out of indie rock's heavy side with hints of Mr. Bungle-like explorations ("The Song's Name"), Melvins-esque low end throbbing ("Steve La Postla"), Bulbul shows the propensity to get down funky ("Daddy Was a Girl I LIked"), howlingly crazy a la Primus meets prog rock ("Where the Hell is DJ Fett") or change up the atmosphere ("Tighter") whenever they damn well please, creating a tumultuous tension that governs this outfit's strange yet refreshing twists and turns on their wild journey across planet rock 'n roll . If you dig stuff that goes beyond the realm of normal, definitely seek this album out. www.southern.com -Mike SOS

16
BRIDGES TO BURN
RELAPSE
Subtle as a sledgehammer to the skull, Southern California sludge metal vets 16 return after a 12-year hiatus with BRIDGES TO BURN. This quartet's vitriolic reintroduction to the world is a venomous 12-track affair laden with crushing yet hazy hardcore grooves that drum up comparisons to everything from Weedeater and Will Haven ("Missed the Boat") to Unsane and Helmet ("You Let Me Down (Again)"). Abrasive vocals ragefully spitting out nuggets of nihilism and riffs bolstered with bone-shattering crush do battle with an unrelenting rhythm section's voluminous batterings on seething selections such as "Monday Bloody Monday", the bouncy bastardized bop of "Me and My Shadow", and the self-loathing "Thorn In Your Side". Dumping out their patented gloom and doom desperation mantra over waves of molten stoner rock ("What Went Wrong?"), 16 have thoroughly scraped from inner hell's deepest recesses to make this disc a bleak blues-metal gem. www.relapse.com -MIke SOS

TRENCHES
THE TIDE WILL SWALLOW US WHOLE
SOLID STATE
The press release quotes for this disc pretty much sums it up;"We're not doing this to win the scene, to have the tightest jeans or the swoopiest haircuts. We're doing this for us", says former Haste the Day frontman Jimmy Ryan, whose new unit Trenches have cleverly discovered the middle ground between Isis, Tool and Mastodon on their debut release THE TIDE WILL SWALLOW US WHOLE. Shaping its powerful post-metal disposition with dollops of sludge metal into glistening instrumental interludes with tumultuous shifts in tempo and emotion ("Bittersweet"), this band masterfully melds modern metal's avant garde elements together ("Call It a Day"), forming a trajectory of dynamic metal which conveys a forward-thinking yet focused mindset that fans of Zao, Deftones, and Cult of Luna will have no problem embracing. www.solidstaterecords.com -Mike SOS

SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY
INTERVALS
FERRET
What started out as a joke has become serious business based on INTERVALS, the sophomore 17-track affair from Michigan maulers See You Next Tuesday. Gone are the band's blatant scene point scoring long-ass nonsensical titles while the much-maligned breakdowns, an once-integral part of this quartet's arsenal, are used less frequently than on previous offering PARASITE. Opting instead to immerse themselves fully into a grindcore state of mind (the under five-second blast "Alpha" and the 38 second "Nightmares" being fitting examples), this group displays traces of metallic maturation that occasionally comes up for a shot of face-ripping deathcore ("In The Beginning"), all the while exhibiting their exploratory edge ("She Once Said I Was A Romantic") Chock full of chaotic tempo changes (the drums smoke here) and blistering guitar and bass work ("Goodnight (Our Last Dance)", "One of These Days"), this unit seems to have shed most of its musical baby fat, but songs like the bland three-minute o' stock chug "Dedication to a New Era" and the stagnant "Forever on Deaf Ears", while commendably visit to a discernibly slower uncharted area, suggest they've got a bit more work to do before staking claim on a higher position on the metal food chain. Nonetheless, the latest disc from See You Next Tuesday denotes a positive stylistic shift ripe with maddening grindcore that allows this bunch of brootal doods to take it to the next level without losing the best of what brought them there. www.ferretstyle.com - Mike SOS

UNREAL CITY
EPHEMERAL SUBSISTENCE
DOUBLE OR NOTHING
Metallic hardcore that makes no bones about being influenced by bands such as Ringworm and Sworn Enemy is what Pittsburgh, PA quintet Unreal City unleashes on EPHEMERAL SUBSISTENCE. Crustier than your average hardcore band, this unit's tell it like it is delivery captured by Bill Korecky at Cleveland metal shrine Mars Studio coupled with a proficient guitar prowess (just check the multitude of solos on closer "Beyond Reality") catapults this crew to the ranks of the likes of Leeway and Integrity for properly pinning down the old school tones that get the dancefloor active on cuts like "Moral Sermon" and the crushing "Fabricated". Expertly exhibiting a gritty musical underbelly with matching lyrical disdain, menacing tracks "Swine" and "Synthesis of Paranoia" chug at a mauling mid-tempo pace perfect for a circle-pit entry crawl while the haunting intro of "In the Council of Demons" summons up Swedish melodeath at its most effective before blasting into a coarse screamed ode to despair. Gruff and unapologetic, Unreal City's debut endeavor respectfully accepts the torch of '90s metallic hardcore and follows through with reverence and ferocity. www.doubleornothingrecords.com -Mike SOS

SUBMISSION
CODE OF CONSPIRACY
BLISTERING
Hailing from Denmark, Submission is yet another act springing up from the saturated melodic death metal front that warrants attention, providing formidable competition for the genre's leaders with a precise blend of assaultive thrash riffs, snarling and aggressive yet intelligible vocals, and adroit technical prowess. Despite this quintet's sophomore effort being marred by bad luck both on the business and personal end, CODE OF CONSIPIRACY celebrates their revival and marks the debut of vocalist Lasse Sivertsen, whose versatile style packs just as strong a punch on curiously-placed classic metal acoustic cut "Determent Infiltration" as it does for the Trivium-esque "Celebrate the Dead", the scorching title track and the crunchy Strapping Young Lad meets Gojira with huge In Flames chorus track "An Illusion of the Perfect Forever". Toss in an endless supply of solid chops highlighted on instrumental cut and album closer "The End of Eternity" along with a well-rounded array of influences from dark progressive to nation-hopping melodeath woven into this band's fabric, and fans of Soilwork and Hatesphere that want the sound to go a bit deeper will rejoice, as Submission is added as another name on the list of bands to check out. www.submission-ragecage.dk -Mike SOS

SILENCER
DIVISIONS
F-BOMB
For those bound to be confused, let's straighten it out; there are two metal acts sharing the same band name Silencer. DIVISIONS is the latest release by the veteran Denver, CO version Silencer, not the most recent disc from diabolical and twisted Swedish suicide metal troupe Silencer. Now that formalities are out of the way, what should you expect from this quintet that has been around since the late '90s and boasts acts like Judas Priest and Carcass amongst its influences? Think loads of Euro melodeath shreddery intertwined with shards of Strapping Young Lad's technicality for starters, as cuts such as "The Mind Races" and "Main Sequence" are equipped with an abundance of surgically placed yet sterile riff and percussion one-two incisions while tasteful guitar solos galore adorn "Panoptic" and "P6MK" and Meshuggah-esque staccato fury reveals itself on "Effigy in Suspension". Sounding decisively Swedish in the vocal realm (bands like Soilwork and Mnemic immediately come to mind), this unit's undeniably powerful presence shines brightest on cuts which sturdily cement their contribution to the modern death/thrash paradigm like "Suppressor", yet for all the merits DIVISIONS garnishes for durability, there's little to be heard here that hasn't been covered before or substantially stands out to assist them from standing above and beyond the proficient pack. www.myspace.com/silencermetal -Mike SOS

ALMAH
FRAGILE EQUALITY
BLISTERING
While Brazilian metal act Angra sorts things out, vocalist Edu Falaschi has committed full devotion to once part-time project Almah. Determined on taking this unit to the next level, Falaschi (along with Angra bassist Felipe Andreoli) have recruited permanent members this time around in lieu of using the all-star crew from bands such as Nightwish, Stratovarius, and Kamelot for their sophomore offering, the 10-track FRAGILE EQUALITY. Striking hard with a now full-time band intact, this quintet draws from a wide range of styles from surging melodic tunes ("Invisible Cage") to blistering symphonic tracks fortified with prodigal guitar solo bashings ("You'll Understand"). This disc doles out the proper amount of explosiveness with power metal attacks ("Magic Flame") and progressive metal flourishes ("Fragile Equality") sharing the spotlight. While pseudo-ballad "All I Am" portrays all of the nuances that sound great on mainstream radio, the majority of this disc reveals a band unafraid to flex its metallic muscle ("Torn") or delve deep into the more melodic side of the metal spectrum ("Beyond Tomorrow"). Almah's latest disc demonstrates a newfound cohesion thanks to a dedicated and united squad and should appeal to fans of Dream Theater, Dragonforce, and Helloween and their most prominent of power metal sensibilities. www.blisteringrecords.se -Mike SOS

CARPATHIAN
ISOLATION
DEATHWISH
Aussie troupe Carpathian let loose with a discernibly mature brand of hardcore punk not unlike the output of many of their labelmates on the quintet's latest 10-track effort ISOLATION. Abandoning the one-trick brutal beatdown routine for a muscular yet angular attack that relies equally on dynamic shifts and gang vocal choruses, instead of following the herd and rippng though breakdown after breakdown ("The Cold Front"), this band combines the grit of American Nightmare, the contagiousness of Comeback Kid and elements of atmospheric sludge metal for a heavy-handed yet satisfying amalgamation of aggression. Moshpit friendly tunes like "Cursed" and "Ceremony" yield dramatic build-ups for added jolts to the skull, while tracks like "Spirals" take their "new old school" approach down tried and true roads with positive results. Substantial without being overwrought, this is for those that crave fury with an updated hardcore onslaught . www.deathwishinc.com -Mike SOS

PUNCHLINE
JUST SAY YES
MODERN SHORT STORIES
Pop-punk meets piano rock is what Punchline brings to the table on their latest disc JUST SAY YES. Fortified with a multitude of sounds from garage rock ("Get Off My Train") to Ben Folds-like pop nuggets ("Somewhere in the Dark") to weepy ballads ("Castaway") to Weezer-esque rockers ("Punish or Privilege"), this quartet, who used to be on Pete Wentz's label (Fueled By Ramen) before winning a $25,000 grand prize and setting up their own label, do a serviceable job of injecting the templates of Blink 182 and New Found Glory with smidgens of indie rock pizzazz. www,modernshortstories.net -Mike SOS

WHO RIDES THE TIGER
TRANSYLVANIA BABY
HARD DRUGS
Down and dirty rock 'n roll merchants Who Rides the TIger produce a bongload of filthy riffs and sinister rhythms on the 10-track TRANSYLVANIA BABY. This shadowy Los Angeles trio's assault spares no expense while doling out a bombastic wall of hard rock brimming over the top of their stoner biker metal pot with an array of sinewy guitars, throaty growls, rollicking percussion and thick bass trapped in the middle of a Pier Six brawl . Rating high on the sleaze-o-meter without an whiff of Aqua Net or a hint of spandex, these guys merge the kickass sensibilities of High On Fire, Clutch, Warrior Soul, and The Four Horsemen, devising a surefire formula to shake your soul. www.whoridesthetiger.com

PSYKUP
WE LOVE YOU ALL
SEASON OF MIST
Psykup gets praise right off the bat for having the good fortune of naming their album WE LOVE YOU ALL, a classic phrase in conversations between audience and stage (just ask Ozzy). You can call this seasoned French crew avant garde and get away with it, as this six-track guide to schizophrenic solipsism bears a nasty pair of technical death metal fangs while whirlwinds of time signature changes and absurdist vocals round out the chaos. Damned if you don't hear things reminiscent of System of a Down, Faith No More, or anything from Devin Townsend within the 10-minute "Here Comes the Waves", but don't fret; this exhausting metal exercise makes up for its smuggling through anxiously alluring and cleverly constructed compositions spanning the extreme metal landscape. www.season-of-mist.com -Mike SOS

EIGHTEEN WHEELS BURNING
TWEAK'D OUT STRUNG UP & REDLINED
SMALL STONE
The latest installment of hazy heaviness from NYC's Eighteen Wheels Burning emphatically describes the aftermath of listening to this power trio's fuzzed out blues soaked rawk. TWEAK'D OUT STRUNG UP & REDLINED summons the ghosts of '70s muscle car rock while nodding in appreciation of rock's cosmic explorers who share the fearless ferocity to kick the jams out ("The Wheeler", "Cockblocked"), pound you into dust ("Topless"), shake your moneymaker ("Mary Jane is My Only Friend") or mellow the vibe ("Third Reich Trucker"). Blue Cheer and Nebula meet halfway with Sabbath and Skynyrd to create a bombastic barroom boogie-rock extravaganza tasty enough to grab seconds on. www.smallstone.com -Mike SOS

BLACK ELK
ALWAYS A SIX, NEVER A NINE
CRUCIAL BLAST
Black Elk's unorthodoxically angular musical aggressiveness didn't fall from the sky, as this adventurous Portland, OR act's admiration for Jesus Lizard, Melvins, Voivod, Faith No More and Helmet to flashes of industrially-tinged thrash metal ("Brine") blatantly stare you in the face on the captivating 10-track ALWAYS A SIX, NEVER A NINE. This troupe contorts a steady diet of sinewy sludge rhythms and jagged guitar abrasions straight from the sewer into epic buildups swirling with a sinister dissonance while tremolo-fed harrowing senses of dread usually reserved for the corpsepainted contingent sticks out like a tombstone ("The Brazen Bull II", "Pig Crazy"). This album's constant barrage of voluminous soulcrushing grooves and vitriolic vocals ("Hold My Head", "Hospital") award this act the dubious distinction of being easy to love for purveyors of avant-garde off-kilter metal and too solid for naysayers to brush off as a mere knock-off. www.crucialblast.net -Mike SOS

SEPULTURA
A-LEX
SPV
Left with only one original member in the fold (Andreas Kisser for those keeping score), Sepultura continues to trudge on Cavalera-less with the entity's latest release A-LEX, a conceptual album based on cult novel A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess. This 18-track affair attacks with the fervor this act has championed since the split in 1997, audibly conveying a commendable slab of the throbbing tribal stomp and unabashed heaviness this band helped to invent back in the early '90s ("What I Do", "The Treatment"). Sounding as sharp and blistering as ever ("Sadistic Values", "Strike"), especially vocally thanks to Derrick Green's seething submergence into venomous death metal pits of despair ("Moloko Mesto"), there's even a few of the band's trademarked nuances revisited here ("Filthy Rot", "The Treatment", "The Experiment"), properly placed to efortlessly flow into the group's current paradigm. As with virtually every concept album, A-LEX suffers from some bloat (the off the mark classical homage "Ludwig Van" seems too self-indulgent even though it fits storyline wise), yet the good outweighs the bad here long enough to keep the skip button from getting hit. Sepultura will probably never be the same as the glory days sans a full-on reunion, but this incarnation's noble flying of the flag and willingness to take risks overall renders a rewarding listening experience for those tuned in to this trailblazing troupe's new directives. www.spv.de -Mike SOS

KREATOR
HORDES OF CHAOS
SPV
Fresh off previous effort ENEMY OF GOD, German thrash titans Kreator return sharper and more focused with another batch of devastating thrash metal goodness titled HORDES OF CHAOS. Showing no signs of slowing down, Mille Petrozza and company blast through the gates whether you like it or not with all guns blazing ("Warcurse"), giving contemporaries such as Slayer ("Absolute Misanthropy", "Destroy What Destroys You") a run for thrash metal supremacy. Infusing the tried and true thrash metal method of their '80s selves complete with guitar gymnastics galore while exhibiting a bevy of hooks like never before ("Hordes of Chaos", "Radical Resistance"), this veteran unit's ripping rejuvenation renders this album with the warmongering aura that reaffirms Kreator's spot amongst the thrash metal elite. www.spv.de -Mike SOS

BLACK ANVIL
TIME INSULTS THE MIND
MONUMENTUM
Emanating from the likes of Kill Your Idols, Madball, and Deathcycle, Black Anvil undergoes a complete makeover into the realm of blackened death 'n roll on TIME INSULTS THE MIND. This NYC trio's nine-track debut captures early thrash and doom's glacial overtones pretty well, although the D-beat does come into play here, providing the occasional inherent interruptions that ultimately sets this band apart from the rest of the pack. Excelling thanks in part to the benefit of having an authenticated diabolical raspy vocal delivery ("On This Day Death", "777") while serving up a barrage of Celtic Frost and Darkthrone meets Entombed dark and dirty riffs guaranteed to get the blood pumping ("Deathsomnia", "L.T.H.L.T.K", "Ten Talons Deep"), Black Anvil's modern reaps a visceral onslaught in its own right while respectfully paying homage to metal's most evil pioneers. Purists will undoubtedly scoff at the disc's high production values (the bass in particular perpetually bombards with ferocity throughout) and hardcore roots,and trash its intentions, yet this unit has exhibited an attentiveness to projections from Gotham City's graveyard shift long enough to warrant the opportunity to tell their dark-hearted versions with a threatening and tried and true template in tow . www.monumentumrecords.com -Mike SOS