Mystic Prophecy
Ravenlord
Massacre
http://www.mysticprophecy.net/
This band has been around for a while, but this is the first release actually marketed to US metal radio!   These guys take the normal power metal and add some balls to it.  All without taking away what makes power metal cool.  It’s catchy, fast, and in your face.  The riffs and drumming are off the hook.  Vocals are over the top, and even get into a growl here and there… hopefully without scaring away power metal purists.

Avatar
Black Waltz
eOne
http://avatar.net/
A Swedish melodic death metal band.  They seem to have a decent sound, nothing that hasn’t been done before.  It’s got a nice crisp sound, there are some more atmospheric elements involved here, like take some classic At The Gates or Soilwork and make it a bit more modern, mixed with some maybe, Slipknot?   Songs are catchy, vocals are abrasive and probably more accessible…

The Devastated
Devil’s Messenger
Century Media
http://www.facebook.com/TheDevastated
This band features former members of Oblige and Impending Doom… both pretty good bands.  This new album is kind of a deathy groove metal thing.  Definintely brutal.  You’ve got two vocals going on, one just brutal and cookie monster-like.  The other is just a vomiting screamy growl which just sounds scary and totally works with the brutal groove going on.

Legacy of Disorder
Last Man Standing
Black Orchard
http://www.legacyofdisorder.com/
A bit of a brutal feel with some thrashy catchy music.  These guys hail from New Zealand.  Primarily thrash, but with more abrasive vocals… comparable to Testament I guess.  I do feel my head bobbing along to the riffs and wanting to headbang more!  (They are opening for Gwar on their next leg)
Amoral   
Beneath   
The End
http://amoralweb.com/
Kind of a prog hard rock sort of thing.  In most parts, it’s pretty straightforward proggy hard rock, or some form of a new classic rock, but in a song or two, there’s a burst into abrasive vocals.  However, the overall feel of this album is more on the rock side than the metal side.

Blood Ceremony
Blood Ceremony
Metal Blade
http://www.myspace.com/bloodceremony
Kind of a creepy doomy stoner sort of thing.  This appears to be a re-release of their 2008 debut.  Female vocals, lots of organs, some flutes… but a big meaty stoner sound fill everything out.  So, yeah, flutes will always draw a Jethro Tull thing, but I guess it’s a bit of a folk metal vibe too.

The Kandidate
Facing the Imminent Prospect of Death
Napalm
http://www.thekandidate.com/
It’s almost on the melodic death thing, but maybe a bit more mainstream metal.  There are some thrash and black metal influences here, some dark doomy sludgey basics too… hell, I almost hear some punk too.  I guess at its core, it’s a sludgey punky metal mix.  It’s pretty cool… I mean just typing this while listening to it, I can hear all this different stuff… and that makes it interesting.

Pilgrim
Misery Wizard
Metal Blade
http://www.facebook.com/hailthepilgrim
This is a doomy, almost Cathedral sounding thing.  Overall, pretty sludgey and depressing.  Some people like this sort of thing, but it just doesn’t seem to really get going to the next level, where you might think it’s building to some sort of payoff, and most songs don’t really build up to anything.

Dawn of Ashes
Farewell to the Flesh EP
Metal Blade
http://www.myspace.com/dawnofashes
Their 2010 album got a lot of play by us, as an almost heir apparent to Dimmu Borgir, as a big sounding over the top black metal type thing.  This EP adds a new track as well as some dubstep remixey stuff.  The new track seems okay, it doesn’t really seem to have strong focus, and remixes?  Well, okay

Lillian Axe
XI: The Days Before Tomorrow
CME
http://www.lillianaxe.com/
This band has been around for a while.  This new album is full of new great classic hard rock sounding anthems.  Some tracks are more power ballads, others are some catchy hard rock songs.  I kind of found myself enjoying most of the songs on here.