Obscura
Diluvium
Relapse Records
One of the originators of a djenty technical death metal… Great technical, fast, proggy, brutal… great stuff.

DevilDriver
Outlaws Till The End Vol. I
Napalm Records
I’m not a fan of country, and well, frankly not a lot of metalheads are… but apparently Devildriver members are, or are of old school country stuff, so they took to covering old country songs in the metal stylings of Devildriver… being that I like Devildriver, and cover songs, this tends to work ok… I don’t know the originals anyway…Lol

To Whom It May
The Great Filter
G4L Records
Kind of a modern alt-metal, a little bit of a prog rock thing. Melodic vox, music, not a whole of true “metal” just driving hard rock type stuff.

Blasphemy
Victory (Son of the Damned) DLP/CD/TAPE
Nuclear War Now! Productions
Wall of grindy black metal sound… a big harsh, a little lo-fi and I think there’s a little bit of a punk thing going on too.

IRON HUNTER
Mankind Resistance
Fighter Records
Standard classic metal/power metal. Good classic metal screamy vox, good ol metal backing.

Black Fast
Spectre of Ruin
Entertainment One
Heavy, catchy, melodic blackened death metal. Maybe a little like a Cradle of Filth, but a bit more “normal”

Graven Maul
Crushed Skull Moon
Redefining Darkness Records
Sludgey doomy stuff. A good groove while having a littel bit of a blackened death thing going on… but not too heavy as it’s big huge heavy meaty doom. Maybe stepping it up to get a little bit like Obituary.

Malsanctum
Malsanctum LP/CD
Iron Bonehead
More sludgey doomy post-metal noise… a few really long tracks of noise.

Firtan
Okeanos
AOP Records
Epic melodic black metal, great sound, a bit tech/proggy in the approach, brutal and heavy yet a great full melodic catchy sound.

Ratbreed
Evoke The Blaze
Inverse Records
A bit of a classic metal, Judas Priest/Dragonforce type thing, til the vox come in, then it’s some just classic melodic metal with female vox. Good stuff, but the instrumental intros seem a bit heavier than when you get into the song. Songs are still good, melodic and catchy, just not as heavy… just more “standard metal”

Temple Desecration
Whirlwinds of Fathomless Chaos LP/CD
Iron Bonehead
Blackened death… more on the blackened. Grindy brutal extreme cookie monster vox with some death metal grooves, but black metal echoes.

Pa Vesh En
A Ghost 7″ EP
Iron Bonehead
Echoey post-metal black metal noise

WOES
The Coldest Place Is Within Myself
Godbox Records
Kind of a brutal metalcore, crusty and a bit melodic, but chaotic too. Screamy vox… reminds me a little of a heavier more loose 36 Crazyfists.

Mouth Of Sauron
Hearken The Echo Of Music
Transcending Records
Brutal old school death metal with a little tech death/djent thing going on.

Nopes
Stapler
Magnetic Eye Records
A little punky southern twanged hard rock. So a good southern hard rock sound with a punk vox/attitude.

Exlibris
Innertia
Independent
This is a proggy power metal thing, clean vox, good metal edge, how about good high classic screamy metal vox? yeah! Cool keyboard stuff (hammond and others, not just boop boopy stuff) Good all around prog metal.

A.H.P.
Forakt Hat Og Død
Avantgarde Music
One 18 miinute black metal/post black metal track… and one of them is a 13 min. Burzum cover. (mostly ambient keyboardy stuff) The original is decent classic black metal stuff, mostly brutal classic harsh black metal.

Kalaallit Nunaat / Au Revoir (split)
Memories From Desolate Battlefields
This Winter Will Last Forever
Kalaallit Nunaat has a bit of a groove in their two 10 min tracks, a bit of a classic black metal. Au Revoir? Meh. Lo-fi post black metal.

Greystone Canyon
While The Wheels Still Turn
Rockshots Records
Melodic hard rock.

MIKEY CUNNINGHAM AND THE AFTERMATH
Massive Head Wound
Online MEtal Promo
As with most bands with a guys’ name and whatever, this is instrumental, good catchy meaty metal instrumentals! Problem is that the production is a bit mushy, but the point gets across… good short-ish songs with no messing around. Cool stuff.

Sinsaenum
“Sacred Martyr”
earMUSIC
New single from the post slipknot Joey Jordison’s black metal/extreme metal band. I’d say this one is a bit more on the extreme metal side than throwing a black metal label on it. Still good heavy stuff.

Release: Skyglow
Thousand Years Of Terror
Record label: Inverse Records & Grotesque Sounds
Progressive death metal, a good melodic thing, harsh vox, clean vox, a true proggy yet harsh death metal thing, yet good normal melodic stuff too.

(PRC103) AKELARRE
Decade of Desecration CD
PRC MUSIC / MVD / PLANETWORKS
Brutal death metal.

(PRC102) THE AFTERMATH
Vermine CD
PRC MUSIC / MVD / PLANETWORKS
Technical brutalcore

(PRC101) CREEPING FLESH
In Times of War CD
PRC MUSIC / MVD / PLANETWORKS
Classic grooving death metal.

(PRC100) TORTURER
Die in Pain CD
PRC MUSIC / MVD / PLANETWORKS
More of a raw old school black/death metal.

(PRC99) TYRANNO
Skulls, Horns & Lust CD
PRC MUSIC / MVD / PLANETWORKS
This is a blackened death metal with some actual grooves maybe a bit of a thrash attitude too.

Engulf
Gold And Rust
Everlasting Spew Records
Technical and brutal death metal. Three quick, down and dirty tracks with no fucking around.

Traitors Gate
Fallen
No Remorse
Classic metal, big voice, just your normal every day “metal”

Band: Voodoo Diamond
Album: Darkness Becomes Us
Label: Musicarchy Media
Kind of a classic metal/proggy/power metal thing. It’s not quite power metal as the vox have more of an edge, but there are some parts that make it seem a bit of a basic prog metal, or maybe some melodic commercial-ish type stuff. Decent stuff though.

Various Artists
Hell Night / Sweat Shoppe – Split 7″
Encapsulated Records
Hell night features Brian Fair from Shadows Fall fame… it’s a bit of a harsh metalcore, pretty raw, maybe some basic thrash going on too. Sweat Shoppe has a bit more of a punk feel.

Cassius King
Sight For Sore Eyes & Girls Got Rhythm
independent
2 songs of some groovin’ catchy funky hard rock.

Band: Into the Cave
Album: Insulters of Jesus Christ
Label: Iron, Blood & Death Corp
Old school blackened thrash… yup, it’s got that old school thrash thing going on, but also a dark black metal rawness.

Artist: Beyond Carnage
Release Title: Profane Sounds Of The Flesh
Record Label: Firecum Records
Old school chugga chugga cookie monster meat and potatoes grooving death metal. Hearkens back to some old Cannibal Corpse. great stuff.

Kontinuum
No Need for Reason
Season of Mist
6 July 2018

Queensryche
Mindcrime at the Moore
Rhino
71:01 – 15 Tracks (Disc 1)
74:47 – 19 Tracks (Disc 2)
Well, this is the full Operation Mindcrime tour show in 2 live CDs recorded in Seattle at the Moore Theatre… I think there are a few Mindcrime CDs out there, but this is the full set, OM1 and OM2 all live, all performed just about a perfect as you can live. Tate’s voice is crystal clear and the band is just tight as hell. The sound quality is great, it almost sounds like a studio recording. I’m sure it’s sweetened up a bit, but who cares, I’d rather have something all nice and clean than something all crappy sounding. I popped the DVD in for a little and that looks top notch too. You’ll hear this on the Mosh Pit!

Robot Lords of Tokyo
Robot Lords of Tokyo
RLOT
29:07 – 9 Tracks
Take some COC, Down, Clutch, BLS, Trouble, Sabbath and mix it all up with some good production and you have this band. Classic groove/stoner sounding metal, meat and potatoes. It’s here and it’s pretty good. You’ll hear this on the Mosh Pit!

Danzig
Lost Tracks of Danzig
Megaforce
55:28 – 13 Tracks (Disc 1)
59:48 – 13 Tracks (Disc 2)
This is just a collection of outtakes, remixes and basically stuff that didn’t make it onto any Danzig album for whatever reason. The liner notes explain a little bit why each track never made it on to whatever album they didn’t make it on to. Like most outtake CDs, there are usually decent reasons why stuff didn’t make it on a particular album, this is no different. Some good tracks some that should stay lost. You’ll probably hear some of this on the Mosh Pit!

Within Temptation
The Heart of Everything
Roadrunner
65:06 – 13 Tracks
Well, over the last few months, there’s been a lot of Female fronted Euro-metal… I’ve coined the term “Femetal” to describe it. This band is Roadrunner’s entry into this genre. (Well they do have Nightwish too, but this is the newest release) This has a bit more emotion in the vocals, a thicker background sound that seems to stay pretty heavy. They have the Lacuna Coil thing going on with Keith Caputo from Life of Agony male vocals bouncing in track 2. They’ve been around for a while, so saying they are just joining this genre won’t fly. You’ll hear it on the Mosh Pit.

Lake of Tears
Moons and Mushrooms
Locomotive
40:31 – 8 Tracks
This is a band from Sweden that takes some of the vocal style of Cathedral and applies it to some doom/groove metal.  It’s mostly pretty ordinary.  These guys have been around since the mid-90’s…. This album is mostly about the guitar with heavy riffs and just a hard rock driving sound.  It’s alright, so it’s in the maybe category right now.

Chris Caffery
Pins and Needles
Locomotive
70:14 – 17 Tracks
This guy knows how to make a shredding, thrashing metal album!  It thrashes great, the vocals are sharp, the drumming is solid and of course the guitar playing is top notch.  Some awesome riffs and just all out metal.  You’ll hear this on the Mosh Pit!

Korpiklaani
Tervaskanto
Napalm
42:36 – 11 Tracks
Finnish Folk Metal.  They have that bouncy troll dancing sound, but still all metal!  The songs are catchy, and of course they aren’t quite as cool as Amorphis, but this might be worth playing on the Mosh Pit.

Here are Mike’s (The Book’s) top lists of 2005….

Overall Top 10 (in no particular order)
Arch Enemy — Doomsday Machine
Soilwork — Stabbing The Drama
Dew Scented — Issue VI
Sentenced — Funeral Album
Byzantine — …And They Shall Take Up Serpents
System of a Down — Mezmerize/Hypnotize
Watch Them Die — Bastard Son
Dream Theater — Octavarium
Soulfly — Dark Ages
Exodus — Shovel Headed Kill Machine

Death and Black Metal List (in no particular order)
Summon — Fallen
Behemoth — Demigod
Dark Tranquillity — Character
Children of Bodom — Are We Dead Yet?
Opeth — Ghost Reveries
Old Man’s Child — Vermin
Cryptopsy — Once Was Not
Nile — Annihilation of the Wicked
Obituary — Frozen In Time
Bloodbath — Nightmares Made Flesh

Best Metalcore (in no particular order)
Between The Buried And Me — Alaska
Still Remains — Love And Lunacy
Agony Scene — Darkest Red
Madball — Legacy
Throwdown — Vendetta

Best Prog/Power Metal (in no particular order)
Kamelot — Black Halo
Nevermore — This Godless Endeavor
Brainstorm — Liquid Monster
Judas Priest — Angel of Retribution
Helloween — Keeper of the Seven Keys III

Best Live Performances
Devildriver
Strapping Young Lad
Clutch
Iron Maiden
Arch Enemy
Dream Theater
Opeth
Obituary
Children of Bodom
Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Worst Live Performances
Fear Before The March Of Flames (Sounds of the Underground)
It Dies Today (opened for Fear Factory)
Robert Fripp (opened for Porcupine Tree)

Honorable Mentions
Apocalyptica — Reflections
Porcupine Tree — Deadwing
Chimaira — Chimaira
God Forbid — IV: Constitution of Treason
Avenged Sevenfold — City of Evil
Candlemass — Candlemass