Cradle of Filth
Thornography
Roadrunner
64:42 – 12 Tracks
This is a pretty straight forward black-ish metal release from CoF. They aren’t quite as underground as they used to be. They are a lot more polished and more of a “mainstream” black metal band. It still has catchy heavy songs as always. It’s good and you’ll hear it on the Mosh Pit.

Amon Amarth
2 Song Sampler
Metal Blade
8:22 – 2 Tracks
It’s good solid black/death metal once again from these guys. It’s heavy, but throws in some melody as the singer barks out the lyrics. It’s good stuff, I would like to hear the rest of the album… these 2 song samplers are a tease! You’ll hear this on the Mosh Pit!

Light This City
Facing The Thousand
Prosthetic
40:05 – 10 Tracks
So I popped this CD in, and then had to dig around some CD piles to look for something and didn’t read the bio sheet or liner notes right away. I figured this sounds like a straight ahead metal band, but with a little scandanavian black metal influence with the vocals that sound a little bit like Cradle of Filth, how they are layered with some back and forth with more screaming with growls echoing. It was to my suprise and delight that it’s a female vocalist. So immediately one must compare them to Arch Enemy. I think Light This City comes off as a bit more brutal than Arch Enemy, as it’s not quite as obvious it’s a female vocalst. Once again Prosthetic records comes through with a solid metal release. You’ll hear this on the Mosh Pit!

Psychostick
Beer (1 song)
Rock Ridge
2:14 – 1 Tracks
“Humorcore” is how they are described. That’s exactly a great way to describe this one song homage to Beer. I like beer, so this song’s chorus “Beer is good beer is good and stuff” rings so true. The breakdown “hardcore” chorus is fun, and I can’t wait to hear the rest of this album! You’ll hear this on the Mosh Pit!

Norma Jean
Redeemer
Solid State
41:46 – 11 Tracks
For a band that helped pioneer this scene, it’s too bad everyone else had to come around and oversaturate this genre of metalscreamoemo-core. It’s got good playing of course, some spacey interludes, but it’s mostly screamo-emo stuff. You may hear this on the Mosh Pit.

Diecast
Internal Revolution
Century Media
46:53 – 11 Tracks
This CD falls into the metal-core area. I don’t recall these guys being so “singy” I thought they were always more of a thrash band… then again, I don’t always have a great memory. So yes, there are some great brutal metal moments, but just about every track goes into a melodic clean vocal chorus. It’s pretty catchy, just not as metal as I remember. You’ll hear this on the Mosh Pit though.

2 Cents
Lost at Sea
East West
37:56 – 12 Tracks
A little bit punk, a bit metal, ummm… It’s heavy, straight forward, but yet has an element of rock…. it’s not brutal metal, it’s more like mid-90’s metal. It’s not complex, mostly clean vocals, not much in the way of brutal screaming… It’s pretty decent, and you’ll probably hear this on the Mosh Pit.

Mastodon
Blood Mountain
Reprise
13 Tracks
These guys are catchy, heavy, loud, complex and fun, all without you really picking out any of those traits. That’s probably why there is so much buzz about them and why so many people tend to like them. This new album doesn’t tread much new ground for these guys and why should it, they know what they are good at! You’ll hear this on the Mosh Pit!