At the Skylines
The Secrets to Life
Roadrunner Records
https://www.facebook.com/attheskylines
It seems like Roadrunner is now in the post metalcore business..  This bounces between the brutal chugga death metal sound to the singy emo chorus.  Multi layers of vocals.  The brutal stuff is pretty cool… some of the singing parts are little bit like Protest the Hero.   Some of the melodic stuff is pretty catchy, the heavy stuff is definitely cool and brutal, but as I’ve said for bands like this, the emo stuff kind of ruins it for me… and that’s just me, I can appreciate that this is something that folks likeI guess I’m just a bit more old school.  (get off my lawn!)

Bereft
Leichenhaus
The End Records
http://www.myspace.com/bereft
A metal supergroup of sorts (Intronaut, Abysmal Dawn, The Faceless)… this is a dark, sludgy doomy depressing take on metal.  It’s got a heavy gloomy feel and overall yeah, depressing.  I haven’t ever really been a fan of this genre of metal, and this album isn’t really going to change my mind.  Too dark and depressing for me.

Black Spiders
Sons of the North
Cargo Records+Dark Riders
http://www.myspace.com/theblackspiders
A fun-lovin’ southern hard rock/metal sounding thing, songs have fun lyrics and music like I mentioned is a southern friend hard rock with a little bit of that early 90’s hard rock/metal influence.

Brand New Sin
United State
Goomba Music
http://brandnewsin.com/
As one of the earlier bands that have graced the WORT Mosh Pit studios with an in-person visit, I’ve always had a soft spot for these guys…even though they’ve almost completely changed lineups since then. A good take on some southern hard rock (even though they’re from Syracuse, NY)… None of the songs are really all that heavy or metal-like… but it’s good time catchy hard rock.

Cancer Bats
Dead Set On Living
Metal Blade Records
http://www.teamdistort.com/dsol/
A heavier take on some commercial-ish metal.   Usually I hear something like this and go… yeah they’re alright, other stations should play this, and move on… for some reason I just kept listening to this… it’s catchy, has enough aggression to keep me interested, and some big riffs.   There’s definitely punk influence, hardcore and a bit of plain old metal… there’s even a hint of sludgey southern metal too.

Lillian Axe
Death Comes Tomorrow
CME Records
http://www.lillianaxe.com/
Continuing on “hard rock” week here on the Mosh Pit page… this band has been around since the late 80’s and are more on the hard rock side of metal, but they seem to have a bit more of an edge and lean more on the metal side of things… some songs have some catchy stuff in them and others are effectively power ballads…. kind of seems like a “power metal lite” to me.

Pantera
“Piss”
Rhino
A lot of buzz around this track as the “lost” Pantera track.  It is cool to hear… However, it seems as though there are riffs of this song that eventually got used in other songs (Use My Third Arm).  This one was leftover from Vulgar Display of Power and is now on the reissue… it does bring back memories and makes you realize how much Dimebag and Pantera are missed.

Primal Rock Rebellion
Awoken Broken
INgrooves+Fontana
http://www.primalrockrebellion.com/
An interesting collaboration… Adrian Smith from Iron Maiden and the singer from Sikth.  Overall it has a commercial metal feel/sound. There are a few moments of some metal goodness, but I can’t really say this is an “OMG, this is sooo awesome, you need to get this right away” sort of thing.

Scarecrow
Blood, Sweat and 20 Years
Spectra Records
http://scarecrowweb.com/
This is a greatest hits sort of thing.  The band was formed in 1989.  It’s mostly a hard rock, sort of hair metal sound.  Kind of like Dokken, Winger, Whitesnake, etc.  A compilation like this is probably a good way to look back on a band (that I’ve never really heard of)

Tyketto
Dig In Deep
Frontiers
http://www.tyketto.de/
It seems as though it’s Hard Rock week here.  This is one of those bands that sort of hit right as the Grunge movement happened.  They have had a few reunions…. this is their first new album since 2007, after their last farewell album and stuff.   This plays like a regular ol rock album from a band from the early 90’s.  Same catchy hooks, power ballads, same formula.  If you like this sort of thing, then it’s worth picking up.

Litrosis
I Am Death
Pitch Black
https://www.facebook.com/Litrosis
They call themselves “Epic Extreme Metal”   and yeah, I can dig that.   It’s at it’s base, black metal… add a few symphonic elements (keyboards)  and yeah, epic and extreme.  This might be one of my more liked albums this week… I’m a bit burned out on all the hard rock stuff, this is a good thing to review last, as I needed something extra heavy!