THE BIRDS OF SATAN
The Birds of Satan
Shanabelle
Some heavy hard rock type stuff from Taylor Hawkins (from Foo Fighters) Some songs get a little heavier, but there’s just a punky 70’s hard rock vibe with a pinch of Foo Fighters sound (of course)

CROWBAR
“Walk With Knowledge Wisely”
eOne
Sludgey southern metal as they do best.  Just a single so far, but if you liked these guys before, you’ll like this song.

Emmure
Eternal Enemies
Victory Records
Brutal deathcore with some big meaty riffs and the occasional screamy melodic part.

Gamma Ray
Empire Of The Undead
Eagle Rock Entertainment
Classic power metal with a pinch of thrash.  First album in 4 years, good to have them back and doing what they do best.

Brainstorm
Firesoul
AFM Records
Power metal with a bit of a boost of darker, heavier thrashy stuff. Bands like Gamma Ray above are great, heavy metal stuff with lots of melody and that, but the Brainstorm just adds some bigger balls and heaviness to it.

Diabulus In Musica
Argia
Napalm Records
Symphonic, epic metal from Spain, there’s some great heavy melodic death stuff in here, but then it goes to the fe-metal operattic vocals. Similar to Epica, except that Epica kinda mixes in some deathy growls and stuff, this is basically Epica without the more brutal stuff. (except for a track or two I guess)

Triptykon
Melana Chasmata
Century Media Records
Second full album from Tom Fischer’s “new” band.  The first track is a thrashy grindy burner… some other tracks follow that mold, most of the album is a bit more doom/sludgy.  It’s too bad it couldn’t be more like the first track. The overall feel is a post-metal doomy something.

Below
Across the Dark River
Metal Blade Records
A big meaty 70’s evil doomy hard rock thing going on. Vocals are more of a power metal, haunty Warrell Dane sound.  It’s got a Sabbathy/Candlemass thing going on too.

Dark Days Ahead
North Star Blues
Inverse
kind of a thrashy thing with hints of a Lamb of God, or Pantera, but with a power ballad here and there.  This feels a little bit like that kind of Five Finger Death Punch metal which wants to be all heavy and the next big thing, but just doesn’t have that extra “thing”  still decent though!

Possession (Belgium)
Anneliese 7″ EP
Iron Bonehead/Invictus
Raw black metal, demo quality.  A bit more of the black n roll type of black metal.  A bit of a groove, abrasive vocals and cold guitars with punchy drums.

HIGH SPIRITS
High Spirits 7″
Hells Headbangers
2 songs, 70’s hard rock vibe.

Pact
The Infernal Hierarchies, Penetrating the Threshold of Night
Moribund
Big wall of black metal goodness. A Heavy, brutal wall of sound.  Mostly a thrashier heavy black metal.  Cold constant riffs just haunt you.

Wormreich
Wormcult Revelations
Moribund
Great epic black metal.  Brutal, old school sound, yet with modern production.

Creinium
Project Utopia
Inverse
A little black metal, melodic death, a bit proggy and some doom… a great mix of all these sub genres which equals 100% metal.