IN THE PRESENCE OF WOLVES
Thalassas
(self-released)
some cool melodic prog hard rock inching into the metal realm.  some parts are definitely metal, some are more on the proggy hard rock side of things.  There is no doubt about it though, this is definately prog with time changey stuff, lots of technical playing, great melodies and other mood changes.

KIVANC KILICER
Dew on Roses
(Scarlet Media)
Kivanc Kilicer (pronounced Kuh-vaunch Kill-licker)
This is some modern metal, a bit chunky, melodic and a pinch of prog metal too.

SPIDERS
Shake Electric
Spinefarm
It’s been a little while since we got one of these 70’s throwback stoner metal bands… well, now we have one again.  A classic 70s female fronted hard rock thing.

DOWNFALL OF GAIA
Aeon Unveils the Thrones of Decay
Metal Blade
Classic doomy black metal sound with some prog elements, a little pinch of “post-metal”… to where it gets a little repetetive… long songs, but some parts have cool Opeth-like melodies (musically)  the vocals are all scream/shouted or as I like to say “scrowled”  like, you know, scream/growled.

KING DIAMOND
Dreams of Horror
Metal Blade
A greatest hits of sorts… two disc set of songs hand-picked by the King himself spreading across his Roadrunner and Metal Blade years.  Always good to have a new excuse to play some King Diamond!

Machine Head
Bloodstone & Diamonds
Nuclear Blast Entertainment
Aside from a couple nu-metal albums that Machine Head put out back in the day, they’ve been flying the flag for what “metal” should be in the 20+ years.  This is the first album with founding member Adam Duce.  It’s 100% Machine Head, that’s for sure.  Great riffs, drumming, vocals, all that stuff that makes them who they are.  Some orchestral stuff in a track or two, but it fits right and adds a layer of fullness.  It’ll take a little bit to digetst this whole thing (71 minutes!) but it’s a new classic Machine Head album!

Kontrust
Explositive
Napalm Records
Not sure what to call this one, it’s female metal on one hand, some pop metal on the other, electronic stuff

Threshold
For The Journey
Metalville Records
Classic sounding prog metal.  Not too whacked out and overplaying and not too much on the plain power metal thing.  Reminds me a lot of the band Andromeda, but Threshold has been around long enough in their own right to know what’s going on.

Brant Bjork
Black Power Flower
Napalm Records
Classic groovin’ stoner metal, monster riffs and acdtually to me, there’s a little bit of an old Foo Fighters vibe

Carcass
Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel (EP)
Nuclear Blast USA
The extra tracks from the Surgical Steel sessions (if you didn’t get the special editions that had all these on it) These tracks seem to have a bit more of a groove and almost a Swansong feel to them, just not as balls out heavy thing as the original album.   The “rot n roll” feeling is here on these tracks.  awesome stuff.  Can’t wait to see them here in town on Wednesday!

Blodhemn
H7
Indie Recordings
Classic black metal with a groove, probably comparable to maybe Satyricon… but staying heavier.

Haken
Restoration EP
InsideOutOne of the newer bands carrying the torch for new prog metal.  These guys remind me of older Pain of Salvation but maybe with a bit more of a metal edge.  These three tracks are new recordings for a digital only release, but are reworked demos from their 2008 albums session

Alsatia
Fields of Elysium (2014)
Second Wind
This is a mix of some prog and power metal, with some Dragonforce-like playing in parts.  I was expecting this to be some band from Europe that’s been around for a while that I’ve never heard of… Nope, they’re from Kansas City!  Great mix of the crazy sing-along chorus stuff and full on speedy prog/power metal (you know, like that Dragonforce I mentioned)

RATED X
Rated X
Frontiers Music srl
New band with Joe Lynn Turner, Carmine Appice, Tony Franklin and Jeff Watson (Night Ranger).  A pretty good straightforward hard rock album with some great experience.  This might not be great for the Mosh Pit’s regular rotation, but there’s no reason to not check this album out!

SPECTRAL HAZE
I.E.V.: Transmutated Nebula Remains
Soulseller Records
Pscyhedelic stoner doom.  Some cool catchy parts, a big meaty sound and something I could get into with a nice cold beer.

Arkadia
Unrelenting
Inverse
Melodic death metal, some clean vox, a bit on the prog metal side of things, then going into the melodic death side of things. Pretty cool stuff out of Finland.

The House of Capricorn
Morning Star Rise
Svart Records
This is stoner doom band with a full sound, it’s a bit more up tempo with a little pinch of black metal sound/tone in some guitars… but still full on stoner metal at its base.  It’s pretty catchy and they’re from New Zealand!

Sleep of Monsters
Produces Reason
Svart Records
Gothy pscyhedelic post-rock from Finland

WHITESNAKE
Live in 1984 – Back To The Bone
Frontiers Music srl
To celebrate 30 years since Slide It In, this stuff from the 83/84 lineups of the band made up of material from David Coverdale’s collection.  Cool to hear this stuff from the beginning.

HEART
Heart & Friends – Home for the Holidays
Frontiers Music srl
Great new live album from Heart, showing they still got it! (probably don’t have it enough to be on the Mosh Pit though… sorry!)

Cadaveric Spasm / Clit Eastwood
Split CD
Horror Pain Gore Death
Cadaveric Spasm is some grindy death metal, raw and good. And how can you go wrong with a band called “Clit Eastwood” especially with a song called “Monster Vag” It’s a raw punked up death metal with female screamed vox!

N.K.V.D.
Hakmarrja
AVANTGARDE MUSIC
Creepy blackend industrial sounding doom. Mostly a wall of noise and growly screams.

VARGSANG
In the Mist of Night
Obscure Abhorrence Productions
Classic raw sounding melodic black metal. Production is fairly decent though, so you can actually appreciate it!

Older stuff that we just got…

VAR
Level 6
Parat Magazine
October 2014
A little like Motorhead and UDO, These guys from the Czech Republic have been at it for a while and seem to sing in their native tongue which makes it pretty neat.

Sxuperion
Through Cosmic Corridors
Bloody Mountain Records
1 October 2014
At first I thought my CD was skipping, but then I realized it wasn’t the CD or my files.  Just some gurgly vocalled wall of metal noise which isn’t really for me.

Old Thunder
Slings & Arrows
Self-Released
4 September 2014
Post-metal doom (one man band from Kentucky!) Meh.

VIHAAN
INVICTA
SELF RELEASED
7 October 2014
Progressive death/prog metal from Detroit.  Good melodic slower parts, brutal faster parts, pretty cool stuff!.

EvilSpell
Necrology
Black Side Records
10 February 2014
Raw old school sounding thrash.