Last one of the year….

AC/DC
Rock or Bust
Columbia
It’s AC/DC.  You know what you are going to get…. But you know, this album seems a bit more chilled and laid back.  One one of the tracks, I thought it was one of the slower groovin’ Clutch songs.  It’s been a while since I really listened to AC/DC and I’m glad I have an excuse again, this is a good cool catchy album!

Emigrate
Silent So Long
Spinefarm
A bit of electronic mixed with rock… features a guy from Rammstein, guest vox on tracks by Lemmy, Marilyn Manson, Jonathan Davis.  So genre-wise, it’s similar to a Marilyn Manson band type thing.

Cancer Bats
Satellites / Arsenic in the Year of the Snake – radio single
Metal Blade Records, Inc.
Some punky thrashy metal… raw screamy stuff, some catchy riffs n stuff.

Corners of Sanctuary
MERRY METAL XMAS 2 EP
Self Released
Metal xmas stuff, thrashy, standard metal versions of some xmas classics. Actually pretty good.

Autere
Amal’l
Inverse
A standard groove thrash type thing. Catchy riffs, good groove, barked vocals

Sarpedon
Anomic Nation
Inverse Records
On the surface it’s a melodic death thing, but then it gets a bit on the side of some doom (vocally)  the music pretty much stays pretty cool… the vocals don’t seem to really match the music too much.

Kouzin Bedlam
Longing For The Incomplete
Inverse Records
A melodic proggy hard rock thing with a good grove. Catchy stuff not too proggy, not to metal, not to wussy.

Bones (Belgium)
Awaiting Rebirth 10″ EP
Blood Harvest
Raw death metal with a bit of some black metal going on.  Not too bad, has that “local band” production vibe though.

Cult of Fire
Ctvrtá Symfonie Ohne 7″ EP
Iron Bonehead
An epic atmospheric black metal. 2 tracks, but it does actually sound pretty cool… a bit heavy and proggy. (not doomy n depressing)

Thy Fallen Kingdom
Fear The Hunter
Self-Released
Heavy brutal-ish thrashy stuff.  A big nod to bay area thrash from this band of Singaporte!

Stormcast
Frame of Mind
Pitch Black Records
Melodic death metal with a bit of a proggy groove.

To Be A King
Fear Not
Imminence Records
A brutalcore thing.  Been a while since we got some screamy brutal metalcore thing. It was a nice break, but it’s nice to have something like this again with all of the crappy black metal I’ve had to listen to lately.  This has some of the djenty prog stuff, but some cool brutal riffs and stuff too.

EXECRATION (Norway)
Morbid Dimensions (CD, LP)
Hells Headbangers (North America)
Doomy stuff, but then you get all black metal and heavy almost atmospheric stuff.  A pretty cool mix of a doomy stoner feel but the dynamics of brutality too.

SHED THE SKIN
Rebirth Through Brimstone (7″ EP)
Hells Headbangers
Grindy death metal, good stuff.

Apocryphal Voice
Pain & Pleasure
Inverse Records
Avant-Garde black metal decent groove, good fast/slow dynamics, brutal stuff, melodic stuff all mixed up.

Ill Omen
Remnant Spheres of Spiritual Equilibrium LP
Nuclear War Now! Productions
Long drony atmospheri… oh forget it. skip this one.

Morbosidad
Tortura MLP
Nuclear War Now! Productions
Brutal grindy death metal.

Pineal
Smiling Cult
Horror Pain Gore Death
Post-metal grunge thing with a little bit of an Alice In Chains vibe.  a bit slow and not really getting to heavy.

Dawn Of Eternity (from Germany)
Guilty
NRT-¬Records
Female fronted melodic death mixed with some goth stuff too.  Clean vox going to growly stuff.  While this sort of thing has been done before, the vocals are pretty unique and this band does have its own sound.  It’s kinda cool.