Skeletonwitch - Devouring Radiant Light

Skeletonwitch’s original claim was being a bit different from bands of the re-thrash movement of the late oughts, with vocalist Chance Garnette leading the fracas with black metal rasps and tremolo picked frets to back him; equal parts chaos and melody. Garnette was easily the most recognizable member of the band; then he was replaced. Devouring Radiant Light ushers in a completely new era for the band, even though The Apothic Gloom was their first proper material with ex-Iron Thrones and current Wolvhammer frontman Adam Clemans.

Kvelertak - Nattesferd

Kvelertak have made quite the name for themselves since releasing their self-titled album in 2010. By combining black metal with anything that isn’t also black metal or kvlt, the band, by its very definition, is divisive ; their accessibility has also expanded this divide amongst detractors. Nattesferd will not change that by any means, but Kvelertak know who’s listening by album number three. Some felt as though sophomore album Meir was a step back for the band as it had songs that have become fan favorites, but was ultimately a top-heavy affair. So what does Nattesferd offer to fans both new and old?

Baroness - "Purple"

To say that Baroness has been through some things since their last album is a bit of an understatement; after a catastrophic bus crash in England following the release of Yellow and Green in 2012, half of the band amicably left, and lead singer and guitarist John Dyer Baizley had to relearn how to play the guitar after suffering numerous injuries. The band soldiered on, refusing to quit, enlisting new members, and now returns with Purple, an album title that (intentionally or not) brings to mind the physical and emotional bruising the band has been through over the past three years. But like a boxer after being knocked down, bruised and bloody, to the canvas, Baroness got up ready to start swinging. "We didn't want to make a mellow, sad, dark thing," said guitarist Pete Adams. "We needed to be up-tempo. We needed to be melodic, and it also needed to be aggressive." Purple needed, in other words, to be a Baroness album.

Scale The Summit - V

While instrumental music in the overarching realms of rock and metal over the past decade or so has given birth to some truly phenomenal bands, it's easy to cave by classifying these bands as simply "instrumental". If you asked a metal fan who some of their favorite instrumental bands are, it might not be a surprise to hear them mention bands as stylistically divergent as Animals As Leaders and Explosions in the Sky in the same breath. One band which has woven a unique patch in this instrumental tapestry, however, is Scale the Summit. The band's technical prowess blended with warm and organic rhythms has cemented them a spot in the upper echelon of the current progressive metal scene. Without fail, Scale the Summit reveals a new depth of complexity and honing of craft with each release. SPOILER ALERT: Their newest release, V, is the band's fifth album (shocker), which takes the listener through familiar, yet welcome territory. Like a mixing pot with their four previous albums thrown in, V represents a cumulative pinnacle for Scale the Summit.

Horrendous - Anareta

Horrendous are a death metal band that seemingly came from nowhere and have brought forth a strong resurgence of death metal new and old from the northeast. Their debut The Chills was a fine slab of death metal that hinted at things to come and then Ecdysis changed things up and unleashed the fury and power of death metal riffing that could easily be found somewhere within 1991. Luckily merely a year later they have blessed us with Anareta, which changes things once more and shows the band evolving on the songwriting front as well. Well how does it stack up against the others?

Ghost - Meliora

When previously unknown and enticingly anonymous Ghost debuted in 2010 with the critically lauded Opus Eponymous, the heady idea of artistic progression was evident from the word Satan. The rhythmic hooks, confidently creepy vocals and firm reimagining of vintage hard rock blended seamlessly with the on-the-nose satire evident in each verse and chorus. The incorporation of keys, organs and subtle choral elements smoothed the edges. It was the feeling of it all, however, that made Opus the most confounding hit of that calendar year. Nobody could figure it out, and yet the joke was an inclusive one. It was the artistic equivalent of diverting the attention of your judgmental grandparents, who sort of once listened to Blue Oyster Cult and Jimi Hendrix, away from your black t-shirt with an upside down crucifix by telling them you understood the 70s better than them.

Fast forward five years. Ghost have released their third full-length Meliora, and now, for the first time, the joke of infernal comedy is on us, and it is wonderful.

Bell Witch - Four Phantoms

There are two people in Bell Witch.  Their names are Dylan Desmond and Adrian Guerra.  They each play an instrument in addition to providing vocals, with Dylan playing bass and Adrian drums.  I bring this up so abruptly because before you read any more of this review, I want you to know that I cannot comprehend how two instruments played by two men can create the music that Bell Witch does.  Their 2012 debut Longing instantly catapulted them to the forefront of doom metal, as it seamlessly wove harrowing roars and pummeling, crushing walls of distortion and pounding drums with delicate, almost quivering clean singing set to sparse bass notes.  The overarching themes and feelings on Longing live up to its title in spades, and it remains one of the most cryptic, mournfully beautiful pieces of art I've ever experienced; it's telling that the band sampled audio from Vincent Price's Poe adaptation The Masque of the Red Death, and that sequence is merely another moment of gothic terror, rather than the standout.  I tell you this for a few reasons; first, you should listen to Longing if you haven't yet, and second, Bell Witch's new album Four Phantoms is out now, and I wanted to give you a taste of how excited I am for that.

Dorthia Cottrell - Dorthia Cottrell

So I have a confession to make, a confession of the sort that doesn't really fit the vibe of what we do around these parts: I'm a huge Mumford and Sons fan.  Legitimately, too; they aren't just my favorite of the Durfette's favorite music (which is Sufjan Stevens, probably, as long as I'm confessing things); I enjoy the hell out of their music, and seeing them live at Bonnaroo in 2011 was just as exciting and fulfilling as seeing Opeth at the same festival (NOT a slight on Opeth).  They write fantastic pop songs, and that folky, heart-on-your-sleeve style gets me.  Before their second album was released, one of the members said in an interview that their sound was changing, that it was going to sound like their first album crossed with Black Sabbath, that it was going to be "doom folk."  In case I haven't overshared enough, after I read that, my erection didn't go away for a week.  Of course, later I learned it was a joke.  Babel was good enough, but I was promised (not really) a doom folk album, dammit, and I wanted it!  Well, evidently good things come to those who wait, because I finally have my doom folk album, not from Mumford and Sons, but from Dorthia Cottrell, frontwoman for Virginia doom crew Windhand, in the form of her self-titled debut solo album.

Primitive Man - Home is Where the Hatred Is

Few - if any - records have been as aptly titled as Primitive Man's Scorn.  That album, released in 2013, was forty minutes of dense, repulsive sludge metal unlike anything I had ever heard.  A lot of sludge bands steep themselves in gloom or a state of forlorn anguish, but Primitive Man bathes in spiteful ugliness, unapologetically spitting in the face of humanity.  Outside of (maaaaybe) the UK's Dragged Into Sunlight, nobody does misanthropy like Primitive Man.  Scorn is an agonizingly bleak album that I honestly have trouble listening to often because I occasionally enjoy being happy, but I can't deny how great it is, and how good Primitive Man is.  Whether you can listen to them once a day or once a month, the band is so punishingly on point with their sound and vision that you start thinking "Yeah, fuck everything! ...except these guys; these guys are pretty great."  Home is Where the Hatred Is, the band's EP follow up to Scorn, goes to show you that even if you can't judge a book by its cover, the title can still be a pretty good indication of what you're reading.

Napalm Death - Apex Predator - Easy Meat

You know a new year is starting off right when Napalm Death choose to have it start with a new album of theirs. The oddly titled Apex Predator - Easy Meat continues the band's streak of strong albums which include more recent entries such as Time Waits For No Slave and Utilitarian. Barney Greenway, Shane Embury, Mitch Harris and Danny Herrera; the band's main battery for over 20 years are firing on all cylinders. Has it really been 3 years since their last album?

Sylosis - Dormant Heart

2015 sure didn't waste anytime gearing up for a year of excellent releases.  Here to set the pace is Dormant Heart, the fourth full length album from England's Sylosis.  While the band's formula over the course of their discography hasn't changed too dramatically, their knack for molding pulse pounding rhythms and infectious thrash riffs into a darker atmosphere is something that's noticeably improved with each release.  Dormant Heart has taken this predestined groundwork and unearthed an album that could well be considered the band's magnum opus.

Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter

Love em' or hate em', Slipknot's influence over the mainstream metal/hard-rock scene has been undeniable.  I'm sure I'm not the only one my age who can attribute Slipknot as being a catalyst deeper into the throes of metal.  Almost a decade after I took that plunge, despite changing tastes, I still have always taken interest in Slipknot's output; not necessarily expecting to be blown away like I was in my teen years, but rather to see how the band has evolved, for better or worse.  Each Slipknot release has offered something unique and has distinctly marked different chapters in their career.  Enter in the fifth chapter, The Gray Chapter to be exact, which has seen the unfortunate passing of bassist Paul Gray and split with drummer Joey Jordison.  Knee-jerk reactions would assume that the Slipknot machine would slowly wind down after these occurrences.  The Gray Chapter, however, shows that the machine isn't winding down at all, rather it is gearing back up.

Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden

It's been two years since Pallbearer unleashed their towering debut Sorrow and Extinction on the world, although it seems like much, much longer.  Sorrow and Extinction was a stunning achievement in doom; it didn't reinvent the wheel, but it re-crafted the wheel into the band's own image, an image drenched in mournful melodies and staggering under the weight of sublime riffs.  Doom metal bands live and die on the strength of their moods and riffs, and Pallbearer managed to be simultaneously despondent and invigorating over six odes to gloom.  Album closer "Given to the Grave" is one of the best doom songs I've ever heard, with only six (powerful) lines of lyrics amidst its eleven minutes of steadily building and finally erupting lamentations.  Sorrow and Extinction marked Pallbearer as a band to watch, and after an eternally long two years, the band has returned with its sophomore effort, Foundations of Burden.  After such a stellar debut, can Pallbearer possibly top themselves?

Accept - Blind Rage

German metal pioneers Accept are a band that requires absolutely no introduction; fans of both old and new heavy metal need to do nothing but pay respect to these legends who have only been on the rise since they parted ways with original signer Udo Dirkschneider. The addition of Mark Tornillo of New Jersey based band TT Quick has been a major boom and a real shot in the arm for a band that hadn't done much of anything in the 2000's prior to his arrival on 2010's Blood Of The Nations and continued that success with Stalingrad in 2012. They have embarked on tons of tours all over the world and absolutely deliver live, as was the case when I saw King's X open for them in Sayreville, NJ in 2009. But what about Blind Rage? Does it hold to the same heavy metal and hard rock that the band is famous for? Let's find out.

Midnight - No Mercy For Mayhem

In what is the hotly anticipated sequel to 2012's Satanic Royalty, we are now privy to more sonic satanism with Midnight's new LP, No Mercy For Mayhem. Midnight know exactly what their fans want: Venom inspired passages that are both evil and might even remind listeners of the overt BDSM of 2nd wave bands like Carpathian Forest. But is this music even black metal? This is down and dirty heavy metal with the lyrical themes to open doors for prospective fans. This is quite simply, Midnight!

Panopticon - Roads To The North

With the return of Panopticon and their new LP Roads To The North, it now marks over 2 years to have digested their most recent output, the masterful Kentucky. The immense task of following up such a sensational album could be something that could break (mostly) lone member Austin Lunn whose has gone through many different life affirming changes in the time between these records; whether it be trying out a new profession or even with wonderful new additions to his own immediate family. Whatever the case may be, such experiences seem like they have gotten to Lunn who is able to weave the good and the bad into his emotive style of black metal, mixed with progressive death metal and a touch of bluegrass; not forgetting his Kentucky roots.

Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun

In 2006, Mastodon released Blood Mountain, the first metal album I bought and one that was hugely instrumental in my becoming the metalhead I am today; two years prior the band had released Leviathan, an album that wound up not only on many an Album of the Year list, but also quite a few Album of the Decade lists as well. In 2009, the band released quite possibly my favorite album ever, the brilliant Crack the Skye, and then in 2011 the enjoyable-if-unspectacular The Hunter. This mini history lesson serves two purposes: First, it lays my Mastodon fandom right there on the table, in the open, before I go any further with this review. Second, it's there to point out that after a trio of albums most bands would kill for, Mastodon sort of took a step back with The Hunter. It's a fun album, one that's quite good at times, but it still stands as the weak link in what was one of the strongest discographies in 21st century metal, and for the first time, allowed just a sliver of doubt to approach the band. Their new album, Once More 'Round the Sun, represents the band at a crossroads: would they return to being one of the pioneers of American metal, seemlessly blending genres while creating classic albums? Or would they continue to drift toward fun yet forgettable records, made up of a hodge podge of rock-metal tracks?

YOB Announce Details For Upcoming Album

I'm just going to be completely upfront about this; when YOB announced the release info and cover art for their upcoming album Clearing The Path To Ascend yesterday afternoon, I popped a chubbie. I've made no secrets on several different occasions in the Töpian realm that the Oregon doomsters reside in a pretty dear place in my heart, and there's a very distinct chance that this new record could cement that fact even further. Frontman Mike Scheidt 'n' Co. sated the appetites of fanboys like myself with a short teaser video (actually released in mid-May) of a studio performance of a track off the new record, which will be released on Neurot Recordings in September, and you can catch that and view the artwork for Clearing... after the jump. Get fucking hype.

Mayhem - Esoteric Warfare

Any mention of notorious black metal forerunners Mayhem, whether written or spoken, is almost immediately qualified. "Aside from the suicide and the murder…" or "I know they're a bunch of crazy assholes…" or "Euronymous was a kook, but…" are all conceivable lead-ins to any discourse on the band that spearheaded the infamous black metal scene of Bergen, Norway. While Mayhem and the Bergen scene of the early 1990's remain more steeped in folklore than the inner contents of Dave Mustaine's tangled mane, the band finds itself still relevant for the right reasons (read: actually releasing new music) over 20 years after the release of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Despite the departure of longtime guitarist Blasphemer following the release of 2007's Ordo ad Chao, Mayhem have returned with an even stronger release in Esoteric Warfare, with a lineup that for once seems like it may be stable if wooden inverted crosses are heartily knocked.

Eyehategod - Eyehategod

With all the tumult that surrounds a band like Eyehategod, whether it is Hurrican Katrina, Mike IX Williams' substance abuse, or the loss of the band's drummer Joey LaCaze, it is a surprise we haven't had a proper full length since 2000; a whopping 14 years. This band seems to thrive in the face of negativity and that all comes across with their new album Eyehategod; a self-titled release that showcases that the band is unified under this name.