Benighted - Icon

French 'deathcore' band that focuses on the death half of the equation. Heavy and catchy, with a production job that I really like. Generally a very solid modern death metal release.

Koffin Kats - Inhumane

Last.fm says: "Koffin Kats are a psychobilly trio from Detroit, Michigan. Fusing the swing of classic rockabilly with the hot-wired energy and ghoulish imagery of Misfits, this band proves that high-octane psychobilly is still alive and kicking in the American midwest."

U.S. Christmas - Eat The Low Dogs

I'm not really sure what this is. It's trippy, and really really good. The duo of Say Sister and Silent Tongue is like 19 minutes of epic. This album just missed being in my top 10 for this year. It's pretty much great.

Comets On Fire - Avatar

Psychedelic/blues band. They can either rock out or be really chill, and do both well. This album is quality straight through.

Mustard Plug - In Black and White

Grand Rapids ska band. Just got back from seeing these guys, 10/10 live show. If you ever get the chance to see 'em, especially in Detroit, do it.

Old Man Gloom

Meditations In B


Christmas


Ok, so these aren't technically the full versions of the albums. I recently went through and deleted the ambient noise bullshit tracks from all my Old Man Gloom albums, leaving behind the actual songs. If you want the ambient noise bullshit tracks, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Anyway, this is a supergroup of sorts featuring members of ISIS, Cave In, and Converge, as well as the various other bands that these guys are a part of (Zozobra, Doomriders, etc.). They play sludgey hardcore, occasionally straying into "post-metal" territory, comparable to Red Sea or Mosquito Control-era ISIS. The songs on Meditations in B are all short, furious bursts of noise and aggression, rarely exceeding the 90 second mark. The fittingly named (for today) Christmas switch between shorter and longer songs, and is more focused in its songwriting. Both are excellent releases, recommended for fans of any of the other bands mentioned above.

Yay Death Metal!

To get you all in the Christmas spirit, here's a mix of some of the bands I've been listening to the last few days. Download, put it on shuffle and blast your way to bliss.

Tracklist:
Asphyx - Emperors of Salvation
Benighted - Slut
Cannibal Corpse - I Cum Blood
Circle of Dead Children - Sleepwalker
Cryptopsy - Slit Your Guts
Decrepit Birth - Diminishing Between Worlds
Deeds of Flesh - Born Then Torn Apart
Defeated Sanity - Prelude To The Tragedy
Fuck the Facts - As Empires Expand And Collapse
Grave - Battle of Eden
Hail of Bullets - General Winter
Immolation - Despondant Souls
Mind Eraser - Spear
Nile - As He Creates, So He Destroys
Odious Mortem - Thought Disruption
Prostitute Disfigurement - Torn In Bloated From
Suffocation - Brood of Hatred

Enjoy!

godheadSilo - The Scientific Supercake

Drum and bass 90s noise rock band. Loud and abrasive, just what you would expect from a 90s noise rock band.

Eyehategod - Take as Needed for Pain

Pissed off, drugged out Southern metal.

Leftöver Crack - Fuck World Trade

Obnoxiously anti-authority punk rock. Any style of punk you can think of, they probably play on this album.

Sunn O))) & Boris - Altar

Sunn O))) and Boris collaborate to make some weird sounding stuff. More experimental that drone. Still quality.

Trap Them

Sleepwell Deconstructor


Seance Prime


Seizures in Barren Praise


Guys.
I really cannot stress enough how awesome these guys are.
Everything they've done is amazing.
Seance Prime is fucking perfect.
Download everything these guys have ever done, you will not be disappointed, unless you have something against hardcore.
And if you do, why the fuck are you here?

Giant Squid - Metridium Fields

Nautical themed post-rock/metal/whatever.

Iron Monkey / Church of Misery - We've Learned Nothing

Iron Monkey was a sludge band from England. Church of Misery is a doom band from Japan. The riffs are flowing like water.
Murder Company is one of my favorite songs ever.

Bison B.C. - Quiet Earth

Formerly known as Bison, now signed to Metal Blade Records. Thrash/stoner/punk from Canada. Download if you like riffs.

Dayglo Abortions - Feed Us A Fetus

Canadian fetus-eating punk rock fun for the whole family.

Mistress - The Glory Bitches of Doghead

br00tal

Electric Wizard - Come My Fanatics...

You should already have this. Heaviest band in existence.

Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come: A Chimerical Bombination in 12 Bursts

Classic hardcore album.
Also, this band wins the award for Most Epic Last Show Ever.

Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice

Girly indie rock band with some mathy parts. This is their girliest album to date. It's good though.
Honestly.

Chon

CHON at church


No one in this band is over the age of 18.
WHAT THE FUCK.
Myspace

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Irony is a Dead Scene

Somewhere between Calculating Infinity and Ire Works, there exists this little EP. Vocals on this are done by Mike Patton of Faith No More (among many other things) fame.

Alghazanth - The Polarity Axiom

Today was a very grymm day. So here's some black metal from the frost-bitten land of Finland.

Dälek - Abandoned Language

Follow up to Absence. A lot less dense and heavy sounding, but still very high quality hip hop.

Venetian Snares - Meathole

Extremely fast, extremely chaotic electronica. If a sugar hyped 5 year old were to make music, it might sound something like this.

Top Albums of 08

Yeah, there's technically still almost a whole month before the year is over, but unless something really unexpected and amazing comes out in that time, this is pretty much set. So, here's my favorites from this year.

1. Torche - Meanderthal

This album has been on insanely heavy rotation for me since it came out, and it hasn't gotten the least bit old. These guys can do no wrong.

2. Meshuggah - obZen

Absolutely crushing tech metal. Every song oozes heaviness.

3. Trap Them - Seizures in Barren Praise

I posted the link for this a while ago, but here it is again. Pissed off hardcore that simply shreds.

4. Cult of Luna - Eternal Kingdom

Yet another excellent album from these Swedish doom masters.

5. Harvey Milk - Life... The Best Game In Town

HEAVY blues rock.

6. Misery Index - Traitors

Another one that got posted earlier. Grindy death metal that I've pretty much fallen in love with.

7. As Eden Burns - The Great Celestial Delusion

Melodic death/black metal. Yay riffs!

8. Rotten Sound - Cycles

Fuck yeah grindcore.

9. Spite Extreme Wing - Vltra

Italian "avant-garde" black metal. Whatever, this sounds really cool.

10. Grayceon - This Grand Show

They make their violins chug.

Rocket From The Crypt - Hot Charity/Cut and Play

I hesitate to call this ska... it's more like punky rock'n'roll with horns. Fun stuff. This is the re-release of the album "Hot Charity", with a bunch of other songs added on.

Abigail Williams - In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns

Probably the only black metal band where the lead singer will call for a circle pit. Some solid USBM.

Mammoth Grinder - Rage and Ruin

Riffy, half metal, half punk, all awesome.

Clouds - We Are Above You

Fuck yeah.

Mogwai - My Father, My King

Single 20 minute track. Completely instrumental. It's based on a Jewish prayer.

The Disciples of Zoldon - Blackened Theological Tome

One-man grind/death/black metal band. This shit is awesome. All this guy's releases are available on his website here.

Napalm Death - Time Waits For No Slave

I haven't even finished downloading this yet, but it's probably awesome. Link stolen from The_Hive

Minsk - The Ritual Fires of Abandonment

Tribal sounding psychedelic metal. Basically imagine a band that sounds like the 00s version of the title track off Through Silver in Blood.

Boris - Akuma no Uta

Boris is playing Sunday. I'm excited.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Don Caballero - World Class Listening Problem

Instrumental math rock awesomeness.

Oxbow - The Narcotic Story

Imagine if The Jesus Lizard decided to start writing bluesy songs.
Now imagine that they brought in a bunch of strings and added them to a couple songs.
NOW imagine that David Yow was a large black man and even more insane than he already is.
That's kinda what this sounds like.

Misery Index

Traitors


Discordia


Dead Sam Walking


So I recently discovered that I really, really like Misery Index. Traitors is easily going to be in my top 10 for this year, and Discordia and Dead Sam Walking are great too. Grindy, political death metal, it's awesome stuff.