As I write this, I am eagerly awaiting Netflix to flip that switch that will give me hours of more Arrested Development. Now mind you, I am completely aware that Arrested Development is not metal. For reals though, it can't be all metal all the time can it? I just got so excited that I blue myself (REFERENCE!!!!). Anyway, right this way you'll find some new metal…
Dark Tranquility – Construct
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Origin: Gothenburg, Sweden
Label: Century Media
Buy now on Amazon.com
One of the pioneers of the Gothenburg metal sound return with their tenth album and is it a doozy. The band has been commenting that this is their most diverse offering in years, and I’ve got to agree. Fans of the melodic heaviness will be satisfied, but those looking for a little more than the pattern of light verse/heavy chorus/verse/chorus/In Flames Breakdown/chorus will have a little more to enjoy this time around.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTkwuyb_PLc[/youtube]
Kylesea – Ultraviolet
Genre: Sludge
Origin: Savannah, Georgia
Label: Season Of Mist
Buy now on Amazon.com
While I will never fully understand the dueling drummers thing this band employs, I adore this band. Much like the aforementioned Dark Tranquility record, I feel like Kylesa has experimented a bit more on this newest record. I can see why because with a sludge foundation, it would be easy for the band to get stuck in the stale sludge sound (pun intended?). This is a band that has grown over the past few records, and is on the right path.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xGLQLhGYAk[/youtube]
Leprous – Coal
Genre: Progressive
Origin: Notodden, Norway
Label: InsideOut
Buy now on Amazon.com
As much as I have raved about a surprising number of stoner, sludge, and doom albums over the past few weeks, I haven’t been this stoked about an album in a while. I love all kinds of metal, but prog is my strongest love. Leprous now has three great albums, but they are the kind of albums I feel like a listener has to “get.” They are heavy, epic, technical, ambient, and they bring other bands to mind, but are 100% unique. Actually, I’ve always been fascinated that they can function as Ihsahn’s live band and still have their own sound different from the former Emperor head honcho. Good news for Ihsahn fans though. If you listen close you can find him.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9o2nVY8FZ0[/youtube]
Shining – One One One
Genre: Blackjazz
Origin: Oslo, Norway
Label: Prosthetic
Buy now on Amazon.com
We here at Metal Injection are very vocal about our love of the Blackened Jazz Metal masters (or Jazzened Black Metal masters?), and even when the songs are shorted and less chaotic jazz madness, we agree they are still awesome. Jeremy has a full review here, which I agree with, but part of me misses the eight-minute metal adventures though jazz hell and back.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpyrbD-jeFs[/youtube]
TesseracT – Altered State
Genre: Melodic Rhythmic Metal…Djent I Guess
Origin: Milton Keynes, England
Label: Century Media
Buy now on Amazon.com
Full disclosure: I usually check out when it comes to djent music. I don’t care how low a guitar is, how oddly timed the bass slap is, or how rhythmically technical it is. I just find myself, wondering if your typical djent bands own any other albums than ones by Meshuggah. I do, however, love me some TesseracT. Something about their soaring vocals and composition skills just does it for me. I can imagine that there will be complaints about how Altered State isn’t as heavy as One, or how Ashe O’Hara isn’t as vocally diverse as former vocalist Daniel Tompkins though. Having said that, I think TesseracT fans will enjoy this one for all the right reasons, and fans of melodic djent will too. There are even some Coheed moments modern prog nerds will dig.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/rmR0gkojHDs[/youtube]
Also out today:
Age Of Taurus – Desperate Souls of Tortured Times(Metal Blade)
Antigama – Meteor (Selfmadegod)
Anvil – Hope In Hell (The End)
ASG – Blood Drive (Relapse)
Black Star Riders – All Hell Breaks Loose (Nuclear Blast)
Blood Ceremony – The Eldritch Dark (Rise Above)
Burial Vault – Incendium (Apostasy)
Cadaveria – Horror Metal – Undead Edition Re-Release (Bakerteam)
Cerna – Restoring Life (Domestic Genocide)
Chaostar – Anomima (Season Of Mist)
Dark Tranquillity – Construct (Century Media)
Dew-Scented – Insurgent (Prosthetic)
Dio – Finding The Sacred Heart: Live In Philly 1986 DVD (Eagle Rock)
Eldkraft – Shaman (Poison Tongue)
Gardenjia – EPO (Memorial)
Gevurah – Necheshirion (Profound Lore)
Haraball – Sleep Tall (Fysisk Format)
Humiliation – Turbulence From The Deep (Deepsend)
Iron Tongue – The Dogs Have Barked, The Birds Have Flown (Neurot)
Judas Priest – Epitaph DVD (Legacy)
Lux Interna – There Is Light In The Body… (Pesanta Urfolk)
Mortuary Drape – Tolling 13 Knell Re-Release (Peaceville)
Pasadena Napalm Division – Pasadena Napalm Division (Minus Head)
Sacred Oath – Fallen (Angel Thorne)
Slidhr – Deluge (Debemur Morti)
Sound Of Contact – Dimensionaut (Inside Out)
Zombiekrig – Den Vänstra Stigens Ljus (GMR)
