This edition features cold medicine fueled ramblings about bands in spooky masks, long-running underdogs/documentary stars, lots of guitar shredding, and more! To the metals…
Anvil – Pounding the Pavement 
Genre: Heavy metal
Origin: Toronto, Ontario
Label: SPV/Steamhammer
The Anvil guys are back with another record of their kinda thrashy heavy metal. This makes album seventeen from Robb and "Lips," and they've never sounded more like Anvil, for better or worse. This should hold you over until the new Judas Priest drops, because it sounds a lot like "Lightning Strike" a bunch of times in a row.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doNDXL6tiBs[/youtube]
Arkona – Khram 
Genre: Folk metal
Origin: Moscow, Russia
Label: Napalm
This album is great. It's really epic and melodic while remaining pretty bleak and dark. It's always cool to hear instruments like a hurdy gurdy, balalaika, komuz, shaman drums, and other traditional folk instruments in a heavy setting, and this record has a ton of them.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WXUq9q5RZc[/youtube]
Black Label Society – Grimmest Hits
Genre: Groove metal/hard rock
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Label: eOne
Zakk Wylde has been busy the last few years reuniting with Ozzy Osbourne, touring his Black Sabbath cover band Zakk Sabbath, and unearthing his country-ish project Book of Shadows. It's no surprise that it's been four years since the last Black Label Society record, but the wait is over. This album feels like an classic BLS record too, which is welcomed. It would also appear that the Sabbath tours have rubbed off on him as some of these new tracks have more Iommi influence than usual. Also, don't let the album title fool you. It's not a compilation.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRYh4o1pVDM[/youtube]
Hyvmine – Earthquake
Genre: Progressive hard rock
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Label: Seek And Strike
Al Joseph is a name that I've been seeing more and more, and for good reason. The man is poised to be the next shred god. Hyvmine features his out of the instrumental world, and yet he's under the spotlight just as much as if he was driving his solo act. The band overall is quite good. They're like a proggy Sevendust.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8brRZIIkIU[/youtube]
Of Mice & Men – Defy 
Genre: Metalcore
Origin: Orange County, California
Label: Rise
On their fifth album, Of Mice & Men are bringing the melodic, angsty metalcore as only they (The Devil Wears Prada, We Came As Romans, and others) can. It's not something I'd go to, but god damn these tracks are catchy. It features a cover of Pink Floyd's "Money," which I'm sure will piss many of you off. So enjoy that below.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBWqYwDf7_I[/youtube]
Perfect Beings – Vier 
Genre: Progressive
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Label: InsideOut
This is some weird proggy wonderfulness. I mean like Yes, King Crimson, Steven Wilson, Peter Gabriel prog. While it lacks anything heavy, it is a metal adjacent and should keep nerdier musics folks like myself thoroughly entertained.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgRYwPnHyfY[/youtube]
Joe Perry – Sweetzerland Manifesto 
Genre: Rock
Origin: Lawrence, Massachusetts
Label: Roman
I didn't realize that Aerosmith's guitarist made solo records. Turns out this is his fourth. Anyway, it features Robin Zander of Cheap Trick, folks form New York Dolls, and even Edward Scissorhands himself Johnny Depp producing it. What a weird album to exist.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YkLqCgHKQQ[/youtube]
Terror Universal – Make Them Bleed 
Genre: Horror metal
Origin: Texas
Label: Minus Head
Terror Universal are a nu metal band that feels like they came with a checklist. Spooky masks? Check. Driving grooves? Check. Macabre lyrics? Check. The certainty that they will be written off as a Slipknot clone? I'm going to let you, the listener, decide on that one. The band features some dudes from Ill Nino, a guy that goes by "Thrax," and lots of groove.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNHlHq4bGQU[/youtube]
Also dropping today…
Cane Hill – Too Far Gone (Rise) – nu metal/metalcore
Deathless Legacy – Rituals of Black Magic (Scarlet) – Heavy metal
Inquisitor – Stigmata Me, I'm in Misery (Hammerheart) – Thrash/death metal
Lione/Conti – Lione/Conti (Frontiers) – Power metal
Magick Touch – Blades, Chains, Whips & Fire (Edged Circle) – Heavy metal
Magnum – Lost on the Road to Eternity (SPV/Steamhammer) – Hard rock
Massive Assault – Mortar (FDA) – Death metal
Mithridatic – He Who Lies Underneath (Xenokorp) – Death/black metal
Ozone Mama – Cosmos Calling (Ripple) – Rock
Spectral Lore / Jute Gyte (split) – Helian (I, Voidhanger) – Black metal/ambient
Walking Papers – WP2 (Loud & Proud) – Rock
