This edition include the two pirate bands you can name, some of the heaviest shit I've ever heard, cult legends, stuff you'll hate me for including and more! To the metals…
Alestorm – Sunset on the Golden Age
Genre: Pirate metal
Origin: Perth, Scotland
Label: Napalm
Buy now on Amazon.com
I don't often do folk metal, and I do gimmicky folk metal even less, but Alestorm is fucking great. The fact that they sing pirate songs is almost too silly, but they're good enough to get away with it. This album was a year too late to provide the soundtrack to Captain Phillips.
Belphegor – Conjuring The Dead
Genre: Blackened death metal
Origin: Salzburg, Austria
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Amazon.com
This album almost is one of the heaviest I've ever heard. It is surely mixed with that in mind, but the crushing riffs would cause bodily harm at any mix. Also, if the happy goat on the cover isn't already an indicator, this record also is a tad evil sounding also. So, it's pretty much the best of both the black metal and death metal worlds.
Columns – Please Explode
Genre: Deathcore
Origin: Charlotte, North Carolina
Label: Relapse
Buy now on Amazon.com
This album kicks your ass in sixteen bite-sized chunks. A bit grindy, a bit deathy, and a bit thrashy. Good for a lot of metal in a little time.
Eluveitie – Origins 
Genre: Folk metal
Origin: Zuirich, Switzerland
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Amazon.com
Folk metal without the cheese, without sparing the culture, that's what Eluvitie is, and exactly what makes them one of the the best in their genre. You get violin, flute, bagpipes, and even a hurdy gurdy mixed perfectly into a metal casserole. Origins may even be their best yet.
Godsmack – 1000hp 
Genre: Groove metal
Origin: Lawrence, Massachusetts
Label: Republic
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Remember when Godsmack was the band all about Wicca and Voodoo and shit? Kinda weird that they are focused on fast cars and raising the volume of their music up now now. Sidenote: There is a song on this album called "FML." I'll just let that fact about Sully Erna titling songs after text shorthand sink in…
John Garcia – John Garcia 
Genre: Stoner
Origin: Palm Desert, California
Label: Napalm
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The voice of Kyuss, Vista Chino, Slo Burn and so much more is finally making his first solo album. It sounds a hell of a lot like how you'd expect (and hope) this desert icon to sound like. This is the classic sounds of the desert in every way.
Nachtmystium – The World We Left Behind
Genre: Black metal
Origin: DeKalb, Illinois
Label: Century Media
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Blake Judd and pals are here with their album that was long hyped as their last. From the little I've explored it so far, it's what one would want from Judd in left-of-center black metal with some weird electronic ambiance mixed in the background. Much of it is more straight-forward black metal than previous Nachmystium efforts, so that may interest some folks. Expect a full review by yours truly in the near future.
Paul Gilbert – Stone Pushing Uphill Man 
Genre: Shred
Origin: Carbondale, Illinois
Label: Shrapnel
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Paul Gilbert is a guitar god that doesn't get nearly enough recognition. His work in Racer X and Mr. Big should be enough to showcase his skills, but his solo stuff remains even shredier than his band-work. This one is more of him making your realize that you're not, and will never be, this good at guitar, or anything you do perhaps. Even on this mostly covers album.
Swashbuckle – We Hate the Sea EP 
Genre: Pirate metal
Origin: Mercer County, New Jersey
Label: Get This Right
Buy now on Amazon.com
I suppose if Alestorm is the Coke of pirate metal, then Swashbuckle would be the Pepsi. They are the thrashier Pepsi. A much different approach to similar subject matter with some folk-ish elements. Weird that both of the most known pirate bands dropped something today.
Wovenwar – Wovenwar 
Genre: Melodic metal
Origin: San Diego, California
Label: Metal Blade
Buy now on Amazon.com
This band is actually good. Some people may put them off due to their past bands (As I Lay Dying and Oh, The Sleeper) and I admit to being one of those people originally. There isn't much of the metalcore past here, but a lot of melody and great catchy musicianship. I didn't see my appreciation of this coming at all. Worth a shot certainly.
Also dropping today…
Avulsed – Carnivoracity Re-Release (Xtreem)
Blues Pills – Blues Pills (Nuclear Blast)
Bolzer – Soma (Invictus)
Brimstone Coven – Brimstone Coven (Metal Blade)
Capture The Crown – Reign of Terror (Artery)
Cardinal Wrym – Black Hole Gods (Self)
Cemetery Fog – Towards The Gates EP (Iron Bonehead)
Chaos Moon – Resurrection Extract (I, Voidhanger)
Cold World – How the Gods Chill (Deathwish)
Four Letter Lie – Like Structures (Artery)
Fractured Spine – Memoirs Of A Shattered Mind (Inverse)
Gnosis of the Witch – Dauðr Burðr Þrysvar EP (Iron Bonehead)
Holy Tongues – Weak People (Melotov)
John Gallow – Violet Dreams (I, Voidhanger)
Kix – Rock Your Face Off (Loud and Proud)
Lelahell – Al Insane…The (Re)Birth of Abderrahmane (HPGD)
Mastodon – Remission Re-Release (Relapse)
Mutilated Veterans – Necro Crust Warhead EP (Hells Headbangers)
Ommadon – V (Dry Cough/Domestic Genocide)
The Order Of The Solar Temple – The Order Of The Solar Temple (I, Voidhanger)
Panopticon – Roads To The North (Bindrune / Nordvis)
Saturn – Ascending (Live in Space) (Rise Above)
Skid Row – United World Rebellion: Part 2 EP (Megaforce)
Star Insight – Messera (Inverse)
To Set Ablaze – The Life We Lead (Autumn + Colour)
Trudger – Dormiveglia (COF / Sell Your Soul)
Twitching Tongues – World War Live (Closed Casket)
Vardan – Enjoy of Deep Sadness (Moribund)
Void Ritual – Holodomor EP (Tridroid)
V.R.P.I. – Vexilla Regis Prodeunt Inferi (Memento Mori)
