Classic song from a classic album by a classic band. Jag Panzer are one of a kind.

Black Sabbath - Vol. 4

So, so awesome.

Deathstorm - Blood Beneath the Crypts

Some good riffs here and there, nothing to write home about. Slightly above average thrash.

Any other good thrash albums come out this year that aren't Vektor/Ripper/any of the big bands?

Rollins Band - Weight

This was my JAM in middle school. Such a great album.

Kraftwerk - Autobahn

Kraftwerk rule.

Blind Guardian - Trial by Fire

Such an excellent choice for a cover, and they nail it. Stuff like this is what the top tier of metal covers is populated with. At first I thought they used too many pinches but it actually grew on me.

Horna - Kohti yhdeksän nousua

This is one of those short albums that ends up being awesome.

Tad Morose - I Know Your Name

Heavy, megachugging riffage and awesome, powerful vocals.

Buckethead - Hopper Feeding Mash

This rules on so many freaking levels.

Probably at least 100 levels of rule.

Wedrujacy Wiatr - O Turniach, Jeziorach I Nocnych Szlakach

My god this album. So beautiful and emotional.

Rockapella- Zombie Jamboree

The greatest acapella ever.

Accept - Fast as a Shark

Fuck yes.

"Kinfolk" -
Leigh Ashford

RYM find, it's relatively obscure. Happy-go-lucky Bluesy Folk Rock. It's fun stuff.

Mechina - "Godspeed, Vanguards"

New annual stuff from these guys is always nice. This one definitely has some power to it.

Satan's Host - By The Hands Of The Devil

How does one even figure out what genre this belongs to? It's crazy how many influences there are in here, and what's even more crazy is how fucking well-executed and unique it is. Harry Conklin sounds completely different that he does in Jag Panzer; lots of diversity in styles. This is seriously one of my favourite blind buys to date. Absolutely genius.

Helstar - Scalpel and the Skin

Such a shame Helstar didn't come up with a following up full length album in this vein after Nosferatu - it's still classic Helstar with the puzzling riffs and whatnot. Lyrically this song isn't what I'd expect from the band though...

You’re a nasty little girl, you spread legs and beg to me
But I’m here to fuck your world, I’ll show you pain and agony!

Gorguts - The Erosion of Sanity

A very interesting album. The main riff of Condemned to Obscurity would make excellent title sequence music in a film.

Hammer Horde - Tale of the Wayward Voyager

Amazing I never tire of this band.

Alice in Chains - Angry Chair

today's favorite song

Khemmis - Three Gates

Second time hearing this as I try to narrow down my top 10 metal albums for the year. I really like it. Cool, pounding, groovy riffs, varied vocals from harsh bellows to clean, syncopated rhythmic singing. The atmosphere is very pensive and bleak. I don't think this is a grade-A classic, but I think the band could produce one soon as they further tighten up their songwriting and continue maturing.

^^^ That actually sums up my feelings for it quite well. I will be sure to listen to whatever they've got coming next, because hopefully by then they'll have something REALLY special going.

I'm listening to Khemmis right now and this is pretty good stuff. The cover art is badass.

EDIT: Goddamn this is the best doom i've heard in a long fucking time! I'm gonna order their cd's.

Matthias Steele - Father Will Rise

Aaaaabsolutely freaking sick. The King Diamond-y vocals that Lionetti does on this song are a bit too much, but hoooly shit these riffs kill. The ending is so epic. This album is honestly my favorite find of this whole year if I was forced to pick. I wonder how good their new stuff is.

"Planetary Duality" -
The Faceless

Significantly better than Akeldama. Those Cynic-esque vocals are neat, too.

Darkhrone - Transilvanian Hunger

Going with a classic tonight while I go through my rescent forest/mountain photos!
Perfect match.

They're good but very little stands out to make them special in their field.

I played a couple shows with them back in the day.

Don't you mean Father Has Risen? Their Haunting Tales of a Warrior's Past tape is a gem of USPM. This is how i like my power metal played. Full of power without the fluffiness. And talk about an album that needs to be remastered. The band was never happy with the sound i think it was because of the small budget they had to work with.

Yes, that was a brainfart I guess. The way he sings that part at the end always makes me think the song is called "Father Will Rise". I've been geeking out over this album lately though. So amazing. Even with the weak production, I think it's still absolutely phenomenal. TOP class USPM with a kickass thrash element. Every song just rips. I'm admittedly not too experienced with USPM, but I cannot see anything topping this for me.

I managed to snag a CD copy too. It should come tomorrow or the next. So excited.

Bro do you know Cauldron Born? If not then you need to hear their album Born of the Cauldron. I wouldn't say it's better but it's right up there. Killer USPM of the highest caliber.

Darkthrone - En ås i dype skogen

Favorite Darkthone song ever...
Love the lyrics and overal atmosphere.

I'll go give it a listen. Thanks!

Psychotic Waltz - Halo Of Thorns

Mad, spastic prog like Fates Warning's 80s stuff on acid. Classic.

Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

Alrighty, I've been loving SFB and Tales, so I guess I'll try this one properly now.

Update so far:

Uhh, it's not that great so far :/ I liked that ballad, and I'm just beginning the fourth track. The first two didn't strike me all too well. I'm going to keep it going though, but so far it's behind the others I've heard by a huge margin.

Beseech - My Darkness. Darkness. Great return, solid album.

Balls to the Walls - Accept

Catchy as hell.

It's not their best album, but by virtue of being BG I think it's great. I do think the title track is a little overrated and a weird song to open the album with, but fans of their more metal stuff should love I'm Alive, Born in a Mourning Hall, and especially Script for My Requiem. The ballads are all generally good (though none reach the heights of Lord of the Rings or The Bard's Song), and Bright Eyes is a live staple. It's a quite iconic album and I think it's probably their best of the power metal era, though other albums have individually better tracks scattered here and there.

Finished it earlier, and yeah, I did think it was good. I actually kinda don't care for I'm Alive or the title track, but the middle of the album REALLY gets good with those latter two you mentioned and I loved "Mordred's Song" too. Overall, it's behind the others, but the latter half more than makes up for the beginning.

I'm absolutely losing my mind over Somewhere Far Beyond though. This is a top 20 metal album easily.

Also, what's your opinion of Follow the Blind? I LOVED that one when I listened to it. I liked it more than the good half of what I've heard from them so far.

Follow the Blind is probably my least favorite of the speed metal era but that isn't really a knock on it since all four of those albums are phenomenal. My opinion only starts to get spotty when you go past Imaginations. I've gone over how confusing it is to quantify Nightfall in Middle Earth. A Night At the Opera starts off with genuinely one of my favorite Blind Guardian songs ever with "Precious Jerusalem", and the first minute or so of "Battlefield" is the most epic thing ever, but after then it really falls off. Their second live album is worth it despite being loaded with ANATO songs simply because the beefed up guitar in the live versions shows there's actually a lot more to those songs than you'll notice on record. A Twist in the Myth is honestly kinda bad but I really like "This Will Never End" and "Fly". The latter is another live staple and I know a lot of fans think it's a really stupid song but Hansi is in top form for that one. At the Edge of Time is kind of a safe "return to form" because each song rips off a previous song they did fairly obviously (like "A Voice in the Dark" is so obviously "Valhalla" it hurts), but I like a lot of the songs on it so I don't know, I think it's a great album. Finally Beyond the Red Mirror is really dense and overwhelming but I like it a lot too, probably more than ATEOT, and it has some excellent songs as well. Probably their most epic and adventurous album.

And that's my quick rundown that nobody asked for


EDIT: Also Mordred's Song actually makes a pretty sick beat.

Progenie Terrestre Pura - U.M.A.

Futuristic Black Art

Oh? And what's Wheel of Time or Tanelorn (Into The Void) supposed to be a ripoff of?