It's out? Or leaked? Anyhow, they seem to have released a music video for a track of theirs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... A_Q8ci7bag
I quite liked the song. A great homage to 70s doom.

Another one to add to the list. This was really cool!


Ha, yes, it's real, and it's not bad.


I agree with this. Exodromos is really great and the tracks go together well. A huge improvement over the debut.

Free Nelson Mandoomjazz are amazing and I was unaware they had a new release so thanks for the heads up.

It's out tomorrow. It leaked 2 days back. Yes, it's a great release to 70's doom, especially the 2nd and 3rd Black Sabbath albums. I always liked their EP's but thought their debut dragged on a bit. This is much more consistent, and overall a much better album than their debut.

Alright, thanks. Now I know what I'll be spinning over the weekend.

Vhol - Self Titled.

Its hard to pin this down to a particular genre. The major influence seems to be Black Metal but it extends well beyond that. There's huge amounts of Punk and Hardcore present. The guitar work is very good with some tight solos here and there, nice bass and Aesop Dekker is beastly on the drums. Considering how these super bands tend to be underwhelming, these guys have outdone themselves here.
Fantastic effort that will definitely be up there amongst my favourites at the end of the year

I think the new Orchid is utterly generic and boring, I stopped it midway and went back to the new Summoning!

Tony, did you see their new video I posted? I know it started off quite bland but on the whole, I liked the rest of the song. How is the rest of the album compared to that track? And speaking of the new Summoning. It's great so far. I gave it one listen but I cringed on the fact that the rip was absolutely terrible. I'll pick this up either way, just have to wait now.

i had no idea they released new material - love the first one - so thanks for that

I'm pretty sure the most amazing release this year this far: Votum - Harvest Moon. These guys already showed amazing potential on the first two albums (but the production could have been a bit better), but this album is just plain amazing in every way. One of the best atmospheric progressive metal albums I've heard in a while.

Gonna check this out, Polish metal's always worth a look... er, listen.

The album has basically everything from very atmospheric (and mostly pretty dark) sections to some great heavy riffing. And the album is pretty long but it just flows so well that it passes pretty quickly.

Checked some songs on Youtube and I think I'm gonna pass this band... ... ... but hey, at least I tried...

Oh. Well, I can imagine they're probably not everyone's cup of tea but... I usually get excited for a reason (probably).

They've got more of a soft rockish approach to progressive metal as far I can tell from the three songs I looked at and that's not really my cup of tea...

I'd say try Coda (my personal favourite), Cobwebs or December 20th. Pretty much all their albums are kinda 50/50 calm/heavy, and I personally enjoy both of these sides a lot. The main thing being that the production of the first two albums made the heavy riffs sound a bit weakened, and on Harvest Moon heavy means fucking HEAVY.

I downloaded it, and there is a lot of blatant plagarizm going on. The first couple of riffs from Silent One rip off Into the Void. Nomad had a Sabbath riff that I couldn't place, but it was definitely a Sabbath riff. Mountains of Steel was basically A National Acrobat and Sabbra Cadabra. The first riff of Leaving it All Behind was pretty similar to the first riff in After Forever. The Loving Hand of God takes another riff from After Forever, but at least they gave it a different feel this time. Of the songs I DIDN'T hear blatant plagarizm in, Mouths of Madness and Marching Dogs of War were really boring, Wizard of War was nothing to write home about, but FINALLY we get a good non-ripped off song in See You on the Other Side.

There is a fine line between worship and plagarizm, and this album crosses the line far into the latter. It's funny, because in the thread about the new Sabbath album/songs, people are criticizing them for plagarizing themselves, and yet people are liking this Orchid album, despite BLATANT Sabbath plagarizm all over the place, and most of what's not plagarized is mediocre. Feh.

Depends on what your tastes are. If you were looking for original doom metal then Orchid is not your thing, but if you don't mind a band that wears its influence on its sleeves then this album is right up your alley. Like I said, you can here a lot of the second and third BS LP's here. The band didn't intend to create something new, but what this album did was create an album that reminds one of hearing Master Of Reality for the first time and that they did perfectly. It is a tribte to BS, and that is what they made clear ever since their first EP. Expecting something else from them now is being out of line.

Skagos and Altar of Plagues for me. Atmospheric black metal with grimy dark ambient soundscapes. Goin' in my year end lists. Also The Ocean's new album is pretty solid.

I don't mind a band wearing it's influences on it's sleeves. I like Sabbath worship. That's what Pentagram's Day of Reckoning largely is. Some of the best Sabbath worship out there. But this album is not just using Sabbath's style, they're using their actual music. That's not ok to me. I haven't heard any of Orchid's EPs, but I have heard Capricorn, and I don't recall any blatant plagarizm in that one.

You know, I'm not usually one for epic shit, for instance I find Summoning's midi based horseshit to be as underwhelming as humanly possible, but holy mother of fuck, this is one of the most majestic things I've ever heard. Thank you.

Woe - Withdrawal

Their evolution continues with what to me is their best album yet. This album contains influences from hardcore, thrash, punk and classic rock. It even has some well done clean vocals and bluesy guitar parts.
The production is warm but all the instruments are very audible.
All in all, this is another brilliant album from the USBM scene

SATAN-Life Sentence
Because its fucking Satan,they have been around as long as Sabbath and is still making GOOD music

Sabbath formed 10 years before Satan, but ok...

I liked the album, but I thought it was a bit too samey. The last song was boss though, can't wait to see them live in August.

It's pretty samey, but I don't see that as a detriment. Every song is a perfect length, the album is just the right time, and everything sounds so damn good that it's hard to fault anything about it. To me it's basically an A-grade heavy metal album, just great in songwritingship, construction, as well as the riffs being the best all year so far. I really love it.

Yeah, I really wish Satan would've written a few polka songs for this album so it wouldn't have been so samey. I mean, who likes to listen to ten solid metal tunes in a row?

Because that's definitely what he meant.

It's good to see that this is going to be one of those albums where every complaint gets handwaved away nonchalantly.

Uh, da fuck, Dragunov? I like slower and more midpaced numbers too and the album at first appears to be mostly fast all the time.

I was j/k'ing guyth. I'll never attempt teh funny ever again!

Grave Declaration's When Dying Souls Scream Praise is definitely worth a listen if you're into the symphonic black/death thing. I just got my copy in the mail two days ago and I've been listening to it non stop. It's nothing new or revolutionary by any means but it is a quality release stock full of great songs.

Epta Astera - Semper Reformanda

VERY COOL. Gregorian chant metal? This is really awesome stuff. Makes me wonder why we haven't heard more of this stuff in metal! Really good.

I hope you guys are aware of what they are ripping off/paying tribute to. Which, btw, IS a great album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxbkUA5BiSw

Votum is great shit! Metafiction was a fantastic (and weird) album. Need to hear more from them.

Totally check out Harvest Moon then. It's like they've kept all of their strongest points (songwriting, atmosphere), and fixed everything that needed some work (especially production).

Anyone else appreciating Arsis`s new record Unwelcome? I think it is their best album since A Celebration of Guilt. It is aggressive, technical, melodic, the songwriting is better, and the solos are damn good. The album is solid throughout, which is its biggest strength in my opinion. The Sunglasses at Night cover is great as well. I really like it.

Me too. It's definitely their most "A Celebration of Guilt" sounding material since that album. It's nice to hear them go back to sounding like this again. The Lepers Caress EP tacked on the end is great too.

Sonic Reign - Monument in Black
http://youtu.be/eoaF5sPm1AI
Lychgate - s/t
http://youtu.be/wG6gJBXECIA

The best black metal albums so far. Lychgate were previously called Archaicus and their line-up is fucking strong.

On the first run through, I've got to agree it's their best in a while. Gotta give it some time to sink in though, see how it really stacks up. Preliminary verdict is definitely good.

Good to see a few others enjoying it. I actually have liked it a bit more after a few spins. It feels more aggressive and that is a big part of what draws me to it. And the consistency is there. I hope this is a sign of things to come because they have a damn good pair of guitarists.
@Evoken. The last track was a nice way to end the album, I definitely agree.

Been jamming this band constantly for the past few days. It's a tasteful blend of stuff like Arghoslent and Incantation, with cool riffs a plenty. Once this is available for purchase I'm definitely picking up a copy.

Abyssion