Brocas Helm has one of metal's flawless discographies. That kind of rough sound is what metal can be about sometimes.

Bruce Dickinson - Shadow of the Gods

Still hooked! Brilliant and expansive piece of work.

this morning:

Judas Priest - "Turbo"
This was such a shock upon release. On the heels of the stellar "Screaming" and "Defenders", and in the midst of the thrash revolution, the Priest follows a different path. That said, half of this album is killer: Turbo Lover, Locked In, Out In the Cold, Reckless....all great tracks.

Black Sabbath - "Tyr"
The news of the boxset has me revisiting this great era of the mighty Sab. "Tyr" has always been my fav of this era...just a killer set that would have been heralded & praised had it been released by any band not named "Black Sabbath".

Last night - Hypocrisy, Virus

I think this still may be my favorite Hypocrisy album.

Judas Priest - Giants in the Sky

One of the more middling cuts off this album, which isn't a bad thing its still a good song.

Armageddon - Embrace the Mystery

Another high quality fucking power metal album that could be in a top 10 for the genre. Hard to get excited about manufactured glossy bullshit when stuff like this exists - brilliant and searing melodicism, great incisive songwriting.

Probably going to throw on Dark Moor - The Hall of Olden Dreams after... this older PM was always so addictive...

Incantation - United in Repungence

Not my favorite style of death metal, but I'll be lying if I claimed that this doesn't rip. Colossal, yet vigorous death metal.

Cancer - Die Die

OSDM baby!

Black Sabbath - Anno Mundi (The Vision)

Love the Tony Martin albums!
Amazing vocals.

Cancer The Sins Of Mankind

I think is the apex of Cancer career

No Murphy but who cares

Rotten Tomb - Human Paradox
Cave 'n core death metal with a melodic character; these leads are quite something.

Hamferð - Hvølja

Jesus, this is mighty and packs a bruise. The atmosphere is thick and inescapable and those vocals are such profound growls and yells. Wasn't aware just how good these guys were, no better time to catch up than with this new album I guess.

Grey Skies Fallen - Save Us

That main riff just saunters through with such character and lifts the song in all sorts of interesting directions. The vocals ride it for a bit before it splinters apart in these proggy stammers. Engaging songwriting within a deathly doom framework. Love it.

Pallbearer - Where The Light Fades

New song and they're still one of the most boring bands ever.

Symphony X - Evolution (The Grand Design)

Techy power-prog handled in the exact right way.

Possessed Steel – Aedris

Canadian metal (no, not the Darkthrone track) with some epic metal and NWoBHM influences, nature sounds, acoustic, arpeggiated and atmospheric parts and occasional black metal croaks. In fact, it's diverse enough that I can't compare it with anything else. Some parts remind me of Satan (UK) though.

Iron Maiden - Run Silent Run Deep

Strange how these "common" songs tend to sneak upon you and crawl into your skin while not watching! NPFTD is full of these songs, those deeper cuts, if you like. And yeah, god bless the submarines!

Kreator - Endorama

Such a great underrated gem.

Critical Defiance - No Life Forms
One of the best Chilean bands. Ordered their new one after listening to the single. Getting in the mood. No Life Forms is fantastic, better than Misconception IMO - and that was great.

Necrophobic Lamashtu

Omg these guys are gifted!!!!!

Crimson Glory - Lonely

"Transcendence" is all I want from a heavy metal album. If I would've found this band in my 20s, they would probably be one of my favorites now. Better late than never.

Alcest - Souvenirs d'un autre monde

This track and the album of the same name, are still the anthem of the beginning of Spring for me. Such a gorgeous album.

Necrophobic - The Nocturnal Silence

Snarling, pissed off stuff but with some more melody than usual. Works because it's still got an aggressive edge to it despite the melodic stuff. Somehow this band has like a dozen albums and I never heard any of it until now.

Slough Feg - s/t
Hammers of Misfortune - The Bastard

I sometimes forget about the HOM debut... what a rich, textured album for this kind of barbarian fantasy metal. Cobbett is so good.

Brodequin - Festival of Death

Sounds like what I figured - nasty, pummeling filth. I can see the appeal.

Anubis - Heartless

Chugging, sort of technical stuff... a nice melodic singer. Sort of like Cage, Communic, Morgana Lefay etc with some interesting other touches. Kinda digging it.

Judas Priest - Riding On The Wind

A corker from their second best of the 80's. Glen and KK were made to play together.

Witherfall - When It All Falls Away

I enjoyed these guys' last two albums but this, for all its extravagant balladry still sounds muted. They tease a sense of heaviness that is not adequately realized and Joseph Michael sounds like his only influences were Zak Stevens and James LaBrie.

Vicinity - Confusion Reactor

Solid prog with a lot of big choruses and narrative driven. They sound like fellow countrymen Pagan's Mind but without the commanding vocals.

Lords of The Trident - Diva (Beyoncé cover)

When I was shown this I didn't know what to expect lol. It's um...interesting.

Judas Priest - Giants in the Sky

I'm actually astonished at how enjoyable this new album is. It's not amazing or anything, but it's far better than I was expecting.

Morgana Lafey - Grand Materia

I saw this mentioned here a few times so I decided to check it out. I had picked up a few of their albums in the 90's and they were ok but this is outstanding. Vocalist reminds me of classic Savatage quite often here. Very cool.

One of greatest bands that gifted our magic metal world….

Honestly I am the same. Part of me wants to say "Judas Priest with no KK and Glen barely involved...Richie Faulkner Priest???????"

But honestly, the last two albums were rock solid. As you said, not amazing but very good listens and worthy additions to the Priest catalog.

Anthem - Bound to Break.
Never heard of these guys before, pretty decent early metal. Really reminds of someone I can't quite place...

The Bastard is so good.

to die you left me, you should have slain me
I stand before you, now you shall face me

Midnight - Hellish Expectations

I'm a huge Midnight fan and it pains me to say but this is fuckin disappointing. It's not really bad as such but the reality is that this is lazy songwriting, basically Athenar on autopilot in his sleep. There's nothing on here that he hasn't done better on any of the preceding albums.

I started playing one of their late 2010s albums too but got interrupted by three phone calls before I finished the first song - but it sounded good... will try more later.



It's got a lot of really great, innovative work... stellar how they pack that much into these little songs.

Judas Priest - Devil in Disguise

You know, when they get it right they get it right... just a fun album.

That's sitcom material right there. Don't forget to check Darkside soon too; it's got more of a blackened approach to it than The Nocturnal Silence has, but it's a worthy successor.

NP: Cruciamentum - The Conquered Sun (The Dying Light Beyond Morpheus Realms)

Not a huge cave 'n core death metal freak... I think that their latest album does this style better.

Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade of Gray

Grabbed this at Goodwill for $0.98. Let see if I got my moneys worth.

I'd say so. Very atmospheric and melancholy, with wonderful leitmotifs all throughout. I'd love to find a version where all the parts are stitched into a single file, so I can listen to the whole thing in my car.

It's a grower, for sure.
As mentioned above, it's melancholy and 'gray', as per its namesake. A worthy addition to their stellar catalogue.

Judas Priest - "Death" from 'Nostradamus'
While bloated and somewhat monotonous, there are some killer tracks on 'Nostradamus'.
"Death" is one such example. Love the suffocating vibe it emits.

Disgorge - She Lay Gutted
Some pretty brutal stuff for sure. I'm sorta confused, though, I've read in several places that the vocalist on this uses "super insane, unique vocal patterns," but I have no idea what they're referring to, it just sounds like fairly straightforward BDM vocals. I'm not a huge fan of this genre, so speaking from an unenlightened place here....am I missing something?

It really depends on your mood...

Sometimes can be the best Fates Warning album(if like The Cure depressive trilogy)sometimes not…

Sepultura Schizophrenia

Love that album

Encouraged by the Savage Oath thread, I listened to the album. Good one and good singing. However, the vocals in the ballad parts aren't good but phenomenal! I mean, listen to the title track and despair. For me, this is probably the most stunning "new" male metal vocalist in yonks.

Voivod - Killing Technology

It's insane how completely out there and revolutionnary these guys were with their three releases from 87 to 89. These albums are pure genius, and regardless of how many times I hear them, they still sound mind-blowingly good to me everytime I revisit them.