November 2011 Best Heavy Metal CDs

1. Krisiun - 'The Great Execution' (Century Media)

2. Leviathan - 'True Traitor, True Whore' (Profound Lore) 

3. Megadeth - 'Th1rt3en' (Roadrunner)

4. Blut Aus Nord - '777: The Desanctification' (Debemur Morti)

5. Riot - 'Immortal Soul' (SPV)

Rammstein Single, "Mein Land," Available Nov. 11

Oct. 26 -- Rammstein release "Mein Land," the first single from the Rammstein retrospective Made In Germany 1995-2011, on Nov. 11 through Universal Germany's marketing and distribution deal in the US with Vagrant Records.

 

The "Mein Land" single will be available as a four-track release via iTunes with an unreleased song, "Vergiss Uns Nicht," as well as remixes from BossHoss and Mogwai accompanied by the Jonas Akerlund directed video for "Mein Land" and a digital booklet.  The Amazon version will be "Mein Land" and the two remixes.  

 

The video for "Mein Land" will premiere on Rammstein.com on Nov. 11.

 

A release date for Made in Germany 1995-2011 will be announced shortly.

 

Rammstein's most recent release, Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da, debuted at #13 on the Billboard Top 200 in October 2009.

 

www.rammstein.com

Queensryche – 10 Great Songs (2011)

Part of Capitol's 10 Great Songs series, the Queensrÿche installment serves as an introduction to the iconic prog band. Featuring songs like ”Empire" and ”Silent Lucidity," 10 Great Songs touches on some of their hits while only barely scratching the surface of their 30-year career. While this makes for a less intimidating first look at Queensrÿche, a better place to start would be the band's Greatest Hits collection.

New Heavy Metal CD Releases: September 13, 2011

September 13, 2011
Alice Cooper - Welcome 2 My Nightmare (Universal)
Anterior - Echoes Of The Fallen (Metal Blade)
Anthrax - Worship Music> (Megaforce)
Anubis Gate - Anubis Gate (Nightmare)
Arabrot - Solar Anus (Fysisk Format)
Arch/Matheos - Sympathetic Resonance (Metal Blade)
The Devil Wears Prada - Dead Throne (Ferret)
Doro - 25 Years In Rock DVD/CD (Nuclear Blast)
Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events (Roadrunner)
Edguy - Age Of The Joker (Nuclear Blast)
Einjerher - Norron (Indie)
Elks - Destined For The Sun (TeePee)
Evil United - Evil United (MVD)
Only Flesh - From The Gutter To The Grave (Rotten)
Pathology - Awaken To The Suffering (Victory)
Sabaton - World War Live: Battle Of The Baltic Sea (Nuclear Blast)
Untimely Demise - City Of Steel (Sonic Unyon)
Vader - Welcome To The Morbid Reich (Nuclear Blast)
Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestial Lineage (Southern Lord)
Wolves Like Us - Late Love (Prosthetic)

August 2011 Best Heavy Metal CDs

1. Revocation - 'Chaos Of Forms' (Relapse)
Revocation could have crumbled from the pressure of trying to outperform the stellar Existence Is Futile, but they pull through with an album on par with their sophomore release. The album has insane technical guitars and a large amount of infectiousness, all glued together by well-rounded instrumental work. The band has brought a second guitarist into the group for the first time. A brilliant move on their part, it allows for more solo trade-offs and tighter rhythms. Each song is like a splash of aftershave on Kevin McCallister’s face. The solos on “No Funeral” may leave a listener with that permanent expression. Another member also helps with the backing vocals, which are given leeway to battle with David Davidson’s tormented screams.

2. Today Is The Day - 'Pain Is A Warning' (Black Market Activities)
While Today is the Day always retain their signature sound, a core identity that is immediately recognizable, the band incorporate the greatest strengths of the current line-up. And, on Pain Is A Warning, the album benefits from a thick, luxurious sound and a strong rock engine. The record kicks off with a siege of boiling pitch aggression in the first two tracks, ‘”Expectations Exceed Reality” and Death Curse.” After doing its best to physically assault the listener, Pain Is A Warning trades in the blasting rage for a different type of fury. “Remember to Forget” is a much more subdued effort that has a circular construction and repetitive, gently delivered lyrics combining for a supremely disturbing track. This is a slow burn, quieter anger that twists, writhes and plots.

3. YOB - 'Atma' (Profound Lore)
Doom metal is effective at pummeling listeners, repeating riffs and lulling devotees into a state that borders on narcolepsy. The best doom couples hypnotic phrasing with music that doesn’t offer complacency, but demands that listeners think and feel. YOB again achieves it with Atma, an album named after a term that means “higher self” in numerous Eastern religions. Atma is a tricky album, one that steers you into a false sense of complacency. Like a Zen Buddhist teacher it misdirects, plays the trickster, demands focus. This is YOB’s sixth album and it’s evident that they still have much to offer. Each song features a riff that functions like a Russian nesting doll. On a first listen it sounds like there’s nothing else when there’s a multitude of riches.

4. Leprous - 'Bilateral' (Inside Out)
There are influences on Bilateral ranging from The Mars Volta to Porcupine Tree on songs like “Acquired Taste.” The band does make sure to leave enough room for an out-of-control track featuring a guest spot by a black metal legend. Former Emperor vocalist Ihsahn gives a rousing performance on “Thorn,” which is supported by screeching trumpets. The song would have fitted in with Ihsahn’s latest solo album After.

5. Flourishing - 'The Sum Of All Fossils' (The Path Less Traveled)
It’s difficult to place Flourishing’s first full-length in terms of genre; it fits no category neatly. There are definitely significant death metal and grind influences, but to leave it at that would be reductive and inaccurate. The sound is metallic and mechanical, but without the cold echoes of industrial; instead, the sound clatters and pings like metal heated red-hot. There’s also a strong avant-garde hardcore sensibility and breathless blasts of noise. The result is something that Skynet might have composed to inspire its mechanical troops during the eradication of the human race. However, that’s not accurate either, as this isn’t robotically produced and lifeless like so much industrial, but rather a product of instruments being pushing to their limits. There are human minds behind this madness.

New Heavy Metal CD Releases: August 30, 2011

August 30, 2011
Bobaflex - Hell In My Heart (Megaforce)
Century - Red Giant (Prosthetic)
Eat The Gun - Runner (Metalville)
Entrenched - Preemptive Strike (Horror Pain Gore)
Hackneyed - Carnival Cadavre (Lifeforce)
Kittie - I've Failed You (eOne)
Nocturnal Fear - Excessive Cruelty (Moribund)
Pentagram - When The Screams Come DVD (Metal Blade)
Pro-Pain - 20 Years Of Hardcore CD/DVD (AFM)
Shadowside - Inner Monster Out (SHP)
Stray From The Path - Rising Sun (Sumerian)

New Heavy Metal CD Releases: August 23, 2011

August 23, 2011
All Else Fails - The Oracle, What Was Is and Could Have Been (Suicidal Brides)
Atriarch - Forever The End (Seventh Rule)
Black Tide - Post Mortem (DGC)
Discharge - Desensitise/War Is Hell Re-Release (Candlelight)
Ghost Brigade - Until Fear No Longer Defines Us (Season Of Mist)
ICS Vortex - Storm Seeker (Century Media)
Jorn - Live In Black (Frontiers)
Leprous - Bilateral (InsideOut)
Minushuman - Bloodthrone (Season Of Mist)