Roadrunner Blogs | Mike Gitter

Kylesa: Static Tensions - Strip away Mastodon's penchant for mythology, grandioity and a couple other big "ologies", dirty it up, add a second drummer and you've got fellow Georgians, Kylesa. You've also earned a nod from the other locals Baroness. "Static Tension" isn't going to convince anyone that the band doesn't come from a scene where Neurosis are Zeppelin. Two drum kits, male and female switcharoo vox are still the order of the day -- think Laura Pleasant's  droning Tammy Wynette facing off against Phillip Cope's aggro George Jones. Songs are much slimmer and to the point than on previous records with the likes of "Running Red" rising to grab your attention with a kung fu grip of trusty Sabbath tribute riffs. By year's end, expect to see this on many a 'best-of' lists. (Prosthetic)

Anvil-This is Thirteen: You saw the movie. You know the story. I bought it at the merch stand at their New England Metal Fest appearance. Simply, a good Anvil record.

Blackguard - Profugis Mortis: Can't say these Quebecers are the Folk-Metallists  that they've been tagged. If you're expecting Korpkilaani, forget it. Blackguard (formery Profugis Mortis, hence the album title -- something about fugitives, I think), have more in common with "Colony" era In Flames than anything else. No lute-brandishing here. Maybe there's a keyboard shout-out to the Renn-Faire kids, but that's really at a minimum.  Then again, they do raise the good ol' flagon with a number called "This Round's On Me" but do it with plenty of non-Euro frutiness? Gimmie some mead-lite mutha-fucka! This feels like a great metal band stumbling out of Medieval Times. (Sumerian/Nuclear Blast)

Deathspell Omega - Chaining The Katechon:  As oblique as the wannabe. If "Black Metal" is a term that even applies to what these two Frenchies (whose secret identities are as heavily guarded as KISS back in the day) are doing, then this takes the notion even further. Hypnotic as a visit to the life-regression specialist, this 23 minute one-tracker moves from passage to passage, funereal and avante to simply blasting. Think if Darkthrone and Mogwai had a baby. Oh-la-la!  (Southern Lord)

Insect Warfare-World Extermination: A reissue of 2007's primal grind classic. "Impenetrable" is the best way to put it. A buzz-saw bludgeon of everything at once.  27 minutes. 20 songs. Damn shame that they've already broken up. They came, they saw, they grinded. Take this as a souvenir  of that and walk away. Insect Warfare may have been the ray-o-vac charge modern day grindcore so severely needed. (Earache)

Wolves In The Throne Room-Black Cascade:

These Washington State eco-spiritualists ooze the sort of  atmosphere and mystique that should accompany a band that actually does stake its ground in a muddied stretch of gray sky and dark forest (also see the likes of  Agalloch, for more Pacific Northwest Black Metal exemplum). For better or worse, a bit of typical Wolves fare including female vocals and sundry other swipes at post-rockiness are exorcised here, the likes of "Ex-Cathedra" blasting away in identikit  Norweigan manner. Now, just as you're about to write off the follow-up to the excellent "Two Hunters" disc, along comes "Ahrimaic Trance" to grab a bit of the already expansive Emperor formula and stretch and bend it like play-dough whilst "Crystal Ammunition", the album's strongest entry, sums up the WITTR sound perfectly. Chilling and epic in a manner that acknowledges and then steps away from its inspirations for something unique to its own wooded landscapes. (Southern Lord)

Brutal Truth - Evolution Through Revolution: Dudes this stoned shouldn't be making music this furious! This is the Brutal Truth you've been waiting for. A hair less grind, for sure, but from the onset of "Sugar Daddy" where Rich Hoak gives Danny Likler's more defined bass and Kevin Sharpe hits the microphone like a man on fire, you know who this is. Ten years later Brutal Truth does what Brutal Truth does best: over-the-top blasts of sheer aggression (of which there's 20 here). And yea, at moments you do get a knuckle draggin' moment like the intro to "Fist in Mouth", it only serves to reinforce the chaos. (Relapse)

Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know: I will gladly and emphatically state that the Dio Sabs incarnation that's this configuration's namesake is Black Sabbath's finest moment. Not "Vol. 4". Not "Masters of Reality". I will also state that their prior effort, "Dehumanizer" is a lost gem in the Sabbath cannon - but then again, I do count "The Headless Cross" in my top five Iommi-helmed platters. Weirdo.  So there's something oddly comforting that H&H hold onto the dungeon-doom-dirge that defined the Sabbath name. And yeah, this one's very uneven. And not surprisingly, it's pretty turgid at points. I'll take  the "Dehumanizer" album for it's faster moments. And yeah, "Eating The Cannibals" is a low-point here.  But, when you get something as great as "Bible Black" or "Breaking Into Heaven", you're willing to forget a few missteps.

My Dying Bride - For Lies I Sire: Brit bum-out artists come with their strongest in years. Aaron Stanhope provides the funereal warble as these long-runners inject the violins back into the equation and flirt with a record that waxes proggy along with MDB's well-honed penchant for all things weepy.

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