Even though it’s not a yearly thing, Gigantour, the festival conceived by Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine is always a big event for metal fans. In 2005, Megadeth teamed with Dream Theater for [...]]]>

The Palace will show signs of life for the first time in a while as Megadeth leads Gigantour this Thursday.

Even though it’s not a yearly thing, Gigantour, the festival conceived by Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine is always a big event for metal fans. In 2005, Megadeth teamed with Dream Theater for the inaugural run of the festival and provided an alternative to the juggernaut that was OzzFest. 2006’s tour was mostly noted for Lamb of God’s scene stealing 2^nd billing spot, that left Megadeth fans like a little air had been let out of the show. But Megadeth returned in 2008 and delivered a blistering set, as well as strong sets by In Flames and Children Of Bodom.

Well, the fourth Gigantour run is upon us and delivers another solid lineup for hard rock and metal fans in the cold winter months. Here’s what you have to think about this year’s Gigantour bands:

Megadeth: Obviously, the headliner is back for another round and is out in support of their thirteenth album, simply titled “Thirteen”. The band is a bit more streamlined than the band’s previous albums that reinvigorated the band, but still provides it’s moments. Check out “Public Enemy #1” and “New World Order” for the best example’s of the band’s fury on their latest. Expect a set full of the band’s latest, but many fans will be there to also hear the classics as well too.

Motorhead: Personally, after watching the “Lemmy” documentary- I don’t know how one of the hardest partying and purveyor of the rock star lifestyle is still alive. At 64, Lemmy Kilmister is still touring the hell out of the band, now well into it’s fourth decade. After releasing their latest album, “The World Is Yours” early last year’s, it goes to prove that Motorhead keeps doing their thing, don’t change for a damn thing and we eat it all up.

Volbeat: The up and coming Danish band is really starting to make waves here in the States. The band totally obsessed with American culture and musical styles is one of the more original bands out there these days. The band is even scoring some major rock radio hits now as well, as “Fallen” and “The Warrior’s Call” both have hit the Billboard Top 10 Rock Songs in the past year. Make sure to check out their latest, “Beyond Hell/Above Heaven”, and their live album of the same name.

Lacuna Coil: Except a pretty big debut for the Italian hard rock band for their latest album, “Dark Adrenaline” when sales numbers come out next week. The band, fronted by the beautiful Christina Scabbia provides the biggest rock radio polish and gives their fans big hooks and some tempered moments before the fans go nuts for the other bands.

Gigantour 2012 takes place at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Thursday, February 9^th. Tickets range between $13 and $39.50 and are available at palacenet.com. Additional tour dates can be found at www.gigantour.com.

Don’t worry fans, the highly popular indie band The Hold Steady is just fine and there is no concern for a breakup. But the band is currently taking a break from the band, lead singer Craig Finn [...]]]>

Craig Finn makes his first solo apperance in Detroit at the Lager House on Wednesday.

Don’t worry fans, the highly popular indie band The Hold Steady is just fine and there is no concern for a breakup. But the band is currently taking a break from the band, lead singer Craig Finn is out on the road promoting his first solo album, “Clear Heart Full Eyes”, which came out last week on Vagrant Records.

As Finn describes it on the label’s website, he recorded the album during a break from the Hold Steady last summer in a sweltering Austin. Recording the album for three weeks, Finn enlisted several other musicians to create the album. The result is way more infused with blues and bluegrass than any of the Hold Steady’s work, with songs like “New Friend Jesus” showing that bluegrass influenced. But where Finn excels as usual is in his usual Springsteen-esque storytelling. Hearing songs like “Jackson” and the garage rocking “Honolulu Blues”, Finn keeps things entertaining enough on his solo debut, but provides a clear difference musically from his day job with the Hold Steady.

This is Finn’s first venture outside of the Hold Steady since forming the band in 2002 and it’s a big step for one of indie rock’s most enjoyable figures. If you are a fan of the Steady or just a fan of the different genres he bounces back and forth between, “Clear Heart Full Eyes”, should be one on your listening list.

Finn has just started his solo tour, which will run through March 5^th here in North American before heading to Europe for the rest of March. Making his way to the ever balmy February nights of Detroit, Craig plays at PJ’s Lager House on Wednesday, March 8^th. It’s a night to hear the new side to Finn and perhaps some of the Hold Steady favorites as well.

Craig Finn plays at PJ’s Lager House on Wednesday, February 8^th. Tickets are $10 and are available at www.pjslagerhouse.com. Additional tour dates and info can be found at www.http://www.vagrant.com/artists/news/72-craigfinn.

For a band who has been proclaimed the “unluckiest band in rock”, the guys in Royal Bliss seemed to be putting that moniker to rest in 2008 and 2009 as the band scored two Top 40 Rock singles in “Save Me” and [...]]]>

Royal Bliis bring their new album to Flint next Saturday.

For a band who has been proclaimed the “unluckiest band in rock”, the guys in Royal Bliss seemed to be putting that moniker to rest in 2008 and 2009 as the band scored two Top 40 Rock singles in “Save Me” and “We Did Nothing Wrong”, from their album “Life In-Between”. But as the album and those songs started to progress, the powers that be at their record label at the time (Capitol Records) shifted and a lot of bands got lost in the shuffle, including Royal Bliss.

But instead of trying to find a new major label, the band opted to go the indie route and start work on their next album. Almost three years later, the band’s saga is reaping benefits as the band released their brand new album, “Waiting Out The Storm” on January 24^th. When hearing the story of the genesis and the situation the album was born out of, it’s easy to see why the band called the album what they did.

The band is currently out on tour with West Virginia rockers Bobaflex for dates through March 6^th. As the band was in Portland to record some new material that may or may not end up on a future album, or something to complement the new album, I had a chance to talk with singer/guitarist Neal Middleton about how the issues with the former label shaped the album and Neal’s experience on a certain NBC music game show.
Here’s is my interview with Neal:

AM: After everything that has happened in the past couple of years, where is your excitement level at for the new album?
NM: The excitement is huge and we feel this is the best album we’ve ever done, but that’s what we always try to think. We want to go out there and prove that we can do this without a major label and we’re in control of our own destiny. There’s a new energy to the band and it feels like we’re a new band all over again.

AM: How long did the recording process take?
NM: Originally, we had written 100 songs for the album and it went through a bunch of different phases. We got it down to 40 or 50 songs before getting into the studio with Brian Virtue, then we widdled it down to 16 or 18 songs that we recorded for the album. But it probably took about a year and a half before the initial recording started, and then about another year and a half after that, so it was almost a three year process all together.

AM: In that time, how did the lyrics and music change from start to finish?
NM: I usually write from a perspective of what’s going on in my life at that time, and there was a lot at this point. We ended up leaving the label, I just had a son and some other things that were going on. I was a father for the first time and a lot of the lyrics had to do with the idea of watching him growing up and being a good father to him. Some of the songs had totally different lyrics and sounded when they were finally recorded than the pre-production stage.

AM: How did the band find new management and stay afloat in the tough time?
NM: We were out of the label management and the deal prior to recording. We had some help from some private investors that really believed in the band and what we were doing and helped us with the recording costs. When working with Brian, he basically told us that if we were just interested in writing a bunch of songs for the radio, he wasn’t interested in working with us. He wanted to be a full on Royal Bliss album. It was around that time that UEG Management, who handles Hinder, Nickelback and a few other bands found us. We were in Nashville recording at the time when we started getting all of these managers wanting to work with us. They were pretty shocked that we had no interest in going back to a major label and wanted to self-release things. They liked our music and didn’t just automatically think about how they could make money from us, so that worked out well.

AM: How did the band feel after finishing the long stretch of touring last summer?
NM: It was tough, to say the least. We paid for a lot of the touring out of our own pocket. We did two to three months with Hinder, another month with Puddle of Mudd, making as little as 250 dollars a night. But with traveling and gas prices, we were spending a lot more money than that to stay on the road. I had my son in August and we had to cancel 15 shows while I spent time with him. During that time, I went out and auditioned for “The Voice” (laughs). I actually made it to the Top 85 people on the show and performed in front of the coaches, and it should be on the show when it comes back on. At that time, I was thinking more about money and taking care of my son. But it was a really weird experience and I felt very out of place. I can’t play a character on some reality TV/game show. In a way, I’m glad it didn’t work out and it helped me finish the record.

AM: If there was anything you could go back and change about “Life In-Between”, what would it be?
NM: (laughs) To raise about an extra $500,000 to properly promote the album. It was a great album and I wouldn’t change a thing about the album itself, but we just didn’t have the capital to have the album stick around for a while. EMI got bought out and the executive that signed us left, which left us in the dark. By the time that got settled, there wasn’t a lot of money for touring and promotion.

AM: The album did yield a couple big singles; how did the band react to first hearing those songs?
NM: It was such a surreal experience. Coming from Salt Lake City, we always had a good following there, but when we started hearing the song on Sirius Radio, we started going crazy. But from there, we started going to cities on tour and we’d turn on the local radio station and see if they were talking about us. It was great to hear radio stations 1,500 miles away talking about our shows and stuff. It really does give you butterflies.

Royal Bliss play at the Machine Shop in Flint on Saturday, February 11^th. Tickets are $10 and are available at www.etix.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at www.royalbliss.com.

Look at any year end Top 10 list of metal albums (including this very writer’s), and you should see one constant on those lists- and it’s not Metallica & Lou Reed’s horribly executed “Lulu” album. One album [...]]]>

Revocation open for Children of Bodom in an east side show at Harpo's on Tuesday.

Look at any year end Top 10 list of metal albums (including this very writer’s), and you should see one constant on those lists- and it’s not Metallica & Lou Reed’s horribly executed “Lulu” album. One album that is on the vast majority of those lists is the third album by the Boston extreme metal band Revocation, “Chaos Of Forms”. The album is a nearly 50 minute sonic lesson in all things technical death metal that is showing that the guys in Revocation are quickly becoming one of the underground metal world’s fastest rising groups.

With “Chaos of Forms”, Revocation delivers their usual brand of metal, but for the first time, they added unusual (for the metal world) instrumentation for the album, enlisting a horn section for one of the tracks. Given the diverse education that guitarist Dave Davidson received at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, it’s no surprise to see the band branching out and adding new elements to their metal.

After taking a bit of time off around the holiday to recharge their battery, the guys are about to get back on the road as they open for Finnish thrash stars Children of Bodom on a tour that lasts through the beginning of March. Before their tour was underway, I had a chance to Davidson and bassist Anthony Buda to discuss the new album and how they feel the band is progressing in the metal food chain.

Here’s my interview with Dave and Anthony from Revocation:

AM: Are you guys surprised at all the accolades for “Chaos Of Forms” at the end of last year?
DD: I mean, it’s always nice to see your band on those lists and for people to say those things and definitely an honor. When you look at magazines like Guitar World, and see your album getting praise- it’s shocking but an ever bigger honor.

AB: It’s nice to know that people are appreciating what you’re doing. I feel things like this help show the constant evolution of the band, but at the same time, you don’t get too full of yourself over it at the same time.

AM: How did the recording experience for “Chaos of Forms” vary from previous albums?
DD: It was different in a sense that it was the first time we stopped and started a bunch of times while recording. We had to do this because we kept getting asked to be on tours and did tours with Despised Icon and Darkest Hour and kept coming back to the album. But with all these stops and starts, it gave us more time to develop the songs- so it actually worked out fine.

AB: For us, this was the first time we were full integrated as a full time band, touring and recording. For me, it was finding that balancing between how we sound live and trying to make the album sound closer to how we sound live.

AM: In what way lyrically and musically do you see this album being different from past albums?
AB: As a metal band, you want to have fun when doing your music and bring forth that attitude, but at the same time- you want to make people think and not be overly directly. It’s better to let people internalize the things they are hearing and let people make interpret the music in their own way. It makes for an experience with more substance and depth.

DD: I think not being super direct keeps things interesting. A song like “Cretin” on paper is about this demented circus freak. But if you look deeper into the song, it’s an allegory for bullies and the torment with that, or the agony of what someone deals with a physical handicap. A song like “Conjuring the Cataclysm” talks about necromancers and zombies and things, but it just as easily discusses our band in the metal world and the subculture into itself.

AM: Is there a song in the live set that you feel challenges fans the most these days?
AB: Definitely “The Watchers”. It’s unlike we’ve done before because of the fact we have a horn section and organ section in the song that gets the most surprising reaction from fans and has been receiving pretty positive responses so far.

AM: How does your education at the Berklee School of Music influence that diversity in the music?
DD: With those songs like “The Watchers”, I think it was just the product of my environment going to school there and studying with many different people from different backgrounds. Plenty of people there just hide in one musical corner and don’t want to come outside of that zone. I focused in on all sorts of music, a smorgasbord that opened my eyes up and learned more improv stuff- which you can see on the intro to “Cataclysm”.

AB: As someone that worked with Dave before he went to Berklee, I’m here to say he’s always been the same guy and is a great player, but this knowledge makes him that much better. He knows what it takes to make a song sound good, but can still get the best technical aspect out of the song too.

AM: The band recently expanded to a quartet- where did the band find Dan Gargiulo, the band’s new guitarist and how does he fit into the grand scheme of the band?
DD: Dan’s a great player and totally came in and wowed us. We had known him through a friend of a friend and he played in a few other bands in the area. He worked out well because we didn’t have to show him how to play every song- he picked up the entire set list just by his ear and knew the songs within a couple of days.

AM: With all the touring the band does- do you feel the band is starting to get the recognition most band’s seek?
DD: It’s been a long hard road and at the shows, I think people are starting to recognize us more and more and more people are hanging out with us, so I think it’s working (laughs). Touring is key to heavy metal music, so is the word of mouth and it’s exciting to play to other crowds.

AB: We very focused on playing with a lot of different types of bands, because it helps fans get out of their own little subgenre and world and exposes them to us, and at the same time, helps us to see what those fans are like as well. It may not directly be their type of music, but they usually get and respect what we’re doing.

Revocation open for Children of Bodom at Harpo’s on Tuesday, January 31^st. Tickets are $20 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at http://www.relapse.com/label/artist/revocation.html.

Pretty much since 2006’s “Sacrament”, the Virginia based metal juggernauts Lamb of God have the most anticipated metal album of the year. For most of their career, the band has delivered punishing albums with stunning precision and [...]]]>

Yeah, if you are into Lamb of God, there's no reason you shouldn't dig "Resolution".

Pretty much since 2006’s “Sacrament”, the Virginia based metal juggernauts Lamb of God have the most anticipated metal album of the year. For most of their career, the band has delivered punishing albums with stunning precision and one would have to think that is this were the old days of the music industry, this would be the metal band playing arenas, ala Pantera in the mid-90’s.

With their seventh album, “Resolution”, Lamb of God doesn’t quite reinvent the wheel here, but delivers another headbeating 14 songs. Starting with the blood curdling screams of the opener “Straight for the Sun” to the usual groove metal of the first single “Ghost Walking”, Randy Blythe start in a familiar comfort zone to lure fans in. But where the album gets interesting is after the first single, where cuts like “The Undertow”, “Barbarosa” and “The Number Six” doesn’t really show us anything new, but brings intensity and the fiercest vocals from Blythe in several albums.

After going for some shine on “Sacrament” and on certain parts of their 2009 album “Wrath”, LOG muddy up the guitar work in a good way, giving the overall sound a bit more edge than the past few efforts. Of course there are a few tracks that seem subpar, such as the been there, done that already “Cheated” (but you gotta give them props for using the Sex Pistols’ infamous last line in concert “don’t you get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”) and the cleaning singing in parts of “Insurrection” sound more Phil Anselmo-ish than Blythe’s.

I think that the material on “Resolution” doesn’t show any new tricks in the playbook, but with a band like Lamb of God, I can let that slide. The album shows a brut force that was missing on “Wrath” and is more in the vein of their classic 2004 album “Ashes of the Wake”. And to be honest, an above average Lamb of God record will contend for Album of the Year and is still better than 99 percent of metal bands out there.

Call it the wonders of the internet. Years ago, if a band left a label to independently release their music, it was nothing short of career suicide, but not so much anymore. Take a group like the Las [...]]]>

Along with The Summer Set, The Cab hits the Crofoot Ballroom next Friday night.

Call it the wonders of the internet. Years ago, if a band left a label to independently release their music, it was nothing short of career suicide, but not so much anymore. Take a group like the Las Vegas band The Cab; who split with Fueled By Ramen/Decaydance last summer, quickly self released their second album, “Symphony Solider” in August. But with the band’s loyal fan base and wonders of the internet and getting your music out there, the guys in the Cab debuted at #62 upon the album’s release.

The Cab was founded in 2005 in the Vegas suburb of Henderson, when lead singer Alex DeLeon moved away from hardcore bands to find a bit more melodic side, founding the Can and watching the eye of Panic At The Disco, who helped the band get signed to Fueled by Ramen. After their debut, “Whisper War” almost cracked the Top 100 in 2008, the band enlisted such pop powerhouses as Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and Bruno Mars to help with the songwriting for “Solider”. With the material on the new album, it’s easy to see that the band captured a bit more power pop and shine to their music. Make sure to check out songs like “Bad” and “Grow Up And Be Kids” for some good examples of the band’s latest sound.

Being a veteran of the Warped Tour and AP Tour, the Cab aren’t wasting anytime getting back in the road in 2012. Along with fellow pop-punk band The Summer Set, the Cab started their “Everything’s Fine Symphony Solider” tour on January 14^th and runs through mid-February. But the two groups make sure to hit Detroit when they reach what should be a cold Pontiac when the bands hit the Crofoot Ballroom on Friday, February 3^rd for a night of catchy hooks and some easy going fun.

The Cab play at the Crofoot Ballroom on Friday, February 3^rd. Tickets are $14 and are available at www.ticketweb.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at www.thecabrock.com.

For fans of the electro-rock band Celldweller, fans have been awaiting since 2009 to see the finished product behind his “Wish Upon a Blackstar” effort. With the first chapter released in August of 2009, Celldweller to continue roughly one chapter per year and fans [...]]]>

Klayton's Celldweller hits the Works Thursday night.

For fans of the electro-rock band Celldweller, fans have been awaiting since 2009 to see the finished product behind his “Wish Upon a Blackstar” effort. With the first chapter released in August of 2009, Celldweller to continue roughly one chapter per year and fans are now get a taste for the final piece of the puzzle, when the fifth chapter of the album comes to fans on March 27^th.

Even with the ongoing “Blackstar” saga, group mastermind Klayton has been putting out music since his 2003 self-titled debut. Starting out in a band with big time illusionist Criss Angel, Klayton struck out on his own with a brand of electronic & industrial rock very reminsicient of the genre’s early to mid-90’s heyday. After moving from New York to right here in Detroit, Klayton really kicked in the project in overdrive once in the Motor City, releasing a few more albums worth of material before working on the still in progress “Blackstar”. If you had a chance to check out any of the four chapters, Celldweller’s music is a wild mixture of industrial, dubstep and drum and bass that keeps things heavy enough, but melodic enough to bring in a wide range of fans.

With the fifth chapter being released both digitally and a physical CD in March, the seven song chapter, with such tracks as “Against The Tide” and “The Seven Sisters”, are sure to feature a blend that rang through the first four chapters, but with a few new twists thrown in for good measure.

After taking a bit of a break from touring, Klayton brought Celldweller back to the road in 2010 and has been touring a bit since then. With some dates in 2011, Celldweller stays home for a rare DJ set at the Works in Detroit this Thursday, January 26^th. Perhaps you can check out some of his recent mash-ups, using songs by Metallica and Asking Alexandria, hear some of the Celldweller stuff, or just songs that get Klayton. Who knows? You could hear all three, but make sure to get to the Works to see the Celldweller sound.

Celldweller plays a DJ set at the Works Bar & Club, located at 1846 Michigan Avenue in Detroit on Thursday, January 26^th. For more information on cover, check out www.myspace.com/theworksdetroit for more details. For more info and tour dates, check out www.celldweller.com.

Nope, it’s not a reference to the University of Michigan and hitting a game at Michigan Stadium (I know Spartan fans, roll your eyes—-NOW! And deal with it). But when you see the big block “M” associated with the [...]]]>

The M Machine opens for Paper Diamond Saturday at Clutch Cargo's.

Nope, it’s not a reference to the University of Michigan and hitting a game at Michigan Stadium (I know Spartan fans, roll your eyes—-NOW! And deal with it). But when you see the big block “M” associated with the San Francisco based group The M Machine.

The M Machine are the progressive DJ trio of Andrew Coenen, Benajmin Swardlick and Eric Luttrell and are releasing new music at a pretty good clip these days. Back in October, the guys released the double single for “Promise Me a Rose Garden” and “Glow”, which showcase the M Machine’s highly infectous “chillwave” brand of electronica. But the group’s cornerstone is the 12 minute “Trafalgar”, which more than keeps the listener’s attention for the full time. The group was recently signed to OWSLA, which is the new musical label imprint from new electronic music heavyweight Skrillex.

The M Machine will be on the road with Paper Diamond for the “Winter Warmer Tour”, which runs through February 1^st. But the tour will make their way through a probably frigid Detroit area stop as they play the iLounge inside of Clutch Cargo on Saturday, January 21^st. If you haven’t checked out the venue yet and love this group- let’s just say’s it’s one of the perfect places to check and chill to one the trance and mellow ways of the M Machine.

The M Machine open for Paper Diamond at the iLounge at Clutch Cargo’s on Saturday, January 21^st. Tickets are $15 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com. Additional tour dates and group info can be found at www.facebook.com/themmachine.

After the band had done tours with Drowning Pool and Wayne Static, you would think the guys in the California based band Kyng would be taking a short break to start the new year. Guess [...]]]>

Kyng brings their style of heavy to Royal Oak this Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Katherine Guerrero)

After the band had done tours with Drowning Pool and Wayne Static, you would think the guys in the California based band Kyng would be taking a short break to start the new year. Guess again. After releasing their debut “Trampled Sun” back in late September and wrapped up their 2011 touring, the band quickly made plans as they will be opening for In Flames during a winter tour about to get underway.

Founded when former members of the band Ankla, Tony Castaneda and Pepe Clarke Magana left to strike out of their own, Kyng moved away from the full on metal of that band for a wide ranging old school sounding hard rock record. Whether it’s the groove of tracks like “Pushing & Pulling” or the Alice in Chains-esque “Takes It’s Toll”, Kyng makes a play for big rock radio with the songs on “Trampled Sun”. Perhaps the best show of the wide ranging sound is the nine minute, two part track “Beauty at the End/ Shorelines Pt. 1 & 2”, where the band starts the song with a serene acoustic number, before moving into a hard charging hard rock cut. When I spoke with Castaneda over the summer, he described the band’s sound and influences as “California Heavy”- which is a blend of classic and modern rock, latin music, hip-hop which gives the band their diverse sound.

With the new year started and the band back on the road, their first tour of 2012 will be with Swedish melodic death metal patriarchs In Flames. Along with a huge lineup including Trivium and Veil of Maya, Kyng will be on the road starting January 13^th through February 21^st. But the tour makes an early stop in the Detroit area as the bands take over what is sure to be a loud and heavy night in a cold town as Kyng starts things off with that “California Heavy” sound.

Kyng open up for In Flames at the Royal Oak Theater on Friday, January 13^th. Tickets are $20 and are available at www.tickets.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at www.kyngband.com.

10. Animals as Leaders- Weightless- If Dave Davidson is the up and coming thrash metal god, Tosin Abasi is the virtuoso of the new school. On the group’s sophomore album, the intricate guitar work on “Odessa” and “Earth Departure” [...]]]>

Machine Head is #1. See Revolver, we got it right- unlike you guys.

10. Animals as Leaders- Weightless- If Dave Davidson is the up and coming thrash metal god, Tosin Abasi is the virtuoso of the new school. On the group’s sophomore album, the intricate guitar work on “Odessa” and “Earth Departure” don’t bash you over the head, but comes off more like a metal jam band and shows that technical metal doesn’t need to be pretentious to amaze fans.

9. Suicide Silence- The Black Crown- When I spoke with lead singer Mitch Lucker this summer, he said this was a “make or break” album for the band. They certainly didn’t break on their third album, as tracks like “Slaves to Substance” and “Smashed” beat your skull in and sent pits ablaze at the Mayhem Festival. We’ll see if the band rises to the top of the metal heap in the future, but “Crown” bodes well for the band.

8. Mastodon- The Hunter- There have been cries of “it’s a pop album” and other derogatory remarks made about this album. Even if it’s not as epic and memorable as their past album “Crack The Skye”, the collection of songs on their latest are songs that are a little more refined than past work. Listen, we all love “March of the Fire Ants” and “Blood and Thunder”, but a band has to evolve at some point and the grooves on “Curl of the Burl” and “All The Heavy Lifting” are undeniable. It’s good to see a metal band crack the Top 10 of the Billboard Album charts as well, it’s something not seen much these days.

7. Devildriver- Beast- After the fury for “Pray for Villains” pummeled fans’ eardrums back in the summer of 2009, you think Devildriver would rest on their laurels and take the foot of the gas a little. Bulls—t! The title of the band’s latest album sums up the push it to the floor mentality of the band over their five albums now. If you doubt me, check out “S—tlist” and “Bring the Fight” and I bet you change your tune real quick.

6. Revocation- Chaos of Forms- Revocation’s Dave Davidson is just a monster on this album. With the band’s third full length, his guitar work on tracks like “Cradle Robber” and “No Funeral” prove that the band is probably one of the more criminally underrated bands. Critics love them, now they just need to capture the metal masses.

5. Ghost- Opus Eponymous- Ok yes, the group’s look and pseudo-Satanic imagery is a gimmick, and they don’t do blast beats or guttural vocals and I can see why someone would roll their eyes at this choice. But if you listen to the songs, it’s a wild throwback to the early days of metal. Songs like the catchy as hell “Ritual” and “Elizabeth” prove that you don’t have to be technically proficient or scary musically to make tuneful music.

4. Asking Alexandria- Reckless & Relentless- Sure, it’s Hot Topic/something-core music that is sure to enrage the metal purists, but if you are looking for a happy medium between a nod to the old school and modern metalcore, these British guys got it right with their second album. “Dear Insanity” and “A Lesson Never Learned” are two of the songs on an album that just seems to get better the later the album goes on and may show some signs of hope for the metalcore scene.

3. Black Dahlia Murder- Ritual- Sure, the guys from Detroit have had some killer albums before- but there was something different about “Ritual”. The guys tried for more melody and diversified their guitar work into a full bodied experience. Even though titles like “Conspiring With the Damned” or “Carbonized in Cruiciform” might not be dinner table conversation, the riffs and frentic vocals give the album real punch and is easily the band’s best yet.

2. Anthrax- Worship Music- Maybe it was because I didn’t have faith in Joey Belladonna’s vocals or their problems, but the material on “Worship Music” made a believer out of me after I went into the album with a lot of apprehension. It’s a great blend of the Belladonna and Bush era material and if you didn’t get into tracks like “The Devil You Know” or “The Giant”, you are hopelessly stuck in your little niche scene and need to show some old school respect.

1. Machine Head- Unto the Locust- The band’s last album “The Blackening” could have been one of the top 3 albums of the past decade, and “Locust” turned out to be just as heavy as it’s predecessor. The songs continue at the same epic length and if you haven’t heard the title track or “I Am Hell”, you probably haven’t heard the best metal songs of the year. The last album help forgive the goggles and jumpsuits of their awkward late 90’s period; this album proved they are one of the titans of the modern era.