Happy Friday to all of you! After however long of swearing by a Tuesday record release system, North America has finally caught up to the rest of the world and is dropping new albums on Friday now. Rejoice? Or retain you normal level of casual interest. This inaugural Friday edition includes prog metal's current heroes, goth metal from the past, a rad post metal band, and more! To the metals…
Between The Buried And Me – Coma Ecliptic 
Genre: Progressive
Origin: Raleigh, North Carolina
Label: Metal Blade
Buy now on Amazon.com
Yet another fantastic progressive record unlike any other band out there. I can hear people crying that this isn't as heavy as the previous album, The Parallax II: Future Sequence, already. However, this one is easily the most adventurous and diverse offering from the band. Completely in the spirit of what makes BTBAM one of the best bands out there still.
Cradle of Filth – Hammer Of The Witches 
Genre: Melodic black metal/Goth metal
Origin: Ipswich, England
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Amazon.com
Cradle of Filth is a band that seems like might be on the verge of a resurgence. They have infused more and more of their initial black metal roots into the last few record, and I dig it. Still melodic and symphonic as hell, but they're even a bit proggy at times. Dani still sounds like a screeching, unholy demon though. I guess that's the point?
DragonForce – In The Line Of Fire DVD 
Genre: Speed/Power metal
Origin: London, England
Label: Metal Blade
Buy now on Amazon.com
Remember when DragonForce was like THE metal band people knew about because of Guitar Hero? That was kind of weird, right? The band got a new singer since those days, but guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman as still the stars of the outfit. Anyway, this is them doing what they do live.
Glowsun – Beyond The Wall Of Time 
Genre: Stoner
Origin: Lille, France
Label: Napalm
Buy now on Amazon.com
Now to France, we go! This band is new to my radar. They're fuzzy, a little lo-fi, and feel like they could falsely get lumped in with the thousands of throwback bands. However, they have unique production and song writing that makes them not just another sub par copy of The Sword.
Graveworm – Ascending Hate 
Genre: Melodic black metal
Origin: Brunico, Italy
Label: AFM
Buy now on Amazon.com
With a name like Graveworm and a career like these guys have had, you know exactly what you're getting here. Big, happy, pop rock about candy! Nah, melodic metal about death, and dying, and being dead.
A Light Within – Body Matter EP
Genre: Post metal
Origin: Kansas City, Missouri
Label: Static Tension
Buy now on Bandcamp.com
I had no idea who this band was until something just told me to randomly see what they deal was when I saw them listed among the "Also dropping today" section below. I'm so happy I checked them out. They are a post metal collective that could be for fans of Isis, Deftones, Callisto, Russian Circles, and so on. A really, really good band that deserves a chance.
Also dropping today…
Abyssion – Luonnon Harmonia Ja Vihreä Liekki (Svart) – Black metal
Alda – Passage (Bindrune) – Black metal
Being As An Ocean – Being As An Ocean (Impericon) – Melodic hardcore
Bison Machine – Hoarfrost (Kozmik Artifactz) – Psychedelic
Black December – Vol. 1 (Metropolis) – Rock
Black Feast – Larenuf Jubileum (Nuclear War Now!) – Blackened death metal
Blacklist Union – Back To Momo (BLU) "Street rock"
Black Veil Brides – Alive and Burning DVD (Eagle Rock) – Glam metalcore or something
Bone Gnawer – Cannibal Crematorium (Pulverised) – Death metal
Burning Point – Burning Point (AFM) – Melodic power metal
Chaos Magic – Chaos Magic (Frontiers) – Power metal
Daemoniac – Lord Of Immolation EP (Xtreem) – Death metal
Diabolicum – Ia Pazuzu (The Abyss Of The Shadows) (Code 666) – Black metal
Dimino – Old Habits Die Hard (Frontiers) – Hair metal
Dysentery – Fragments (Comatose) – Death metal
Ectovoid – Dark Abstraction (Hellthrasher) – Black/death metal
Expenzer – Kill The Conductor (Czar Of Bullets) – Thrash
Evo / Algy – Damned Unto Death EP (High Roller) – Heavy metal
For All Eternity – Metanoia (Facedown) – Melodic hardcore
Gravesite – Horrifying Nightmares (Xtreem) – Death metal
Great American Ghost – Everyone Leaves (Good Fight) – Hardcore
Gutalax – Shit Happens (Rotten Roll Rex) – Grindcore
Infera Bruo – In Conjuration (Bindrune) – Progressive black metal
Insulter – Blood Spits, Violences And Insults (Nuclear War Now!) – Thrash
Iron Savior – Live At The Final Frontier CD/DVD (AFM) – Power metal
Khemmis – Absolution (20 Buck Spin) – Doom
Necromantic Worship – Spirit Of The Entrance Unto Death (Nuclear War Now!) – Probably death metal
The Negation – Memento Mori (Kaotoxin) – Black metal
On Top – Topless EP (Toil) – Heavy metal
Party Cannon – Bong Hit Hospitalisation (Gore House) – Brutal death metal
Phinehas – Till The End (Artery) – Metalcore
Possessor – Stay Dead EP (Medusa Crush) – Stoner
Shardborne – Living Bridges (Out On A Limb) – Progressive
Svarta – Sepultus (A Sad Sadness Song) – Black metal
Turbocharged – Militant (GFY) – Turbocore
Undergang – Doden Laeger Alle Sar (Dark Descent) – Death metal
Unleash The Archers – Time Stands Still (Napalm) – Melodic death metal
The V – Now Or Never (Frontiers) – Heavy metal
Vacivus – Rite Of Ascension EP (Goatprayer) – Death metal
Vardan – Winter Woods (Moribund) – Black metal
Vile Caliber – Tomorrow's For Those Who Dare (Inverse) – Hard rock
Violentor – Maniacs (GFY) – Thrash
Yuth Forever (Formerly Villians, I guess)- Freudian Slip (Prosthetic) – "Noisy Street metal"
