This is a HUGE week! It features releases from one of my favorite bands ever, what could very well be an album of the year contender, some groove, some death metal in various forms, and more! To the metals…
Akercocke – Renaissance In Extremis
Genre: Progressive black/death metal
Origin: London, England
Label: Peacevile
Buy now on Amazon.com
On their first album in a decade, and first since their reunion, these guys are coming back in a big way. This record is thrashy, technical, proggy, and evil as fuck. I wasn't familiar with this band prior to this record, but I've not very curious as to what their deal is.
Brendon Small's Galaktikon – Galaktikon II: Become The Storm 
Genre: Progressive metal/hard rock
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Label: Megaforce/MRI
Buy now on Amazon.com
Fans of Dethklok rejoice! Fans of the first Galaktikon album, also rejoice! Brendon Small was forced to end the whole Dethklok thing, but is keeping the sound alive. Become The Storm is the perfect blend of The Dethalbum, The Doomstar Requiem, and the first Galaktikon record. Bryan Beller and Gene Hoglan are even back! In short, it's everything you'd want from a Brendon Small project (other than the brief musical interludes from Home Movies, I guess).
The Haunted – Strength In Numbers 
Genre: Melodic death metal
Origin: Gothenburg, Sweden
Label: Century Media
Buy now on Amazon.com
The Haunted have returned with their ninth record, and this on may be the grooviest. The rhythms are strong, but the metal is still what one would hope from this band if you've kept up with, and been a fan of their evolution since the Peter Dolving years.
Inanimate Existence – Underneath a Melting Sky
Genre: Technical death metal
Origin: Bay Area, California
Label: The Artisan Era
Buy now on Amazon.com
You want something heavy and technical? Here you fudging go! Our tech death expert Austin can give you the skinny on this band and release right here.
Leng Tch’e – Razorgrind
Genre: Grindcore
Origin: Ghent, Belgium
Label: Season Of Mist
Buy now on Amazon.com
If you are a busy person and you need your metal in brief bursts, then Razorgrind is your album of the week. These tracks are quick, intense, and make up one of the best grindcore albums I've heard in quite a while.
Leprous – Malina
Genre: Progressive
Origin: Notodden, Norway
Label: Inside Out
Buy now on Amazon.com
Malina is a record that showcases a progressive band evolving successfully. They are probably heading towards more of a straight up rock sound, and this album is the bridge to that. It still has everything one would want in a Leprous album in wonky rhythms, and soaring vocals (which are entirely clean this time), however the gain was turned down on the guitars a bit. I think it's a great follow-up to The Congregation, but I can imagine some folks aren't going to dig it. Oh well.
Queens Of The Stone Age – Villains 
Genre: Hard rock/stoner
Origin: Palm Desert, California
Label: Matador
Buy now on Amazon.com
I can't believe that it's been four years since the moody and brilliant Like Clockwork was released. Since then Josh Homme and Dean Fertita collaborated with Iggy Pop, and Troy Van Leeuwen joined forces with Troy from Mastodon to form Gone Is Gone, Michael Shuman worked on Mini Mansions, and Jon Theodore did a bunch of shit with Omar Rodriguez Lopez. Well, now their back with a record that's part-Like Clockwork, part-Lullabies To Paralyze, part-Post Pop Depression, and part-something completely different. Villains is another chapter in the flawless QotSA catalog.
Ruby The Hatchet – Planetary Space Child 
Genre: Doom/Psychedelic
Origin: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Label: Tee Pee
Buy now on Amazon.com
Let's end this week with some smokey, space rock, shall we? Ruby The Hatchet really feel like they're tapping into something other worldly on their fourth album. Their occult rock sound is still present, but they're more epic (and even more proggy) than ever. This one is very much worth your time if you're into spooky jams and/or 70's bombast. Side note, someone was confused by "occult rock" last week and I feel the need to explain myself. It is spooky rock that is close to metal but not quite heavy enough to be "metal." It usually has some doom influences, or sometimes 70's style Hammond organ. In short, like Ghost. I didn't make up the term, and also find it silly, but it feels right.
Also dropping today…
Able Baker Fox – Visions (No Sleep/Arctic Rodeo) – Hard rock
Alpha Tiger – Alpha Tiger (SPV) – Power metal
Bobaflex – Eloquent Demons (Self) – Hard rock
Crimfall – Amain (Metal Blade) – Folk metal
Dagoba – Black Sun (Century Media) – Industrial/groove metal
Dead Lord – In Ignorance We Trust (Century Media) – Hard rock
Der Weg Einer Freiheit – Finisterre (Season Of Mist) – Black metal
Dirkschneider – Live Back To the Roots: Accepted! DVD/CD (AFM) – Heavy metal
Drudkh/Paysage D’Hiver – Split EP (Season Of Mist) – Black metal/Ambient
Eden’s Curse – Eden’s Curse Revisited (AFM) – Rock
For The Win – Heavy Thoughts (Victory) – Rock
Korpiklaani – Live At Masters Of Rock (Nuclear Blast) – Folk Metal
Low Flying Hawks – Genkaku (Magnetic Eye) – Dooom
The New Roses – One More For The Road (Napalm) – Hard rock
Portrait – Burn The World (Metal Blade) – Heavy metal
The Quill – Born From Fire (Metalville) – Stoner
Sannhet – So Numb (Profound Lore) – Post-metal
Serious Black – Magic (AFM) – Power metal
Stallion – From The Dead (High Roller) – Speed metal
