This week is ridiculous. This edition includes new Iron Maiden, some other stuff that's pretty amazing, but mostly new Iron Maiden. To the metals…
Amorphis – Under The Red Cloud 
Genre: Melodic metal
Origin: Helsinki, Finland
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Amazon.com
The long-running melodic Fins have returned to be vaguely doomy, vaguely goth, and all around epic. A beautiful record throughout. Great balance of heaviness, and catchiness.
Black Tongue – The Unconquerable Dark 
Genre: "Doomcore"
Origin: Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom
Label: Century Media
Buy now on Amazon.com
I don't really get the band's self-proclaimed "doomcore" labeling. The little I've heard seems like a slow deathcore with some djent elements. Slow doesn't equal doom, but it's certainly low-tuned and devastatingly heavy.
Five Finger Death Punch – Got Your Six 
Genre: Groove metal
Origin: Las Vegas, Nevada
Label: Prospect Park
Buy now on Amazon.com
The band's sixth album (get it?! "Got Your SIX?!? It's not a reference to standing behind someone, or is it?) of driving melodic groove stuff. Big, agressive, kind of dumb, but whatever. Fans will eat this up.
Iron Maiden – The Book Of Souls 
Genre: Heavy metal
Origin: London, England
Label: BMG
Buy now on Amazon.com
It's fucking Maiden. Triple guitar assaults, galloping rhythm sections, and soaring Bruce Dickinson vocals. While I feel like it really lacks the memorable guitar melodies that stand up next to "The Trooper," "Fear of the Dark," or "Wasted Years," there is still a lot of great Maiden here. That 18 minute song is pretty fucking rad too, if you're a fan of epics (which I certainly am).
Once Human – The Life I Remember 
Genre: Melodic death metal
Origin: Bay Area, California
Label: earMusic
Buy now on Amazon.com
Fans of Arch Enemy should probably get on board with Once Human. Their sound is less technical, but they make up for this with more atmosphere and vocal dynamics. Pretty cool, and at least worth a shot.
Ramming Speed – No Epitaphs 
Genre: Thrash/crossover
Origin: Richmond, Virginia
Label: Prosthetic
Buy now on Amazon.com
This is pure whiplash-inducing modern thrash with more grime than many of their peers. Great guitar work and an over all different aesthetic that I can get behind.
Riverside – Love, Fear And The Time Machine 
Genre: Progressive
Origin: Warsaw, Poland
Label: Inside Out
Buy now on Amazon.com
Now for something less aggressive and more introspective. Riverside has been a pretty constant source of solid progressive rock that bleeds into metal circles (like Porcupine Tree of Spock's Beard does), and this latest record is simply gorgeous while remaining everything a prog nerd would want.
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – The Night Creeper 
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
Origin: Cambridge, England
Label: Rise Above
Buy now on Amazon.com
Now to end strong. Much of the new record reminds me of Bigelf sans layers of organ, and as much as I love Bigelf, I like this more vocal and guitar driven version also. This band has been slowly breaking out of the status of a cult-band and entering the level of Ghost, and I am all for their success.
Also dropping today..
Abominor – Opus: Decay (Invictus) – Black metal
Ancient Altar – Dead Earth (Midnite Collective) – Sludge
Axis – Show Your Greed (Good Fight) – Hardcore
Black Trip – Shadowline (SPV) – Heavy metal
Broken Flesh – Broken Flesh (Luxor) – Brutal death metal
Burn Halo – Wolves Of War (eOne) – Alternative metak
Chaos Frame – Paths To Exile (Nightmare) – Progressive metal
Conveyer – When Given Time To Grow (Victory) – Melodic hardcore
Cretus – Dux Mea Lux EP (Pavement) – Thrash
Cruciamentum – Charnel Passages (Profound Lore) – Death metal
Dalkhu – Descend Into Nothingness (Iron Bonehead) – Black metal
Diemonds – Never Wanna Die (Napalm) – Heavy metal
Eat The Gun – Howlinwood (SPV) – Rock
Grime – Circle Of Molesters (Argento) – Sludge
Hammercult – Built For War (SPV) – Thrash/Death metal
Hell:On – Once Upon A Chaos (Ferrum) – Hell:On Apply directly to the forehead!…thrash
Inhuman – Conquerors Of The New World (Satanath) – Brutal death metal
IIVII – Colony (Consouling Sounds) – "Ambient Fiction"
Lament Cityscape – The Torn (Battleground) – Sludge
Mad Max – Thunder, Storm and Passion (SPV) – heavy metal
Midas Fall – The Menagerie Inside (Monotreme) – Post-rock/Progressive
Modern Pain – Peace Delusions (Bridge Nine) – Hardcore
Morbid Slaughter – A Filthy Orgy Of Horror and Death (Boris) – Speed/black metal
Nechochwen – Heart Of Akamon (Nordvis) – Black metal
Necromancy – Ancient Wrath EP (Nuclear War Now!) – Black metal
Purtenance – To Spread The Flame Of Ancients (Xtreem) – Death metal
Pyramidal / Domo – Jams From The Sun Split (Lay Bare) – Ambient/psychedelic
Rito Profanitorio – Grimorios e Invocaciones desde el Templo de la Perversion (Dunkelheit) – Black metal
Rosey Finch – Witchboro (Lay Bare) – Stoner
Sibiir – Swallow and Trap Them (Disiplin) – hardcore
Simple Lies – Let It Kill (Bakerteam) – Alternative metal
Sinister – Dark Memorials (Massacre) – Death metal covers
Ten – The Dragon And The Saint EP (Rocktopia) – Melodic hard rock
Thundermother – Road Fever (Despotz) – Heavy metal
