Maryland's finest go once more unto the breach with their 7,494th studio album. Earth Rocker is a DC Sound Attack, featuring a bunch of songs heavy on crucial velocity. The Wolfman and I both kindly request you check this one out. MWHAAHHAHAHAHhAHAAHHAAHGFHGH!

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: wormdrink414, Marcel Hubregtse, Introspekrieg, X-Ray Rod, !J.O.O.E.!, D.T. Metal, Ivor, R'Vannith, BloodTears

"With members from Nifelheim, Swordmaster, Runemagick, Sacramentum, etc and set in a traditional ancient Heavy Metal spirit, "Grip Of The Dead" is a convocation of ominous Deathchaos and Blackened Thrash destruction. Together with a slab of anthemic devil-horn theatrical antics, the end result is a perfect assimilation of the legitimate NECROCURSE sound-stamp!" - Pulverised Records

Yea, I know, more Swedish death metal, big whoop...BUT!...this is really fucking good Swedish death metal. Really catchy, that good old school-style production (if you dig that sort of thing) and kick ass leads and solos to boot.

Check it out!

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: !J.O.O.E.!, Marcel Hubregtse, X-Ray Rod, wormdrink414

Anyone familiar with Tribulation's excellent The Horror record may as well delete their brain-cache as the new album is almost nothing like it. Whilst The Horror was a crusty, energy driven death metal number with a few black metal bells and whistles, The Formulas of Death has mutated into a highly dynamic and diverse mix of black and death metal that's quite progressive in nature, made even more eclectic by lengthy psychedelic soloing and clean passages and some surprising melodic harmonies. In fact the entire affair is so clever and intoxicating that the 75 minute duration will positively fly by and still leave you craving more. If you have any interest in black or death metal, or any kind of quality music, then you need this in your life as it's simply a brilliant piece of metal engineering. AOTY material.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: X-Ray Rod, Nefarious, wormdrink414, Marcel Hubregtse, R'Vannith, Darkside Momo, Auntie Sahar

Who are these incredible Jolly people with such a Jolly name supporting Riverside on a tour kicking off in 2 days? And what is this brand new Jolly album that just saw the light of day? That is one awesome album, I tell you, that got crowd funded with such love by the fans when the band got dealt the business end of the hurricane Sandy. A funding that now also sees the band coming over to Europe to tour with none other than the mighty Riverside. You miss them this March, I'm having a feeling you'll regret it for a while. I have made my travel arrangements. Have you?

Just listen to the new song "Dust Nation Bleak".

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: Susan, BloodTears, Milena, psykometal, Ag Fox, X-Ray Rod

It's like reverting to a Cro-Magnon and brawling Neanderthals in Satan's bowels.

Grab your blunt objects and listen here.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: psykometal

Portal's brand of ultra-impenetrable death metal have afforded them a rare and paradoxical level of popularity for a band as extreme and unpalatable as they are. If you haven't heard them yet or found previous releases to be too much to handle then now's your chance to get to grips with them. Vexovoid eases up (very) slightly on the wall-of-noise approach and allows a rare glimpse into the structural mechanisms at the heart of Portal. Listen now before they submerge themselves back into the murk once again.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: X-Ray Rod, wormdrink414, BitterCOld, psykometal, jupitreas, Marcel Hubregtse, Ag Fox, BloodTears, Darkside Momo

For the first time in three years everyone's favorite demonic duo are back with another platter of new wave of blackened crust punk fun. Leave the detraction to lesser men, leave no cross unturned and no beer unopened.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: wormdrink414, psykometal, Daniell, Marcel Hubregtse, X-Ray Rod, Troy Killjoy

Easily as crushing and terrifying as The Tunnels, but in a different, more dynamic and less claustrophobic way.

A must-listen, no less.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: !J.O.O.E.!, psykometal, R'Vannith, X-Ray Rod, Daniell, Ag Fox

Description from their Bandcamp site:

"Their songs are rooted in a cold and depressive aesthetic expression, with a lyrical universe revolving around the dark corners of the human mind. Riddled with powerful highs and enigmatic, melodious and haunting lows, the music uniquely captures the essence of the modern post-black/post metal genre."

LISTEN

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: wormdrink414, !J.O.O.E.!, X-Ray Rod

These guys will make you wait for their new output for a long time. But when it arrives, you know it is worth the wait. It really is.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: Nefarious, Abattoir, Marcel Hubregtse, R'Vannith, X-Ray Rod

If you like your death metal progressive, long and epic then this is definitely the album for you.

If you're a fan of the book series "Revelation Space" by Alastair Reynolds then you should also check this out since it's based off his book series.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: Milena

So apparently two of the dudes in Mion's Hill are in this group here as well. And their stuff is equally good. Hell, with the mixing being less garageish on this, in a number of ways it's even better. Unequivocally, not to be missed for any bullshit excuse stuff.

Listen here.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: psykometal, X-Ray Rod

Denver-based death metallers have started their career on a strong note with the impressive debut Endlessly in Motion. An adept mix of forward thinking, technical and constantly interesting death metal with a few feathers plucked from melodic death's sense of melody and harmony. Vocally this sounds somewhat like the bastard child of Björn "Speed" Strid and Devin Townsend, not to to mention the band aren't afraid to explore and exploit ambient atmospherics in a subtle yet effective manner. Something for pretty much everyone I would think.

LISTEN

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: Nefarious, BloodTears, R'Vannith, psykometal, D.T. Metal, Susan, X-Ray Rod, Darkside Momo

Found this little gem while using the Bandcamp Discovery feature. Very solid and beautifully crafted American progressive melodic black metal with bits of post-metal strewn about as well.

Here is what the band has to say about the album:
"The result was something that had some rhythmical qualities and aesthetics coming from the black metal genre, but paired up with some contrasting melodic influences from genres such as progressive metal, post-rock, doom metal and even a bit of folk. We don't really know what to call it, we just try to call it metal."

I'd say that sums it up quite well.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: Nefarious, BitterCOld, Susan, R'Vannith

If you're looking for a band that will never do anything wrong, you've got your men right here.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: Daniell, Introspekrieg, Nefarious, R'Vannith, BloodTears, Ivor, Darkside Momo, X-Ray Rod