Halfway Through

Here we are at the midway point of the year and there have been quite a few really good albums so far. Is it too early to review what the best albums of the year are so far? I don't think so. Here are a few ridiculously good albums that you shouldn't have but may have missed that I haven't mentioned yet. Note: This is not a best of list but there will definitely be a couple on here that will make the year end list. NAAAAAAAIIILS!!

The Abominable Iron Sloth - The Id Will Overcome

Black Breath - Heavy Breathing

Hayaino Daisuki - Infernal Gate Mind

Integrity - The Blackest Curse

Landmine Marathon - Sovereign Descent

Nails - Unsilent Death

Sayyadina - The Great Northern Revisited

UFOmammut - Eve

On a side note, Hydra Head Records has a free sampler on their website with some songs by Torche, Cave In, Harvey Milk, Xasthur, and Daughters to name a few check it out in the link below!
http://musicforperfectpeople.wordpress.com/2010/06/23/download-hydra-head-records-sampler-phoning-it-in/

THIS WEEK IN METAL - June 29th

Weekend Nachos - Bleed (12" EP)
    They really slowed it down a bit in this one. His vocals are still there but they find a kick-ass riff and play it but don't overstay their welcome with it. They can chug along very well and mix in some vocals with it. These guys might have something here, although nothing new is being done, they still kick your teeth in with their music.

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Witchery - Witchkrieg
    Umm, Legion from Marduk on vocals, fuck yeah! That's pretty much you all need to say to sum up this supergroup thrash album. What these guys do on this album is basically curb-stomp you with riff after awesome riff.

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Parkway Drive - Deep Blue
    Everybody keeps telling me how good this album is and yet, I can't make it past Track 1. I don't know what it is but it's either that I don't want to like it or too lazy to try and like it or it just bores me as I've heard it all before. Is it so hard to believe that I would rather listen to the new Integrity album than listen to something that a ton of bands have already done and done better, I don't think so.

THIS WEEK IN METAL - June 22nd

Danzig - Deth Red Sabaoth
    I'm hoping on this album Danzig return to their former selves from their first few albums. They have teetered off on their newer albums but I know they can make good music, its just will they be able to do it? I don't know.
Kvelertak - S/T
    From what I've heard from these guys, I am cautiously optimistic about it. The vocals are black metal-ish with a modern-era rock background to it, I don't know it's kind of hard to explain. I'm hoping that his vocals aren't just one note throughout like in the one song I've heard from them. This really is a boom or bust album for me and we will see when it comes out which it is. Here is a link to the song.     http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2010/05/kvelertak-mjod-video/
This Comp Kills Fascists, Vol. 2
    The second installment from Scott Hull (Pig Destroyer, Agoraphobic Nosebleed) and I'm super stoked for this because the first comp was freakin' awesome and this one sure does look promising too. Crom, Lack of Interest and Despise You are just a few bands on the list for this and it's worth buying just for them and hell, those might not even be the best ones on there because there were a couple bands from the first one that I heard of that I liked better than Brutal Truth.
Yakuza - Of Seismic Consequence
    One of the more highly anticipated albums for me this year is this. This is truly their best album to date and it has a great flow to it listening to it from start to finish. There's not to many metal bands out there today that can make a saxophone work, and they do it flawlessly. To sum it up shortly, THIS IS A MUST BUY! Do it and do it now.
Killing Joke - In Excelsis (EP)
    This is a warm up to their upcoming full-length coming later this year and includes songs from their recording sessions. So if you like Killing joke, which most of you do, then what better way to stretch before the workout in the anticipation of their new album.

NO HAWAII

The other day I stumbled across a band called No Hawaii. At first I didn't know what to think. I wasn't sure if it was just another band that had been done a thousand times over or not. Well the answer to that is yes and no. They describe their music style as atmospheric and progressive rock in the veins of Neurosis, The Mars Volta and Mastodon but they are much, much more than that. You can also hear some Enslaved, Burst, Poison the Well, Yakuza and a bunch of different bands and they take all that and make it a whole. They just released a new album called, "Snake My Charms" and any metalhead worth their salt definitely needs to check this out and give it a few spins.

Grade:  B+

http://www.myspace.com/nohawaii

Castavet - Mounds of Ash

Not really feeling up for a review on this one other than telling you that you have to check this album out, like now. Here is a link to their myspace page

http://www.myspace.com/castevet