Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

What an incredible production this record is. Black Metal is the starting point, but man this record seems like so much more...It's got dynamics like crazy. It's a journey. It's smooth surfaces. Progressive Black Metal.

Sahg - III

This sounds kinda 80's Metalish. Something tells me I shouldn't like it (rubs me the wrong way at first), but it's good. I suppose it's kinda 70's rockin' too, but the production is big and the music is vaguely familiar. Vocals got the Ozzy thing going on. Good songs. If Soundgarden was Ozzy's backing band in 1989. Deep Purple. The album gets stronger and stronger as it progresses.

Centurions Ghost - Blessed And Cursed In Equal Measures

Don't let their name fool you. This is not some European triumphant metal. These guys are sludgy pissed off riffers. They mix it up real good. Get ready to be punished. Heavy. We are talking Grief heavy. Rumblin' and groovin' right along.

End Of Power - Shackled To A Corpse

Chug a lug raw Metal. Feels like your right down there in the ghetto with 'em.

Feels authentic.

Motorhead - The World Is Yours

I suppose a new Motorhead album is like a new AC/DC record. You know what your gonna get. Few, if any surprises. You probably already know if you gonna like it or not before you hear it. Lemmys' voice is very clear on this one. You might say it's the highlight. I like this record. It rocks well. They play a really powerful stripped down Rock n Roll. You might be reminded of the Sex Pistols or early Guns & Roses while listening to this album.

Black Thai - Blood From On High

Soundgarden/Goatsnake

Across Tundras - Old World Wanderer

Reminds me of Thin White Rope if they also has big giant crushingly heavy parts. Also reminds me of lowercase (descending minor chords/notes). Long songs psychedelic tinged chrush downs sinking Sabbathness. Wasted and tired...but, determined...'cuz it's a long trip. A lonely trip. There's a Neil Young/Eagles sorta thing going on under there too. Psychedelic Americana Doom.

Droids Attack - Must Destroy

Shit yes! Dirty grimey stoner riffin'. Dirty,dirty, grimey stoner riffin'! Head banging!

Alabama Thunderpussy/Tummler/High On Fire/Bongzilla

Dax Riggs - Say Goodnight To The World

Mostly quiet and dark. Really good vocals. Sparse bummer tunes. Theres a few up tempo numbers on here. You know, he switches it up to the blues. There a quiet Pink Floyd type vibe going on. I think there's some kind of 80's thing going on here. Can't put my finger on it because it's stuff I wasn't a fan of in high school. Gothic-y. Leonard Cohen-esque.

Demonic Resurrection - The Return To Darkness

These guys are from India. They play symphonic black metal. They do a pretty good job of it. I'm just not the biggest fan of symphonic black metal.

Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart

Boy/girl vocals. Neil Young meets Dead Meadow. Good tunes. They've got a country (I might be confusing country with Folk)/indie pop thing going on.

Folky indie that rocks too.

Briton Rites - For Mircalla

Thrashy Doom Metal. Satanic too! Killer riffs and rockin'. Headbanging and groovin'. Killer production. This is a damn fine album. Chug a lug. If Goatsnake was a NWOBHM band.

After more listens...the production on this I find really irritating. The vocals are a bit grating, which I could put up with, but the are so up front and loud and clear all the time. The guitar is really big and loud and huge which is fine with me 'cuz there's lot of killer riffin' going on here. The bass is almost non-existent, it pokes it's head out once in awhile, but mostly playing root notes or whatever and way down in the mix. The drums are mostly OK but you almost have to squint your eyes to hear the symbols. The overall mix gives you the feeling that this is the singer/guitarist project he mixed it and it sounds like it's all about him.

Which in turn make it more difficult to put up with his vocals.

Samsara Blues Experiment - Long Distance Trip

Mostly instrumental heavy psyche/space rock out jams like Earthless/Monster Magnet/Dead Meadow.

These guys are from Germany. Good Stuff!

Apostle Of Solitude - Last Sunrise

Sad bummer American Metal. Traditional Doom. Good vocals. Good record.

Grand Magus - Hammer Of The North

Shimmering production. Wailing vocals, think Chris Cornell. Killer modern day metal drawing from...doomy sabbath type stuff, but closer to a doomier Soundgarden/Judas Priest. Really catchy, not catchy hooks, more catchy melodies and well constructed metal songs. This is the kind of stuff that should be played on FM radio.

-This is an awesome epic record. Killer guitar riffage and soaring vocals.

Agolloch - Marrow Of The Spirit

Reminds me of Ludicra but I don't know a lot of Black Metal so there may be a better comparison. This is a awesome record. Flows well and it's all pretty bummed out. Peaks and valleys. Neurosis/Ludicra.

Zuul - Out Of Time

Authentic sounding NWOBHM. High energy rockin. Good good stuff. All starts sounding the same after a while, but that's OK. What do you want?

Dawnbringer - Nucleus

This record kicks ass. Dual leads! 70's/80's Metal. It's not retro, that's just where the biggest influences seem to lie. This is a modern record.

Hooded Priest - Devil Worship Reckoning

Doomy rockin' that rocks good. Trouble meets Mercyful Fate.

Seamount - Sacrafice

Killer dual leads. Very cool songs. For my personal taste, I'm kinda on the fence about the vocals. I think with a different production style the vocals could be worked in differently...you know, so I could like it better, so you guys might want to get on that. Retro heavy sounding stoner rockin' with some sweet dueling guitars. Little bit of a lull in the middle but a solid record. Play with your Thin Lizzy records. There might be a message in the lyrics.

Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones

Big and heavy with a big guitar sound that sounds more like a huge machine. Throw it on with old Mastadon or High On Fire. One song reminds me of a huge metallic Alice In Chains. This album is way metal but working hard on the slower punishing grooves. Quiet scary mellow piano metal too. Metal lyrics and vocals. "I shall feast on your misfortune". Crushing mennacing heavy crushing metal. A bit operatic and serious feeling sometimes. Feels like there is a bigger concept at work.

Mount Rushmore - High On Mount Rushmore

Bluesy hard rock with psyche guitar. Big Brother and the Holding Company, Blue Cheer, Cream territory here, but second level.

Thundermother - No Red Rowan

Killer psyche guitar meets heavy blues hippy rock. Elements of Blue Cheer aspiring to be Free by way of Grand Funk Railroad dressed as a hippy psyche band during the acid trip scene in a movie. Good good stuff.

Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue

I bought the first Alice In Chains record when it came out and thought it was great. Heard all the radio/MTV hits over the years and liked them all...not enough to buy another album after the first. I was pretty sure it was all about their singer. I remember hearing the Jerry Cantrell solo stuff and thinking, "Wow, he was a bigger part of the vocal sound/feel of the band than I thought." After Layne Staley died you would think, you can't really do Alice In Chains anymore. Well, they did. Surprisingly it sounds like Alice In Chains without thinking about it too much. Mostly because of how much Cantrell added to the vocal department. Music is cool. File this record under, better than I thought it would be. Goes on too long though.

Ozzy Osbourne - Scream

Less than 30 seconds into the album the pinch harmonics start. A trademark on Ozzy records since...forever, no matter who the guitar player is (Did it start with Zack Wylde? I don't know I was over Ozzy by the time that guy was in the band). Ozzy singing through a machine. Half way through the first song I'm bored. Cool solo break, then back to Ozzys boring "singing". Second song has a sing along/anthem chours. I hate that shit. Boring formula rock. Third songs' a slow chunker. First song that doesn't suck.#4 Power ballad or whatever. Skip it.#5 Starts with acoustic guitar like something from Diary then gets real heavy. Unfortunately then it gets mechanical. Goes back to being heavy and here come the pinch harmonics. Then you have to listen to Ozzy sing for a while. There's a cool riff in there though and the solo is pretty cool. Nice guitar playing on this album.#6 Filler.#7 Filler. Chant along anthem chours. I hate that shit. #8 Slow song that builds. #9 Chugga lug riffing with a commercial sounding chours. Some classic Ozzy sounds show up in this song.#10 Filler.#11 Kinda touching on old Ozzy it's only a minute long, so Ozzy can say, "We have to stick together, I love you all".
I haven't really checed out any Ozzy records since the 80's. The Ultimate Sin is the last one I owned. I've heard enough here and there over the years to know I didn't want to explore further. I'm under the impression that No More Tears is his best one since the first two. I'll have to track that one down.
Ozzy has been in a tough position for a lot of years. He has to please a really wide variety of a fan base and he's got to keep it commercial and sell a ton of records. Trying to keep everybody happy just waters everything down. This album is Metal though I'll give it that. With a few quieter parts to sell some more records.