Orchid - Capricorn

Very much 70's Black Sabbath, They pull off the vibe really well.

Disma - Towards The Monolith

2011

Slow and Heavy with croaking vocals. They speed up it gets hypnotic. I like the music quite a lot. I think I have to be in the right head space to tolerate these vocals. This is for special occasions.

-For fans of Hooded Menace. This sounds pretty much just like that.

-No, these guys sound just like Acid Witch.

Metallica -St. Anger

2003

Having seen Some Kind Of Monster, the movie that documents the making of this album...It was hard to take this album seriously...at this point in their careers. That coupled with the universally bad reviews...and my having lost interest in Metallica years before...I never gave this album a full listen. Here it is almost 2012 and I'm listening to the whole album for the first time. I don't think it's as bad a people have led me to believe. It does have two major flaws. The sound of the snare drum, which sounds like a basketball being bounced on a sheet of aluminum throughout the entire album. #2 The lyrics and James Hetfields singing of them. The lyrics are probably only bothersome about half the time. If you forget that Metallica existed before 1991 then this album is pretty good.

The songs sound like a band rockin' out. They're heavy. They groove, but sometimes go on a little too long. They have sections that could be removed to make thing a little bit more concise. No solos.

Gentlemans Pistols - At Her Majesty's Pleasure

2011

Catchy rockin' like Foo Fighters or Queens Of The Stone Age with more of a 70's rock, Thin Lizzy like influence. Consistently good.

Pentagram - Last Rites

2011

I love Pentagram as much as the next guy, but I'm finding this album rather unremarkable. I enjoy listening to it . It just seems bland and unmemorable. I don't mind listening to it and I've come back to it a few times hoping I'll find more...

-Like all Pentagram albums they re-recorded at least one of their older songs.

Skraeckoedlan - Appeltradet

2011

Stoner Rock like Kyuss or Soundgarden although they don't really sound like imitations of those bands, these guys have got their own thing going on...well, they sound more like Kyuss than say...Pig Destoyer.

Thou - To The Wizard Chaos Youth

2011

Heavy Doom Sludge like Graves At Sea.

Year Of The Goat - Lucem Ferre

2011

Mellow Traditional Metal like Witchcraft.

We Are The Damned - Holy Beast

2011

Screaming scary vocals. Post Hard-Core I guess. Last song is a punk rock instrumental and my favorite song on the album.

Sabbat - Sabbatrinity

2011

Thrash that's really not doing much for me.

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Desert Wizards - Desert Wizards

2011

Monster Magnet/Pink Floyd/Spaceman 3 inspired psychedelic rock. I'd prefer it to be more aggressive, but they're leaning towards the trippy side of things. They've got an organ. About half way through the album the quality really start to go downhill.

Black Widow - Return To The Sabbat

1969

Goofy psychedelic music with a satanic theme.

Rwake - Rest

The sound of civilizations falling.

Black Majesty - Storm & Stress

2011

Heavy Doomy Sludge with interludes between songs. Heavy like Graves At Sea, but the riffs have this "coldness" like early Unearthly Trance but not so bleak or minimal. This album got quite a bit of play in the car this summer, I was just trying to figure it out I guess. Most Doom/Sludge is pretty straight to the point, this is a little bit more thought provoking.

-These guys have changed their name to Battle Path.

The Answer - Rise

2006

Lots of people say these guys sound like Zeppelin. I think Whitesnake is a better comparison...or Tesla.

-Fancy production.

Venom - Prime Evil

1989

Has a Motorhead meets Saxon? thing going on. Doesn't do much for me in 2011. It's got a ghetto metal charm going for it though. Bonus points for being evil. Prime Evil.

-Primitive. Sounds like it came out years earlier, like 1984 or something.

Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

1969

A bunch of good musicians wanking all over themselves. I look forward to when the guitar rears it's ugly head. It might as well be Hendrix. Almost no vocals here. As a matter of fact there's only vocals at the beginning of one song, then there's about six minutes of guitar soloing. I can appreciate what's going on here, but I really don't enjoy it. I have to admit something good must be going on here, but If I had my choice of AC/DC or Zappa, nine times out of ten I'll be reaching for High Voltage. I'm simple like that.

Bubble Puppy - A Gathering Of Promises

1969

Four Sail era Love comes to mind. Southern California Jazzy Folk rock with extra rock from the guitar player. Think The Byrds or Crosby, Stills & Nash jamming with Robbie Krieger and Keith Moon.

Serpent Venom - Carnal Altar

2011

Traditional Doom Metal. Tasteful.

Moby Grape - Moby Grape

1967

With a name like Moby Grape you might expect some cheesy psychedelic crap, but this is way more like the Byrds/Buffalo Springfield Folk Country rock meets Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead folk country rock. Good songs good record.

Ancestors - Invisible White

2011

Quiet and minimal. Like the quiet and minimal parts of 70's Pink Floyd. The last song is a 14 minute tune that gradually picks up the energy level before getting back to the mellow...then it picks it up again to sound like something off of Animals.

-This is a EP.

In Solitude - The World. The Flesh. The Devil

2011

Sounds a lot like early Merciful Fate. Maybe a little bit of NWOBHM (Maiden) and a bit of Death Metal. The singer is very much in the style of King Diamond, but never hits the really high notes. This is really enjoyable in an old school, but not sounding totally retro kind of way...except, they do sound a lot like Merciful Fate...the good stuff.

Mastodon - The Hunter

2011

I thought Remission was great when that came out, then I pretty much lost interest in Mastodon. I listened to this new one while I was on a road trip. I was pleasantly surprised. Progressive Metal with catchy vocals and busy drumming.