SH*T THAT COMES OUT TODAY: MARCH 27, 2012

This week’s skyscraping pile of awesome new heavy shit requires two shovels, so I woke Senior Editor Anso DF from his post-weekend coma to help me scoop-and-toss all this hot, stinky metal into your ears and eyes. You’ll thank us. Just plug your nose and dive deep into a double-load of Shit That Comes Out Today right after the jump. 

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3 Inches Of Blood
Long Live Heavy Metal (Century Media)
On a playlist with: Helloween, Barn Burner, Mercyful Fate
Listen Long Live Heavy Metal full stream (here)

3 Inches Of Blood’s tight heavy metal act gets more impressive with each release, and Long Live Heavy Metal is an instant classic. The dual-lead assault and singer Cam Pipes’ falsetto wail is distinctive yet familiar, and the band adds the right riffs and drum stylings to make every track a headbanging, fist-pumping tour de force. But there are occasional surprises — an organ solo in “Look Out” and the impressive vocal breakdown on “Men of Fortune” — and these moments work perfectly in their context. Long live 3 Inches Of Blood. -VV

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Adestria
Chapters (Artery)
On a playlist with: August Burns Red, Parkway Drive, Glassjaw
Listen “Scarlet Letter” (here)

Non-retards have to laugh at betrayalcore bands like Adestria, who are forever harping about the trust you broke, the struggle they won’t abandon, and their battered but upright body. It’s like, sure brah, your life is an unending barrage of recklessness and evil set out to rob you of glory. Seems silly, but then non-retards remember that Adestria music is for delusional, drama-addicted youngs who will someday chuckle at its lulzy “You lied but I’m strong” message as they browse an Eddie Bauer catalogue. But they’ll still jam Chapters‘ monster breakdowns and pretty pianos, too. So there’s that. -ADF

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Aura Noir
Out To Die (Prosthetic)
On a playlist with: Vektor, Destruction, Cryptic Slaughter
Listen “Fed To The Flames” (here)
MetalSucks review here

There’s a hell of a lot of thrash bands like Aura Noir right now. However, few bands can do thrash this good. Songs march at a furious pace while soild riffage will have your head banging the whole way. The band features ex-Mayhem guitarist Blasphemer, as well as Apollyon (Immortal) and Aggressor (ex-Mayhem, Cadaver, Nattefrost). -VV

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Black Breath
Sentenced To Life (Southern Lord)
On a playlist with: Entombed, Exodus, Cathedral
Listen “Mother Abyss” (here)

Sentenced To Life exudes pure Entombed worship — and I can’t get enough of it. There are elements of Wolverine Blues, crossover thrash, and a certain groove. Also, THAT TONE. (Black Breath uses the same Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal guitar effects pedal as Entombed for their signature buzzsaw tone, and the sound is killer.) On this excellent follow-up to 2010’s Heavy Breathing, Black Breath goes from mid-tempo to speedy, packing in riffs and leads like crazy. This is. -VV

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The Burial
Lights And Perfections (Facedown)
On a playlist with: Scar Symmetry, Hope For The Dying, The Black Dahlia Murder
Listen “Pearls; The Frailty Of Matter” (here)

The Burial has two distinct modes, and that’s the reason a listener could love and hate this band: Via crazy solos and odd melodies, they use loads of technicality to build attention-grabbing progressive metal. But when they’re not melting your face,  they opt for generic metalcore via standard gruff vocals and forgettable riffs. Sure, their metalcore moments are a step ahead of the pack, but I’m not into it. With a few tweaks, The Burial would absolutely destroy. -VV

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God Forbid
Equilibrium (Victory)
On a playlist with: Trivium, Shadows Fall, Children Of Bodom
Listen “Don’t Tell Me What To Dream” (here)

When I sat down to check out God Forbid’s new sixth album, I really expected to pick it apart. But I’m can’t, because Equilibrium brilliantly shows all that metalcore can be: technical melodies, propulsive drum work, and a nice range of vocal styles. As its final notes ring, a listener knows that this record absolutely slays from front to back. One of the greatest metalcore records in years. -VV

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Hour Of Penance
Sedition (Prosthetic)
On a playlist with: Oceano, Suffocation, Gojira
Listen “Sedition Through Scorn” (here)

As far as technical death metal goes, Hour of Penance have an edge on speed and aggression. And the Italian foursome doesn’t lose any thrust when adding complex leads and riffs to the death metal template. The one thing they really lack is hooks of any kind. That is, a listener doesn’t depart Sedition with leads or riffs echoing in your head. It’s just an incredibly fast and impressive display in force and virtuosity. -VV

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Iron Maiden
En Vivo (EMI)
On a playlist with: Queensryche, Helloween, Rush
Listen “The Wicker Man [live]” (here)

It’s easy for three-decade fans of Maiden to be like, “Another Maiden live album? Enough already!” But just as each Maiden concert is the first for young/far-flung/newly epiphanous fans, En Vivo might be the perfect live document of a fan’s most cherished era of Maiden (like Maiden England is for me). It’s likely, even, since two of their last four studio records are fucking awesome as hell. Keep ’em coming. -ADF

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Leaders
Now We Are Free (Facedown)
On a playlist with: Impending Doom, For Today, In The Midst Of Lions
Listen “Conviction” (here)

Generic Christian breakdowncore is today’s metal subgenre most likely to surprise you with awesomeness. It’s like, if dudes are so chickenshit (atm) as to salve totally normal fears and insecurities with really loud allegiance to a dubious group identity (see also: straight edge, hipsters), then how could they be trusted with music? I wouldn’t let them make me a sandwich, let alone art that takes ballz to be great at! But hell, rad GCBc jamz are everywhere, and at least one is on Leaders’ Now We Are Free. Ironic band name alert. -ADF

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Les Discrets
Ariettes Oubilées (Prophecy)
On a playlist with: Ihsahn, Alcest, Red Sparowes
Listen “Ariettes oubliées I: Je devine à travers un murmure…” (here)

On the heels of a recent Alcest record comes a new outing from multi-instrumentalist Fursy Teyssier’s other band, Les Discrets. Comparisons to his main gig are inevitable, as both deal in melody, acoustic and lightly-distorted instruments, clean singing, and subdued drumming for their avant-metal. Ariettes probably isn’t for every metalhead, but it’s a trustworthy, assured diversion from brutality. -VV

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The Mars Volta
Noctourniquet (Warner Bros.)
On a playlist with: Voivod, Genesis, Thought Industry, Old
Listen Noctourniquet full stream (here)

There are two reasons for huge excitement for this new Mars Volta record, their sixth since 2003: One, mainman Omar Rodriguez-Lopez described Noctouriquet last year as a simplification of their expansive, indulgent art-psyche jamgressive style, and termed their new mode “future punk;” from me to OR-L, thank you and that sounds awesome, respectively. And two, it’s reported that singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala held up the album’s completion (its music was finished right on the heels of 2009’s Octahedron) to allow for reasonable time to work on his lyrics and parts; from me to CB-Z, thank you and it was worth it. Cuz Noctourniquet is The Mars Volta’s most beautifully affecting and impactful album since Deloused In The Comatorium and now u crank it. -ADF

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Mencea

Meshuggah
Koloss (Nuclear Blast)
On a playlist with: Textures, Tool, Soilwork
Listen Koloss full stream (here)
MetalSucks review here

Oh, new Meshuggah. Innovators, technical wizards, and legends of progressive metal/djent though they are, their music is less captivating than impressive. Their complex, off-kilter structures are mind-blowing, but their songs fail to grab the ear. New record Koloss features the usual impressive musicianship, but the songs sound more drony and the pace is doom-metal slow in most parts. Meshuggah either hits you or doesn’t, and Koloss just left me bored as hell. -VV

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Overkill

Quiet Riot

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