I don’t really have anything witty for an intro this week. After last week’s geeking out and the anticipation of the world coming to an end, my witticisms took some time off. All I have to say is this: Rapture cancelled. Please hang up and try your call again in 17 more years.
The false start to the end of the world can be properly celebrated by headbanging your spinal column into a pulp via this week’s new releases. I’m not kidding when I say that you will have the worst case of thrashneck you’ll ever get from listening to more than one of these albums in a single sitting. From breakdown-infused metalcore and gut-busting tech metal, to infectiously groovy stoner metal and towering epic doom, this week covers all the bases. Call your chiropractor and set up an advance appointment for the weekend, because you will need it.
Cave In, White Silence (Hydra Head)
Cave In did an excellent job teasing their way to this point. It all began with the 2009 reformation of the Massachusetts group after three years of hiatus, immediately followed by the Planets of Old EP. 2010 was filled with promises of new material, teased and hinted at even more with the Anomalies Vol. 2 live album and Anomalies Vol. 1 vinyl covers release. Now we have finally reached the long-awaited release date for Cave In’s first full-length of new material since their hiatus ended. Is White Silence everything that fans have hoped for? Critics seem to think so, praising the band’s return to their old style. This could be a comeback of the year if Cave In pulls it off.
For the Fallen Dreams, Back Burner (Rise)
Among many of the newer metalcore/hardcore groups that have emerged in the past five years, For the Fallen Dreams has quietly built one of the biggest followings due to nonstop touring. Although neither Changes nor Relentless attracted a great deal of press attention, both albums were huge hits among fans that saw the band on the road supporting Unearth, A Day to Remember, Emmure, The Acacia Strain, and many others over the past four years. Their current tour with Norma Jean and After the Burial provides the band with a nice stage to promote this new album domestically, before heading to Europe for a late Summer run with Bury Your Dead and Betrayal.
In Solitude, The World: The Flesh: The Devil (Metal Blade)
This heavy/traditional metal group from Sweden has impressed many in their homeland via the Hidden Dangers demo. That demo was also responsible for the group’s signing to local label CDBY, who released their self-titled debut full-length three years ago. That album was what caught the attention of Metal Blade, who signed the Swedish upstarts to a worldwide deal last year. In Solitude joins Cauldron, Enforcer, Blood Ceremony, and many other traditional metal groups formed within the past decade, as a revival wave of metal’s early days.
Within the Ruins, Omen (Victory)
This vinyl EP is a primer for new material from the Massachusetts melodic death metal group. The EP features two new songs showcasing the band’s heavy, intense style of play in fine form. There are also well-performed covers of “Carry On (Wayward Son)” by Kansas and “Fight Fire with Fire” by Metallica, giving some insight into the band’s influences. This EP, combined with the band being voted by fans to appear as part of this year’s Summer Slaughter Tour, are signs of big things to come for Within the Ruins. Be ready to see their name popping up a lot in the future.
Boris, Heavy Rocks and Attention Please (Sargent House)
These Japanese experimental rockers have already released one album this year, and are going the distance with two more. Surprisingly, Heavy Rocks is not just a re-release of their 2002 album of the same name, but rather a whole album of new material that just happens to have the same name. It shares the track “Aileron” with Attention Please, although the form on Heavy Rocks is the full version of the song. Attention Please also has alternate versions of four songs from New Album, the other Boris album released earlier this year.
Also being released this week:
Neal Morse, Testimony 2 (Metal Blade)
The Rods, Vengeance (Niji Entertainment)
Dysrhythmia, No Interference (Creep)
Book of Black Earth, The Cold Testament (Metal Blade)
Inevitable End, The Oculus (Relapse)
Devolved, Oblivion (Unique Leader)
Haemorrhage, Hospital Carnage (Relapse)
Ipsissimus, The Way of Descent (Metal Blade)
Bringers of Disease, Gospel of Pestilence (Translation Loss)
Quest of Aidance, Fallen Man Collection (Phantom Domestic)
Black Tusk, Passage Through Purgatory [Reissue] (Relapse)
Orange Goblin, Five CD Boxset (Metal Blade)
Next Week: All indicators point to a short list, but with a certain Mr. Osborne leading the list, can anyone deny the buzz that is developing? Don’t miss out on the Sugar Daddy next week. Come on back for more New & Noteworthy!
