The Minerva Conduct – The Minerva Conduct
This, my good friends, is Prog leaning Metal at its finest.
Chaos – All Against All
These guys can hang with the best of the Thrash giants in my opinion, rivaling sounds of Exodus and Testament with ease.
MRTVI – Negative Atonal Dissonance
With a broad brush stroke, MRTVI paints a decidedly finite portrait on the ever growing and ever evolving landscape of contemporary black metal.
Warcrab – Scars of Aeons
Warcrab gives us a dark, brooding masterpiece without flaw. Too few will hear this album this year, but it will certainly find it’s way high up on my year end list.
The Furor – Cavalries of the Occult
Musically, the album is so dynamic and unpredictable, it very nearly defies classification. To say that it is a mix of black and death metal, while true, does not do justice to what you hear when you listen.
Rudra – Enemy of Duality
Enemy of Duality, is intense in a restrained manner. It is fierce and harsh, but not savage, uncontrollable, but not out of control.
Echelon – The Brimstone Aggrandizement
Sometimes playing an established style to the point of excellence is preferable to masturbatory experimentation. That is certainly the case with Echelon.
Grossty – Crocopter
Crocopter is insanely fun or possibly just insane.