Ecstatic Vision – Raw Rock Fury
On their Bandcamp site, Ecstatic Vision says that their sound is 35+ minutes of the dirtiest sounding recordings since Kick Out the Jams. I agree with this statement if full.
The Obsessed – Sacred
All in all, just a heavy, old school, meaner version of their younger selves.
Iron Reagan – Crossover Ministry
With 18 songs and the longest coming in at a whopping 3:37, the Virginia 5-piece rips through the album in the best crossover thrash tradition.
Black Anvil – As Was
With their fourth full length release As Was, Black Anvil is fast becoming the US answer to Enslaved (as a huge fan of the latter, this is not a comparison I make lightly).
Obituary – Obituary
Long-time Obituary fans will be very happy with the variety on the album and it may even be enough to win back some fans that left them for dead.
Graves at Sea – The Curse That Is
The complete package is moving and feels rooted in an organic, malevolent intensity.
Sumerlands – Sumerlands
They remind me of the better bands of that generation before it went full hair metal, with even a touch of NWOBHM in the mix. Instead, they are really the new wave of American heavy metal.
Myrkur – Mausoleum
Mausoleum carries you deep into your own emotions, raw though they may be, and asks your to face them unflinchingly, to see the beauty and the light as well as the darkness and deep, deep sadness.
Cough – Still They Pray
They are fantastic as making you feel the torment within the songs.
Inter Arma – Paradise Gallows
Paradise Gallows, like Sky Burial before it, is both expansive and oppressive in its ferocity, sometimes glacial, sometimes frenetic pacing, and its ability to suck all the light from the room in a way both tragic and beautiful.