Mike SOS has another bunch of reviews for your reading pleasure.


ULTRA DOLPHINS
MAR
ROBOTIC EMPIRE
Virginia may be for lovers, but for the eclectic trio Ultra Dolphins, it seems to be the place to drop a lot of drugs down your gullet and get busy with a multi-instrumental attack. Swirling the ghosts of '90s post-hardcore with bits and pieces of today's hardcore mad scientists like Blood Brothers and Daughters, MAR is a 12-track endeavor that reaches creative zeniths by fighting on many fronts, whether it be a Jesus Lizard-esque offensive found on "Workhorse" or "If You Will", a Mike Patton-like assault on "Lunge", or a Horse The Band meets drum 'n bass collaboration found on "The Great Neurathenic". Slight tone downs on the discord to highlight melody allow the band to reach new ears, while piano, keyboards, and other oddly placed instrumental elements invade tracks like "Winged Babbler", artfully beefing up MAR's fluid guitar-bass-drum set-up. On MAR, this group's lo-fi spastic shouts and queasy compositions have been upgraded from freakouts to full-level aural assaults, furthering Ultra Dolphins' musical madness to uncharted levels of indie rock bliss. www.roboticempire.com -Mike SOS

THE HOPE CONSPIRACY
DEATH KNOWS YOUR NAME
DEATHWISH
After a four-year hiatus, The Hope Conspiracy have returned with their bitterness as intact and harsh as their New England hometown's winter season, climbing back on to the rooftops to lash out against everything from the state of America to their opinion on the hardcore scene on DEATH KNOWS YOUR NAME. Taking lyrical inspiration from George Orwell's ANIMAL FARM as well as everyday life's enraging entities, this unapologetic 11-track affair takes you by the throat and haphazardly shakes the shit out of you until you're crying like a kid lost in the supermarket. Tracks like "Animal Farm" intertwine seething vocals with a no-nonsense musical assault, only to be followed by "Curse of the Oil Snakes" and its manic mid-paced molten riffs. In fact, the best thing about this disc is the flow of the album, as it rarely gets out of step to mercilessly pound you to the ground. Demonstrating an all-around ferocity encased with flurries of volatile punk rock and genuine bonecrushing hardcore, The Hope Conspiracy's anger is a gift tot hose looking for something to clobber stuff to. www.deathwishinc.com -Mike SOS

OPETH
GHOST REVERIES SPECIAL EDITION
ROADRUNNER
When a band re-releases a CD these days with a few extras and bells and whistles, you can almost smell the greed come from the record company and their shameless ploy to exploit the fan and bilk them of their last shilling. Thankfully, that's not the case in the handling of the uber-fan friendly re-release of Opeth's GHOST REVERIES. This package includes a bonus track (Deep Purple's "Soldier of Fortune"), the entire album in 5.1 Surround Sound Mix (a real treat for the home stereo buff), and a DVD with both the music video of the grandiose "The Grand Conjuration" and a documentary covering the making of the album. Well worth the second purchase for the in-depth extras or the perfect place to start for the curious, this impressive collection of all things Opeth elicits the most bang for your buck while shedding some light on this mysterious yet captivating Swedish metal entity. www.roadrunnerrecords.com -Mike SOS

HANDS DOWN EUGENE
MADISON
XOXO
Quirky alt-country collective Hands Down Eugene's drowsy 13-track offering MADISON is laden with the kind of rocking in a hammock on a Saturday vibe perfect for slacking off to. Pings from psychedelic keyboards, jangly guitar, nascent vocals, and country fried melodies adorn cuts like "I'm in the Way" and "Miss Madison", meshing drug-era Beatles, The Band, The Raconteurs, and the best and brightest from their current hometown of Nashville to whip up a smorgasbord of down home feel good back porch rock 'n roll. www.xoxorecords.com -Mike SOS

FULL BLOWN CHAOS
WITHIN THE GRASP OF TITANS
STILLBORN
The fury of NYC hardcore and extreme metal's savagery join forces on the latest endeavor by Queens, NY masters of disaster Full Blown Chaos. Fueled with crushing guitars a la Hatebreed on tracks like "Anchored Heart" and a determined spirit that illuminates their old school hardcore and metal roots on cuts like "The Burning Age", this quartet retains the legendary ferocity of their hometown with cuts such as the death gallop of "Trials of Triumph". Adding well-measured amounts of the golden age of thrash metal's nuances and topping it all off with dollops of genuinely felt sheer brutality, prepare for carnage courtesy of the Merauder meets Biohazard by way of Slayer "Rise & Fight" and the snappy yet neck-snapping chug of "Solemn Promise". If you like it precise, groovy, and uncompromisingly heavy, this 13-track disc delivers. www.stillbornrecords.com -Mike SOS

SUNN0))) & BORIS
ALTAR
SOUTHERN LORD
An experimental music fan's wet dream come true, two of the most prolific artists in ambient metal align for this collaborative effort. Sunn0))) and Boris are no strangers to those with a finger on the pulse of the underground individually, as they each have their own niches and nuances. The music they make together hits those targets, yet it isn't always what you'd expect, too. Take the melancholic piano number "The Sinking Belle" for starters. Easily the most accessible thing Sunn0))) has ever released, the ethereal vocals of guest Jesse Sykes lead the way for cautious yet hauntingly beautiful waves of sustain and softness. But don't stop reading yet, friends of the doom. There is noise rock here to be had, and plenty of it, with more guests to boot. Kim Thayill lends his hands on the album's closer, the suffocating and brooding "Blood Swamp", while Joe Preston puts his vocals through the vocoder on "Akuma No Kuma". Drone metal gone awry? You best believe it, as two of the pioneers of the movement combine wares, trade notes, and make an intriguing album in the process. www.southernlord.com -Mike SOS

DRUGS OF FAITH
DRUGS OF FAITH
SELFMADEGOD
Crusty hardcore trio Drugs of Faith unleash an eight-track, 15-minute aural assault on their eponymous offering. Sounding as dissonant and genuinely angry as anything that came out before 1986, you can feel the hate ooze from every pore of this unit from the opening disjointed guitars over purposeful blasts of drums found on "Never Fail" to the sludgy buildup of "Burning”. With unabashedly raw spirit from the early days of hardcore-influenced crossover metal propelling tracks like "The False War" and "An Ode to Those Unwed", Drugs of Faith meld the mindnumb of noise rock with bands like Black Flag and DRI's unfettered rage and the swampy (they are from Northern Virginia after all) gifts brought by acts like Soilent Green and Eyehategod. Creating quite a sinister piece of heavy music, tap into the vitriolic versatility of Drugs of Faith to reaffirm your belief in the underground. www.selfmadegod.com -Mike SOS

WALLS OF JERICHO
WITH DEVILS AMONGST US ALL
TRUSTKILL
Armed with a lesson in perserverance and stuffed to the gills with flashes of hardcore breakdown brilliance, the latest endeavor from Detroit's Walls of Jericho cuts to the quick with metallic guitars and face-splitting female vocals. On WITH DEVILS AMONGST US, this quintet stands beside acts like Sworn Enemy, Full Blown Chaos, and Hatebreed in the upper echelon by fusing the brutality of East Coast hardcore with intriguing metal nuances. Crushing skulls with layered twin guitar chuggings aplenty, tracks like "And Hope To Die" and "Try.Fail.Repeat." give the kids a multitude of moshpit fodder to kill themselves to, while the dueling Ozzfest jumpdafuckup versus throwing haymakers in the pit rhythms implemented on "Welcome Home" summon cues for those not participating to run for cover. Providing a solid mix of rousing metalcore anthems like "I Know Hollywood and You Ain't It" and "A Trigger Full of Promises", Walls of Jericho have stepped up their game tremendously, honing the songwriting methods connecting today's masses of misspent youth to their rage while retaining the integrity of their underground hardcore roots on this triumphant 11-track disc. www.trustkill.com -Mike SOS

ALIEN ANT FARM
UP IN THE ATTIC
UNIVERSAL
Trying their dandiest to wipe away the stigma of being that Michael Jackson cover band or that band that had a tragic bus accident, Alien Ant Farm's latest release UP IN THE ATTIC doesn't do much musically to differentiate the band, even though a new guitarist and bassist have been employed. Containing remnants of their rejected Geffen album before being dropped by the label in a downsize shakedown with some new tracks, this 14-track offering stays the course, conveying the same alternative metal mix with a few twists and turns along the way to keep listeners on their toes. Tracks like "Around the Block" rocks whimsically with cowbell in tow, while "Lord Knows" demonstrates the band's comfort zone, sounding like the hits that were previously released on either of the band's albums. Wistful lyrics (a near death experience will do that to a person) and dominant fretwork are staples here, yet there's a all too east to digest redundancy hovering over UP IN THE ATTIC that plagues the disc from reaching the heights of neighboring acts like Incubus, despite highlights like the ska beat surprise adorning "Consti2tion" and the fancy eight-minute affair of "She's Only Evil". www.universalchronicles.com -Mike SOS

THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX
BOXRIFF
METEOR CITY
Criminally underrated New Jersey trio The Atomic Bitchwax may have lost its most prolific member in Monster Magnet's Ed Mundell, but the band has never sounded leaner, meaner, and ultimately, better. Thanks to the addition of Core main man Finn Ryan, this juggernaut brings new meaning to the term power trio and it's all documented in a few different forms on BOXRIFF. For starters, a tasty four-song studio EP recorded by underground rock guru Jack Endino sets off this 17-track excursion the right way, as "STD" kicks it into high gear from the get-go. Rounded out by the Ryan's former outfit's trademark tune "Kiss The Sun" getting the 'Wax treatment, it'd be enough to stop right here and make this a kick-ass EP, but the group thankfully goes the extra mile. Throwing in 13 live cuts from their Seattle stop and the accompanying DVD of the aforementioned concert, BOXRIFF goes from being solid to essential, especially after hearing white-hot live versions of songs like "Ice Pick Freek" and "The Cloning Chamber". Meaty, gritty, down and dirty, and groovy, bring home this disc and crank it loud and your faith in the lost art of rock 'n roll will be reaffirmed. www.meteorcity.com -Mike SOS

DEAD HEARTS
BITTER VERSES
FERRET
Buffalo NY’s Dead Hearts are easily classified as hardcore if you’re going on the premise of anthem-esque tracks like “Hollow” and “Cold”, but there’s a lot more going on within the 14-tracks which comprise BITTER VERSES that propels this quintet beyond the obvious genre tag. While there’s no shortage of gang vocals or impassioned guitar throughout the course of the disc, as cuts like “Innocence” demonstrates the outfit’s love of Sick of It All and Comeback Kid, the enchanting piano and effects-strewn interludes sprinkled about display the group’s ability to reach past the confines of the genre and hit levels usually not reserved for bands of their stature. Meshing the meat and potatoes hardcore of bands Bane with an intriguing juxtaposition of modern rock ambiance and heartfelt furious punk, Dead Hearts will undoubtedly catch flak in the circles of narrow-minded purists. Yet the altered moods and unlikely atmospheres coupled with the genuine angst utilized on BITTER VERSES twist this album from run of the mill to a mature raging hardcore release. www.ferretstyle.com -Mike SOS

TERRA DIABLO
TERRA DIABLO
NOCTURNAL
The eponymous debut by Scottish alt-rockers Terra Diablo is a 12-track melodic rock tour-de-force that many will easily draw comparisons to established acts that have trumped rock radio for the last 10 years. Somewhere along the way however, this band managed to carve out its own distinct style joining hard rock tenacity and alternative rock tenderness. While connections to bands like Snow Patrol (who now boasts an ex-member of Terra Diablo in its ranks) and Foo Fighters are commonplace, the quartet’s brazenly smart compositions like “Satellites” and “My Heart is in My Hand” exhibit an act that work from a blueprint and expand on it with their own ideas rather than merely plagiarize. Creating bursts of sonic excellence such as the hook-laden “Can You Hear Them?” and the muscular pop-rock heard on “Control”, Terra Diablo is capable of resonating a sense of familiarity yet have no trouble standing firm on its own ground. Terra Diablo’s expansive repertoire and contorting style that lies between the spatial elegance of Radiohead and Muse and the gritty of acts like Open Hand, Feeder, and Filter is a pretty impressive debut album that begs for mass adulation. www.noctrunal-records.com -Mike SOS

AKERCOCKE
WORDS THAT GO UNSPOKEN DEEDS THAT GO UNDONE
EARACHE
The best dressed Satanic metal band returns with music as sharp as their matching suits on the 10-track WORDS THAT GO UNSPOKEN, DEEDS THAT GO UNDONE. Channeling Fear Factory, Morbid Angel, Godflesh, and Nevermore simultaneously sounds like an arduous task for your average metal troupe, but the four evil dudes in Akercocke handle it like true pros. Explosive blast beated madness prevails on "Seraphs and Silence", completed by Cookie Monster vocals and technical death metal instrumentation, while more musically expansive moments can be found during songs such as "Shelter from the Sand". Throughout the entire album, Akercocke's versatile arsenal of all things metal is never compromised, while a progressive rock edge is intertwined, sparking a monumental sound that encumbers evil with both a reinvigorated sense of ferocity and an undercurrent of elegance unlike any other band heard today. www.earache.com -Mike SOS

LANDMINE MARATHON
WOUNDED
LEVEL PLANE
From the ominous and totally devastating opening riff of “25th Hour”, you can feel the Earth shake, and that’s most likely what Arizona’s Landmine Marathon intended. This quintet juxtapose early ‘90s extreme grind metal with traces of southwestern crust throughout this eight-track sojourn, occasionally turning up the Carcass meets Napalm Death meter on cuts like “Crisscross Thoughts” while displaying epic guitar licks that morph into a full-on musical assault on tracks like “FUBAR”. Direct and chaotic, chances are if you own any albums from the early day era of Earache Records, you’ll thoroughly enjoy this tumultuous 22-minute tour-de-force. www.level-plane.com- Mike SOS

DEAD RABBITS
SIN-EATER
OVER IT
Featuring members of The Clay People and Stigmata, the biggest surprise that comes from Dead Rabbits is their Southern rock meets stoner rock grooviness. This Upstate NY quartet’s undeniable experience shines through here, meshing nu-metal nuances, ‘70s muscle rock, and a satisfying dash of doom to provide thirteen ass-kicking tracks chock full of substantially solid rock foundations. When these guys are on, they rip, as cuts like “Open Season” meet somewhere between Megadeth and Monster Magnet, while the Hessian-esque stomp of “Trust” suggest these dudes had their Black Label Society patches from back in the day. Drawing from the gritty underbelly of rock'n'roll, the hazy blues and genuine decadent stance taken on "Sin-Eater" consistently hits you over the head with bong-sized riffs and meaty melodies that switch from COC-like boogie to the fuzzy psychedelics of Nebula, garnishing this disc a versatility that welcomes repeat headbanging smoke-outs. http://www.deadrabbitsmusic.com. -Mike SOS

MAGRUDERGRIND/SHITSTORM
SPLIT
ROBOTIC EMPIRE
Gore-infested grindcore is what this split CD brings to the forefront, as these two band’s chaotic sense of cacophony is on full display here. Leading off is Magrudergrind, whose take no prisoners assault on your eardrums is accentuated with a high pitched squeal for vocals and whose blast beated goodness and ripping guitar tones are unrepentantly in your face throughout cuts like “Scholastic Burnout” and “Siphon Then Slit”. Up next is the equally frenetic and slightly less gory but more politically charged Shitstorm, who also employ groovy grind riffs like the one in “Getting Heated”, as well as a high pitched vocal yowl that cuts through the most evil of migraines. If two bands doing 24 tracks in less than 25 minutes sounds like a salacious grindcore excursion to you, then this split disc is just what the doctor ordered. www.roboticempire.com -Mike SOS

BLOODLINED CALLIGRAPHY
YPSILANTI
FACEDOWN
In the vein of Otep and Walls of Jericho, Michigan's Bloodlined Calligraphy unleash its brutal female fronted offerings in the form of the 11-track YPSILANTI. Breaking faces comes easy for this quintet ("It Can't Rain All the Time", "Last Goodbye"), but when it comes to breaking ground, this act unfortunately gets lumped in the Unearth/ Terror category of chasing Hatebreed. Solid yet oh so familiar, if you like to move in the pit like Ralph Macchio circa 1984, this is your new soundtrack, uniform not included. www.facedownrecords.com -Mike SOS

BLOOD VESSELS
BLOOD VESSELS
TEENAGE HEART
Boston, MA punk rockers Blood Vessels play with the relentless spirit of the salad days of the genre on their eponymous 10-track debut. There's nothing too flashy or deceiving on this full-length debut folks, just some power chord stompers such as "Hell Rocket" and tracks brimming with attitude like "So Long" that reveal the Henry Rollins-era Black Flag seal of approval. If you find yourself yearning for the days when punk rock was still a pure commodity and the alternative to mainstream, Blood Vessels remember and feel your pain, too as they provide ample solace in the form of songs like "Not Funny". www.teenageheartrecords.com -Mike SOS

LOKYATA
PURIFIED BY ANGER
INDIANOLA
Undoubtedly raging yet in need of a bit of self-editing, Jacksonville, FL quartet Lokyata straddle the line between scathing death metal and run of the mill metalcore trappings on the six-track PURIFIED BY ANGER. Abrasive vocals and furious fretwork flurries adorn cuts like "Solitude", while "What You Have Given Me" throws every moshpit trick in the book out with moderate success. Disturbing album artwork of a shirtless man dragging a seemingly dead woman in the woods with shovel in tow adds to the redneck mystique, yet ultimately Lokyata's crushingly pounding delivery on songs like the title track yield massive breakdowns that aren't new but still manage to raise hell. www.indianolarecords.com -Mike SOS

VICE SQUAD
DEFIANT
SOS
Punk infused cock rock with a raspy female vocal comes to you courtesy of Vice Squad, a U.K. veteran outfit whose sound has morphed considerably since the outfit's inception (from which lead singer Beki remains the only original member). A Motley Crue-esque candy coating played through Disturbed's equipment with Joan Jett fronting comes through the speakers on tracks like "Britain is Still Burning", while "You Can't Do That" sounds like Hammerfall covering Motorhead. Discernibly more metal than punk and laden with arena rock pretense, this album provides the perfect buffer for in-between inning banter or the pre-game tailgating pump-up, but it's a far cry from the early days of rebellion. www.sosrecords.us -Mike SOS

THE ABUSE
DIGGING YOUR OWN GRAVE
CHARGED
Oakland, CA punk rockers The Abuse release the dogs on their 12-track ode to '77 punk titled DIGGING YOUR OWN GRAVE. Packing heat on songs like "Violent Youth" and "March On", this female-fronted quartet keep the sneering spirit of loud 'n fast punk rock alive and well. Far removed from the glory days of the scene, The Abuse has compellingly captured a slice of the seminal days of punk rock yore with balls and gang vocals in check on cuts like "No Tomorrow". www.chargedrecords.com -Mike SOS

MERCY FALL
FOR THE TAKEN
ATLANTIC
Sanitized for modern rock radio consumption, the 11-track endeavor by Arizona's Mercy Fall has got CW melodrama soundtrack written all over it, from the tearjerkingly mid-tempo feel of "Wake" to the undulating waves of light and dark found on "Hush". Going deeper than your average rock band, this quartet's love of '90s rock bursts through the speakers, as everything from STP to Jeff Buckley to Soundgarden to Pearl Jam turns up through the duration of FOR THE TAKEN, however these guys lose points for turning up the sap meter on pedestrian numbers like "Here I Am". Tapping the Creed and Finger Eleven vein with a smattering of alternative rock staple influences, if you like it passionate yet safe, Mercy Fall is a good choice. www.atlanticrecords.com -Mike SOS

JEFF WALKER UND DIE FLUFFERS
WELCOME TO CARCASS CUNTRY
FRACTURED TRANSMITTER
Jeff Walker is a grindcore legend of the highest order thanks to his co-founding Carcass. So why the hell has he recorded and released a punkified country album covering tunes by such "drunks" as Hank Williams and Johnny Cash? Simply because he felt like it, and in his words, "if you don't get it, then tough". While it's hard to tell if this album is merely tongue in cheek sarcasm drawn out too far or a bunch of Swedish metal guys locked into a running joke, this 11-track disc definitely will give your attention span a do-si-do for good measure. Best served when loaded, WELCOME TO CARCASS CUNTRY falls somewhere between novelty country disc and outtakes from a Pogues recording session, translating to a cautious yet fun listen. www.fracturedtransmitter.com -Mike SOS

SCISSORFIGHT
JAGGERNAUT
TORTUGA
New Hampshire's most volatile export Scissorfight return with their fifth full-length album JAGGERNAUT, a hellaciously belligerent yet big brained and bigger balled beast of a record. These backwoods boogie merchants continue to crank out some of the most twisted hard rock this side of Clutch, as tracks like the banjo-accentuated stoner groover "Appalachian Chain", the contagious alt-metal jam "Victory Over Horseshit", and the militaristic march-like anthem of "Backwoods" shakes your speakers while tripping your brain out hardcore. Displaying a love for social change, the inner workings of the brain, and their rural upbringing through fuzzy '70s riffs, mammoth grooves, and the art of getting fucked up, this 12-track affair offers the perfect soundtrack to a bare-knuckle barroom brawl. www.tortugarecordings.com -Mike SOS

FALSE ALLIANCE
FILL THE VOID
FELONY
Kicking around since 1997, the California punk quartet False Alliance displays a solid foundation of no frills melodic punk on the 11-track FILL THE VOID. Meshing the wares of NOFX, Bouncing Souls, The Unseen, and Sum 41 into high-energy tunes like the bass-driven “One Last Song” and the simple yet effective power chord barrage of “Repression of Thought”, these guys, while far from reinventing the genre, sound like they’re having a good time while they genuinely convey punk rock’s unabashedly fast-paced rhythms and forked tongued lyrical stabs on cuts like the biting title cut and the garage rock-y “Time”. www.felonyrecords.org -Mike SOS

GIUNTINI PROJECT
III
LOCOMOTIVE
Italian metal guitarist Aldo Giuntini’s outfit, simply titled Giuntini Project, boasts ex-Black Sabbath vocalist Tony “The Forgotten Sabbath Singer” Martin on the microphone, complementing this seasoned vet’s stunningly shredding fretwork. On the third release from this band, once again simply titled III, a progressive form of hard rock can be heard on the rousing “The Closest Thing to Heaven” and the very Dio-influenced rocker “Tarot Warrior”. Cut from the same cloth of Yngwie, Satriani, and other musically proficient yet somewhat sterile musical offerings, this sturdy progressive rock vehicle is laden with all of the grandiose excess and hard rock histrionics you can stand in one sitting. If you are a guitar freak with a ‘80s metal fetish, this one delivers tenfold. www.locomotiverecords.com -Mike SOS

SIGNAL HOME
A FRAGILE CONSTITUTIONAL
CARBON COPY
Pennsylvania screamo troupe Signal Home’s 12-track endeavor is a competent yet derivative smattering of things you hate and things you can’t avoid from the last few years of what’s been hot in the rock world. String arrangements over screaming vocals? Check. Passionate yet slightly overwrought guitar rock which simultaneously apes New Found Glory and Foo Fighters? Check. Ridiculously catchy choruses armed with cascading melodies? Check. In fact, if you dig Taking Back Sunday and The Used and remember Grade, then you’ll have no problem getting into Signal Home’s brand of tug at your heartstrings, ready for the Warped Tour rock. www.carboncopymedia.com -Mike SOS

ACROSS TUNDRAS
DARK SONGS OF THE PRAIRIE
CRUCIAL BLAST
Isis meets My Morning Jacket? Yup, courtesy of Denver's Across Tundras, whose eight-track excursion extracts its expansive noise quotient from ambient metal and infuses touches of twangy two-step. Sounding like Pelican at a hoedown on cuts like the title track while doling out a grounded version of space rock on "Ode to George, Parts 1 & 2", this act may take a few listens (and some hallucinogenics) to fully appreciate, but their frontier take on space rock is well worth the repeated listens. Highly acidic while capably emitting feelings of desolation, this tumbleweed obsessed trio whip up Dust Bowl-sized doom rock that would totally make a rocking soundtrack for a modern day cowboy flick. www.crucialblast.com -Mike SOS

RHAPSODY OF FIRE
TRIUMPH OR AGONY
SPV
After a legal battle forced a name change, the reinvigorated Italian act Rhapsody of Fire return with another barrage of over the top power metal that employs a full orchestra and a massive choir in addition to the outfit's usual instrumental arrangements. Make no mistake, TRIUMPH OR AGONY is fantasy metal at its finest, complete with domineeringly powerful vocals, huge guitars, leading keyboard melodies, and a slew of pomp and circumstance along the way which include narrative passages and guest vocals done by the characters of the interwoven storyline behind the music. While this style can be described as an absolute acquired taste, these compositions are masterfully crafted with the great care and the grandiose spirit that goes into a theater production, thankfully without sacrificing metallic elements like the guitar runs found on "Heart of the Darklands". Taking risks while staying true, this quintet's overall metallic majesty dramatically shines through TRIUMPH OR AGONY, making this disc that much more attractive to both patronizing metalheads and epic music lovers alike. You must hear Rhapsody of Fire's latest release if you are even remotely intrigued by the likes of Blind Guardian, Dream Theater, or Hammerfall www.spvusa.com -Mike SOS

PHATHOM
PHATHOM
HARDLINE
Phathom is a quartet that you shouldn’t judge by the way they look, as this California act may look all Hot Topic, but they play with a maturity and conviction of bands years ahead of them. Formerly known as Section 8, the foursome’s latest offering with a new moniker finds the group constructing fine tuned and well-crafted alt rock songs that happen to discover a middle ground between Incubus, Trust Company, and their mentors Strung Out on cuts like “Succubi” and “Insidious”. Unafraid to bash out with instrumental might or throw a catchy melody into its repertoire, this 10-track endeavor is laden with the kind of songs that assist bands in blowing up big on rock radio and putting them on big name tours to garnish more exposure. While they may be a bit light for the ardent punk fan, those who enjoy a touch of elegance in their heavy rock sound will have no problem digging this self-titled release. www.phathomsound.com -Mike SOS

FLESHGORE
KILLING ABSORPTION
THIS DARK REIGN
Ukranian nightmares Fleshgore’s KILLING ABSORPTION gets a re-release courtesy of This Dark Reign, and chances are if you like depraved death metal with a slew of blast beats and a cavalcade of chaos, this disc is for you. Coming complete with Cookie Monster vocals of the growling and gurgling variety and a relentless beat per minute ratio that will undoubtedly raise your Stairmaster pulse rate tenfold, this quartet’s previous works are worthy of a spin if you enjoy the sounds of Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, and Vader. www.thisdarkreign.com -Mike SOS

BLADE OF THE RIPPER
BLADE OF THE RIPPER
DEVIL DOLL
Trashy NWOBHM-influenced metal with a fist in the gutter and a head full of drugs comes to us courtesy of Kentucky’s Blade of the Ripper. This quintet, featuring a seminal member of rock acts Hookers and Nashville Pussy, play in the old school style of metal (think denim and white hi-tops), subbing sheer raw power for glossy production on such in your face tracks as “Speak No More Lies”. Sloppy at times but never waning from the ultimate goal to rock, the twin guitars and booming rhythm section work best when emitting a doomy vibe on cuts such as “Castle Walls/ Trapped” and “Burning Black Candles”. And while they aren’t bashful while bashing your head with the tried and true method of three chords and balls as their main weapons, it’s a safe bet to say this isn’t for you if you can’t get beyond the cult metal sounds and high camp factor of this album. BOTR have seemingly found the fine line between Blue Oyster Cult and Venom on this self-titled offering, and if you still own all your Maiden picture discs, these guys are worth a spin. www.devildollrecords.com -Mike SOS

BIBLE OF THE DEVIL
THE DIABOLIC PROCESSION
CRUZ DEL SUR
If Chicago's Bible of the Devil and their nine-track offering THE DIABOLIC PROCESSION suffer from anything, it's definitely a severe case of bad nomenclature. Off the bat, you'd expect a quartet with their name to be a hoard of corpsepainted cretins armed with medieval weaponry adorned in animal skin with outstretched hands held to the sky howling Satanic verse over blast beats. Not even close, as these pretty Midwestern metalhead-looking dudes shred a la Judas Priest circa 1978 on cuts like "Sepulchre" and the NWOBHM-soaked "Judas Ships". With nary an upside cross to be had and horned beasts replaced by durable twin guitar heroics, this nine-track ode to heavy metal's glory days is deceptive in moniker yet impressive to those that trump expert musicianship and solid composition instead of overwrought smoke and mirror metallics. www.cruzdelsurmusic.com -Mike SOS

EVERY NEW DAY
EVEN IN THE DARKEST PLACES
HAND OF HOPE
Canadian hardcore hopefuls Every New Day sound like a cross between countrymen Comeback Kid, Thrice, and Atreyu, as this trio's beefed up guitars, string arrangements, heartfelt choruses, and rapid punk rhythms are by no means unique, but they get the job done. Chunky guitars assist “Best Defenses”, while a cookie cutter melody heard across Warped Tour stages anchors “Tomorrow”. While at times Every New Day’s impressive heaviness for a trio rivals that of As I Lay Dying (“Mark This Day”), the overall feel of EVEN IN THE DARKEST PLACES is one of coherent complacency. www.handofhoperecords.net -Mike SOS

PERE UBU
WHY I HATE WOMEN
SMOG VEIL
Vanguard avant-garde alt rock act Pere Ubu return with their 15th studio effort WHY I HATE WOMEN. Retaining the band’s trademark dissonance for another go-round, the odd instrumentation and angular riffs and rhythms that adorn cuts like “Texas Overture” and “Mona” flesh out the band’s free-wheeling musical thought patterns, while the whimsical doom that the band projects rears its head across the entire disc, specifically on murky tunes like “Blue Velvet”. Still pushing the didactic musical envelope while blurring the barriers between noise, sound, and music, this 11-track release is a challenging yet rewarding listen to those engrossed in the surreal world of the early days of punk, garage, psychedelic rock, and the first movement of new wave. www.smogveil.com -Mike SOS