Ex-members of Coalesce and Reggie and the Full Effect. Played with Converge, Mastodon, Blood Brothers, and Killswitch Engage. A bit of each has rubbed off.
Upstate New York act It Dies Today is a volatile concoction of Meshuggah-inspired riffs, metallic angst, and hardcore might: A truly powerful dose of momentum.
One of the better bands to emerge from the hardcore scene in Boston. Singer Colin Schleifer left, Paul Stoddard joined, and the band signed to Century Media.
Three Therion guys, plus acrobatic Soilwork drummer Rickard Evensand doing a sort of disciplined, sawed-off version of Swedish thrash or death metal revival.
Where Sentenced, Tiamat, and HIM leave off: Sometimes ultra-cheesy and weak, other times it gels, with bold guitars and keyboards playing off each other.
A strange metal album that defies categorization. It might be a bit over-the-top for some, and little hard to follow for others, but Atrocity make it work.
Enigmatic lead singer Pasi Koskinen’s swansong is an interesting, not altogether successful, return to heaviness, although it’s more la trip to a new heaviness.
Bloodied but unbowed Viking metal. Man, album after album, these guys crack me up. The Viking lessons never grow tired, and live, Amon Amarth kill with power.
Known for combining hip-hop beats, Meshuggah chugs, and Coltrane interludes, Candiria have paired down the intellect for a more immediate, “hooky” approach.