Infernal Overdrive list Zeppelin, Grand Funk, and Deep Purple among their influences. More than copying, they actually put thought into writing good songs.
Savannah’s Black Tusk sound a lot like fellow Georgians Kylesa. Their fast and heavy mix of stoner metal with hardcore punk is immediate and effective.
San Diego instrumentalists Earthless aren’t messing around. You can’t help but think of the reverb hitting you in the face at your favorite outdoor venue.
Ironweed lament that multi-national corporations have enslaved the planet and that CNN, Facebook, iTunes, and Twitter have lulled people into complacency.
Jerking the listener around in a million different musical directions is usually a recipe for disaster, but even as a young band, these two dudes pull it off.
UK metal veterans Orange Goblin come out of the gate swinging on their first album in five years. “Red Tide Rising” punches with some hefty old-school force.
Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx has exorcised a lot of his demons and he’s now in a good place. Unfortunately, people in good places tend to make weak, pussy-ass art.
A more metallic ’10s update on early-’90s shoegaze, 40 Watt Sun sounds like the bastard three-way of Kevin Shields, Peter Murphy, and half of Seattle circa ’91.
It’s a Kiss tribute, released in 2010, by a band who peaked with their first album in ’89. Mean, but true. 15 covers ranging from classic Kiss to who cares?
These Portland guys are in the sludgy, fuzzy metal camp. The band’s two vocalists will take you back to the golden Oliveri years of Queens of the Stone Age.
Holy crap, that’s a lotta flute. You’ve gotta know at what point to rein it in, and Toronto’s Bloody Ceremony barrels right past that point on its second album.