Lollipop Magazine

Death Angel – The Dream Calls for Blood – Music Stream

January 7, 2014

This is straight-up bloody meat thrown to ravenous thrash fans — prototypical thrash that is equal parts Slayer and Megadeth.

Dream Theater – Music Stream

January 6, 2014

It’s great to report that “Along for the Ride” from their 2013 self-titled record is along the lines of Dream Theater’s classic early work.

Red Fang – Whales and Leeches – Music Stream

January 3, 2014

Portland, Oregon stoner rock crew turned heads with their eclectic 2011 release, Murder the Mountains, but things may have gone off the tracks since then.

Boardwalk – Music Stream

January 2, 2014

Pleasant, predictable, and mesmerizing. Breathy, gauzy female vocals, and a hipster dude handling the deeply-reverbed guitars, and a drum machine set on snooze.

Twilight of the Gods – Fire on the Mountain – Music Stream

January 1, 2014

This talented bunch quickly grew beyond the initial concept to play classic, galloping, mall-strutting ’80s metal.

Blitzen Trapper – VII – Music Stream

December 31, 2013

Seventh full-length. And the music, heard here on “Ever Loved Once,” is just as straightforward and unpretentious, with a confident alt.country swagger.

Propagandhi – How to Clean Everything – Music Stream

December 30, 2013

Deluxe reissue of Propagandhi’s classic 1993 debut. Remastered, featuring the full album, three outtakes, and the four-song HTCE demo.

The Flatliners – Dead Language – Music Stream

December 12, 2013

Fans of (the dearly departed) The Distillers will definitely recognize that band’s trademark snarl and aggression on “Drown in Blood.”

Powerwolf – Preachers of the Night – Music Stream

December 11, 2013

Adapting Kiss’ Creatures of the Night to Preachers of the Night is funny. If it’s serious, that’s dopey. It’s multilayered powermetal, could go either way.

Church of Misery – Thy Kingdom Scum – Music Stream

December 10, 2013

Great album name, solid stoner/doom band from Japan. Lke Down, ya can’t understand a goddamn word, but the riffs are thick and heavy, so you let it (mud)slide.

Rogue Wave – Nightingale Floors – Music Stream

December 9, 2013

“College” is appropriately-named. Rogue Wave offer up a 101-level anthem for awkward, nervous late-teens.

In Solitude – Sister – Music Stream

December 6, 2013

An incredible step forward for these up-and-comers, and they already had their Mercyful Fate-inspired heavy metal down pretty cold on their last album.

Rein[Forced] – Pre-Existing Conditions – Music Stream

December 5, 2013

Remixes from the band’s 2012 release, X Amount of Stab Wounds in the Back, and this reworking by Imperative Reaction is even more harrowing than the original.

Airbourne – Black Dog Barking – Music Stream

December 4, 2013

Takes over a minute to get rockin’ but the strippers’ll be shakin’ and gyratin’, as long as they can find a babysitter.

Saturday Looks Good to Me – One Kiss Ends It All – Music Stream

December 3, 2013

Gloriously produced, easy-breezy summer indie pop, with most of the vocals volleyed by the women. Their voices match better than my socks.

Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats – Mind Control – Music Stream

December 2, 2013

Kyuss’ drawl and Sabbath’s sock-hop, Deep Purple keys interlock with fuzzy riffs to make space for Beatles-esque piano tinkerings.

Get Dead – Bad News – Music Stream

November 25, 2013

Raspy-voiced bar room punk from San Francisco. Combining horns, dark ska upstroke, punk charge, and blind-staggering to please Social D and Pogues fans.

Windhand – Soma – Music Stream

November 15, 2013

Catchy fuzz in the vein of Black Sabbath and Electric Wizard. “Orchard” is a fantastic, lurching buzz bomb from their second album, Soma.

Goldfrapp – Tales of Us – Music Stream

November 15, 2013

Not that Goldfrapp hasn’t been doing well since her collaborations with Orbital, but having your song in an Apple commercial is a new level.

Paradise Lost – Tragic Illusion 25 – Music Stream

November 13, 2013

They’ve been on a resurgence since Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us. Someone decided it was time to shake out an album’s worth of b-sides and rarities.

Fates Warning – Darkness In A Different Light – Music Stream

November 7, 2013

Fates Warning has undergone numerous lineup changes since its inception 30 years ago. Thankfully, the band is ageing gracefully.

Tyr – Valkyrja – Music Stream

November 6, 2013

The Faroese folk metallers in Tyr deliver some badass music to back up the badass cover art of their latest, Valkyrja.

Gwar – Battle Maximus – Music Stream

November 5, 2013

“Madness at the Core of Time” is a cut above their standard thrash-fodder, featuring an impassioned delivery from Oderus Urungus.

Armed For Apocalypse – The Road Will End – Music Stream

November 4, 2013

Circle pits and hair whips, declaring: “All we want to do is rock.” Chunky, meat-and-potatoes modern metal.

Ayreon – The Theory of Everything – Music Stream

October 29, 2013

Their Wiki describes them as “rock opera, prog metal, prog rock, space rock, symphonic metal, folk metal, and power metal.” Is that all?