The revolving door that is Iced Earth has been doing it’s thing once again and Plagues of Babylon, which was only released around a week ago, already features an ex member, drummer Raphael Saini, who admittedly was only working on a short term basis until they found a full time replacement for Brent Smedley. It’s also the first album for bassist Luke Appleton and the eleventh that Jon Schaffer’s heavy metal baby have released, on which he is the only permanent fixture.
Ministry – From Beer to Eternity
From Beer to Eternity is going to be the last album, at least for now, released by Al Jorgenson’s Ministry, following the death of guitarist Mike Scaccia. It’s the industrial metal titans 13th album and will bring to end a career filled with a fair share of controversy.
Katatonia – Dethroned and Uncrowned
Coming out of Stockholm, Sweden Katatonia have taken a similar career path to their friends in Opeth. Starting off as a death metal band they are considered forerunners of the genre, but are now at a position in their career where they can be said to have outgrown it and moved away from their metal roots. This was summed up in last years release Dead End Kings which was more of prog rock album than a metal one and gained a mixed reaction, with some fans harking back to the metal sound they knew and loved and some embracing the brilliance of this new Katatonia. This year Katatonia went one step further with Dethroned and Uncrowned a crowd funded album that saw them taking the tacks from Dead End Kings and stripping them back even further.
Trivium – Vengeance Falls
With a star that once burned brighter than a hot day in hell, Trivium should be one of the biggest metal bands on the planet right now. However, a dodgy second album and an inability to regain their former momentum has led to them floundering in the middle of the scene, well liked by many but not embraced by the masses. With their sixth album, Vengeance Falls, they are attempting to rectify that by bringing in David Draiman to produce, a controversial move to say the least.
Asking Alexandria – From Death to Destiny
Asking Alexandria are the latest band to be picked up by the British metal public as being shit. They follow the likes of Bullet For My Valentine and Bring Me The Horizon as being disliked for the cardinal sin of actually wanting to do big things with their career, although it has to be said that there decision to attempt to break America before the UK has probably not helped. From Death to Destiny is their third album and by far their biggest yet.
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Five Finger Death Punch – The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2
Five Finger Death Punch are a band that it’s easy to dislike. With an in your face attitude, radio friendly metal songs and some questionable political views they have as many ‘haters’ as they do lovers. Saying that they also have a back catalogue full of some of the biggest metal tracks written in the last few years. Even so the idea of them doing a double album seemed faintly ridiculous. With all the fantastic bands that fail to pull that off, could these LA meat heads really think themselves up to the task? Well turns out, they maybe are.
TRC – Nation
TRC have never been summed up better by anyone than they have themselves. “Define Cocky”. Mixing hardcore with rap and hip hop vocals these guys are as British as they come, and they are proud of it. It’s that, and pulling yourself up from the bottom, that is celebrated on Nation, which may well come to be their defining release.
Crossfaith – Apocalyze
Japan and rock and roll have always gone together. Whether it be Deep Purple’s famous Live in Japan album or Motley Crue going over there and causing chaos, the two have always shared some common ground. Therefore, it seems wrong that very few Japanese bands have ever made it big over this side of the world. This is an issue that Crossfaith are trying to rectify. Already building up a reputation for their incendiary live shows they have now released what is actually their third album, Apocalyze, but is sure to be their biggest.
Watain – The Wild Hunt
Watain have committed one of the cardinal sins of black metal in their career. In that they have dared to covet success. They have proven themselves much more than just another black metal band and they are showing that they are willing to test the boundaries of what that means, something that is far too rare in a genre that is incredibly inward looking. The Wild Hunt is their fifth album and is the next step in that path.
Newsted – Heavy Metal Music
No matter what he does Jason Newsted will always be the man who replaced Cliff Burton in Metallica and then got treated, well crap. While I’m sure Jason would tell you he wouldn’t trade his time in Metallica away, it’s been a damn shame that it will always overshadow a man who is in fact an incredibly talented musician. Therefore, many rejoiced when he announced he was returning to music with his own band Newsted and an album full of fresh songs. Hence Heavy Metal Music was born, and to everyone’s amazement was an album full of smooth jazz covers (that was a joke).
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