NEW MUSIC OUT TODAY: 5/20/2008

Executive Editor Brandon Geist’s quick takes on the new albums hitting record stores on this day of our lord, May 20, 2008:

B’S PICK: Mudhoney - The Lucky Ones and Superfuzz Bigmuff: Deluxe Edition (Sub Pop)



The Cobain-beloved Seattle grunge giants return with a new album, The Lucky Ones (their fastest yet, according to the band), and, the real essential release here, a mint-deluxe reissue of their 1990 superfuzzed-out monster-rock EP with a shitload of demo and live bonus tracks.

Alien Ant Farm - 20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection (Geffen/UME)
This is a joke, right?

Another Black Day - Another Black Day (Bieler Bros.)

Godsmacked nu-rock for fans of Sevendust, Drowning Pool, and Revolver’s current cover boys, Disturbed.

King’s X - XV (Inside Out)
Latest from the long-running prog-metal band. And no, despite the fact that their band name is sometimes taken as a reference to the Christ, they are not a Christian rock band—especially since, according to good ol’ Wikipedia, most Christian bookstores stopped selling their albums after vocalist-bassist Doug Pinnick came out as gay in 1998.

Pitch Black Forecast - Absentee (Fractured Transmitter)

The last record Jason Popson, a.k.a. J Mann, did with the band, Mushroomhead’s XIII, was a total guilty pleasure for me. After handing in his resignation papers, Popson started Fractured Transmitter Records and further proved his good taste, putting out a killer Mushuggah EP and Integrity reissue, among other releases. Now for his new band, he’s picked some stellar collaborators including Gene Hoglan (Strapping Young Lad, Death, Testament, et al) on drums and guest turns by Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe and Ringworm’s Human Furnace. While the result doesn’t quite match the quality of its makers, this is still some solid, headbanging-worthy metal.


Steve Brodsky - Black Ribbon Award (Hydra Head)
It’s pretty obvious from the former Cave In frontman’s
solo albums, like this latest one, who was responsible for that band’s unfortunate turn from heart-stopping metalcore to poppy psych rock. I’ll stick with former Cave In bassist Caleb Scofield’s new shit: the heavy-as-fuck Zozobra and Heatseeker.

Steve Von Till - A Grave Is a Grim Horse (Neurot)
As I said in response to the last solo album from Neurosis co-frontman Steve Von Till’s counterpart Scott Kelly, which came out on May 6, I fucking love Neurosis but this is putting me to sleep.