Brandon Geist
Editor in Chief

Tombs, Path of Totality
“This badass NYC band totally blows away their last record with this new one, which isn’t out ’til June 7. A great mix of muscular black metal, shoegazing post-rock, and gothy miserablism.”
Kvelertak, Kvelertak
“Chris Krovatin gave this three stars (read his review here). And it really is just a three-star record. But that doesn’t mean I’m not addicted to it. Rippin’ black-metal-inflected punk rawk, and the perfect soundtrack to a barroom brawl in some Norwegian dive.”
Slayer, God Hates Us All
“Started listening to this again while working on our Big Four special issue, which is out everywhere on April 5—and kicks ass, IMHO. I love Lombardo and it’s cool that he’s back with the band, but this really is the last truly awesome Slayer album, full of memorable riffs and scathing, anthemic lyrics that don’t tip over into self-parody.”

Kory Grow
Senior Editor

Ozzy Osbourne, Blizzard of Ozz, Ozzy Live, and Diary of a Madman Reissues
“These classic albums and newly discovered live recording sound great, thanks to some expert remastering—they come out on May 31. Plus, the previously unreleased Randy Rhoads solo, ‘RR,’ might not be polished enough to challenge Van Halen’s throne for the metal guitar solo on ‘Eruption,’ but it’s pretty damn good.”
Demonaz, March of the Norse
“Finally, the original guitarist in Immortal has released his solo album after tendonitis forced him to bow out of his guitar duties in that group. Guess what? It sounds like Immortal.”
Mogwai, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
“Not has heavy as previous releases, this record still has plenty of the gargantuan shoegaze-style riffs that were ripped off so frequently by bands like Isis early last decade.”

Josh Bernstein
Creative Director

Volbeat, Beyond Hell/Above Heaven
“This has been on my weekly playlist since it came out. I have yet to grow tired of it, and enjoy the Hetfield-isms in the vocals more and more each time. ’16 Dollars’ is definitely the new fave.”
Social Distortion, Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell
“In listening to so much Volbeat and reading their cool interview with Mike Ness, I ended up having to naturally revisit some classic Social D. I think I still have the cassette around somewhere.”
Lamb of God, Wrath
“In preparing for my upcoming wedding, I go to the gym every morning, which is brutal— the only thing that gets me through it is this album and Sacrament played back-to-back. I imagine Randy yelling at me to lift more weight.”

Stephen Goggi
Art Director

Lifetime, Hello Bastards
“I’m listening to this album because I have Jersey pride and its the best ’90s punk album to come out of Jersey.”
Radiohead, King of Limbs
“I’m a Radiohead fan even though it seems like every other album they put out is kind of crappy. Haven’t gotten a good listen to this one yet, but thus far I’m digging In Rainbows quite a bit more.”
Bad Religion, No Control
“This one takes me back to high school and cutting class to skate. Ahhh, nostalgia.”

Jimmy Hubbard
Photography Director

Nails, Unsilent Death
Discordance Axis, The Inalienable Dreamless
Red Fang, Murder The Mountains

Samantha Xu
Associate Photo Editor

Ghost, Opus Eponymous
“I like how the singer sounds like Weird Al.”
Death From Above 1979, You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine
“Jealous of all the people who got crushed to death in the riot at their first reunion show at SXSW.”
Electric Wizard, Black Masses
“Pot.”

Josh Hart
Web Producer

Mogwai, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
“It’s virtually impossible for Mogwai to please all of their fans on a given record, but for my money Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will is easily their best record since Rock Action. I normally listen to Mogwai for the instrumental goodness, but I don’t even mind the appearance of some auto-tuned vocals on ‘George Square Thatcher Dance Party.’”
Oceansize, Self-Preserved While The Bodies Float Up
“Oceansize are one of my all-time favorite bands, so I was pretty bummed when they announced their breakup recently. Their last record was undoubtedly their heaviest, but like all of Oceansize’s albums, it takes a few spins to really make a strong impression.”
Biohazard, Mata Leão
“Came across ‘These Eyes (Have Seen)’ on shuffle one day this week and had to go back and give Mata Leão a listen. The name means ‘lion killer’ in Portuguese, which is also the name of a blood choke used in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and that’s pretty fucking metal.”