Brandon Geist
Editor in Chief

Morbid Angel, Illud Divinum Insanus
“It doesn’t come out til June 7, but, dude, the new Morbid Angel album, their first with original vocalist David Vincent in 16 years, is fucking awesome—and wacky as all shit. There are classic-sounding church-burners like ’10 More Dead’ and ‘Nevermore,’ but then there are also stripped-down, almost nu-metally chant-alongs like the totally badass ‘I Am Morbid’ and Rob Zombie-ish industrial-metal stompers like ‘Radikult.’ You gotta hear it to believe it.”

Sixx:A.M., This Is Gonna Hurt
“I was pretty much hooked on Sixx:A.M.’s hit single, ‘Life is Beautiful,’ as soon as I heard it back in 2007. It’s just too damn catchy. And this new album is full of similarly hooky, hard-rock anthems that have already been stuck in my head for weeks just from hearing them in demo version. In particular, the title track and ‘Live Forever,’ which has a soaring chorus worthy of Muse, are pretty much irresistible.”

Down, NOLA
“Wow, how bummed I am about missing Down’s recent NYC show? Phil Anselmo gets his head sliced open by Pepper Keenan’s guitar during their second song and ends up performing the whole show with blood-streaming down his face, GG Allin-style. Bad. Ass. (I hear that after the show Phil was told he needed to get staples but refused them.) Relistening to Down’s classic debut album is small consolation for missing the gory epicness, but holy crap, does it still crush. ‘Hail the Leaf’!”

Bathory, Blood Fire Death
“Every few months I come back to this album and it always blows me away—a Viking metal classic, through and through. My favorite track is ‘Dies Irae.’”

Morbid Angel, Illud Divinum Insanus
“That’s right. I’ve heard it. Some of it will absolutely knock your socks off. And the song with the Celtic Frost referencing title—’I Am Morbid’—is a reverent nod to extreme metal’s forefathers.”

Sister, “Bullshit & Backstabbing”
“We premiered this track by the Swedish sleaze metallers earlier this week, and I gotta say—I can’t get it out of my head. It reminds me of ’80s Swedish glam metallers Shotgun Messiah right before they became an industrial-metal group.”

Josh Bernstein
Creative Director

Municipal Waste, Hazardous Mutation
“From ‘Bangover’ to ‘Guilty Of Being Tight,’ Virginia’s Municipal Waste, lay waste to 15 thrash-crossover classics here. Fast, aggressive, precise, and actually fun. With a cover painted by Ed Repka, how can you lose?”

Sex Pistols, The Great Rock & Roll Swindle
“After getting to meet the coolest Sex Pistol ever at the Golden Gods (hint: not Johnny or Sid), I had to dig out my old Great Rock & Roll Swindle album and check out some of the deeper cuts. For a band that only released one real album, this collection of B-sides, demos, covers, and oddball disco and classical versions of their hits is truly insane and should find a home in anyone’s music library.”

FEAR, The Record
“Their first, their best. Lee Ving still sounds dangerous, insane, racist, and frankly one of the best and most compelling frontmen ever. I can see why the SNL execs freaked out in 1981 and banned them for life…”

Josh Hart
Web Producer

Explosions in the Sky, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
“It’s amazing in this age of short attention spans that a band that routinely writes 8-10 minute long instrumentals could have a Top 20 album, just over a month after a headlining show at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. ‘Trembling Hands’ and ‘Be Careful, Creature’ are favorites.”

Atomic Rooster, Atomic Rooster
“Progressive (don’t let that word scare you off) rock from the early ’70s featuring members of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Later releases may have been heavier, but the first album will probably always be my favorite.”

Eisbrecher, Eisbrecher
“Those unfamiliar with the German industrial music scene (what, are you living under a rock?) might be surprised to know there are actually quite a few bands in the Rammstein vein floating around Deutschland. There are definitely more than a few copycat albums that will send you running for your copy of Mutter, but Eisbrecher’s self-titled effort ain’t half bad, even by Rammstein standards.”

Jimmy Hubbard
Photography Director

A Storm Of Light, As The Valley of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver Memories Fade
“Fourth record from A Storm of Light and easily my favorite. After three great records, it sounds like these guys really figured out their own sound and it’s a lot different than I was expecting. Still has a lot of the Neurosis, Isis vibe, but kind of has a cool industrial thing going on. These guys touring with Tombs is going to make an awesome bill.”

Indian, Guiltless
“Another awesome band from Chicago and another awesome sounding album produced by Sanford Parker (Nachtmystium, Minsk, Buried at Sea). Great, brutal doomy metal, great organic sounding record. Band also features Will Lindsay of Wolves in the Throne Room and Nachtmystium.”

The Black Dahlia Murder, Ritual
“I have been listening to a lot of Black Dahlia Murder recently, mostly because we just finished an awesome feature on them. (Wait ’til the next issue!) But, yep, as I expected, this record is great! Sounds like BDM, with a bit more black metal influences, sounds like someone has been listening to a little Deathspell Omega….”