This is the kind of stoner I dig: not too slow, not too crushing, vintage sound, and good vocals. Fresh stuff, released today.

Listen to the full album over at Bandcamp.

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Ivor wormdrink414, R'Vannith, Troy Killjoy

If you want to feel like a miserable, hateful catatonic for some reason, click here.

Picked by: Thumbs up:

wormdrink414 Marcel Hubregtse, Ag Fox, Mr. Doctor, Darkside Momo

This will have been the most beautiful prog album you've listened so far this year. I know I've used this kind of catch-line before but the latest album from this Norwegian band just demands it. It is well thought-through and detailed, dark and melancholic. Excellence of this album cannot be denied. It is simply magnificent from the very beginning to the very end.

Here's the album trailer or "The Wizard of Altai Mountains" for sampling.

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Ivor BloodTears, R'Vannith, Introspekrieg, Collin, Demonic Tutor

Well this is definitely an album for the one man fanatics like myself if I ever heard one. Admittedly not as good as the previous Sentinel, but the drop in quality is very minimal, and Nihilus Ayloss continues to deliver in spades. Raw and hard hitting, but also interspersed with plenty of dreamy and mesmerizing undercurrents, to create a feeling not too unlike floating in some sort of otherwordly, cosmic ocean. "The Veiled Garden" in particular is nothing short of mindblowing.

LISTEN.

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Apothecary

Mories de Jong, ever the proficient craftsman, is back with his second full length of the year (first being the second Seirom album, which you need in your life): the third installation from his Cloak Of Altering project. Here you'll find the usual bag of tricks that's come to be associated with this ride in Mories' carnival: black metal interspersed with industrial and other nightmarish electronic/ambient touches, painting a picture that's both beautiful and deranged in all its repulsive splendor.

Get on it, ye hipsters.

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Apothecary Mr. Doctor, Ag Fox

Following up their excellent self-titled uh... fifth album, most fans knew that this album was going to be a disappointment. Suffering the loss of a founding guitarist and drummer, the odds were on a steaming pile of Danish doo-doo. Yet somehow, this album comes out like a delicious wienerbrød. Still one of the only bands that I can never seem to figure out when songs are going to end or begin, the structures are interesting enough to avoid boring us to death with ordinary melodic prog/power metal. If you want a band that knows how to write great catchy songs without all the plague of pompousness that most modern prog metal suffers from, you may enjoy this.

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Introspekrieg Ivor, BloodTears, R'Vannith, Demonic Tutor

Intoxicating surf-thrash made by intoxicated people.

Stream it here

Picked by: Thumbs up:

wormdrink414 Darkside Momo

The death metal album of the year was released on the first day of 2014. I knew that the moment I listened to the first song off the album. Do yourself a favour and LISTEN

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Daniell psykometal, Ag Fox, Collin

Certain albums crush you and suddenly you become so small. Thou's Heathen does that. It is punishing with both slow marching riffs and beautiful harmonies which shine through the devastation. The brief acoustic passages allow you to breathe but the doom is always looming and never fades. There is a splendorous and limpid melodic side to Heathen but more than anything, this album is suffocatingly heavy.

Available at Bandcamp

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BloodTears Mr. Doctor, Ag Fox, Marcel Hubregtse

If you like your sludge nautically named, if you, like me, rather prefer your sludge to be on the melodic side, and take Giant Squid as a somewhat liberal reference, then Helms Alee is for you.

Listen to their new album over at Bandcamp.

Picked by: Thumbs up:

Ivor Apothecary, BloodTears, Ag Fox

I lost faith in power metal many years ago. An exhausted genre that is going nowhere. But at least some veterans still know how to play it

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Daniell wormdrink414, D.T. Metal

Combining djent grooves and progressive death metal with a great use of ambiance, Dubai's Benevolent have really raised the bar as to what we can expect from bands in this region. Despite many songs on The Covenant being around the 7-10 minute mark, it never overstays it's welcome due to the great musicianship showcased throughout as the albums flows back & forth between beauty & brutality.

Listen here.

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Nefarious Darkside Momo, BloodTears, Troy Killjoy

This was mixed by Kurt Ballou and has a track featuring reverend Neil Fallon of Clutch, and those aren't even the juicy parts of this thing. It's the huge number of huge riffs that makes this so fun.

Streaming here

Picked by: Thumbs up:

wormdrink414 R'Vannith, Apothecary, Collin

This kind of powerful, Teutonic power metal might be hard to come by these days - but Iron Savior are still standing strong as the years pass. Three years after the previous album, Rise Of The Hero is another solid piece of work and a welcome reminder of how things should be done.

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Baz Anderson

More than two years ago I highlighted the second level and now I'm back trying to serve as a pointer for this underrated album. With the disappointing new Cynic effort I find myself constantly returning to here, filling the void. Bye bye breakdowns, it appears the band is trying to distance themselves from the "core" label and present a more mature, intention-driven output. The cheese may be gone, but the fun remains the same. Subdued synths are more poignant when compared to 2, with the end result being a more balanced sound.
Cynic != new Cynic;
If Cynic || Between The Buried And Me || Protest The Hero rings true to you, listen to this album.

Picked by: Thumbs up:

Introspekrieg !J.O.O.E.!, Mr. Doctor, psykometal, Ag Fox