This week is a doozy. So many albums. So many reunions. I'm probably forgetting one you're excited about. Sorry? Anyway…
Age Of Taurus – The Colony Slain 
Genre: Doom/stoner
Origin: London, England
Label: Rise Above
Starting this week with one of my favorite doom-y bands. The riffs on this thing are just top notch. Plus they are coupled pretty regularly with ominous keys making it extra spooky.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP_uxL4Ifn0][/youtube]
Baptists – Beacon Of Faith 
Genre: Hardcore/sludge
Origin: Vancouver, Canada
Label: Southern Lord
Canada has a knack for producing weird and interesting bands. Baptists aren't weird per se, but they are certainly not boring. Beacon Of Faith continues their tradition of balancing sloth-like sludge and breakneck speed hardcore, which itself is a weird pairing. This album is a must for fans of feedback.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok021SLP79s][/youtube]
Bleeding Through – Love Will Kill All 
Genre: Metalcore
Origin: Orange County, California
Label: SharpTone
After four years of other adventures and six years since their last record, Bleeding Through have returned. Everything about this album, whether it is the imagery, sound, mood, etc, all sounds like it was from the band's height. Fans of The Truth will be happy to know this sounds very 2006.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n49fHITC88][/youtube]
Candlemass – House Of Doom EP 
Genre: Doom
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden
Label: Napalm
Candlemass are continuing their now six year tradition of not dropping a full album. It's may not fulfill a fan's desire for new material in terms of quantity since it's only about twenty minutes long, but those twenty minutes are fucking solid. Few do doom as epic as this.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKsDzViPYws][/youtube]
Jonathan Davis – Black Labyrinth 
Genre: Rock/nu metal
Origin: Bakersfield, California
Label: Sumerian
Do you like Korn? Yes? Then you'll probably enjoy this. However, if you don't like Korn, you MIGHT actually enjoy this as well. Davis does his thing vocally, but musically this is a way more experimental album than I was expecting. It reminds me of a collection of deep, deep Korn cuts when Korn is bored of sounding like Korn.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUt4kwtqS48][/youtube]
Graveyard – Peace 
Genre: Stoner/blues
Origin: Gothenburg, Sweden
Label: Nuclear Blast
Remember when Graveyard broke up for like a summer? Even in an age when every band is breaking up and reuniting to bigger audiences, the Graveyard breakup was hilariously short. Anyway, I'm not mad to have them back. Peace is everything Graveyard have come to be known for with catchy melodies, fuzzed out guitars, and vintage production.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Mb2dsSqrs][/youtube]
Light This City – Terminal Bloom 
Genre: Melodic death metal/metalcore
Origin: San Francisco, California
Label: Creator-Destructor
The theme of this week seems to be reunion albums, huh? Light This City have a handful of reunion shows over the years, but this is their first record in a decade. I was surprised to find that Light This City have a more varied sound than ever. I worry some will write this band off for their time in the early 2000's metalcore scene, but this album is waaaaaaaaay more than that.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kJdm2GQYrc][/youtube]
Split Cranium – I'm The Devil And I'm OK 
Genre: Sludge
Origin: Vashon, Finland
Label: Ipecac
Aaron Turner cannot slow down. Earlier this year he and the rest of Sumac dropped the collaboration album with Kenji Haino, and now he's already making more noises with Split Cranium. That first Split Cranium album was an underrated gem, and this one is pretty OK too. See what I did there?
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx4SqbEPlvM][/youtube]
Spock's Beard – Noise Floor 
Genre: Progressive rock
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Label: InsideOut
This one is for all the nerdy fans of old guy prog. I'm pointing at myself, by the way. This is start to finish soaring, cheesy, progressive goodness. It's the first album in a long time to include Nick D'Virgilio. That doesn't mean too much to me as a casual fan, but long timers could be excited to know that.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG2J3mjnFL4][/youtube]
Witch Mountain – Witch Mountain 
Genre: Doom
Origin: Portland, Oregon
Label: Svart
Now with new singer Kayla Dixon in the fold, Witch Mountain are bringing the epic doom once again. Some of this album has been out in the world already between introducing Dixon with the "Burn You Down" Single and Adult Swim's single series, so it might feel older already. The rest shouldn't disappoint fans of the band nor fans of soaring doom in general.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7lSOvr0jQo][/youtube]
Also dropping today…
Aboleth – Benthos (WURMgroup) – Neo-psychedelic
Arcadian Child – Afterglow (Rogue Wave Records) –
Architects of Chaoz – (R)EVOLUTION (Metalville Records) – Heavy metal
Black Orchid Empire – Yugen (Long Branch Records) – Rock
Don Airey – One Of A Kind (earMusic) – Heavy metal
Dopethrone – Transcanadian Anger (Totem Cat Records) – Doom/stoner
Dying Awkward Angel – Absence of Light (Rockshots Records) – Melodic death metal
Fargo – Constellation (Steamhammer/SPV) – Rock/heavy metal
H E X – H E X (Hummus Records) – Experimental/noise
Limb – Saboteurs Of The Sun (New Heavy Sounds) – Sludge/stoner
Lordi – Sexorcism (AFM) – Heavy metal
Luca Princiotta Band – Rough Blue (Metalville Records) – Power metal/shred
Majesty of Silence – Zu Dunkel Für Das Licht (Rockshots Records/Extreme Metal Music) – Gothic metal
Micawber – Beyond The Reach Of The Flame (Prosthetic) – Death metal
Midnattsol – The Aftermath (Napalm) – Symphonic metal
Nils Patrik Johansson – Evil Deluxe (Metalville Records) – Heavy metal
Marc Rizzo – Rotation (Combat) – Shred
Skogen – Skuggorna Kallar (Nordvis) – Black metal
Smile Empty Soul – Oblivion (Self) – Rock
Space Elevator – II (Steamhammer / SPV) – Rock
Stortregn – Emptiness Fills The Void (Non Serviam Records) – Death/black metal
Svalbard – It's Hard To Have Hope (Translation Loss Records) – Black metal
Subsignal – La Muerta (Gentle Art of Music) – Progressive metal
Thunderpussy – Thunderpussy (Stardog/Republic) – Rock n roll
Torture Rack – Malefic Humiliation (20 Buck Spin) – Death metal
Wayfarer – World's Blood (Profound Lore) – Folk/Atmospheric black metal
Witchsorrow – Hexenhammer (Candlelight/Spinefarm) – Doom
