This edition is a rather diverse one with industrial legends, some prog, a hurdy gurdy, and more! To the metals…
Cloakroom – Time Well 
Genre: Shoegaze/Post metal
Origin: Northwest Indiana
Label: Relapse
Buy now on Amazon.com
I know very little about Cloakroom, but I like what I've heard. They play sludgy shoegaze, so there's lots of atmosphere juxtaposed with crushing, borderline doom, heaviness. This is their second record, and it makes me excited to go back and check out their first.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_aUhjGjJnY[/youtube]
Eluveitie – Evocation II: Pantheon 
Genre: Folk/melodic death metal
Origin: Zurich, Switzerland
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Amazon.com
On their follow-up to 2009's Evocation I – The Arcane Dominion, this Swiss collective is bringing the folk metal in a big way. The folk side of their "folk metal" sound seems to be in the forefront this time more than ever. It's certainly a fun listen for a metal fan still. I'm a sucker for any album with whistles, a hurdy gurdy, a mandola, bagpipes, AND all the usual metal instrumentation, so I enjoyed this. Kevin's review is here.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkbadvaMuXo[/youtube]
The Hirsch Effekt – Eskapist 
Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: Hanover, Germany
Label: Long Branch Records/SPV
Buy now on Amazon.com
There is a lot of diversity on Eskapist. You get post-hardcore, metalcore, thrash, post-rock, some Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross-esque film score electronics, and lots of technicality. The band are able to combine so many sounds and emotions, yet not feel like a kitchen sink metal band (a mash of ALL the sounds). Eskapist is a cohesive album with a ton going on, and it's great.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ_OI40SJJI[/youtube]
KMFDM – Hell Yeah 
Genre: Industrial/electronica
Origin: Hamburg, Germany
Label: earMusic
Buy now on Amazon.com
What if this was a collaboration between KMFDM and the Mudvayne off-shoot Hellyeah? That would be something, huh? This is instead an EP of driving industrial tracks from the German icons. Get your dancing shoes on for this one. Or fighting shoes? Or Matrix Reloaded rave shoes? What do people do to industrial music?
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQTuzUYD58I[/youtube]
Thy Art Is Murder – Dear Desolation 
Genre: Deathcore
Origin: Blacktown, Australia
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Amazon.com
I seem dig the occasional deathcore when the sound leans more toward the death metal side of the genre's name, and Dear Desolation is one of those records. You still have the low-tuned guitars, breakdowns, technical bursts, and grounded rhythms though. This just doesn't really sound like a record that would be filed alongside Emmure, I guess. Michael has a full review here.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvPK0qKB8m4[/youtube]
Steven Wilson – To The Bone 
Genre: Progressive rock
Origin: Kingston upon Thames, England
Label: Caroline
Buy now on Amazon.com
This record has been billed as the ex-Porcupine Tree frontman's pop album, some people are really annoyed about their prog god going pop. There are certainly elements of a Peter Gabriel vibe to it, but it's very much a Wilson record. The man is a chameleon and this is is latest color, but it's still clearly the same lizard. That was a solid analogy if you ask me. There's a full review from me here.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0dLypToLzE[/youtube]
Also dropping today…
Beneath – Ephemeris (Unique Leader) – Brutal death metal
Circus Maximus – Havoc In Oslo CD/DVD (Frontiers) – Power prog
Coldblack – Circles (Artery) – Pop metal
End Of Green – Void Estate (Napalm) – Doom
The Necromancers – Servants Of The Salem Girl (Ripple) – Occult rock
Rebel Wizard – The Warning Of One EP (Prosthetic) – Heavy/black metal
Sons Of Crom – The Black Tower (Nordvis/Bindrune) – Heavy metal
