Warbeast impresses with their modern thrash aesthetics, but Anselmo's contribution is the selling point to War of the Gargantuas.

For all of Recitiation's slow burners, ferocious cuts like "Pieces Of The Moon..." and Worm Heels..." go hard from start to finish, revisiting the band's hardcore roots. [Nov/Dec 2010, p.98]

Lyrical references to Charles Bukowski and Elizabeth Carter score egghead points, but the real smarts are in the taut and tight delivery of the 10 tracks.

Real demonstrates that, even as the group’s chosen subgenre has lost the trendiness it possessed in the ’00s, metalcore can still sound fresh and exciting when done right.

Removed from the usual metal trappings to ride Imperfect Harmonies' lofty, trippy soundscapes, Tankian's lyrics carry surprising poetic weight. [Sep/Oct 2010, p.87]

A welcome surprise.

The band’s primary objective is to lift listeners off their feet and keep them floating, with only occasional handholds for stability.

Aftershock is another worthy entry into Motörhead’s long discography, with 14 rollicking tracks of brawn, broads, and blazing riffs.

Folks like to hate on the BDM, labeling them part of the problem because they use neon colors on their T-shirts, but death-metal fans who want something different and exciting need look no further.

Inscrutable concept aside, the new Heavy Rocks doesn't so much redefine heavy music as reconsolidate all the things fans already love about Boris.

In all, Live at the Aragon has plenty for both old and new Mastodon fans to enjoy.

As always, the Kurt Ballou production gives the album the depth and punch that it deserves, making this the band’s most dangerous declaration to date.

Thus rejuvenated and recharged, the Metal God and his cohorts have delivered their strongest record in over a decade.

The band deftly treads the fine line between revival and revision, blasting out fistfighting hard rock anthems like “Dancing with the Wrong Girl” and “Cold War Love” that synthesize Thin Lizzy’s flair for raging riffs, jazzy chords, twin-guitar harmonies, and ruggedly romantic words into something that’s both fresh-sounding and satisfyingly familiar.

The album tells a loose story about a man breaking up with his girlfriend but the songs are written in a way that work outside of the narrative, too.

What drives the music is the tightly synched interplay between drums and guitars, and that, particularly as sharpened by Wes Hauch's surgically precise lead work.

Anyone worried that the last decade had dulled TBS' edge, a listen to the post-hardcore rager "El Paso" confirms that it's never been sharper.

Godless Prophets is as driven and vicious as anything the band has released with disembowlers like “This Is the Truth” and “Those Who Survived.”

On their fourth full-length and first on their own label, jazz-spazz-metal epileptics the Dillinger Escape Plan re-embrace the all-killer, no-filler attitude that made their earlier albums and EPs so simultaneously exhausting and exhilarating. [Mar/Apr 2010, p.88]

Crude, rude, filthy, and more infectious than a bad case of herpes--that sums up Balls Out, the new record from Hollywood's Steel Panther.

Whether Snakes For The Divine is the band's best album yet is open to debate, but it's certainly their biggest, burliest, and most devastating. [Mar/Apr 2010, p.90]

Even at its worst, Darker Handcraft rips harder than almost anything else that has come out this year so far. And for that, it deserves any metal, hardcore, or punk fans' attention.

The band's fourth album sees them further stepping away from their Warped Tour roots to craft a disc that's teeming with emotion without falling on emo clichés.

Cynic’s shredders utilize their skills to construct great melodies and riffs, which often blossom into solid tunes that demand the listener’s attention.

Back to Oblivion backs up the band’s 2012 reunion with a dozen melodically and dynamically diverse tracks.

The second release from TBS’ reunited original lineup sees them getting their groove back.

By turns melodic and thunderous, White Silence churns with 8-minute power dirges and soars with Beatles-esque hooks, making for an exhilarating musical rollercoaster that demands repeat spins.

Calling the album a return to form does Skeletonwitch injustice, but the blackened thrashers definately sound rein quintet definitely sounds reinvigorated here.