Funeral for a Friend - Your History Is Mine

Having given this record a few spins, I'm not about to run out and grab everything in FFAF's back catalogue, but it's a lesson for somebody like me who had written these guys off as a pack of jokers.

Scar Symmetry - Dark Matter Dimensions

While there are still a decent amount of groovy sections and sweet riffs, an improvement upon Symmetric in Design? I think not.

Kiss - Sonic Boom

Not too shabby, but certainly not the genre’s most outstanding effort either – just neatly somewhere in between. Kiss may be better known for their make-up and outspoken individual personalities however; they do display an astute level of musical proficiency on ‘Sonic Boom’.

Rammstein - Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da

‘Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da’ delivers everything one would expect from a Rammstein album. Lindemann stills gives the impression that he is ready to launch through the speakers and rip your head off. For Rammstein that can only be a good thing as it means they are doing their job.

Converge - Axe to Fall

Converge set the bar higher once again. For all aspiring musicians it looks like it is back to the drawing board. Hopefully we will see the band back down under in the New Year. 

Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic

With ‘New Junk Aesthetic’ featuring an impressive array of song related artwork courtesy of guitarist Jordan Buckley, and containing iconic ETID lyrics through the agency of social satirist and chief piss taker Keith Buckley don’t download the thing just go out and buy the bloody disc. 

Doomriders - Darkness Come Alive

Although Darkness Come Alive doesn’t venture into the same realm of technical wizardry as the aforementioned Atlanta four-piece (and indeed, their peers in Baroness), the similarities in Nate’s singing and the record’s more intricate guitar passages have stopped Doomriders from solidifying their own sound and identity, thus reducing them to living in Mastodon’s sizeable shadow. Here’s hoping the problem is remedied on album number three, as there is a lot of potential here!

Behemoth - Evangelion

Blackened death at its best, a fresh listen in an oversatured world of “heavy” music.

Jack The Stripper - Black Annis

The fusion of so many elements proves JTS have taken a punt on a sound they can confidently claim is purely their own, producing a record exactly how they want it to sound. It's a pretty ballsy move for a debut release, but damn-straight it's warranted. 

You really need to listen for yourself to truly understand the type of experimentation I'm talking about. Even better, check 'em out live for the genuine JTS experience. 

AFI - Crash Love

Needs a really good chance, but as with most recent AFI CDs, your patience will eventually be rewarded.