Sound of Metal

Words cannot do this album enough justice. This is a truly glorious metal release, certainly Death's finest hour, and easily one of the top metal albums of all time. The sheer ferocity and emotion that channels through each of the intricate, progressive guitar melodies shatters every low opinion of the American metal scene. When you combine Chuck Schuldiner's shrieking vocals (his eeriest performance ever) with the most talented, cohesive lineup yet, you get the definitive Death album. This album delicately mixes the best aspects of past albums Human, Individual Thought Patterns, and Symbolic and takes them one step further. The album is more aggressive, more progressive, and certainly more melodic…

Vikings and metal tend to go together very well, and the idea of combining the two has obviously been made popular by the likes of Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth and German power metal band Rebellion, and now a new challenger has arrived to prove themselves worthy of fighting for Odin. That band is Brothers of Metal, from Sweden, and they have unleashed their debut Prophecy of Ragnarok, which is not only an incredibly addictive power metal album, with varying influences from other genres and a ton of different exciting elements, but it also happens to be perhaps the very best Viking themed metal album I’ve ever heard, as the band takes familiar ideas and mashes them together perfectly, while also managing to create their own distinct sound that really has to be heard…

Anthrax replaced longstanding vocalist Joey Belladonna with John Bush (of Armored Saint) and released the surprisingly melodic and predictably pummeling Sound of White Noise. Producer Dave Jerden, who had worked with Bush on the last Armored Saint disc as well as releases for Alice in Chains and Jane's Addiction, helped Anthrax channel its energy into the shape of the post-Seattle metal sound. This ostracized some fans and attracted others, but the change is incidental; the music is relentless, like a brigade of tanks, and chances are you'll be too busy running for your life to worry who's at the wheel. Sound of White Noise cudgels the listener like nothing since Among the Living; Charlie Benante's drums are everywhere they want to be, a hailstorm of thundering blows backed up by Frank Bello's basslines…

Tiger and the Duke is the debut album by the experimental rock band The Sound of Animals Fighting. Four songs from this album were released in demo form on a 2004 EP of the same title. It is a concept album revolving around the title character, Duke, and the Captain who runs the ship they are sailing. The cargo of the ship are crazy animals who howl and fight below the deck. Eventually the Captain's sons start a mutiny in which the Captain jumps off the ship. The album was reissued via Equal Vision Records on June 26, 2007. The reissue features all tracks remixed, with new interludes, and new artwork by Drew Roulette of dredg and Dark Heavens and packaging along with eight remixes from Lover, The Lord Has Left Us… The album peaked at 35 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart.