Taunted
Zero
Vocal Octane
43:12 - 12 Tracks
At first listen, this is very similar to Metal Church or Overkill. The vocals and music echo in what this band would have to call their biggest influences (my speculation of course). The production is pretty good, and really, there’s not much else to say, that if you like Metal Church of Overkill or that vein of metal/thrash, you’ll probably think Taunted is a-okay. Some songs get going pretty fast and thrashy, and some are just run of the mill metal. I do have to say it does make you wanna shove someone in the pit, or if you’re old like me, shove someone from the edge of the pit!
Blue Cheer
Rollin’ Dem Bones EP
Rainman
24:42 - 5 Tracks
Old school stoner hard rock! Nothing is really heavy here, but it sure is fun and catchy to listen to. It really is easy to get into and heck, it’s fun. These guys are way old too. haha Older than Me! Just for fun, I think this will be a welcome addition to the Mosh Pit for a week or two!
Cavalera Conspiracy
Inflikted
Roadrunner
42:28 - 11 Tracks
Max and Igor back making music together. This is just raw metal going on here. Mixing some classic metal sound with their Sepultura roots (no pun intended) It’s catchy, heavy, melodic and pretty much what you’d expect it to be. A bit of a mix of Soulfly and the newer Sepultura here. No, it’s not going to be the next “Chaos AD”, but it’s pretty good on its own. Marc Rizzo on guitar, the bass player from Gojira and the Cavalera brothers round out the lineup. With names like that, how can you go wrong? It does stay away from the tribal sounds and stuff, just straightforward metal! You’ll hear this on the ‘Pit! (DUH)
Hellhammer
Satanic Rites
Century Media
Disc 1: 45:55 - 12 Tracks
Disc 2: 56:17 - 17 Tracks
This is old demo stuff and previously unreleased tracks from Tom Warrior’s pre-cursor to Celtic Frost. Raw, dark, and doomy, this kind of stuff laid some ground work for black metal back in the early 80’s. Did I mention it was raw? It’s good metal history here, so you’ll hear something from this here and there on the Mosh Pit!
Epicurean
A Consequence of Design
Metal Blade
63:19 - 11 Tracks
Take a little Dream Theater, throw in some Soilwork and maybe some Children of Bodom, and you’ll maybe get in the ballpark of Epicurean. They do have their own sound, and being lucky enough to check them out the few times they played in Madison, it’s so cool to see them signed to a “real” label. They are from Minneapolis, feature some keyboard background stuff, clean singing mixed with some more Gothenburg sounding growls. The playing is technical and kind of proggy, yet still catchy and making you want to hop into the pit.
