WORT’s The Mosh Pit

WORT-FM Loud Rock Top 20 for the Week of 5/19/08

Artist  –  Album  –  Label
1) Children of Bodom  –  Blooddrunk  –  Spinefarm
2) Arsis  –  We Are The Nightmare  –  Nuclear Blast
3) In Flames  –  A Sense of Purpose  –  Koch
4) Testament  –  The Formation of Damnation  –  Nuclear Blast
5) Soilent Green  –  Inevitable Collapse…  –  Metal Blade
6) Dream Theater  –  Greatest Hit and 21 Other…Songs  –  Rhino
7) Belphegor  –  Bondage Goat Zombie  –  Nuclear Blast
8) Origin  –  Antithesis  –  Relapse
9) Zimmer’s Hole  –  When You Were Shouting At…  –  Century Media
10) A Different Breed of Killer  –  I, Colossus  –  Rise
11) Opeth  –  Watershed Sampler  –  Roadrunner
12) Embrace The End  –  Ley Lines  –  Century Media
13) Abysmal Dawn  –  Programmed To Consume  –  Relapse
14) With Dead Hands Rising  –  Expect Hell  –  Mediaskare
15) Desaster  –  666 Satan’s Soldiers Syndicate  –  Metal Blade
16) Fate  –  Vultures  –  Metal Blade
17) Struggle Within  –  Angels Face  –  Arctic Music
18) Aletheian  –  Dying Vine  –  Metal Blade
19) Engel  –  Absolute Design  –  SPV
20) Whitesnake  –  Good To Be Bad  –  SPV

Top 5 Adds
1) Kataklysm  –  Prevail  –  Nuclear Blast
2) Moonspell  –  Night Eternal  –  SPV
3) Ihsahn  –  AngL  –  Candlelight
4) Hatchet  –  Awaiting Evil  –  Metal Blade
5) Kryptos  –  The Ark Of Gemini  –  Old School Metal

Other Adds: Deicide, Stormwarrior, Ottoman Empire, Funeral Pyre

Stormwarrior
Heading Northe
Locomotive
45:22 - 11 Tracks
With a name like “Stormwarrior”  you could probably figure out that this is some euro sounding power metal…. yup, it is.   No groundbreaking stuff here, a lot of guitar wanking, sing-a-long choruses, majestic interludes and that sorta stuff.   You’ll probably hear this on the Mosh Pit… you know, cuz we haven’t actually had anything new like this in a while!

Kataklysm
Prevail
Nuclear Blast
44:08 - 10 Tracks
Brutal, heavy, technical-ish, everything you’ve come to expect from Kataklysm.  These guys are pretty much on top of their game right now, and this album proves it.  The songs are catchy, some have some slower interludes, but the payoffs are all there and make it all worthwhile.  The songs are a bit catchy too, and the production is crystal clear!  You’ll hear this on the Mosh Pit!

Moonspell
Night Eternal
SPV
44:18 - 9 Tracks
As with their last two albums, they keep putting out some great, relevant heavy albums.  That phase they went through in the late 90’s… ugh.  This new stuff sounds awesome… heavy, yet still maintaining the groove, the harsh vocals are great, and the occasional clean vocal still maintains their goth/doom vibe.  They one one of the few bands that can mix the goth/doom with the death/borderline black metal sound.  These guys’ last three studio albums (including this one), and adding to that, their re-recording of their earlier stuff on “Under Satanae” last year, Moonspell has hit their stride and are definitely worthy of airplay on the Mosh Pit!

Hatchet
Awaiting Evil
Metal Blade
42:00 - 9 Tracks
Metal Blade seems to be one of those labels that has a great wide variety of bands from all metal genres in their roster.  Hatchet covers the new wave of American Thrash.  Heck, they sound just like they’d be from the Bay Area in the 80’s.   Well, they do have half of that right!   They’re from the Bay area, and sure have the sound nailed down!  Sounds like an older Death Angel or Vio-lence or Exodus, or whoever album.  It does sound a bit raw.   We love the thrash, so you’ll hear this on the Mosh Pit!

Kryptos
The Ark of Gemini
Old School Metal
42:34 - 9 Tracks
Just about every band out there these days has to have some unique thing about them, right?  Well, covering the last few months, I think this band might take the cake… They’re from India!   It’s mostly straight-ahead thrash with some harsh death/black metal vocals.   To throw a wrench in the fire, they do have some pretty good Black Sabbath influence too.  I mean, if you are to be the first metal band from India so be signed to an International record deal, I would imagine you’d have influences from everywhere, and these guys do.  They have a little something for everyone!

Ishahn
AngL
Candlelight
47:22 - 9 Tracks
The sophomore effort from the former frontman of Emperor.  This album has some classic metal sound mixed with some gothy prog and even deathy evil!   Track 3 features Mikael from Opeth, and the song even has an Opeth vibe.  A lot of the album actually does, where it goes from some classic rock/prog then into some heavy stuff and back again.  It’s pretty dynamic and worthy of airplay!

Deicide
TIll Death Do Us Part
Earache
42:12 - 10 Tracks
The intro track on here certainly doesn’t sound like Deicide.  Almost proggy technical thrashy metal leading up to the first “real” track… the vocals certainly are classic Glenn Benton evilness, the music is actually pretty good and again, typical for Deicide, not as super speedy fast as a lot of brutal-core out there.   Chalk this album up in the catalog as “another new Deicide” album.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s good, just typical for them.  There’s not much death metal like this anymore.  Most bands try too hard or don’t try enough.

The Ottoman Empire
The Answer: Does Not Exist EP
LOCAL
25:42 - 6 Tracks
I’ve had these tracks before, as the band emailed them to me, but this is now an official EP release from them, and these guys are probably the best Metal band Madison or even Wisconsin has going for it now.  Mix Dream Theater with Arch Enemy….I think that’s the best, quickest way to put a label on them.  Awesome technical chops, guitar work is top notch, the production on this is really good.  No reason these guys shouldn’t be signed to a major label right now!