Slipknot - Sarcastrophe
Finally back after a six-year gap that was painfully punctuated by the death of founder member and bassist Paul Gray, Slipknot clearly haven’t mellowed at all. Taken from new album .5: The Gray Chapter, Sarcastrophe harks back to the infernal stomping of the band’s 1999 self-titled breakthrough album while also reaffirming the songwriting finesse they have exhibited in more recent times. Most importantly, Slipknot still sound ridiculously pissed off. Welcome back.
Bloodbath - Famine Of God’s Word
Underground metal elitists spend a great deal of time debating the relative merits of old and new school death metal, when what they should really be doing is listening to Bloodbath. Now fronted by Paradise Lost’s Nick Holmes, who hasn’t growled like this for 20 years, the Swedes are poised to release their most gruesome and compelling album yet, Grand Morbid Funeral. When it comes to channelling the arcane spirit of death metal’s first wave, while still packing a jarring contemporary punch, no one in 2014 does it better.
Primordial – Where Greater Men Have Fallen
Masters of epic, windswept metal that strikes a cunning balance between vicious extremity and melodic oomph, Primordial are one of the most revered bands in the heavy underground, largely because they never put a foot wrong. The title track from their triumphant and genuinely moving new album, Where Greater Men Have Fallen exhibits a dignity and grace that few outsiders would expect from music this intense and aggressive. A monumental anthem to honour brave souls lost on the battlefield, no less.
Black Crown Initiate – The Wreckage Of Stars
Progressive metal is a tricky subgenre to pin down, with everything from endless virtuoso noodling to perverse avant-garde cacophonies seeming to fit the bill. But if you’re looking for heavy music that prizes imagination over technique while still ticking the brutality box, US newbies Black Crown Initiate are almost certainly for you. Conspicuous shades of early Opeth aside, this band are striving to do something fresh and exciting in the prog metal realm and this title track from their full-length debut suggests that they are succeeding in their noble aims.
Skyharbor – Evolution
Formed in India but fronted by English vocalist Dan Tompkins (also a member of djent overlords Tesseract), Skyharbor are living proof that the tech-metal scene knows no geographical boundaries. Rapidly becoming major players, their widescreen, futuristic vision and knack for tugging the heartstrings look likely to propel them into the upper echelons of the metal scene when new album Guiding Lights sinks its talons into polyrhythm-loving scruffs the world over. Put simply, this is sumptuous modern metal with big ideas and a bigger heart.
