Megadeth – Fatal Illusion
As legendary and revered as they indubitably are, Megadeth have an occasional tendency to sabotage their own reputation. Undoing much of the positive progress facilitated by an impressive run of strong records, 2013’s Super Collider was widely derided as a turgid clanger. As a result, this latest incarnation of Dave Mustaine’s pioneering thrash crew have a fair amount to prove. The good news is that new album Dystopia is a blazing return to top form that refines and redefines the band’s state-of-the-art metal attack via the fieriest material they have produced in decades. Vital, precise and subtly inventive, Fatal Illusion sets the scene beautifully: this is 21st century metal with venom and ideas to spare.
Toothgrinder – The House That Fear Built
Quite possibly the scariest thing to emerge from New Jersey since Tony Soprano’s daily to-do list, Toothgrinder offer hope to any metal fans that are suffering from generic metalcore fatigue. With a sound that draws from the questing battery of Gojira, the controlled chaos of Slipknot and the scattershot mischief of Faith No More without owing a direct debt to any of them, this band have conjured a fervently contemporary sonic hybrid that has both hooks and imagination in plentiful supply. The opening track from forthcoming debut album Nocturnal Masquerade, this is an exhilarating statement of intent and a welcome shot in the arm for the modern metal world.
Vektor – Ultimate Artificer
Eschewing the now well-worn retro thrash ethos in favour of a wilfully eccentric and proudly demented approach that marks them out as heirs to Voivod’s skewed prog metal throne, Vektor are simply one of the most feted bands in the underground right now. Conceptually tethered to the darkest of sci-fi conceits and clearly disinterested in toning things down to lure in mainstream metal fans, the Canadians’ forthcoming third album promises to be a bit special, the unhinged intensity of Ultimate Artificer pointing to an increasingly uncompromising vision and a sense of urgency that few contemporary bands can match. Evil cosmic thrash... yes, it’s a thing.
Shotgun Rodeo – Up In Smoke
In metal circles, Norway is known primarily for its grim and shadowy black metal scene, but Shotgun Rodeo are audibly hell-bent on altering that focus. A masterful blend of old school bombast and ferociously modern crunch, the Trondheim gang’s forthcoming World Wide Genocide album is so unashamedly joyful and anthemic that it’s easy to imagine these songs being performed in arenas. While many latter-day students of Priest and Maiden stick rigidly to a reverential template, Shotgun Rodeo somehow make their giant choruses and elaborate, virtuoso arrangements sound utterly fresh and timely. Big, bold and belligerent heavy metal with soaring melodies, plenty of lyrical bite and a sense of fun that will surely prove to be infectious.
Heck – The Breakers
The band formerly known as Baby Godzilla may have had to negotiate a change of identity, but the sublime madness that drives their flailing noisecore missives remains as potent as ever. Recreating the untamed pandemonium of the quartet’s near-legendary live shows is never going to be a straightforward task, but The Breakers nails it in three-and-a-half barking mad and brilliantly bellicose minutes. Raw, rampaging and always teetering on the edge of chaos, this is heavy enough to engage curious metalheads and noisy enough to give Thurston Moore a splitting headache.
