JamesT

Alestorm - "Captain Morgan's Revenge" DragonForce - "Warp Speed Warriors" Really enjoying the first new album in 5 years from my favorite power metal band. Really glad Marc Hudson is in the band and has been for some time now. I know ZP Theart was beloved on those early albums, but Hudson is a much more dynamic singer and never hits a sour note. I'll be playing this one for a long time.

Yes, same here! I don't hold out much hope that they're still together at this point, but perhaps they'll surprise me.

Fantastic choice! Love that band. Got two of their albums, although I'm not certain how big their discography is. This one has been one of the better new wave thrash albums in more recent years. I revisit this one often! Black Water Rising - Self-titled Black Water Rising - "Pissed and Driven" Nice hard rock with a southern metal flare to it.

Fantastic album! Even better than their 2019 release, "Bury the Pain", which was great as well. Those guys keep getting better and better. AC/DC - "Let There Be Rock" AC/DC - "Powerage" AC/DC - "Highway to Hell" AC/DC - "Back in Black" AC/DC - "For Those About to Rock" AC/DC - "Flick of the Switch" AC/DC - "Fly on the Wall" Temple Balls - "Pyromide"

Fantastic album! Been one of my favorite thrash albums to revisit for several years now. The pace is pretty furious throughout, and the guitar work is great. They have two albums out that I know of, and I own them both, but hopefully they'll put some more stuff out at some point.

That's my #2 Testament album of all, just behind "The Gathering"! Just an incredible slab of thrash.

Fantastic choice! The most recent 5 Testament albums (dating back to "The Gathering") are my 5 favorites in the catalog, and "Brotherhood of the Snake" is right up there!

Howl - "Bloodlines" A band that forges a nervous truce between hardcore and sludge, but it works very well!

Just played this based on your recommendation - thank you, sir! This is some great stuff.

Helldozers - "Hate Sweet Hate" Blessed Hellride - "Bastards & Outlaws" KK's Priest - "Sermons of the Sinner"

One can never go wrong with some Iron Monkey! Happy listening, my friend.

Komatryp - "Calloused" Black Tooth - "Drink Drive Go to Hell" More great groove metal today!

Great minds think alike, my friend! Fantastic choice with Evil Invaders, by the way. The guitar work is phenomenal on all of their albums, which I own. Slackjaw - "Vicious Cycle" Some great southern groove here!

I'm playing that Temple of Brutality album as we speak! Man, I love this stuff.

Love that Iron Monkey album! I should have stated that a bit differently and said those three bands are all influences on Swamp Coffin. Crowbar is untouchable for me, but Swamp Coffin has been a fantastic discovery over the last couple of days!

Swamp Coffin - "Noose Almighty" Crushing doom/sludge in the vein of Crowbar, Iron Monkey, and Primitive Man. Great stuff!

Very true! And another great choice with the legendary Death. Not a single bad album in their discography, which was cut way too short with Chuck's untimely death.

Fantastic choice, my friend! An album I revisit frequently. Heavy, aggressive, and fierce - the Cavalera way!

Great choice! Love me some Dust Bolt. I have 4 of their albums, although they may have put out a new one since I last checked. Great new wave thrash.

Hell's Fire - "Rest in Riffs" Goathanger - "The Hook" Goatfather - "Hipster Fister" Mourning Tide - "Trash N Burn"

Metallica - "72 Seasons" Jag Panzer - "The Hallowed" Polution - "Overheated" Overdrivers - "She's on Her Period" The Wild! - "GxDxWxB"

Crowbar - "Zero and Below" Crowbar - "Obedience Thru Suffering" Crowbar - Self-titled Crowbar - "Time Heals Nothing" And by the way, here you go, Mr. GG! Me and Mr. Windstein!

How's it going, my friend?! Oh yes, the new Judas Priest will be hard to beat for my album of the year. Exhorder is really good, but not album of the year for me. The only other competitor I anticipate as of now is the new Accept album, "Humanoid", due out April 26. We'll see how it goes! I'll see if my technologically challenged self can figure out how to post my pics with Mr. Windstein as soon as I can! What an incredible show it was. I believe there were around 500 people or so, over in the state capital of Raleigh. Really cool that you bought "Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form"! That album is in my top 5 of their catalog - truly underrated. My favorite Crowbar album tends to flip-flop between "Broken Glass" (1996) and "Odd Fellows Rest" (1998), but "Symmetry in Black" (2014) and the newest album, "Zero and Below" (2022) give them both a run for their money. There's not a single weak album in the Crowbar discography, and truthfully, very few weak moments in general. Love them to death and will be playing through their albums on my commute over the next few days!

Fair enough! Those first two albums are classics for sure.

I definitely don't hate you, my metal brother! I am, however, bummed to hear that you didn't get to see Crowbar. I saw them live back in February of 2019 and got to have a brief conversation with founder and front man Kirk Windstein before the show. I asked his wife, Robin, if she would mind snapping a couple of pics of me and Kirk, and she graciously agreed even though she was also trying to work the merchandise table. Kirk was very cool to me and allowed me to get a couple of pics with him. I've got them stored in the cloud as we speak, now 5 years later. I'd highly recommend checking out Crowbar, especially if you're into sludge at all. They've got some great groove to their sound as well, and they're the heaviest band I've ever heard. At the show, while the guys were doing a quick sound check before their set, I could literally feel it in my teeth, the sounds was so incredibly heavy. Spanning from their debut album, "Obedience Thru Suffering" (1991) to the present day, they currently have 12 albums in their catalog. I've heard that Down is planning to release their first new material in a decade, and I believe Kirk is playing with them right now. But I'm hoping Crowbar will give us another couple of albums before they call it a day! Oh man, I'm really enjoying the new Exhorder album, "Defectum Omnium"! Kyle Thomas is a fantastic vocalist, and the album has an enjoyable quality all the way through. It'll definitely be getting heavy rotation for me.