//RELEASED//

Amon Amarth - Twilight Of the Thunder God
Metal-Archive's Profile for Amon Amarth
I know Amon Amarth is one of those bands that is either love or hate. Well, I'm not afraid to say I love em (with the exception of 'With Oden On Our Side' which I thought was mediocre). They're pretty simple melodic death metal a la Hypocrisy and (early) Amorphis. But the melodies are so fucken meaty and catchy it's a metal you can tap your toes to. With their new album, Twilight Of The Thunder God, my enjoyment of their music has been reignited. Particularly on track 5, "Varyags of Miklagaard", which is, in my opinion, one of the best Amon Amarth songs I've ever heard. It's too catchy, I'm thinking I'll listen to this song 100 times in a row before it gets old.

Jeff Loomis - Zero Order Phase
Metal-Archive's Profile for Jeff Loomis
Jeff Loomis, guitarist of Nevermore, has released a solo album. It's heavy, it's jazzy, and it's instrumental. I've only listened to about half the album, but so far I like what I hear. It definitely has that dropped D sound of Nevermore, but I was more surprised by the crisp and rapid shredding Loomis does on some of the tracks. I guess Nevermore's sound doesn't have room for this amount of shred, but I love it.

//UPCOMING//

The Faceless - Planet Duality
Metal-Archive's Profile for The Faceless
One of my most enjoyed albums in years, Akeldama by The Faceless blew my brains out. Now they're looking to do it again with Planet Duality. You can catch a single song from their new album on their MySpace (www.myspace.com/thefaceless). It's jazzy as fuck, so prepare yourself, but it still maintains that hyperactive, melo-grind-time-changing-insanity of Akeldama.