Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death
Iron Maiden is another one of those bands that took me forever and a day to begin listening too. That's what you get when you enter the music game as late as I did, you find yourself playing a lot of catch up. I have come to welcome the news of a new Maiden release, their brand of pure heavy metal is a welcome sound in my ear cavity.

At first listen, I wasn't sure how much I liked it, I just knew that I did. The more I have listened to it, the more and more I have liked it. It may not be at the same level as, say, Piece of Mind, but it is one fantastic metal album. The first single, "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg," is a fine piece of music, but I prefer "Pilgrim," especially with that fantastic opening. The album does have a bit of a different feel, but is still true to the core Maiden. Up the Irons!

The Devin Townsend Band - Synchestra
I may be a little slow coming around, but I am beginning to recognize the brilliance of Devin Townsend. I first experienced him live, heading up Strapping Young Lad when they opened for Meshuggah. I liked the drumming, but I can't say I was terribly impressed.

Well, here we are some years later and I am faced with Townsend's madcap metal mastery again, in the form of The Devin Townsend Band, as opposed to Strapping Young Lad. Rather than a straight up metal disk, what we get is more akin to a soundtrack to a metallic landscape. There is an ebb and flow as each of the songs flows one into the next, there are no singles, or any standout tracks for that matter, but taken as a whole, there is a definite bit of genius at work. A majestic, mature work that begs to be listened to. Not one to be missed.

Hatebreed - Supremacy
I've said it before, I say it now, and I will most likely say it again in the future, hardcore is not my genre of choice. In fact, I have never really listened to it all that much. But just like anything, there are exceptions to the rule, Hatebreed is one of those exceptions. I first experienced them about ten years ago, at the time I was not terribly impressed, but upon subsequent releases and a few lineup changes, they have grown by leaps and bounds until they have reached the top of he hardcore heap.

This, their fourth release, is the best collection they have put out yet. The music is brutal, unrelenting, and just flat out aggressive. The songs have a positive core of inner strength surrounded by the crunchy riffs and precision drumming that are sure to get the pit chugging. Crisp production makes this their best recorded effort, and I don't know, but it just grabbed my inner mosher and shook him like a child. Definitely a long lived rager.