Ready for Round 4? Well, you don’t have a choice. I refuse to take a break from our 2014 reviews, and instead am going to bring three more albums that I’ve enjoyed over the past year right back into your periphery. And once again, I’d like to remind you that you’ll be able to catch our Final Four albums of the year later this week on Episode 33 of the podcast.

Anyway, I think it’s time to continue…

Anaal Nathrakh – Desideratum (Metal Blade Records)

This is yet another band I only just discovered. It is also a band I am now looking forward to seeing at MDF 2015. I gotta be honest…I don’t really know what this album is: it’s black metal, it’s death metal, it’s industrial, and it’s also grindcore. For all that, everything blends together exceptionally well, and the band spews forth pure aggression in a very modern sound. Particularly interesting is their blend of wonderfully incoherent shrieking layered with echoing growls and captivating symphonic clean singing. The vocal diversity matches the music’s so perfectly. The Birmingham (UK, not ‘Bama) duo have officially grabbed my attention, and this is a band I’ll look forward to following into the future.

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Devin Townsend – Z² (HevyDevy Records)

Over the last several years, we’ve been blessed with a barrage of amazing music from Devin Townsend, and I can’t help but think he’s summed it all up nicely with Z², one of his best works to date. Of course, this was a double album featuring the well-known Devin Townsend Project’s Sky Blue and everyone’s favorite alien puppet Ziltoid the Omniscient on the second disc, Dark Matters. Right now, I’d like to focus on the former. As far as I’m concerned, DTP hasn’t ever been anything short of brilliant, despite the uniqueness behind each release. Somehow, all the pieces that I’ve appreciated most from Ki, Ghost, Addicted, Deconstruction, and Epicloud seem to have found some common ground on Sky Blue. It’s poppy, it’s pretty, and quite frankly, it’s an extremely refreshing listen. If Devin plans on taking some time to regroup after the blitz that has been the last seven years or so, he’s earned it. This is one of my favorite albums this year. And possibly my favorite album in the Devin Townsend library. And that’s saying something.

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Eyehategod – Eyehategod (Housecore Records)

It’s been quite some time since we’ve heard from the New Orleans sludge masters. Confederacy of Ruined Lives came out way back in 2000, and I for one am quite glad to have gotten a fresh dose of Eyehategod’s down-tuned, bluesy misanthropy. Yes, they’ve been at it off and on since the late 80’s, but they’ve managed to stay fresh and produce an incredibly addicting listen full of hate and pain that rains punishment down on listeners, riff by crushing riff. They stay true to the sound that so clearly defines Eyehategod while offering enough tempo changes to keep even a new listener hooked. Taking everything into consideration, it’s an impressive enough feat to have even released this album. To release one of this quality is on another level.

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Only one more round of Honorable Mentions stands between you and our Final Four!

“Ein Bier… bitte.”

– Corey

Live. Love. Plow. Horns Up.