Thursday: Lamb of God - Blood of the Scribe

     For your belated Throwback Thursday post, I'm going with a solid track from one of the best albums by one of the titans of modern American metal. Any guesses? And don't cheat and just look at the title...

     Lamb of God's 3rd full-length LP, 2004's Ashes of the Wake, remains one of my favourite LoG records. From front to back, it's Lamb of God at their best, before their 'best' become a little more cookie-cutter on more recent albums. These newer records aren't bad or anything like that, but Randy and Company have yet to break the mold they so masterfully crafted on albums like Ashes of the Wake and tracks like your Throwback Thursday song, "Blood of the Scribe".

Wednesday: Rosetta - Untitled I

     Speaking as I was the other day about it having been a month or so since the last time I'd posted about Lamb of God, your almost-on-time Wednesday song comes about a month or so later than the last new track I featured from this hotly-anticipated upcoming album.

     The strength of 2013's The Anaesthete gave a lot of people a lot of (typically high) expectations for the next outing from Philadelphia post-metal act Rosetta. We've already heard one strong track (the aforementioned "Untitled V" that I posted about back in May sometime) and now, based on the latest slice of the new record we've been given, I think it's safe to say that Quintessential Ephemera is set to kick some ass and take some names.

     "Untitled I" is essentially another seven minutes of Rosetta doing what Rosetta does: dense and layered post-metal that's big and expansive without ever feeling too meandering or unfocused. And as strong as this track, and its predecessor, have been, I for one am really looking forward to playing this one through a couple of times when it finally drops and hearing how everything hangs together. Rosetta always come up with some tasty parts, but they also know how to put those parts together to do big things.

Tuesday: Monuments - Jinn

     Let's keep the groove train we started with "yesterday's" Lamb of God song going with some more big riffing, this time from across the pond.

     Also, this time swap Lamb of God's aggro groove for one a little proggier and, yes, a little djentier too. If you don't let the "D" word stop you -- and you shouldn't, you rebel you -- you might be pleasantly surprised with the Brits in Monuments. If, of course, you're already familiar with Monuments, then you know what we're dealing with here, and you know it's better than I'm making it sound right now.

     In any case, just listen to "Jinn" from Monuments' 2014 sophomore album The Amaneunsis and be convinced that Monuments can groove with the best of them. Just try to listen to this one without bobbing your head at some point. I dare you. Double dog dare? No, that's just crazy talk.

Monday: Lamb of God - 512

     It's been about a month since my last post about a new Lamb of God song, and in the interim they've released another track, so it's probably time I put that one in front of your eyes too, right? The fact that there's a video for it doesn't hurt either.

     The titular number "512" is a reference to Randy's cell number in Czech prison, in case you're wondering, but the lyrics probably make the song's subject clear enough. Also clear enough is how much this song slays like Lamb of God at their best -- the riffs are big and groovy, the mood is suitably menacing, Randy is in prime form. All in all, Sturm Und Drang is shaping up to be a pretty solid record. Make a fist and jam this one.

Thursday: Lamb of God - Still Echoes

     I know I'm still not quite 100% caught up with real time, which makes today's song "timeshifted" by about a day (since I'm pretending it's Thursday right now...) but I feel like I'd be remiss if I didn't share this one with you post haste rather than jumping on things late as I sometimes do. So here you go!

     If you follow Lamb of God on any social media (Facebook's my poison, but I assume this campaign hasn't been limited to this one online evil...) you've no doubt seen the hints and indications that a new record was at least in the works, if not imminent. Well, today we got the full scoop: Lamb of God's seventh LP VII: Sturm Und Drang is not just in the works, it's done and coming out in July.

     We also got our first taste of the new material today, in the form of ass-kicking, name-taking lead single "Still Echoes". I'll let you be the judge of whether or not its particular riffing hits the spot for you, but I will say that it's big and heavy and in your face, just like you'd expect. In other words, it's Lamb of God, so turn it up loud.

Sunday: Solipsist - End This Day

     I told you I'd get you back into metal territory soon enough, and lo, I am a keeper of promises. Enjoy your Sunday song kids.

     Cleveland's Solipsist is an interesting beast. Their vocalist has a bit of a Randy Blythe thing going on sometimes, but their sound is definitely more death metal than Lamb of God's. So think Lamb of God with the deal metal quotient turned up a bunch, and you'll at least have a starting point for Solipsist.

     The band's latest album, last month's The Burning Mass, offers a number of tasty tracks that I could have chosen as your belated Sunday song, but I've decided to go with the melo-deathy "End This Day" simply for its driving energy. There's almost a bit of a Black Dahlia Murder feel to this one. Give it a listen, and then check out the rest of The Burning Mass. It's not anything mindblowing, but there's some rock solid riffage to be had. Have at 'er!

Hybrid Sheep - Liar's Promises

     How about some technically-minded deathcore for a Tech Tuesday song? Close enough? It better be.

     Tonight we've got a song from French deathcore act Hyrbid Sheep. "Liar's Promises", the first track from the upcoming Free From the Clutches of the Gods to receive video treatment, is a concise slab of deathcore riffing that alternates between higher speed, trem-pickier stuff and some slightly slower, head-bangier grooves. The latter almost have an old-school Lamb of God flavour to them, right down to the mid-temp harmonized guitar solo.

     Check out Hybrid Sheep and "Liar's Promises" if you're looking for a bit of a deathcore pummeling this evening.

Ever Forthright - Riot: Part 1

     The djentlemen in Ever Forthright are hard at work on their second LP, but even though it's still a work in progress the band has been kind enough to give us a taste of the new material in "Riot: Part 1".

     Opening up bludgeoning and dissonant, "Riot: Part 1" covers a good deal of angular Meshuggah-type ground before bringing in some big jazzy chords and leadwork near the end that succeed in softening the song's edges only slightly. There's also some decent clean vocals to be had, and some growls that are at times very reminiscent of Randy from Lamb of God. Could be an interesting sophomore disc, don'tchathink?

Lamb of God - Reclamation

     We're going with some solid groove to start off the week in tonight's quickie post.

     I'll readily admit that Lamb of God's Wrath isn't my favourite LoG album. That said, it does have some great tracks, like today's song. Album closer "Reclamation" is a solid song all the way through, but what really seals the deal on my selection of it this evening is that snakey intro riff, starting out on just an acoustic guitar seemingly on a beach or a shoreline somewhere before adding the electrics and then the rest of the band. It's a good example of a track that's a little less "by the numbers" Lamb of God.

Song of the Day: Lamb of God - Grace

     Quickie song post before bed tonight, but no less ferocious for the brevity with which I write about it.

Song of the Day: Protest the Hero - Clarity

     Unless you've spent your day under a rock or otherwise completely cut off from the world somehow (lucky you), you've likely already jammed the brand spankin' new Protest the Hero song. But just in case you missed it, Beardy's got you.

Song of the Day Double Header 2: The Resongining

     Apparently we're going to tackle this long weekend in chunks. OK, fine.

Song of the Day: Lamb of God - Walk With Me in Hell

     While we're on the subject of good first songs on albums, here's another one!

Song of the Day: Nine Inch Nails - Came Back Haunted

     OK, before I get to today's song, there's one thing I want to mention first. I've said before (more than once) that I'm not interested in being a music news blog per se, but just in case you haven't heard, Protest the Hero drummer Moe Carlson is leaving the band to go back to school. No permanent replacement has been announced yet, but the indiegogo-funded album the boys are working on will have none other than Lamb of God's Chris "I am a drumming robot" Adler behind the kit as their studio drummer. Colour me even more stoked for this album's apparent fall-ish release.

Song of the Day: Lamb of God - Blacken the Cursed Sun

     Randy Blythe's manslaughter case has been back in the news lately as the trial itself has gotten underway in the Czech Republic. The fact that the trial has also been delayed for a month or so due to the illness of one the witnesses doesn't mean we have to stop sending our good vibrations out into the universe on Randy's behalf.

Song of the Day: Haji's Kitchen - Nocturnus

     Today's band is one I've been very remiss in not sharing with you before now. I've known about them at least since the summer, having learned of them because I'm a bit of a Dan Tompkins fanboy (as you may already know) and prolific chap that his is, he does some vocal work on their latest album. But I've just never gotten around to picking a song for you to listen to... until now...

Song of the Day: Enter Shikari - Mothership

     We're going to change directions again today, moving from yesterday's Canadian indie-emo-alt-rock to some British post-hardcore electro-metal* in my ongoing quest to provide you, dear reader, not just with some rockin' tunes, but with some rockin' tunes you might not already know. To that end, let's talk about Enter Shikari.

Song of the Day: Sylosis - Out From Below

     Well, it's been a long wait, but Super Tuesday is finally here! It certainly doesn't rival Christmas morning or the last day of school or anything, but there's a little part of me that's been looking forward to today for months, largely because today's band's new album drops in North America today (fuck you, Europe). Don't get me wrong, I'm really looking forward to new Between the Buried and Me and Coheed and Cambria as well, but of the three, Sylosis is the one I've really been waiting for.

Song of the Day: Lamb of God - 11th Hour

     As is too often the case, it's Monday once again, and although I'm not doing a Metallica Monday this week, some metal would be desirable on such a morning. With that in mind you get some old(er) stuff today in the form of a Loud Noises favourite, the tried and true "first song I ever heard by this band" trope.

Song of the Day: Lamb of God - Ashes of the Wake

     Well, it's here people: day 2 of Heavy TO, and I'll be there! Or, more accurately, by the time you read this I probably am there. So who do I pick for a song on the last day of Heavy themed picks? Easy. They're not playing at Heavy anymore, but they're still awesome, and of course if you haven't heard, Randy Blythe is back in the US, so what more reason could I need to play a Lamb of God song?