Volbeat
OUTLAW GENTLEMEN AND SHADY LADIES

Many times over the past five years, I've proclaimed Volbeat as the lone exciting new band out there today. Their sound is definitely one that you either love or hate, and there's no middle ground whatsoever with them. That said, their growth in popularity has not been the most healthy for this band creatively. They have seemingly started to play to the masses a little bit. It started showing itself with "Fallen", and now there are plenty of moments on their latest that seem to grow from that. I'm not sure if they are just churning out music a bit too fast to capitalize on their popularity growth or if they have just come up a little bit flat this time around, but OUTLAW GENTLEMEN AND SHADY LADIES simply isn't as good as what Volbeat has been producing since most of us first heard them with "Sad Man's Tongue". While it doesn't suck by any means, OUTLAW GENTLEMEN AND SHADY LADIES is a bit of a letdown.

Queensryche
FREQUENCY UNKNOWN

If you've followed along with the whole Queensryche saga over the last few months and you are a fan, you are almost embarrassed to claim that fandom in public at this point. For a band that was once so proud of the fact that they were above the fray of their contemporaries, it's just flat out embarrassing to see the sad division of a band that was once so creatively excellent. Now, we have two Queensryches out there. The first one, made up of the "rest of the guys" and new vocalist Todd LaTorre, have proclaimed a return to the classic sound of the first five releases. They have been somewhat classier than Geoff Tate during the whole split, but at the same time haven't been shy to point fingers and make their private legal battle with Tate immensely public. Whatever, I guess...everyone's got to get the word out about their project. As for vocalist Geoff Tate...well, he's kind of gone insane the last few months publicly. Over the last few months, we've heard everything from why it was alright to spit in the face of his former drummer, rants from the stage where he told fans of the band that they suck, and yes, even stereotyping talk about the man's dick size. Certainly, the legacy has taken a lot of tarnish during this time.

Buckcherry
CONFESSIONS

It's starting to look like 2013 is the season of bands that do things that sound pretty much the same from release to release putting out new music that's the same as the old. Buckcherry is a solid band generally, although their last two releases have been pretty God-awful. Their latest release, CONFESSIONS, is far better than BLACK BUTTERFLY or ALL NIGHT LONG, but that's still not saying that they have regained the greatness they once showed with releases such as their 15 or their self-titled debut. While CONFESSIONS doesn't rival either of those releases, it does have some of the qualities that made both of those very listenable albums. In short, CONFESSIONS is a comeback of sorts for this working man's band.

Sebastian Bach
ABACHALYPSE NOW

There's just something about Sebastian Bach that's compelling. Sure, he comes off like a knob a lot of the time in the media, but at his core, he's really just a guy that loves making music and isn't ashamed to talk about it. Yes, he comes off like a fanboy at times; particularly when talking about his love for bands like Kiss and Guns N' Roses. But regardless of all that, the guy fronted one of the better bands from the '80s in Skid Row. For those of us that had the chance to see Skid Row back in the proverbial day, we all remember just how good Bach (and the rest of the band for that matter) was on stage during that time. Performing live has always been Bach's bread and butter. Now as a solo artist, it's still where he earns his stripes. While there's been some controversy about him going back and "fixing" the newly released ABACHALYPSE NOW, Bach does make a good point about this. He states that he doesn't want to put out a bad product when he can create something that people will replay for years to come. Fair enough. It's certainly worked for his idols Kiss. So why not?

Hatebreed
THE DIVINITY OF PURPOSE

There are some bands that just get it. Hatebreed is one of those bands. Like clockwork, I know that when I'm presented with a brand new Hatebreed release, I'm going to like it. You know why? Because before I ever hear a single note of it, I'm 100% certain of what I'm going to hear. Without question, their uncompromising approach to hardcore has launched them past almost all of their peers in the genre. While there are definitely bands like Agnostic Front that will always get more love as the creators and innovators of this style of music, there's very little doubt that it was Hatebreed that took it to the widest range of fans. Sure, they don't sell a zillion copies of any album, but who does that makes metal these days? What Hatebreed does doe, with every release, is deliver integrity, big sound, and uncompromising lyrics. THE DIVINITY OF PURPOSE is just what you'd expect from Hatebreed, although it's a touch heavier than even their past work has provided. In short, THE DIVINITY OF PURPOSE kicks ass.