Marauder
ELEGY OF BLOOD

It's amazing how many of these second and third tier "classic metal" bands there are out there.  Specifically, it's truly amazing how many bands there are that around around 20 years old, never made much of an impact, but still crank out this kind of heavy metal that touches on thrash elements from time to time.  We all know the big names that have had success doing this kind of music - Metal Church, Helloween - you know...classic metal bands that are either grand in their sound, heavy in their riffs, or both from time to time.  For every great one though, there's always the more workmanlike bands that put out solid material but just can't find that extra whatever to take them over the top.  Bands like Meliah Rage, Tankard or Helstar immediately jump to my mind.

U.D.O.
CELEBRATOR

I know for many people, the fact that Accept is back with a vengeance is a bad thing since lead vocalist Udo Dirkschneider is not along for the ride.  I guess, on some level, I wish he was there as well.  That said though, I think I'm one of the few that enjoys his post Accept band U.D.O. just as much as I ever did Accept.  Let's be honest here - all U.D.O. amounts to is Accept with a slightly more electronic edge to them.  To my ears, they are virtually the same band.  The vocals are obviously the same, and even the guitar players have names that sound somewhat similar (Wolf Hoffman - Stefan Kaufmann).  It may just be due to pressure, but the last two U.D.O. albums DOMINATOR and REV-RAPTOR have smoked sonically.  Needless to say, when the latest CELEBRATOR came across my desktop, I was definitely excited.

Wolfbrigade are a band of some irony.  They are a punk meets metal band, and yet, they have landed on a stoner rock label like Southern Lord to release their latest album, DAMNED.  While heavily punk influenced, their latest release is far more brutal than you would expect from a band of this ilk.  Checking in from the road, Dadde from Wolfbrigade checked in to explain just what's going on with the band, with DAMNED, and with their decision to take a full year off before reconvening with DAMNED.

Shadows Fall
FIRE FROM THE SKY

There's definitely some credit that has to be given to Shadows Fall.  Without question, they are one of the most recognizable band from a collection of extreme metal bands to have broken out in the early 2000s.  When you look at their contemporaries - God Forbid, Lamb Of God, Killswitch Engage - they fit perfectly in there with that small collection of bands that a lot of modern metalheads actually care about from release to release.  To me personally, they've done the most with the least amount of "it" factor.  To their credit (or discredit if you must), they have always featured a sound that's all their own while merging pieces parts from everything else around them.