5. Storm Corrosion – Storm Corrosion

Steven Wilson’s and Mikael Akerfeldt’s long awaited album is finally within our reach. The album is slated for an April release, which is three months too long of a wait. While the album itself may not be “loud rock” in the conventional sense, it’s been described as “strange and disturbing”, which is metal in its own right. Plus, look at that damn artwork. That thing is sexy as hell.

4. Periphery – Periphery II and/or Juggernaut

Periphery has been approaching advertisement in a very unique way: through the internet. They’re huge Facebook users, constantly updating their page with studio updates, hilarious pictures (see right) and random images of guitars. They alone took a good chunk of space of my wall. Because of this, they’re are rabid fans out there waiting in eager anticipation for just a sound byte of new Periphery, and you can count me among them. Unfortunately, they have yet to release much information about their new album, but once they do you can be sure that thousands of fans will all simultaneously have a nerdgasm.

3. Gojira – Sea Shepherd EP

In almost every interview I’ve conducted with random artists, Gojira has come up at least once. Henkka Seppala from Children of Bodom said he has been impressed with what Gojira has done over the past few years, and he’s not the only one. Also, the EP is named after the badass whale defense crew, which is metal as fuck. Gojira has done some incredibly innovative things, which is why Sea Shepherd is on this list, even though it’s an EP. Oh, and they also released a single late last year, which you can listen to below. It has Fredrik Thordendal in it. Listen to it. Dammit.

Click here to view the embedded video.

2. Meshuggah – Koloss

The masters of Djent are back, and it looks like us petty mortals are going to be thrashed around once again by the sheer amount of metal Meshuggah’s testicles excrete. Fredrik Thordendal has had his hand in a few projects recently, and it’s about damn time he’s come out with his own version of fucking metal.  The aptly titled Koloss is set to blow our minds on March 27th, the same day as Mars Volta’s new albums comes out (coincidence? I THINK NOT).

1. Baroness – Yellow Compact Disc

Looking back at the release of Blue Album, I remember thinking at the time that that was one of the best sophomore efforts by a band in a long, long time. In fact, while they haven’t been around for very long, Baroness has had some of my favorite albums since their inception. Knowing this, I am simply wet with anticipation for the release of [insert color followed by synonym for album here. Once again, they have yet to release much information regarding their album (besides pictures of the artwork being worked on), but it’s bound to create rifts in the space-time continuum when it hits.

Brootalisk’s Top 5 Most Anticipated Albums: 2012 Edition is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Well my fellow metal heads, it’s that time of year again. No, I’m not talking about Christmas or Hanukkah or any other “controversial” holiday. I’m talking about the top ten albums of the year. Specifically, those of the headbanging kind. I’ve listed my first 5 choices below. You’ll have to wait in eager anticipation for the top 5, which will be up on December 23rd. First, here are the honorable mentions:

Honorable Mention:
Machine Head – The Locust
Children of Bodom – Relentless Reckless Forever
Textures – Dualism
Cynic – Carbon-Based Anatomy
Amogh Symphony – Quantum Hack Code

If you know your music like the back of your penis like I do, then you’ll notice that Quantum Hack Code actually came out last year. But it was so close to 2011 (December 25th) and so awesomely djent that I decided to put it up anyway. Because I don’t give a fuck and that’s how I roll. Now, without further ado, here are my 10th to 6th favorite albums of the year.

10. Opeth – Heritage [Tracks: 2, 5, 6, 7, 8] One of Opeth’s most ambitious, and risky, albums to date. It’s also the one that has gained the most respect from me. Heritage shows that they want to make the music they want, not what their fans what. Because of this, Heritage has become a very polarizing album, but I’m sure, just like Damnation, it’ll be regarded as an Opeth classic 5 years from now.

9. Obscura – Omnivium [Tracks: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8] Christian Muenzner said it perfectly when I spoke to him at their show in San Francisco: Everyone’s got musical chops, but only a few can actually execute it to perfection. Obscura is the definition of Technical Death Metal, and Omnivium showcases their musical talent to near-perfection.

8. Scale the Summit – The Collective [Tracks: 2, 5, 6, 9] Saw these guys play with Cynic and 3, and while Cynic was awesome, Scale the Summit stole the show. They sounded phenomenal live, which is even more impressive considering just how much thought and effort their music takes to play. Also, Chris Letchford is one of my favorite 8-string guitarists. There. I said it.

7. Unexpect – Fables of the Sleepless Empire [Tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8] Unfortunately, Unexpect is probably the most obscure band on this list. Since they’ve mainly released their albums independently, they don’t get too much publicity. However, don’t let that fact stray you from their music. These guys are awesome. If you listened to their last album, know this: this album is still sporadic but in a more focused fashion as opposed to In a Flesh Aquarium. If you’re into avant-garde extreme metal, or 9-stringed basses, listen to this album now. Dammit.

6. Mastodon – The Hunter [Tracks: 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, 13] Following an album as big as Crack the Skye is definitely a worthy task, but Mastodon pulled it off. While I was a bit disappointed that The Hunter didn’t feature any new epics (their longest song is just over 5 and a half minutes), that doesn’t mean the songs don’t have any depth. Also, The Sparrow is by far the best outro of the year. Oh, and this is the greatest thing ever.

Credit goes to my man James Marchetti for the awesome artwork above

Brootalisk’s Top 10 Loud Rock Albums of 2011 (#10-6) is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

4. The Black Dahlia Murder – Deflorate (Metal Blade)
I was a little concerned with this album at first, thinking that TBDM’s overall sound would change considering they replaced their lead guitarist. Deflorate, while more technical, remains as brutal as TBDM can be, and still retains that signature TBDM sound. I do miss the solos a bit, but Ryan Knight is a solid replacement. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this album, and enjoy every track on it, a must have for every TBDM fan.

3. Lamb of God – Wrath (Epic, Roadrunner)
This album was a pleasant surprise after Sacrament. I thought LOG had lost it, but they proved me wrong this year, as this album kicks some serious ass!

2. Conducting From The Grave – When Legends Become Dust (Sumerian)
I found out about this band just a few months ago and if it weren’t for Creature, this album would be number 1. These guys have tons of talent and I look forward to their future offerings.

1. Within The Ruins – Creature (Victory)
Just found out about this band but definitely my favorite album of the year. Their creativity and uniqueness has made it next to impossible for me to take this album out of my cd player.

Scrambles the Death Dealer’s Top 10 Part 2 is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

9. Adagio - Archangels In Black (Listenable)
Adagio is a great power metal band that I think might get overlooked at times because of their similarity in name to that of Brazilian power metal band, Alagio. However, this album proves that they are definitely different.

8. Stratovarius – Polaris (Edel, Ear music)
I was shocked when I heard this album, it didn’t really sound like Stratovarius at all. Quite heavy, not what I was used to for them, but it was a pleasant surprise.

7. Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays (Nuclear Blast)
I’m pleased to announce that Sonata hasn’t lost anything by replacing their guitarist. I was worried that it wouldn’t be the same Sonata Arcitca that I had grown to love, but this album is very good, and so long as Tony Kakko is still in the band, they’ll be fine.

6. Dream Theater – Black Clouds And Silver Linings (Roadrunner)
Dream Theater is my favorite band, and they would have gotten the number 1 spot, because I love this album, but I felt that other bands were more deserving, so here they are. If you don’t have this album already, get it.

Scrambles the Death Dealer’s Top 10 Part 1 is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

5. Mastodon - Crack the Skye (Reprise)
There is often much debate over which Mastodon album is the best, which one is the worse, etc. but it cannot be denied that their latest is still nothing short of epic. The album is literally taking you through an adventure with space travel, usurping of thrones and devils. Seriously, read this article sometime, its really interesting. Its more progressive than previous entries and the music videos for the songs are AMAZING. Some of the best I have every seen.

4. The Black Dahlia Murder – Deflorate (Metal Blade)
These guys just keep getting better and better. Yet again, they fail to raise the bar with their newest release. While I might not be able to sing along to every song and every guitar riff like I still can on Unhallowed, without a doubt their musicianship has continued to improve with every album. Every track is awesome. This is one I can just play on loop and not get bored.

3. Baroness - The Blue Record (Relapse)
This is something everyone can gather round, as was proved here at KZSC. Nobody was immune to the awesome artwork of John Baizley (the singer/rythm guitarist) or the music itself. Our music director Caitlin was even willing to go see them in San Fransisco, and while me and Tooth Gnasher and Tooth Grinder (aka Stephanie our Station Manager and Tim our Volunteer Coordinator) might not agree on music all the time, Baroness was something we all agreed had passed the bar in terms of combining melodic sounds and awesome guitar riffs with hardcore/metalcore singing. This album would most likely be on our collective Top 10 list.

2. Between the Buried and Me – The Great Misdirect (Victory)
Even though I didn’t think it was possible, this album is more progressive than the 2007 hit Colors. In the same way though, its impossible to compare to Colors directly because they are so different. From the melancholy track “Mirrors” that goes straight into the hardcore track “Obfuscation” to the poppy piano riff in the beginning of “Fossil Genera” to the steel guitar playing on “Desert of Song” and finally the epic that is “Swim to the Moon” this cd takes you on a ride and bring something new to the table every time you pop it into your CD Player.

1. Scale the Summit – Carving Desert Canyons (Prosthetic)
This album is my number one for a couple reasons; if I want to do homework and can’t be distracted by lyrics, if I’m taking a girl on a date, but can’t stand to let her listen to her “Britney Spears” or “Lil Wayne” then I pop in this album. She can’t complain about scary vocals or anything because there are none. This album is a major step up from their 2007 album Monument. Each song has its own distinct sound and the technical level of the musicians is amazing. It also contains what is probably my number one played song of the year, “The Great Plains”. I can’t really explain why its my favorite song, it’s almost like comfort food.

Leviathan’s Top 10 Part 2 is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Leviathin’s List of 2009′s Most Epic Albums Part 1

10. Porcupine Tree – The Incident (Roadrunner)
This is a 2-disc album, with the first disc being a straight 55 minute epic. Leave it to Steven Wilson. The only complaint I would have is that pretty much none of the tracks can really stand alone but as a whole its an epic song. If you want to hear just a part, check out the edited version of ‘Time Flies’ on their lastfm page.

9. Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays (Nuclear Blast)
My favorite power metal band. They haven’t lost their touch at all. I love listening to them in the winter… They just seem like a winter band. This album is one of their best so far. Tony Kakko can sing the shit out of anything. Not as many epic super high screams as I would like but that doesn’t hurt it too much.

8. Animals as Leaders – Animals as Leaders (Prosthetic)
I wanted to put ALL of the instrumental metal bands I discovered this year into my list, but that would have taken up half the list and most of them don’t even have labels yet (see: Exivious and Cloudkicker, seriously, check them out) so I decided to put up the one I listened to the most. Animals as Leaders is like a more hardcore Scale the Summit, which is great. This is the album for someone trying to move into metal without words I think. It’s not all weird and introspective, its just metal, its easy to get.

7. Dream Theater – Black Clouds and Silver Linings (Roadrunner)
This album is Dream Theater, the Dream Theater you know and respect, which isn’t a bad thing, but that’s why it isn’t higher on my list. It’s a good overview of what they can do, but they didn’t really go anywhere new. I was expecting something a little more groundbreaking from them. That being said, if you like Dream Theater, then you will still like this album, but if you don’t this one won’t change your mind about them.

6. Scar Symmetry – Dark Matter Dimensions (Nuclear Blast)
This band comes out with some of the catchiest songs. In that sense, they are like the opposite of Scale the Summit, I can’t focus on anything else when I listen to them, I just want to sing along. One of my favorite Melodic bands, I always love listening to the whole album. If you like this one, go back and check out the rest of their discography.

Leviathin’s Top 10 Part 1 is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

In the works this week: Our metal library is full to bursting. We have decided that a good ole purging is in order. We will be going through our Loud Rock section in the library and putting music in the bin to be sold at the cd sale!! If you would like to help with this endeavor leave a comment or send an email to loudrock[at]kzsc[dot]com

1    SLAYER “World Painted Blood” [Single]    Columbia – making their way into the double digits this is their tenth studio release.
2    HORSE THE BAND Desperate Living Vagrant – with a unique 8-bit sound this band is most interesting and certainly worth your time checking out.
3    BLACK COBRA Chronomega Southern Lord – their first album on the  ‘Southern Lord’ label, if you have heard of and liked Cavity or Acid King then you might dig these guys too. Their new cd cover is reminiscent of Death Magnetic and they sound a bit like a muddier Mastodon.
4    IMMORTAL All Shall Fall Nuclear Blast – crushingly brutal and heavy they also have great songwriting, check out the black metal group immortal on their 8th studio release.
5    LYNCH MOB Smoke And Mirrors Frontiers – Straight up rockers with a sound from the 80s they really sound like a blast from the past. This song made me think of Rocket – Def Lepaprd.

1    METALOCALYPSE: DETHKLOK Dethklok: The Dethalbum II    Williams St.
2    HATEBREED Hatebreed    E1
3    BLACK DAHLIA MURDER Deflorate    Metal Blade
4    MEGADETH Endgame    Roadrunner
5    MUNICIPAL WASTE Massive Aggressive    Earache
6    RODRIGO Y GABRIELA 11:11    ATO
7    SONATA ARCTICA Days Of Grays    Nuclear Blast
8    PORCUPINE TREE The Incident    Roadrunner
9    KITTIE In The Black    E1
10    SHADOWS FALL Retribution    Ferret

I’m working on setting up a concert calendar for the Loud Rock department, hopefully that will be up and running soon!

As for all the stuff on the charts pretty much all of it is worth your time. Pretty much. There are some exceptional works in there as well.

Loud Rock the CHARTS is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

It has been a while my fellow metal heads. Exciting things happening at KZSC with the start of the Fall quarter. New musics are coming out too that are awesome. I’m sitting in a meeting where we are talking about our future and stuff so I’m going to go now…

1    BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME “Obfuscheion” [Single]    Victory – I saw these guys live the other day and they were so damn amazing. They played Obfuscheion and it was awesome. This sampler will definitely leave you craving for more.
2    CHILDREN OF BODOM Skeletons In The Closet Spinefarm – This is a bunch of covers including but not limited to Oops.. I did it again and Rebel Yell
3    METALOCALYPSE: DETHKLOK Dethklok: The Dethalbum II Williams St. – If you haven’t watched this show you need to go to Best Buy right now and buy the first two seasons. It is hilarious and metal.

4    ALICE IN CHAINS Black Gives Way To Blue Virgin – Its Alice In Chains it might not be the same as it was before but it still rocks.

5    ARCH ENEMY Root Of All Evil Century Media – A female fronted metal band that doesn’t have whiny vocals. They are rare but Arch Enemy does it right.

1    BLACK DAHLIA MURDER Deflorate Metal Blade
2    MUNICIPAL WASTE Massive Aggressive Earache
3    MEGADETH Endgame Roadrunner
4    TENET Sovereign
5    BEHEMOTH Evangelion Metal Blade
6    SONATA ARCTICA Days Of Grays Nuclear Blast
7    PORCUPINE TREE The Incident Roadrunner
8    SHADOWS FALL Retribution Ferret
9    RODRIGO Y GABRIELA 11:11 ATO
10    VADER Necropolis Nuclear Blast

Rodrigo Y Gabriela is an awesome acoustic spanish band that has never let me down. Give their old cd a listen as well. The Incident is a 55 minute epic piece that will entrance you and make you feel.. things. If your interested in upcoming shows in your area send me a message at loudrock@kzsc.org or leave a comment.

Back from the LOUDROCK is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Lots of hard choices to make this week. Look past the break to hear about Prog Nation and some bands that should have made the adds list…

So I saw Progressive Nation when they hit San Jose last week. I would have preferred a better venue than the civic center. Kinda felt like I was going to a High School graduation… But the show was good. Or what I saw of it at least.. Me and Bisquick (who you guys will get to hear on air coming this fall) were dumbasses and forgot to check to see what time it started. It started at 6, we weren’t there till 7:15 ish… We missed Scale the Summit and Big Elf but we got to see Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa and Dream Theater of course. I was really bummed about missing out on Scale the Summit..

1    ANGHER Hidden Truth Dark Star – Started by a cellist/guitarist. I love classical instruments!
2    DIRGE WITHIN Force Fed Lies E1 – A dirge is a somber song expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral.
3    3 INCHES OF BLOOD Here Waits Thy Doom Century Media – They will be touring with Between the Buried and Me for the release of BTBAM’s new cd. In Flames will be there as well. Go see it. You won’t be sorry.
4    BLACK ANVIL Time Insults The Mind Relapse – They have a song called 777… I think they did their math wrong..
5    LEFT SETTER Left Setter – Listen to them. They are pretty kewl.

Honorable mention for Street Legal. Check out their myspace.

1   AUGUST BURNS RED Constellations Solid State
2    BURY YOUR DEAD It’s Nothing Personal Victory
3    MUNICIPAL WASTE Massive Aggressive    Earache
4    BEHEMOTH Evangelion    Metal Blade
5    PORCUPINE TREE Time Flies Roadrunner
6   SUICIDE SILENCE No Time To Bleed Century Media
7    KILLSWITCH ENGAGE Killswitch Engage (2009)    Roadrunner
8    WINDS OF PLAGUE The Great Stone War Century Media
9   BORN OF OSIRIS A Higher Place Sumerian
10    AUTUMN OFFERING Requiem Victory

Next week we’ll be adding Deflorate from The Black Dahlia Murder. Also, Porcupine Tree is moving up the charts in eager anticipation for their new cd The Incident.

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Shows are the same as from last week. Unknown dates for BTBAM’s upcoming tour, and Alestorm are going on tour soon as well. Stay tuned.

Adventures on The Great Plains of Metal is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

What’s new in metal this week!

1 MUNICIPAL WASTE 3 Song Sampler [Earache] – This is the bands fourth studio album and it is full of short ‘thrashy’ songs. The longest track is just barely over 3 minutes.
2 ECLIPTICA Impetus [Frontiers] – “If you like your metal to have imagination, passion, be melodically progressive and have some killer choruses, Impetus is for you. Hopefully the album’s title will help give them exactly what it says.” – Jeff Perkins
3 MERAUDER God Is I [Regain] – Hailing from New York these guys broke through the scene the old fashioned way by releasing multiple demos. After leaving Century Media this is the bands first release on Regain Records.
4 GWAR Lust In Space [Metal Blade] – Gwar is an American Grammy-nominated metal band formed in 1985. The band is best known for their elaborate sci-fi/horror film inspired costumes; raunchy, obscene lyrics; and graphic stage performances, which consist of humorous re-enactments of political and moral taboo themes.
5 HOWL Howl [Self-Released] – They have a female guitar player. Pretty cool.

08/16 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst w/ Hatebreed, Winds of Plague, Dying Fetus, Toxic Holocaust

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09/29 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst w/ Trivium, Whitechapel, Darkest Hour

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09/29 Santa Cruz, CA The Catalyst

White Chapel
ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK MAYHEM FESTIVAL
Tour w/ Slayer, Marilyn Manson, Bullet For My Valentine, Trivium, All That Remains, God Forbid, Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, Job For A Cowboy, The Black Dahlia Murder

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10/14 Santa Cruz, CA The Blue Lagoon

Hatchet
Tour w/ Havok

Charts of Metal is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz