CD OF THE MONTH Band/album: Broadcast Sea, Wounded Soldier Label: Pluto For fans of: Shellac, Hot Snakes, Bear vs Shark, Here's what it is: Taking cues from 90’s underground bands like Shellac, Navio Forge, and Rites of Spring, Broadcast Sea uses echoed and distorted vocals, heavy guitars and intense build-ups to draw listeners into their raucous and energetic songs. They yell, they get quiet and croon, and then they charge things with a massive build-up before exploding in all hell’s fire and fury. Then after a five second pause they do it all again for the next song.

Band/album: A Caesar holiday, self titled Label: self-released For fans of: Jucifer, Mogwai, moaning fiddles, Lucero Here's what it is: No doubt there's a pretty big rift between Jucifer and Mogwai. A Caesar Holiday falls right between the two. They're not quite as dangerous as Jucifer, but they're a little seedy-er than Mogwai. This self-released, self-titled debut is a study in juxtaposition. A whiny fiddle mated to sludgy and, at times, atmospheric guitars and drums make up the bulk of the soundscape with minimal vocal intrusion. It's artistic, jazzy, and experimental.

Band/album: A New Revolution, Rise Label: Koch For fans of: Sevendust, Limp Bizkit, Staind, Drowning Pool Here's what it is: Do you have to learn something? and do you have to learn it fast? Well, then you need a montage, and this is montage music. It would also be great for.... rock climbing, hang gliding, B.A.S.E. jumping, drinking Mountain Dew, roller blading, wake boarding, sky diving, slamming Mountain Dew, kick boxing, skim boarding, chugging Mountain Dew, arm wrestling, snow boarding, zombie fisting, and crushing Mountain Dew cans on your head--yeah!

Band/album: Belphegor, Bondage Goat Zombie Label: Nuclear Blast For fans of: Death, Deicide, Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir, Rotting Christ Here's what it is: Melody is a good thing, and Behemoth shows this on their latest masterpiece, Bondage Goat Zombie.  Employing subtle hooks and some very effective industrial effects, this CD really is impressive. The mechanized tones remind me of Rotting Christ and Rammstein while the brutal death metal aspect of it is right on par with Deicide, Behemoth, and Sodom.

Band/album: Brass, Set & Drift Label: self-released For fans of: Jawbox, Sunny Day Real Estate, Elliott, Biology Here's what it is: This is an ambitious, self-released disc that puts R.E.M. style vocals against hard edged indie instrumentation. The end result is jostling and buoyant, but not for the masses. It's not poppy or comforting. It almost seems that the band was going for the exact opposite effect. The songs are complicated and make use of layered textures and lengthy build ups. It really is brilliant, but it's really not for everyone. Check it out if you like old KY Elliott or Biology.

Band/album: Cataract, self-titled Label: Metal Blade For fans of: headbanger metal, Pantera, Agnostic Front, Damageplan Here's what it is: Cataract doesn't offer much by way of originality or innovation. But they do offer plenty of heavy riffs and tough vocals to fuel the mosh pit. If you're looking for the next big thing in heavy music stop reading now, but if you just want to beat the shit out of strangers in the dark go to a Cataract show.

Band/album: Christian Death, American Inquisition Label: Season of Mist For fans of: goth, Bauhaus, Jean Loves Jezebel, Sisters of Mercy Here's what it is: Before Marilyn Manson and Korn crapped all over the scene, goth was actually kind of cool thanks to bands like Concrete Blonde, Ministry and Christian Death. American Inquisition is chock full of all the paper-thin guitars, spooky synthesizers, and cold sterile vocals any vampire could ever hope for. Rumor has it there’s a hidden track that-if played backwards-will create a time warp and take you back to 1984. Okay maybe not, but you could listen to it in the car on the way to 80's night.

Band/album: Dead Child, Attack Label: Quarterstick For fans of: 70's metal, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Deep Purple Here's what it is: Taken with a grain of salt Attack is a fun album with some pretty cool metal moments. But in their attempt to mimic Sabbath they've picked quite a fight, and this album only makes it to the fourth round. If you want to WOW your friends with your astute knowledge of obscure metal bands this will do the trick. If you want to impress people with your sublime taste in music look elsewhere because this one's more about fun than quality.

Band/album: Desaster, Satan's Soldiers Syndicate Label: Metal Blade For fans of: black metal, Venom, Hellhammer, Destruction Here's what it is: So evil you just have to love it, Desaster's SSS is all raspy growls, lightning riffs, and double bass. But there's more to it than that. The delivery is distinctly thrash inspired. I guess you could call it black thrash metal. It really is a complex beast that moves slyly between genres. It never gets stagnant and none of the songs sound exactly the same like most other straight up black or thrash CDs. If I can find any of their tees I going to make one.

Band/album: Elemae Memorial Soon, split Label: Engineer For fans of: post-punk, Fugazi, raw rock, Quicksand, college rock, Samiam Here's what it is: Fans of intense, post punk indie rock wont want to miss out on this three band split. Each band falls into a different sub-genre but overall this disc fits the bill as a post punk release. Elemae opens with three lengthy Fugazi-ish tracks. The vocals are powerful and the instrumentation is aggressive, though it's not as angular as many of the old D.C. acts. Memorial is more of a solid rock band. They remind me of one of my favorite 90's bands, Quicksand. Similar to other 90's acts like Orange 9mm, there's plenty of distortion and hype. The final three songs are performed by Soon and have a distinct college-rock vibe similar to Samiam or Radon.

Band/album: Epicurean, A Consequence of Design Label: Metal Blade For fans of: older In Flames, Dream Theater, Dio, Dragonforce Here's what it is: This is actually a re-release with two extra songs. They call this neo-classical-progressive-metal. For the sake of argument let's call it Dragonforce meets Dream Theater. It's fast paced metal with majestic synthesizers and dual vocals with double bass and soaring riffs. The band uses a singer and a screamer. The singer is a little too clean for me. Perhaps that's the "neo" thing. At any rate, if you liked In Flames' Jester Race and you own the entire Dream Theater catalog you should give this a spin.

Band/album: Flogging Molly, Float Label: SideOneDummy For fans of: Irish punk, the Pogues, Dropkick Murphys, Guinness Here's what it is: Flogging Molly has the rare ability to turn listeners into fans and fans into raving devotees. They seem more like a group of friends who just like to jam rather than musicians. To say Float is their best album to date would be an exaggeration: not because it’s a weak album, but because their previous releases are considered life changing by many. In time Float may change a few lives somewhere along the way, but for now, in my opinion, it’s 39 minutes of folk punk and bar-anthems.

Band/album: Foxy Shazam, Introducing Foxy Shazam Label: Ferret For fans of: Modest Mouse, Franz Ferdinand, Queen Here's what it is: You'd have to be crazy to make music that sounds like a Baptist choir led by Modest Mouse, Franz Ferdinand, Queen, and the Reverend Al Sharpton-right? Foxy Shazam must be psychotic because they've done it. Will you like it? Uh...only about as much as hipsters like expensive hairdos. It’s got goofy lyrics, tinkling piano, surly rhythms and a hint of sunshine.

Band/album: Grief of War, A Mounting Crisis... As Their Fury Got Released Label: Prosthetic For fans of: thrash, Exodus, Kreator, Sodom, Testament, OLD Metallica Here's what it is: Let's face it, thrash doesn't allow too much variation between bands or even songs. It's pretty much get in, kick ass, and get out. Grief of War's debut fits the mold. What sets it apart--as much as one thrash album can be set apart from the next, is that the songs are slightly unique. A lot of the new, fun thrash bands put out CDs made up of ten identical songs, but Grief of War's tunes are varied enough to be memorable and even catchy at times. If thrash is your forte then you should check this out.

Band/album: Gwen Stacy, the Life I Know Label: Ferret For fans of: Christian metalcore, Converge, Underoath, Here's what it is: I picked up on the Christian references immediately, and though Gwen Stacy isn't preach-y, non-Christian listeners might feel alienated by this CD--especially if they don't like breakdowns. The overall approach is a page right out of an early Converge training manual. If you can get past the Christain thing and if you can navigate around the gratuitous and sludgy breakdowns this could be a diamond in the rough.

Band/album: Hate Eternal, Fury and Flames Label: Metal Blade For fans of: extreme death metal, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Death Here's what it is: Here's another one of those bands that sells albums based on the cover art and image over hook and listenablity. If you're trying to impress a guy by listening to heavier music than him by all means run out and get this. If you want to piss off your roommates, get it. If you worship the devil, get it. But if you want something you're really going to remember for its musical merits you'll want to pass. It's so heavy and so fast that it offers little listening pleasure.

Band/album: Heaven Shall Burn, Iconoclast (part 1: the Final Resistance) Label: Century Media For fans of: Death metal with breakdowns, At The Gates, In Flames, Here's what it is: Cast aside all rules and misconceptions that go along with genre name dropping for a minute and pretend that it's okay to like a disc just because it's good. This CD is perfect. It has just the right amount of heavy metal, just the right amount of hardcore, and just the right amount of death metal. Periodic breakdowns really bring this 50+ minute CD to life. The key is that they are used sparingly. It's not at all noisy or convoluted, it makes no mistakes. Don't overlook this one.

Band/album: Moving Mountains, Pneuma Label: Deep Elm For fans of: Brand New, Between the Buried and Me, Cursive Here's what it is: There are half a dozen bands on Victory with this same sound. The difference is that--other than Between the Buried and Me--the Victory bands are just gussied up, over echoed emo rock. Moving Mountains have a sense of purpose and atmosphere that's more mature and sincere: think of the Cure's Disintegration or early Cursive without the shrill vocals. There's lots of down time with little more than light bells and looming synths to fill the void at times. This can get tedious. The lyrics are supposedly loaded with subtle literary references.  I didn't pick up on any of these references. If you work at an indie music store, coffee shop or book store you could put this in to feel smart, but it probably does little to actually boost your I.Q..

Band/album: Neaera, Armamentarium Label: Metal Blade For fans of: Swedish death metal, Black Dahlia Murder, In Flames Here's what it is: I reviewed their previous release Let the Tempest Come back in 2006 and was slightly impressed with the overall package. Here I am two years later impressed again with another Neaera album. The band has grown but not changed. And why should they? What they're doing works. Dueling guitar attacks are the trademark sound of this disc. Black Dahlia Murder fans should like the squeal-y harsh vocal delivery. I actually prefer Neaera to BDM as their songs have a little more hook and melody and are a bit slower. If you were let down by the new In Flames disc check out Armamentarium. It's what most In Flames fans are really looking for.

Band/album: Protest The Hero, Fortress Label: Vagrant For fans of: extreme metal, Coheed and Cambira, the Mars Volta Here's what it is: Besides its crisp production and some new tech-y stuff, Fortress is no more amazing than Kezia, the band’s debut. This new disc hovers between Coheed and Cambria prog-metal and crazy Mars Volta-ish jams. In summary, it’s probably better than 99% of what else has come out this year, but considering the standards they set with Kezia it lacks catchiness and innovation.

Band/album: the Sump Pumps, Revenge of the Sump Pumps Label: 8 Bit For fans of: Devo, the Epoxies, Horse the band, the Faint, Bloc Party Here's what it is: This is my kind of noise. The direction punk has taken is sad. The Sump Pumps bring back some of the playfulness originally instilled by bands like the Dead Milkmen, the Queers and the Ramones. Simple song structures, fun lyrics, and upbeat melodies are only part of the craze. The Pumps go all out as they scream and add a touch of ray gun Casio keyboards. The entire album is peppy, jocular, and energetic.

Band/album: That Was Something, Bears! Label: Lobster For fans of: Jimmy Eat World, Fall Out Boy, New Found Glory Here's what it is: Pop punk fans are a dedicated bunch. They know what they like and they don't want it to change. That Was Something knows how to give their fans exactly what they want. With clean vocals, poppy melodies, a few acoustic guitar notes and a few teary eyed glances into the camera these guys should have every 14 year old girl on the planet eating from the palm of their hand.

Band/album: Zodiak, Sermons Label: Transmission Loss For fans of: Tool, Isis, Pink Floyd, Massive Attack, A Perfect Circle Here's what it is: This CD is recommended to anyone with a creepy cyber-puppet fetish. The cold, dreamy, looming melodies of Sermons crawl like a morning mist over an unsuspecting New England town. The dense song structures and instrumentation remind me of bands like Tool and Isis. Made up of post-metal trances rather than songs, the entire disc has a very ominous, lurking quality to it.