Six albums in, Lacuna Coil have proven themselves more than worthy of both the attention of commercial rock radio and the adoration of the progressive metal community. Italy's greatest musical export, LACUNA COIL, has returned with the massively anticipated, new full-length ...

Following a long hiatus beginning in the mid-'90s, the onetime undisputed queen of pop metal, Lita Ford, returned to the world of performance with 2009's Wicked Wonderland. The record was a far cry from the radio-ready hard rock she made ...

As one of the most influential bass players in heavy metal, it should come as no surprise that Iron Maiden's Steve Harris' instantly recognizable galloping eighth notes ride high in the mix on his first ever solo outing. British Lion, ...

Now signed to the Roadrunner Records label that introduced the world to the brutal sounds of Sepultura, Machine Head, and Fear Factory, French metal quartet Gojira's fifth studio album, L'Enfant Sauvage, is as ferocious, frenetic, and fearless as anything their ...

For a band whose first album -- 2005's rather unimaginatively named The 1st Chapter -- was modeled so closely on Dream Theater's melodic progressive metal blueprint, Norway's Circus Maximus experienced very little resistance from the brutally judgmental prog metal intelligentsia. ...

Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai's music has its roots in some unknown interstellar worlds. From his earliest mid-'80s solo output, Vai's largely instrumental tricked-out guitar compositions found some strange middle ground between heavy metal bliss and space-traveling experimentalism. Released in 2005, ...

On their eighth studio album, Corrosion of Conformity let their punk roots bubble closer to the surface, reintroducing the world to their old selves with a self-titled release 30 years into their career. Featuring the same lineup that delivered the ...

Track Listing: Taikatalvi; Storytime; Ghost River; Slow, Love, Slow; I Want My Tears Back; Scaretale; Arabesque; Turn Loose the Mermaids; Rest Calm; Crow, the Owl and the Dove, The; Last Ride of the Day; Song of Myself: From a Dusty ...

A deathcore band that often feels more "death" than "core," Whitechapel channel a sonic maelstrom of destruction on their eponymous fourth album, Whitechapel. Whitechapel is one of the few bands in the genre willing to break away from the tired ...

Recording information: Vividtone Studios. Photographer: Shelley Wilson. Personnel: Terry Ilous (vocals); Michael Lardie (guitar, keyboards); Mark Kendall (guitar); Audie Desbrow (drums). Audio Mixers: Mark Kendall; Michael Lardie.

The sixth full-length outing from Demon Hunter dials up the religious themes to 11 while maintaining a dark and ominous luster that dutifully upholds heavy metal's core values of volume, aggression, and defiance. The aptly named True Defiance juggles elements ...

Shadows Fall alienated some fans with 2007's Threads of Life. They'd signed to Atlantic and brought the hooks and melodies -- always part of their inherent approach -- to the fore with a production style that was very close to ...

The 13th studio album of Kreator's enviable 30-year career, 2012's Phantom Antichrist is also the fourth long-player released since the group's triumphant rebirth to thrash in 2001 -- a move that coincided almost perfectly with a worldwide genre revival driven ...

No strangers to adversity over the course of their respected, but often turbulent 20-year career, British progressive metal outfit Threshold endured a truly traumatic blow upon the untimely passing of longtime vocalist Andrew McDermott from liver failure in 2011. But, ...

Rebelling against mom and dad must be hard when they're dressed in Pixies and MC5 shirts, but if there's one reason that generation doesn't understand this one's taste in rebellion, it's that the sex, drugs, and rock & roll are ...

California death-grinders Cattle Decapitation will never be accused of subtlety, but there are moments on the typically grotesque Monolith of Inhumanity, their seventh long-player, that are unabashedly melodic. The band's penchant for setting off relentless explosions of BPM shrapnel, while ...

Recording information: Hristo Botev Hall, Sofia, Bulgaria (11/16/2011). Personnel: Udo Dirkschneider (vocals); Igor Gianola, Stefan Kaufmann (guitar); Francesco Jovino (drums). Audio Mixer: Stefan Kaufmann.

Meshuggah show that less is more on their seventh album, Koloss. Recording information: Fear And Loathing Studios, Stockholm Sweden. Personnel: Jens Kidman (vocals); Fredrik Thordendal, Mårten Hagström (guitar); Tomas Haake (drums). Audio Mixer: Danne Bergstrand.

Though Metalocalypse might focus on their ridiculous bombast of heavy metal, it's clear that it comes from a place of love, poking fun at the genre and its tropes in a way that only a true metal fan can. And ...

Translators: Mike Exley; Carina Fromhertz. Personnel: Udo Dirkschneider (vocals); Igor Gianola, Stefan Kaufmann (guitar); Francesco Jovino (drums). Liner Note Author: Sandra Eichner.

Being a "love 'em or hate 'em" group, it was about time the prolific and conceptual Insane Clown Posse got around to a "love 'em or hate 'em" album, and while this rap-rock battle cry called The Mighty Death Pop ...

Featuring the guitar work of 6-string legend Paul Gilbert, and of course the stellar drumming of long-time partner Mike Portnoy, Momentum is a musical thrill ride that will leave you breathless! Everything you'd ever want in a Neal Morse album ...

Just in time for Halloween 2012, Cradle of Filth's The Manticore and Other Horrors arrives on store shelves. Their tenth studio album looks much of their catalog right in the face, offering what may amount to a midlife crisis in ...

2003 Elektra reissue of 1983 album, cerified 3x Platinum. Originally released on Megaforce. Metallica: James Hetfield (vocals, guitar); Kirk Hammett (guitar); Cliff Burton (bass); Lars Ulrich (drums).

Once the straight country-rock of his single "Cocky" struck a chord with the public, Kid Rock seemed more interested in filling the shoes of Southern rock pioneers Lynyrd Skynyrd than upholding his throne as hip-hop's white trash punk. His 2007 ...