Wrath and Rapture - Disembodied from self-titled debut

Judging a book by its cover, I wasn’t expecting a lot from this album (the members look like your average generic-core kids). But these guys play an incredibly eclectic mix of metal subgenres including mathcore, progressive metal, folk metal, power metal, death metal (of the melodic and blast-beat varieties), a smidgen of metalcore, and in this track at least they even throw in some jazz fusion for good measure.

All in all, an enjoyable listen.

Drudkh - Ars Poetica from Microcosmos

The particular chords and major keys used in this track are incredible ; this has to be one of the best, most refreshing sounding songs I’ve heard in a while.

Keith Merrow - Bioluminescent from The Arrival

Mr. Merrow is a pretty incredible solo metal artist, and ripping progressive metal guitarist. He released two albums in 2009 - The Arrival and Lonestar Transcend - and both can be downloaded for free at his website!

Communic - Payment of Existence

Animals as Leaders - CAFO from self-titled debut

Barren Earth - Curse of the Red River

There have already been so many incredible metal releases in 2010, I keep managing to forget posting samples of a few, including this one; The first full-length effort from Barren Earth has been out for a little while now, and it’s a fantastic album.

Nevermore - And the Maiden Spoke from The Obsidian Conspiracy

Here’s a sample track from the new Nevermore album. I had a tough time choosing the song; needless to say the album doesn’t disappoint. Enjoy!

Krallice - Dimensional Bleedthrough

Levi/Werstler - Plague House from Avalanche of Worms

Finally! Here’s a little sample from Avalanche of Worms, but get the album - the whole thing flows together seamlessly and it’s a great release.

The main men behind this project are obviously Eyal Levi and Emil Werstler of Dååth. It also features Sean Reinert on drums, well known as being the drummer for Cynic and also recording with Death.