November 2007 Best Heavy Metal CDs

With a Dillinger Escape Plan CD, you expect technical and complex mathcore/grindcore, and Ire Works delivers. It's DEP's angriest album yet, and this is a group with a lot to be angry about. Health problems, drummer Chris Pennie quitting the band to join Coheed and Cambria (he was replaced by Gil Sharone from Stolen Babies) and other issues left the future of the band in doubt.

The brutality begins with the opening track "Fix Your Face," which features an appearance from the band's former vocalist Dimitri Minakakis. But Dillinger Escape Plan shows they are about a lot more than technicality and anger. Songs like "Black Bubblegum" are as mainstream as the band has ever done, with melodic vocals and a catchy, radio-friendly chorus.

The Irish band Primordial has been releasing quality albums for over a decade, and although they have drawn a lot of critical praise, are still flying under the radar. That may change with their latest CD.

To The Nameless Dead is an epic combination of Celtic, pagan, folk and black metal. Primordial takes the listener through valleys of sparse and majestic melodies, up the mountain with steady and powerful riffs, and down the other side with dark, intense black metal. The songwriting is outstanding, with layers of thick guitars and subtle atmosphere that ties together the lightness of Celtic/folk metal with the majesty of pagan metal and the bleakness of black metal.

Angel Down is Bach's first solo CD since 1999. Bach and his band toured with Guns 'N Roses last year, and got along extremely well with Axl Rose, who he had also toured with back in the day. Rose lends guest vocals to three tracks on the album.

The songs on Angel Down are really diverse. They range from old school power ballads to mainstream modern rock to more intense thrash-influenced metal. Bach's voice sounds as good as ever, and he can belt out the high notes, croon the ballads and use an edgier style on the aggressive songs. His band is excellent, especially the guitarists. It's also great to hear Axl Rose singing again, who seems to have a great time with Bach, especially on the Aerosmith cover "Back In The Saddle."

Sworn Vengeance is pounding, brutal and extreme, but also has a surprising amount of groove. Very catchy riffs are on display, along with some brief but impressive solos. Severe Torture also does a nice job varying the tempos, going from a moderate, groovy pace to breakneck, blast beat packed insanity.

The vocals are the usual low-pitched death metal growls, and there are guest appearances from Jason Netherton (Misery Index, ex-Dying Fetus) and Che Snelping (ex-Born From Pain) on the track "Buried Hatchet." The regular edition is 10 tracks, but the limited edition also includes a couple of cover songs: Cro-Mags "It's The Limit" and Entombed's "Eyemaster." Sworn Vengeance is a first-rate death metal album.

Sear Bliss has been around since 1993, and The Arcane Odyssey is their sixth studio album. The songs are black metal with doom and death influences. Keyboards add a symphonic quality to the music, and the arrangements are complex and progressive. Add the brass on top of that and you have an album with a lot of depth and variety. Some songs are groovy with memorable riffs. Others are darker, dissonant and atmospheric.

The guitar work on the album is diverse. You'll hear everything from basic downtuned riffs to complex noodling to old school solos. There are acoustic guitars on the album as well. This is an excellent album, and for black metal fans who haven't yet discovered Sear Bliss, they are well worth seeking out.