April 2009 Best Heavy Metal CDs

Brutal Truth has never been afraid to take risks with their hybrid grind and they throw caution to the wind on their first studio album in more than a decade. Almost every song on this album is packed with disparate elements that in lesser hands would end up on the cutting room floor.

“Sugardaddy” lurches forward with propulsive guitar work; a minute-and-a half later it dovetails into a glorious fist-pumping riff. “Turmoil “ is so fast it appears on the verge of collapsing on itself. “Semi Automatic Carnation” is mad-scientist experimental. You’d need a thesaurus to adequately describe what Brutal Truth does in a lot of these songs, so the answer in the words of drummer Rich Hoak is to just “grind like that.”

The fact that Heaven And Hell is still making heavy metal music in 2009 is amazing. Dio is 66, Tony Iommi is 61, Geezer Butler is 59 and Vinny Appice is a youthful 49. Proving age is nothing but a number, The Devil You Know is vintage Sabbath.

The songs are heavy, with Iommi's patented downtuned guitars front and center. Monster riffs and screaming solos abound. They are also very melodic with plenty of hooks and memorable choruses. From driving up-tempo tracks like "Double The Pain" to the extremely catchy "Follow The Tears," Heaven And Hell really hit their stride.

Shallow Life is packed with hooks and instantly memorable melodies. There's still plenty of bombast and guitars, but it's also a move toward the mainstream. Songs like "Not Enough" and "I Like It" are mass appeal, catchy, and would sound right at home on Top 40 radio.

"Underdog" and "The Maze" are more in the vein of previous Lacuna Coil albums, with a little more intensity and a darker vibe. There are only a couple like that, with the majority of the songs more accessible and rock/pop oriented.

Daath's sound has shifted a bit on The Concealers. There are fewer industrial elements and more straight-ahead death metal. The opening track "Sharpen The Blade" sets the stage with a fast tempo, aggressive drums and stellar guitar work from Eyal Levi and Emil Werstler. It's powerful, punishing and direct.

"The Worthless" starts with a mellow interlude before powering up to a catchy mid-tempo groove and eventually growing even more intense. Daath changes things up as well, including progressive and very creative elements on songs like "The Unbinding Truth" and "Of Poisoned Sorrows."

Even though the vocalists change, Sirenia's sound has a lot of continuity. That's because Morten Veland (formerly of Tristania) composes all the band's music and writes the lyrics. As on their previous albums, the songs are bombastic and symphonic with layers of keyboards and strings beefed up by guitars.

Sirenia's latest vocalist Ailyn is classically trained, and displays some of that style on The 13th Floor, but her vocals are mostly "regular" singing in a lower register. Growling vocals and some male melodic singing add contrast, and several songs feature a choir, which really increases the vocal sound.