Roadrunner

Med grunden i Nordisk Metal har Stockholmsbandet Opeth genom åren framgångsrikt sökt nya vägar med influenser från progressiv klassisk rock, folkmusik och jazz. "Heritage" är bandets tionde album och det tredje på Roadrunner Records.

Iowa is the second album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. Released by Roadrunner Records on August 28, 2001, it was produced by Ross Robinson and Slipknot. The title derives from the band's home state, Iowa, which members have stated is one of their biggest sources of inspiration. With much anticipation for the band's second album following on the success of their 1999 self-titled debut, pressures on the band were high. Their relationships with each other suffered and was later described as the darkest time of their career. It was also the first time that guitarist Jim Root had been significantly involved in a Slipknot album due to his joining very late in recording of their debut album, as Root was only featured on two songs from that release. Despite troubles within the band and with Iowa's development, Slipknot promoted it for almost a year.<br/><br/>Iowa was a major success, it premiered in the top ten album sales charts in nine countries. Generally positively received, it includes some of their notable songs, such as "Disasterpiece", "The Heretic Anthem", "People = Shit" and the two Grammy-nominated songs "Left Behind" and the remix of "My Plague". Critic John Mulvey proclaimed the album as the "absolute triumph of nu metal". While more technical than their debut album, Iowa is considered to be the band's heaviest. It has been certified platinum in the United States and Canada.

För de flesta rockband skulle det vara ett närmast omöjligt uppdrag att följa upp ett sådant hyllat och formidabelt album som 2009 års "Crack the skye". Men det verkar som Mastodon fullständigt omfamnat utmaningen och helt överträffat sig själva. Ännu en gång.<br/><br/>"The Hunter" spelades in i bandets hemstad Atlanta, samt Los Angeles tillsammans med producenten Mike Elizondo. Som det nyskapande band Mastodon har gjort sig kända för att vara har de även denna gång tagit en ny musikalisk riktning, bandet är säkra på att fansen kommer att uppskatta det nya soundet.<br/><br/>Föregående studio-albumet "Crack The Skye" släpptes 2009 och fick stående ovationer från världspressen, Aftonbladet kallade den för ett äkta mästerverk och Expressen beskrev den med orden vackert, fascinerande och inbjudande. <br/><br/>Det är den amerikanska folk- konstnären AJ Fosik som har gjort omslaget till albumet, det är ett starkt och artistiskt omslag, i sann Mastodon anda.<br/><br/>"Årets i särklass bästa låt, på årets bästa album, handlar om en bläckfisk"<br/>Martin Carlsson, Expressen.<br/><br/>"Vartenda stränganslag har pondus, varenda textrad relevans." <br/>Marcus Grahn, Aftonbladet.

Slipknot: Vol 3 / The subliminal verses 2005 [2 CD]

An unstoppable force for uniqueness amid a sea of generic swill, Opeth have been setting the rulebook ablaze and ploughing a uniquely progressive and exploratory furrow for nearly 25 years now. And that glorious creative rejuvenation continues on the band's long-awaited eleventh studio album, Pale Communion. <br/><br/>Yet another compelling evolutionary step and a consolidation of the foundations laid down on the bands previous album Heritage, Pale Communion is simply another sublime piece of sonic artistry from one of the greatest bands on the planet. From the skewed grooves and dazzling atmospherics of the opening Eternal Rains Will Come to the devastating orchestral sweep and melodic precision of the closing Faith In Others, it is an album that expands Opeth's sonic palette beyond all measure while still retaining that mercurial essence that first made them such a unique proposition. As Mikael explains, Pale Communion is a record that came together intuitively and without compromise, driven forward by the magical chemistry between all five members of the band.<br/><br/>In keeping with Opeth's oft-professed love of the classic rock, hard rock and progressive records of the early 70s, Pale Communion was recorded at the legendary Rockfield studios in Wales. Soaking up the atmosphere of the place where such immortal albums as Judas Priest's Sad Wings Of Destiny and Queen's Sheer Heart Attack were recorded 40 years ago, Mikael could hardly have found a more suitable location for the recording of his band's new material. <br/><br/>Pale Communion is an altogether sharper and more vivid representation of Opeth's ongoing development. Overwhelmingly melodic and yet remorselessly diverse and unpredictable, these eight songs are as potent and mesmerising as anything in the band's illustrious canon. From the exquisite ebb and flow of Cusp Of Eternity - the first new song to be released into the wider world - and the epic, menacing sprawl of the ten-minute Moon Above, Sun Below through to the throbbing instrumental perversity of Goblin (which, of course, was inspired by the Italian prog band of the same name), the lush, country-tinged harmonies and rhythmic rumble of River and the gorgeous strings and pin-sharp melodic thrust of Faith In Others ("the best song Mikael has ever written." according to Steven Wilson), Pale Communion is another flawless triumph from a band that seem to still be gathering strength and gaining momentum. Who knows what the future will bring.

Slipknot: Slipknot 1999 [CD]

Gojira, metal bandet som grundades av bröderna Joe och Mario Duplantier, Christian Andreu och Jean-Michel Labadie och som tidigare gick under namnet Godzilla är mästare på att blanda grove metal och progresiv metal med miljömässigt tänk i sina fantastiska texter. "L'enfant sauvage " är deras femte studioalbum.