5 Heavy Music Albums worth a Spin in 2011 - Signed Bands

So far 2011 has been a great year for Heavy Music thanks to some pretty headbanging bad-ass new releases. By no means are this the best records of 2011, since there are obviously a lot more new releases coming your way! But all this records are an instant addiction for your ears.

In no particular order, all this records are worth a spin!


1) Amon Amarth "Surtur Rising": The monarchs of Swedish Death Metal Amon Amarth released their new album titled "Surtur Rising" on March 20th via Metal Blade Records. Their eighth studio album is a head crushing very well written album, which lead them to hit the top of the charts. The band is currently gearing up for the second trek of the "An Evening with Amon Amarth" North American tour (Click here for tour-dates).

"Surtur Rising" is the follow-up to their punishing 2008 release, "Twilight Of The Thunder God". An album that Revolver Magazine listed as number 7 on their Top 20 albums of 2008. Metal Sucks defined this album as: "a bottomless gauntlet of riffs that the band endlessly takes gargantuan swigs from, sounding both lush and emotive as well as skull crushingly heavy… every goddamn one is a chest-beating anthem." The famous Time Out New York noted that "Amon Amarth plays some of the most unabashedly epic metal you’re likely to find these days."

2) Cavalera Conspiracy "Blunt Force Trauma": Whenever you put the Cavalera brothers (Max and Iggor) inside a jam room, nobody is safe! As we all know, the Cavalera brothers formed the legendary Brazilian Heavy Metal band Sepultura in 1984, and single handily changed the phase of Heavy Music forever. Cavalera Conspiracy's second album is titled "Blunt Force Trauma" and it was released on March 29th via Roadrunner Records.

The only missing element that Cavalera Conspiracy were lacking on "Inflikted", was the redefining of their musical craft that can only be done once a band tours endlessly and learns about each others musical strengths and weaknesses. This is exactly what they proved on their new album "Blunt Force Trauma". Currently the band is returning home after a very successful European Tour.


3) The Black Dahilia Murder "Ritual": Their fifth studio album was released on June 17th via Metal Blade Records, and is a sense crushing experience in which they proved that the band is sounding heavier and tighter than ever ever before. After a few weeks since its release, this album is on the way to becoming their most successful release to date. The album was once again produced by Mark Lewis (Trivium, Bury Your Dead, Deicide), who also worked on 2009's "Deflorate".

The band will be headlining the 2011 Summer Slaughter Tour (Click here for tour-dates), which promises to be one of the heaviest tours of the year. The event will also feature Whitechapel, Darkest Hour, Six Feet Under, Dying Fetus, As Blood Runs Black, Oceano, Fleshgod Apocalypse and Powerglove.

4) Unearth "Darkness In The Light": Ever since the mighty Unearth surfaced in the Heavy Music scene in 1998, they have kept delivering their global audience passionate music full of crushing riffs, and with highly energetic elements of chaos. With their fifth studio album titled "Darkness In the Light", released in North America on July 5th via Metal Blade Records, Unearth has proven once again that they sonically have it what it takes to keep flying the Heavy Music flag up high with pride and plenty of adrenaline.

Produced by Adam Dutkiewicz from Killswitch Engage and Times of Grace, who has produced their previous three records, and co-produced by guitarist Ken Susi. "Darkness In the Light" possesses Unearth's signature sound and at first glimpse what stands out the most are the vocals that Trevor Phipps laid down on tape. The band is currently on the road as part of the 2011 Rockstar Mayhem Festival (Click for tour-dates)

5) A Pale Horse Named Death "And Hell Will Follow Me": Sal Abruscato is synonymous to what the New York City Heavy Music scene represents: hard uncompromised work, original song writing, and not holding back or limiting yourself when creating music. On the new album by A Pale Horse Named Death titled "And Hell Will Follow Me" released in the USA on June 16th via SPV/Steamhammer, the groove factor is in full effect and at first glance it brings back the memory of when we first listened to "Dirt", the classic album by the legendary band Alice In Chains. However, the more we listened to it, the darker it got. Even darker than Alice In Chains? Absolutely!

Smartly enough, Sal consciously stayed away from writing anything similar to the awesome music of Life Of Agony or Type O Negative, since he knew the music will carry a similar vibe. As we all know, the vibe of the Brooklyn based bands has always been a raw energetic roller coaster that can be dangerous at times. In times when there is a need for a fresh band to rise up from the streets of New York City, we truly believe that A Pale Horse Named Death is that band! The band will be touring various parts of Europe this August (Click here for tour-dates)

We highly recommend that you purchase all this albums, simple because your music collection will look weak without this bad-ass releases! Stay tuned for our "5 Heavy Music Albums worth a Spin in 2011 - Unsigned Bands" \m/

Related links:
Amon Amarth
Cavalera Conspiracy
The Black Dahilia Murder
Unearth
A Pale Horse Named Death