Kylesa - Ultraviolet (May 24)
Sigur Rós - Kveikur (June 17)

Kylesa apparently moving further away from the sludge sound and Sigur Rós going for a heavier and more aggressive sound. Interesting times ahead.

Every sludge metal band seems to be doing this. Mastodon did it with The Hunter, Baroness did it with Yellow & Green, Torche did it with Harmonicraft, and Kylesa hinted at it with their last album. Spiral Shadow and Harmonicraft were both excellent and natural progressions, but I wasn't totally sold on the sounds that Mastodon and Baroness pursued, as much as I loved those albums.

I wasn't too impressed with Yellow & Green and I haven't even gotten around to listening to The Hunter yet. But even with Crack The Skye, Mastodon had moved away from it somewhat.

The two tracks released online from the new Kylesa album are interesting. 'Quicksand' sounds like they are channeling the spirit of early Smashing Pumpkins, Kylesa style. They seem to be going for a darker sound as well which could open up new paths for them.

Hey, I just spun a couple tracks from spiral Shadow and Static Tensions yesterday, hoping for a new album soon. Cha ching

I hate Yellow and Green but I think The Hunter was a move in the right direction for Mastodon. 3-minute metal songs instead of the proggy stuff.

Wire - Change Becomes Us (March 25/26)

Surprised this hasn't been posted. Need to check this out, though I still haven't checked out their 2010 release Red Barked Tree. Or anything else since 154 in 1959. :laughing:

Charlixcx

Orianthy-Heaven in this hell...Wicked album, went back a bit to her blues and rock roots. Great album without as much pop as According to You and some of her other songs gathering Airplay

I think hate might be too strong a word but it definitely lacked the bite and focus of their previous stuff. But there was still some decent stuff on it. I also think that a double album was stretching things too far.

The main reason why I haven't listened to The Hunter is because I lost some interest in Mastodon after Crack The Skye. I loved their proggier moments on Blood Mountain and Leviathan as much as their shorter songs but something about Crack The Skye didn't sit right with me. I'll give The Hunter a listen though.

A new Steve Earle? Let's hope it's better than his last one. "I'll never get out of this world alive" was a serious disappointment. Expecting a big improvement on this one! Come on Steve! You can do it!