Theory: "The Art of Evil"

Far away from the usual dime-a-dozen prog bands of today

On a personal note, the only progressive metal band that ever truly spoke to me is Symphony X, and even so it is probably their power metal side that speaks the loudest. Oddly enough, I'm a huge fan of 70s and 80s prog rock, but the vast majority of progressive metal just hasn't appealed that much to me.

Subscale: "The Last Submission

Depthless heaviness made for the masses

Subscale - Birthed in 2012 - represents just about every cliche and trend from the last 15 years of mainstream heavy metal. With computerised nu-metal-core, each member of the band's plentiful staff proudly lays down their heavy groove-laden offerings.

Outliar: "Provoked to Anger"

Convincing and embracing groove metal

While Lamb of God, DevilDriver, Machine Head and the like still carry the groove metal torch today, it all originated back in the 90s when thrash metal had supposedly "outlived" its purpose. Marching side by side with these commercially succesful titans, albeit a bit further back in the ranks, we find Outliar from North Carolina, a quartet hellbent on bringing forward the heaviest and grooviest aspects of modern metal.

The Blame: "Born"

Groove-laden and hard-hitting collection of compelling metal

The Blame is a Turkish metal band formed in 2006. They're about as straight forward as that introduction, and for a band that has only released a short demo prior to this album they've really got a hold of songwriting. Born from 2011 is by any definition a heavy and groove-laden album soaked in powerful electrical currents that come together in one big explosion of varied and compelling metal.