South of Heaven - Slayer

****

One of Slayer's more "downplayed" albums, and unjustly so, South of Heaven saw a huge change in style for Slayer. But rather than stating the obvious, I'll give you an opinion. Reign in Blood was an aggressive attack on music, but South of Heaven is more of a subtle seduction. It scraps the aggression with a more technical approach, and one that actually works better than Reign in Blood. It showcases King's natural talent; composing and playing riffs, and downplays his weakness; solos. This overall gives a more solid sound and feels like a more solid record overall, with each song standing on it's own. A particular standout is the Judas Priest cover, "Dissident Aggressor" - while it isn't anywhere near as good as the original, it's a worthy tribute to Priest. While the album isn't perfect, South of Heaven is Slayer's most underrated album, and often overlooked. Make sure you don't.

Must Download - "South of Heaven", "Mandatory Suicide", "Spill the Blood"

Ghost Reveries - Opeth

*****

Opeth's 2005 "Ghost Reveries" is one of their more memorable records, since after 7 albums, it's hard to pick out any real high-points. Akerfeldt's growl is still as deep as ever, but it's placed in all the right places to give the songs some sort of proper structure. The drum and guitarwork is much better than that found in previous albums. Some of Opeth's best songs feature on Ghost Reveries, from "Harlequin Forest" to "Ghost of Perdition", and to top it off, the special edition features a cover of Deep Purple's "Soldier of Fortune", a standout cover, and one that rivals the original to a certain extent. Simply put, Ghost Reveries is Opeth's finest effort to this point.

Must Download - "Ghost of Perdition", "Reverie/Harlequin Forest", "The Grand Conjuration"

The Blackening - Machine Head

*

Machine Head's 2007, "The Blackening", is yet another "wannabe-thrash" effort. Nothing has changed from their first record in 1993. Robb Flynn's voice is still atrocious beyond belief, all the solos are bland and boring, the songs are still far too long, and the overly conventional song structure, obviously catering to the "14-year-old scene-kid" crowd, remains prominent. The Blackening tries to pass itself off as an "angry" album, with an equally "angry" frontman, but ultimately fails at what it attempts and becomes too long, generic and not worth the purchase at all.

Must Download - Nothing

Symphonies of Sickness - Carcass

***

Carcass' second effort, Symphonies of Sickness shows a huge musical improvement over Reek of Putrefaction, with the whole band maturing to a more fulfilling degree. The album follows a very solid grindcore structure; a mish-mash of guitars, growling and drums; a theme that continues throughout the whole album. Even though the solos are very poor in comparison to Necroticism, and it doesn't ever tread on any new territory in the same way that Heartwork did, it doesn't really need to. It's a classic Carcass album, and for that reason alone, it's worth checking out.

Must Download - "Excoriating Abominal Emanation", "Exhume to Consume", "Crepitating Bowel Erosion"

Sons of Northern Darkness - Immortal

****

The seventh release from black metal gods Immortal is the rawest and purest yet - simply put this is a clear testament as to why Immortal are the kings of BM. Starting off with a pulse-pounding drum intro and continuing with layer upon layer of rich, textured guitarwork and some fantastic compositions. Although Abbath's vocals are generally very poor in comparison to his previous work, Sons of Northern Darkness is easily recommendable to any fan of Immortal or indeed, Black Metal itself.

Must Download - "Tyrants", "One by One", "Demonium", "Beyond the North Waves"