Sinamore - dark, melodic doom/rock ffo latter-era sentenced, anathema

Rob Rock - balls-out traditional heavy metal

Elvenking - folk-influenced power metal

Hardingrock - new project from Emperor's Ihsahn, his wife Starofash, and Knut Buen; folk/rock focused on the harding fiddle, Norway's
national instrument. A lot cooler/weirder than you may expect.

Sear Bliss - Hungary's most epic export; raging black metal complimented by triumphant battle horns

Syrach - hands down one of the best doom albums of the year. Heavy, emotive death/doom.

Svartsot - a new favorite of mine. melodic folk/death metal; imagine the trollish offspring of Amon Amarth and Finntroll, with a little
Eluveitie and Helcarexe thrown in. AWESOME.

The Foreshadowing - heartfelt doom metal in the early UK Doom style; ffo early My Dying Bride, Katatonia, etc

Limbonic Art - intense, hateful symphonic black metal

Blut Aus Nord - one of the most important bands in metal today. Twisted, ugly, hypnotic, intense black metal

Vesania - Polish group featuring members of Behemoth and Vader; symphonic black metal with elements of death that actually doesn't
suck!

Lizzy Borden - the old dogs still have it - rawkin' '80s metal!

Overkill - old school 80's-style thrash at its finest; blitz's voice is unmistakable, as always, and this whole record makes me yearn to have been around in thrash's heyday, when "Bonded by Blood" was a serious album and denim'n'leather were king.

Big Elf - tripped-out 70's-style psych rock with a doomy undertone; Brooklyn hipsters probably love this. ffo Witchcraft, Winters, Litmus, retro-rock in general

Aqua de Annique - new project from the Gathering's Anneke van Giersbergen. Dark melodic pop with ambient touches and lovely vocals.

The Dillinger Escape Plan - "experimental" doesn't even begin to describe these guys. They take their basic spazzy hardcore techy base and incorporate all manner of jazzy, poppy, ambienty, and god knows what other elements into a sonic maelstrom.

Ulver - former Norwegian black metal legends have completed their transformation from cult extreme metal to electro-pop/ambient/jazz/experimental. If you know Ulver, you know what's up - just them being weird and wonderful again.

Baghdad Heavy Metal - while this band is in fact from Bahgdad, heavy metal, they ain't. This stuff is more like Middle Eastern music + electronic elements + uh...Sammy Hagar? Psychotic but pretty cool.

Sound and Fury - again, not metal in the slightest, but damned if it's not enjoyable. Vintage Class of '77 street punk injected with a dirty rawk'n'roll swagger that'd make Gene Simmons proud and curl Sid Vicious' lip even farther.