Ratos De Porâo
Homem Inimino Do Homem
Alternative Tentacles
Street: 10.24
Ratos De Porâo = All Systems Fail + Nausea + Cattle Decapitation
Homem Inimino Do Homem assaulted me with a blast of beautiful noise. This album must be played at 11! The siren like guitar solos, lightening fast drumming and aggressive vocals combine to make a raw and winning combination. All the songs are sung in Portuguese, as Ratos De Porâo hails from Brazil. I don’t know a word of Portuguese and regardless of my illiteracy with the language the release still sounds wonderful. Homem Inimino Do Homem also marks the bands 25th anniversary, and is their first release in three years. Staying together that long is no east feat, but this band is an orgasm for your ears if you fancy crust or punk. It’s no wonder they’ve stayed around, and I know I hope for at least 25 more years. – Jeanette Moses

Righteous Jams
Business as Usual
Abacus Recordings
Street: 10.17
Righteous Jams = Sick of it All + Motorhead
It seems like there’s been a serious shortage of good band names lately. Come on, Righteous Jams? What a fucking stupid name. There’s no way I’d ever pick up an album by a band called Righteous Jams and think “I bet this is going to be awesome.” Actually, the band itself is ok. The first few songs start out in the vein of Motorhead or Zeke, and are pretty good, but as the album moves on things steadily regress toward the same old Sick of it All or Cro Mags style hardcore. Someone needs to tell these guys that shit has been done. The songs in the middle that meld dirty biker thrash and hardcore together are the best ones, and (though I hate to admit it) even the straight up NYHC stuff is better than most. All in all, Business as Usual tends to be, well… business as usual, but if you’re into East Coast hardcore, this is probably worth a listen. – Chris Carter

Rob Da Bank & Chris Coco
Listen Again
Ether Records
Street: 12.12
Rob Da Bank & Chris Coco = Chemical Brothers + Belle & Sebastian
A good mix-tape is just that: a mixture! And it better include a bunch of tracks that 1) you don’t have 2) are not too pretentiously obscure (I call that “vapid cool”). So what better crew to give you both of these than two world-renowned DJ/producers, two experienced guys who host nights at clubs around the world and often contribute to the BBC’s Radio 1 show. Divided into two discs, Rob and Chris offer the fruits of what they’ve learned over the years – specifically, that a DJ mix is not all about dancing. Sure, Rob starts off with Here is More’s dubby “Yes Boss” and moves to Uffie’s get-low anthem “Pop the Glock” (thanks, Rob, because I don’t have the cash to buy the pink vinyl), but he follows up with a swinging, twangy cover of Alan Wilson’s “Going Up the Country” by Kitty, Daisy, Lewis. Coco’s mix is equally all over the place, lining up Arab Strap, Nightmares on Wax, James Yorkston and Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah within minutes of each other. However, it all works and both discs gel with an effortless flow that only happens under the hands of experienced masters. – Dave Madden

Rock Plaza Central
Are We Not Horses
Self-Released
Street: 12.05
Rock Plaza Central = Modest Mouse + Hawk and a Hacksaw + snake oil salesmen
Hear that yonder on the horizon, coming over the hill? The carnival’s back in town, the one led by songwriter Chris Eaton. Banjos, hootin’ and hollerin’, trombones, honky-tonk piano, accordions, violins, metal sheets making thunder effects, glockenspiels and muted trumpets back Eaton’s Pentacostal preacher style shouts of heaven, metal horses (there’s a lot of talk about all kinds of horses here) and how to love and lose it all. Much like RPC’s previous effort, The World Was Hell to Us, the album stands on solid songwriting, but – as mentioned – this time around the canvas is splattered with an exquisitely orchestrated range of colors. From the first arpeggiated chord to the closing a capella harmonies of “We’ve Got A Lot To Be Glad For!” this expanded universe ebbs and ebbs through an intriguing landscape, ever interesting and clever, and something you want to repeat over and over to allow each nuance to penetrate your soul. Gorgeous. – Dave Madden

Saros
Five Pointed Tongue
Hungry Eye Records
Street: 08.08
Saros = Enslaved + Amon Amarth – the Viking aspect
Technically, Saros cannot play Viking metal because they are from San Francisco. That doesn’t stop them from using that style of music as a huge influence. Epic songwriting is in abundance with Five Pointed Tounge. The record is five tracks but three of them clock in at roughly over ten minutes. The guitars are layered as thick as a new snow, or in the case of the bands hometown a rolling fog. In a sense Saros is spiritual, not religious, and seems to like to sing about nature. Speaking of nature the entire record has a natural progressive flow to it changing from mid-paced to speedy but not blazing. The groove and style of it all is all very well done making for a mellow soothing yet heavy metal masterpiece. Even the growled/screamed vocals don’t scream chaos, with Saros it is much more controlled than many bands playing the same genre. – Bryer Wharton