Insomnium
One For Sorrow
Century Media
Street: 10.18
Insomnium = Amorphis + Dark Tranquillity + Katatonia
Isomnium encompass straightly true melodic death metal and doom—and one could even hinge at a bit gothic elements with the album’s nuances of keys. The four members that make up Insomnium have been at their craft for well over a decade now and really haven’t failed to craft a lackluster record, One for Sorrow marking their fifth full-length. The songwriting snaps into place at every turn; even with the bulk of the songs being in the highly melancholy realm, the album isn’t one that’s going to send listeners running for Prozac. The myriad of melodies performed make for some astonishingly memorable tracks, be it in more epic territory, where “Song of the Blackest Bird” and “Lay the Ghost to Rest” truly shine, or more abrupt, heavy territory on melodic cuts like “Every Hour Wounds”—which sounds like it could’ve come from Colony/Clayman-era In Flames—or “Meandering Through the Shadows,” which contains an introductory lead that slices through any mediocrity for which one might be looking. This is one of the great occasions on an album where no song contains less worth than another. –Bryer Wharton

Juno Reactor
Inside the Reactor
Metropolis
Street: 07.12
Juno Reactor = Laibach + Fluke
Ben Watkins’ seminal world-industrial-trance juggernaut, Juno Reactor, has been causing havoc on dance floors since 1993, hitting true stride with tracks featured in films like Beowulf, Once Upon a Time in Mexico and The Matrix. The tracks on this remix album cover a wide array of their best work, but this isn’t a greatest hits album. Some songs are barely recognizable, like the standout track, Bombay Dub Orchestra’s remix of “Pistolero,” which trades most of its Western drawl for Bollywood flare. But any reactor leaves a trace of its characteristic radiation, and so, too, does this one. There are few real surprises here, and the originating songs, like “Hotaka” and “Conga Fury,” shine out brightly. This is a must for collectors who can’t get enough, but casual fans may want to wait for their all-new album due out later this fall.
–Madelyn Boudreaux

Landmines
Commerce and Marx
Paper + Plastick
Street: 08.02
Landmines = Avail + Title Fight + Marathon
Richmonders love their bands. I saw Crime in Stereo at United Blood fest ‘07 open with “Simple Song,” and it resulted in absolute bedlam, everyone clamoring for the mic. Really, Richmond has always been a hotbed for great melodic hardcore (Avail? Strike Anywhere?), so Landmines don’t have to look far beyond their hometown for inspirational cues. Commerce and Marx hasn’t evolved far beyond their self-titled record, and maybe that’s OK, because they’ve got the talent and cohesion to play this brand of tuneful ’core the right way (metronomic drumming, shout-alongs, Avail worship, occasional noodling and a hardcore flourish or two). Cuts like “Hookerpiss” and “You Are Number Six” sound particularly potent, with political lyrics (Oppressive technology? Combating apathy?) and a cogent execution. Admittedly, it fails to carve out anything new genre-wise …but it’s played so damn well it’s hard to fault ’em for it. –Dylan Chadwick

Limes
Tarantula!/Blue Blood
Goner Records
Street: 08.16
Limes = Stephen Merritt x Brian Jonestown Massacre
Limes is the band centering around Memphis singer-songwriter Shawn Cripps, and oddly enough, Tarantula! is a reissue of a 2005 album released in New Zealand. The bluesy garage rock sound of the album means that it’s aged well, sounding just as retro as it would have in 2005. Blue Blood is included on the CD version of the reissue, a CDR originally put out in 2006. Cripps’ lackadaisical baritone ties the two releases together and gives even the upbeat numbers on Tarantula! a pleasantly lethargic feel. Blue Blood, however, suffers from the lack of focus seen on the earlier record, and one acoustic strummer blends into another. Limes are fortunately nowhere as lazy as they sound—but, in this case, their industriousness turns into a glut of music that can be a bit heavy to sift through. –Nate Housley

Mad Anthony/The Yellowbelts
Split
XMAS Cactus
Street: 08.26
Mad Anthony = Rocket From the Crypt + Zeke
The Yellowbelts = Trophy Wives + Love Battery + Drive Like Jehu
What a scorcher! An offering from each band, just enough to gently blow an obscenity or two into your waxy ears, wheeze hot breaths onto your pimply neck, tap your gnarled veins and then pack up and drive far away, leaving you cupping your privates and howling for abuse. Cinci’s Mad Anthony rips through a dissonant garage-punk cocktail with a lil’ swagger and poise … like Glenn Danzig hammered and stumbling his way through an Icarus Line cover set, while Lex-Vegas Kentucky’s Yellowbelts take the twisted perversions of their Louisville counterparts (namely Young Widows), add some classic 70s proto-punk and filter it through the psyche-y flower groove of Love Battery. It’s short, pretty (on nine different colors of vinyl) and has a hand-screened cover. If it doesn’t have you bounding around your neighborhood in a tinfoil hat, moist and incoherent, you’re probably too far gone, anyway. Rock n’ roll, you creeps! –Dylan Chadwick