Mastodon - Leviathan

Beware! Collosal metal grooves will crush you. Brann dailor is a drumming monster gone berzerk. His heavy drum rolls swirl in and out of the tune, completely swallowing it at times. This kind of metal drumming very rarely comes by, if ever. This is one of the few modern metal bands that actually lend the term modern any meaning. The angry screams of Troy Sanders are so apt for the music. The vocals are quite varied on the album and get pretty innovative in tracks like Seabeast. The guitarist lays down the perfect riffage which sometimes gets amazingly bluesy for the high powered rhythms that Dailor plays. Oddly, it feels as though it is the drummer's heavy fill based drumming that's driving the album unlike the more conventional guitar based structure. Finally, the track Hearts Alive - the longest in the album, clocking 13 mins is one of my favourite tracks by Mastodon. It starts off as a sober piece and takes the listener through a sonic journey which only a band of this caliber can create - not to mention the amazing guitar solo towards the end of the track. This album features some of the best heavy metal chops displayed in the recent years. This one is not for kids or the light hearted. Be ready to get destroyed

Agalloch - The Mantle

Agalloch is a band from the US. The Mantle can be described using any number of tags like folk, black, doom, stoner, psychedelic or even post-rock, as the wikipedia page suggests. This is a rare piece of work - a dark primeval sound created using atmospheric effects and amazing acoustic guitar melodies. The guitar work is quite minimalist and that makes the album sound beautifully space rock-ish, at the same time creating a desolate but strangely peaceful mood. If you are into any of the genres I mentioned above, get this.

Unquestionable Presence

I've listened to Unquestionable Presence by Atheist a few times recently after a gap of about 2 years. And I rediscovered what a delight it is. This is aggressive, death-thrash-jazz-funk stuff with tons of jaw-dropping riffs. The album opener Mother Man is sheer genius. The song immediately makes clear what to expect from the album. The drumming is mind-numbingly precise and lays down the perfect basis for the ensuing madness. The bass keeps switching between maniacal gallops and crazed funk slap. Kelly Shaefer's vocal work is spot on. This is one heck of an album, one of metal's greatest.