Cannibal Corpse – Sadistic Embodiment

Few bands embody the spirit of death metal better than Cannibal Corpse. Masters of spine-shattering brutality and horror-themed lyrics that aim to turn the strongest of stomachs, they are well into their decade of sonic terrorism and show no signs of mellowing. Taken from forthcoming 13th studio album, A Skeletal Domain, this is as unrelenting and aurally barbaric as anything the band have produced to date. In fact, producer Mark Lewis seems to have somehow made the Buffalo quintet sound even more vicious than usual.



Aphyxion – The New Breed

The Danes have long been adept at producing classy metal bands, but recent times have seen the country’s heavy music scene fall behind amid an overall melee of young Scandinavian talent. Aphyxion may well be the antidote to that diminishing of fortunes, however. Simultaneously fresh-faced and ferocious, they attack every last riff and roar on debut album Earth Entangled (out in September via Mighty Music) like slavering cacodaemon from the mean streets of, erm, Ribe. This is straightforward modern metal with no gimmicks, and all the better for it.

No Sin Evades His Gaze – Age of Sedation

With one foot planted firmly in the world of heads-down, pummelling grooves, and the other kicking up dust in tech-metal/djent territory, No Sin Evades His Gaze produce a sound that is far more direct and precise than their unwieldy name might suggest. Currently unsigned but unlikely to remain so for very long, they sound like the finished metallic article on their forthcoming debut album – also called Age of Sedation. While it’s slightly sickening that people so young can play their instruments to such an insanely high level, the resultant racket is undeniably thrilling.

Nothing More - This Is the Time (Ballast)

By no means a flat-out metal band, Nothing More look and sound like potential world-beaters because they have absorbed so much of today’s alternative rock futuristic aesthetic into their intermittently crushing sound. With razor-sharp melodies and fiercely intelligent but mischievously cryptic lyrics, they give the impression that they have been pieced together by some fiendish musical scientist in a shadowy underground lab somewhere. They have heavier songs than This Is the Time, but this is a surefire anthem-in-waiting and, if the planets align, Nothing More will be massive in 12 months’ time.

Babymetal – Ijime, Dame, Zettai

Oh go on, admit it … Babymetal are amazing! When you consider that this joyous but unhinged pop-metal hybrid managed to sell out the Forum in London within a matter of hours (and without any significant promotion), and also won over a field full of grinning metal diehards at the Sonisphere festival at Knebworth last weekend, there seems no other option but to go with the flow and embrace the phenomenon for what they: brilliant, brutal and bonkers fun.