I prefer to review albums the year they are released in order not to appear dated, but sometimes albums find their way to me the following calendar year. I respect the effort (and, in some cases, money) bands put into sending me their music for review, so the least I can do is give them some blog time. Here’s a quick run through some music that was released in 2011, because it’s never too late…  

Iron Lamb
The Original Sin
Pulverised

Were I at all timely with this review, The Original Sin, the debut album from Sweden’s Iron Lamb, would have been a certified year-ender on account of its steely black glory. Like Entombed meets Turbonegro, Iron Lamb is a high flying death machine — part death n’ roll, part deathpunk, but all elbow swings and neck snaps. Hell, even its mob vocal action will choke you senseless. Despite the fact that its 10 rotten songs are over before your sweat hits the floor, The Original Sin is miles of razor wire better than most of the other metal albums I heard last year. Oh, and bonus points for a cover of Motörhead’s “Poison” and intro’ing “I Don’t Like You” with a sound clip from The Warriors. Not that it needed bonus points at all, though.

Listen to “Suicide” from The Original Sin!

CJ Sleez
Valley of the Shadow
Sleez Records

She’s still wearing corsets and fishnets, and everything’s still covered in pink, but on Valley of the Shadow, Hamilton’s sleaze queen, CJ Sleez, must have replaced her eye-lined backing band from 2006′s Back From the Brink EP with a backing band in bullet belts, because with the exception of gutter punk opener “Back to Nowhere,” this album’s nothin’ but hollow old school thrash punctuated by trashcan riffs and alley cat screams. I never saw this change in musical direction coming from Sleez, but I guess even girls in lipstick and stripper heels need to windmill every once in awhile.

Listen to “In The Flesh” from Valley of the Shadow!

Venomous Maximus
The Mission
Cutthroat Records

Houston quartet Venomous Maximus is a dirty, proto-sleaze, biker metal gang who barbecues the hell out of some Sabbathian doom and seasons it with some Sword riffage for maximum flavour. I’m pretty confident that Venomous Maximus will be able to fill the void left in my life by the demise of Canadian skull kickers Damn 13 (vocalist Gregg Higgins’ brimstone howl is eerily similar to that of Damn 13′s Adam Sewell), which means I can cry happy black tears once again. The Mission is a four-song EP (four if you have the vinyl; the CD has a couple of bonus tracks), but a full-length is expected this year, so I’m stockpiling the booze, bullets, and lighter fluid in anticipation of its arrival.

Listen to “The Gift” from The Mission!

Throw the Goat
Demo Primero
Regurgitation Records

I really hate it when someone throws the goat incorrectly. It should be palm out. People can’t ever seem to remember that. However, given their maniacal musical tendencies, I gotta believe that this Idyllwild, California band of horned rubber mask miscreants excel at throwing the goat, be it at old ladies at the bus stop or at the dude behind the counter at the porno shop. Then when they’re done terrorizing pedestrians with Satanic hand gestures they head back to their rented storage space, freak out on some desert punk rawk, have sword fights with rusty tailpipes, and throw the goat at one another. Palms out, of course.

Listen to “Excuses” from Demo Primero!

Into the Storm
Captains
Alive & Breathing Records

Of the five songs on Into the Storm’s second release, Captains, four of them contain dedicated titles, including “Bodhi Zephyr,” “Jean-Luc Picard,” “John Jameson,” and “Walter White.” What does this mean? I don’t know, that they like whiskey and television? Surfing and comics? I know one of them is a captain. Listen, I’m having a hard enough time deciphering the Seattle band’s experimental metal, which is currently beating me about the head and ears like an angry gorilla, to even fathom the lyrical content. Anyway, if you go all in for hardcore torture, Captains is for you. It’s especially for you if you also collect vinyl for the art of it, seeing as how this 12″ comes with seven pieces of original artwork by the band.

Stream Captains here and pay what you want for a download!