Sweet Zombie Jesus, it's Friday! I was hoping that the solid stream of quality singles and EPs this week meant there would be some big album drops today. That didn't necessarily happen, but I was still able to find several interesting releases today. New music ahoy!

Before we get to any new music, we have to start with the Judas Priest/Ozzy Osbourne version of "War Pigs." It sounds like this version was assembled after Ozzy's death, but nevertheless hearing him duet with Rob Halford is awesome. Yeah, we've all heard this song a million times. Listen to it again, dammit!

Our first new album of the week is Poison On Your Lips by post-metal band Absence of Colors. Recommending instrumental post-metal is tricky, because it always makes me ask myself "Why listen to this band when I could just listen to Russian Circles?" Absence of Colors may be slightly more atmospheric than Russian Circles, and there are a few tracks that have (gasp!) minor vocals. I quite enjoyed my first listen, but we'll see if this sticks in the rotation. There have been a number of really strong instrumental metal albums this year. 

Up next is Rambler's Axe by Piece. This actually came out earlier this month, but I didn't hear of it until last night, when a member of my delightful Metal Dudes text chain recommended it. It's very High on Fire - although I'm not a huge High on Fire fan and probably like this better! It's super solid mid-tempo crunchiness.

Another recommendation from the Metal Dudes text chain is the new one from Shiner, BELIEVEYOUME. This is some solid post-hardcore from a longstanding band. Once again, I'll need a few more spins to see if it makes it into regular rotation, but on first listen I'm digging it, even if the vocals don't always land for me. 

I'm closing things off with Live by all-star King Crimson tribute band/reincarnation BEAT. Is it fair to call a band a tribute or cover band when it includes members from the original band? Regardless, I saw this tour last year when it came through Minneapolis and it was an absolute fucking blast. Comprised of former King Crimson members Adrian Belew and Tony Levin along with Steve Vai and Danny Carey, BEAT performed the music of King Crimson's three 1980s albums and it was simply amazing. I don't normally spend a lot of time with live albums, but I'll be buying this one immediately.

​Have a great weekend!