If you are a metal fan there aren't that many labels that you can look to for new talent but Nuclear Blast is likely the largest with Roadrunner and Metal Blade perhaps being 2 and 3.
While Nuclear Blast doesn't focus exclusively on really hard metal, they are the ones that are likely to be the only people that would signs acts like Dimmu Borgir, Children of Bodom, and Machine Head. Since I enjoy really hard metal, they are who i look to in order to get my fix. I'm just a little disappointed at the moment though.
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I have to say that I am not terribly impressed with their latest releases in the past 2 weeks, except for one. We'll start with the ones that I consider to be less than stellar.
Strigoi: "Abandon all Faith"
from the official Nuclear Blast channel
I like really hard music, namely death, black metal, and melodic black metal, but i don't really even know what to categorize this as. Perhaps it is attempting to mimic old-school death metal but even though the ambiance created by the guitars is spooky, the lead singer has a very "cookie monster" way of singing that reminds me of Cannibal Corpse and I never really cared for that either.
The topics they cover involve what you would expect from bands of this type but unless you bother to read the lyrics (or see a lyric video) you are never going to know what they are. I suppose that is pretty old-school, but to be honest i think the industry is past that now. If that song above doesn't do it for you (and i doubt it will) then this one can get a hard pass.
Despised Icon: "Purgatory"
from the official Nuclear Blast channel
This album did NOT just drop. It was released back in September but is still being featured on the Nuclear Blast channel quite prominently. There are some really good beats and chord progressions that could really motivate me in the gym, but the monotony of the lyricist (again) would quickly get under my skin. I'm afraid that even if it is very difficult to do a "death growl," (and it is, try it one day) there simply needs to be more variety of the vocal patterns for me to stay interested.
For the gym, i think this album would really push me on the weights, for sure. Other than that though, I'm afraid there are just too many bands that sound exactly the same as this one for me to really rate it any higher than just a bit over "meh."
Opeth: "In Cauda Venenum"
At the end of our otherwise disappointing list of new releases we have something unexpected and fresh. Opeth had "calmed down" quite a lot in recent years and now seem to be looking for more a theatrical approach where the entire album is telling a story.
from the official Nuclear Blast channel
There are times that I almost feel as though I am listening to "The Wall" by Pink Floyd because there is an ongoing story both in the tracks and the videos. It isn't necessarily metal. It does have metal attributes but there is much more to these tracks and the harmonies are absolutely beautiful.
The album was simultaneously released in Swedish and English and both albums are exactly the same length because all the musicianship is the same other than the lyrics.
For the people out there that appreciate metal but aren't really down with "all the shoutin'!" this might be worth a look. I would imagine when they tour this new album that fans are going to be in for a treat because much like Dream Theater, this album is one long story.
Originally intended to be only in Swedish, the English versions of the songs might be a little lacking, but the mixtures of styles might hypnotic enough to compel a metal fan to carry on to the next rack.
I gotta say that I am a little disappointed with new releases from Nuclear Blast lately but this may have a lot to do with me being older and set in my ways. Music may have moved on and I am waiting for albums of my youth rather than looking to the horizon for what is yet to come. I still try to keep an open mind and check it all out regardless.... and i will continue to do just that even though other than Opeth it is very unlikely I am going to listen to any of these guys.