New Release Roundup 11/17/09

There's really only one album coming out today that everyone's gonna care about, but there are a couple of other good ones (better, in fact), so here's the rundown.

Swallow the Sun, New Moon (Fontana/Universal):​ Despite its title, this album has absolutely nothing to do with the Twilight book/movie/ancillary​ product industry. That's not to say that its moody, Gothic doom metal songs wouldn't appeal to the weeping tween girls who are gonna line up to see New Moon the movie, it's just that Swallow the Sun have been making arty, progressive metal with slightly blackened edges for almost a decade at this point, and they're pretty masterful at it. The album displays a wide range of approaches, from ultra-heaviness to lighter-waving balladry, and is highly recommended for autumn.

The Devin Townsend Project, Addicted (Inside Out/Century Media): Former Strapping Young Lad leader and well-regarded producer Devin Townsend has been heading in some very different directions on his recent albums under his own name. Rather than the ultra-processed, cyber-industrial-dea​th-metal of SYL, he's been exploring psychedelia, pop and more. Addicted is a very listener-friendly album, with lots and lots of guest vocals by Anneke von Giersbergen, formerly of The Gathering, to the point that it starts to seem like an alternate-universe Lacuna Coil, particularly on electronics-heavy songs like "Bend It Like Bender." There are a couple of fairly metal moments here, but generally speaking, you're gonna need open, pop-friendly ears to dig this one.

Them Crooked Vultures, Them Crooked Vultures (Interscope): Then there's this. As heavily-hyped "supergroup" projects go, this is no Chickenfoot. Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age formed this trio with drummer Dave Grohl of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters and bassist John Paul Jones, formerly of Led Zeppelin. The problem is, the songs aren't very good - they're mostly one-riff hard rock trudges, too long and all basically sounding the same. A lot of it sounds more like Cream than Led Zeppelin or the Queens, but without the guitar wizardry or much of anything else. Respect to these guys for going on tour without an album to promote, and getting people to pay to hear an hour-plus of brand new songs. But this is a slack-ass project destined to disappoint all but the most sycophantic members of the Cult of Josh Homme. Seriously, revisit the Chickenfoot album. It's much better than this.