and when an Iron Maiden album comes out everything seems allright.

This summer has seen a lot of good music come out that I've only been now catching up on.

The new Slayer, Christ Illusion, came out in June (6/6/06 actually). Tony Lombardo, the epitome of metal drummers is back with the band and they've stopped being experimental and gone back to the heavy shit that gave them their reputation in the first place. It's about religion. Good stuff- 8 out of 10

Clutch- Live in Flint Michigan, not a new one, but one I've been meaning to pick up for a while. The band is obviously trying to make up for the minimal effort they showed in their last live cd, Live at the Googolplex. It's a double cd with their best hits (Shogun Named Marcus, Pure Rock Fury), a lot of stuff from the newest albums (Profits of Doom, Mob Goes Wild), their stranger stuff (Rats, Big Fat Pig) and the long jams you've come to know from Clutch. 9 out of 10 and not just because it's Clutch.

Not my favorite band, but I never miss any of Black Label Society's stuff. If only Zakk Wylde had a voice he'd be one of the most famous metal frontmen in history. With his output and his talent on the guitar, even playing back up to Ozzy he'd be a legend. Still, Shot to Hell is damn good and one of his better releases; six out of ten.

I forgot about Rob Halford ever since he left Judas Priest but I'm constantly reminded of how powerful his voice is every once in a while when he puts out something like Handing Out the Bullets on Crucible, a release from the band named after him. Priest and Halford have had a resurgence in popularity, mostly due to the forementioned band's reunion, but if anyone would listen to his solo stuff they'd see he hasn't been slacking now that he's with his backup band. Live Insurrection, the first live cd from Halford shows that. Comes with a good amount of Priest covers too. Very, very good. Eight out of ten.

Motorhead sits up at the top of the metal pantheon along with Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, King Diamond and Slayer yet they're far past their peak. Though the recent We Are Motorhead showed they're not a force to be ignored, most of the stuff they've put out in the nineties are nothing more than rehashes of old seventies and early eighties glory. Kiss of Death is their new one and if the new single, Sucker, is anything like the rest of the cd they may have come out of their slump. Unfortunately, that's the only track I've heard on the cd.

This is the most refreshing cd to come out this summer. Nashville Pussy's last couple of releases showed them in danger of becoming a parody of the girls with guitars/rednecks setting things on fire look they were going for. Here's more of the same, except better. A great deal of improvement in talent, song writing and spirit on this one. It sounds more like their first release. They're playing here at the end of the month and if I'm not in Maine then I'm going to check them out. I saw them at the Paradise in Boston years ago and it was one of the better shows I've seen. Get Some! gets nine out of ten.

Iron Maiden had a difficult time in the nineties. They had just come off a decade of great stuff, huge headlining tours and making a name for themselves as one of the premier metal bands in the world then they got rid of their singer and went through lineup changes. After a slew of live releases, box sets with forgotten tracks and the unimpressive Brave New World they got their shit together and put out A Matter of Life and Death, a cd that sounds like their eighties glory days with long, elaborate songs, great songwriting, and a reliance on Steve Harris' incredible bass and the twin solos of Adrian Smith and Dave Murray. Nine out of Ten for Maiden.

I know the picture's too big. That's because Maiden is badass.