First album recommendations

I might as well start off this thing with some recent album finds that any metal fans would be interested in. Obviously these will depend on your particular tastes in metal, be it progressive, death, black, doom or whatever, but I'm pretty open minded so I have some good finds out there for anyone who may have missed them. On the progressive/power metal side, look out for Andromeda Unchained by Danish band Anubis Gate. They have crafted an excellent album, full of heavy riffs, epic choruses, great progressive sections and the kinda spacy ethereal sounds you'd expect from a power metal band whose album is a concept about other galaxies! Fantastic. Moving toward the darker side of music, my recent favourite finds in the death metal world are Slovakian band Wayd's 2001 album Barriers, and Gojira's From Mars to Sirius. Now the latter is obviously much more well known and reviewed, but I got a burst of Ocean Planet on my iPod the other day while walking into uni, and it hit me again just how head cavingly heavy it is. I mean people say heavy is speed, heavy is technicality, but I'll tell you, nothing can beat that opening riff. When you are lulled in by that soothing whale song then get hit over the head with what feels like the ocean, thats the future of death metal, right there. The rest of From Mars... is as heavy as this, and with riffing like this, you gotta own it. As for the former, it was a random find after getting an email about a supersale at Grindethic where loads of records were down to £1.99. The term 'experimental death metal' sucked me in, and it was worth it. I'm guessing its quite unknown, as I'd never heard of them before and not seen any reviews for their newer releases, but if I'm wrong, sucks to me and I need to work on my underground credentials! But its a definite recommendation for anyone who enjoys a blast of technical death from Eastern Europe. Final album to get a hold of is This is Gun City by Sanzen. Sanzen are a British metallic hardcore band, shot through with rock and roll influences that give it an angular riffing brilliance. Throw in touches of Botch and Refused and you've got the makings of a fine album. They have a great t-shirt and cd offer on at their record label, In at the Deep End, check it out...