Gallantly Streaming: Oh So Many Ways To Get Your Heavy On, Parts 1 & 2

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This is the time of year when big rock releases slow down, making way for a month of big pop releases before we all get a couple months off to reflect on the year that was.

2012 is shaping up just a bit differently; there are a couple of powerhouse releases out on November 13 (Soundgarden and Green Day), plus one that won't sell as much but has me more excited than the powerhouses (Deftones).

So no, next week isn't really the last big week of the year for rock fans. However, if you love heavy music, it's like Christmas for you. And yes, I'm about to make a terrible joke; Christmas has come early.
After a rollercoaster decade of blogger hype, overeager attempts at epicness and baby steps toward total lunacy, Lost Songs is a new high water mark for ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. On this, their eighth album, they've realized the difference between gooping on waves of orchestral nonsense and gooping on more guitars. The album barely gives you a second to breathe under an iron blanket of riffage. It's relentless, it's snarling, it's gorgeous.

Stream Lost Songs here, courtesy Spin.

One of the year's most anticipated mainstream releases has to be Stone Sour's House Of Gold And Bones. A double album whose second half won't follow until May 2013, Stone Sour's fourth album is automatically disqualified from Album of the Year running. Not that it matters; this one isn't so much about the art as it is about sitting back and getting pummeled by their best (half) album yet.

Stream House Of Gold And Bones Part 1 here via Pure Grain Audio.

Stay tuned, it's going to get even heavier tomorrow.

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