SOUND BITES

Usually, as spring gives way to summer album releases dry up. In 2015, however, it didn't really feel like the case. Sure, there were less albums released than in the spring but pretty much every week in June and July saw something worthwhile hit the shelves. Plus, there are a couple from July 10th, which is the date all new releases shifted from Tuesdays to Fridays. This batch of nominees also represents a nice cross section of new and emerging bands, established acts and long dormant bands breaking long silences. Our third set of Song of the Year Nominees are:

The signs were all right there: from the 2011 covers album The Anatomy of... that featured relatively faithful versions of songs by artists such as Queen and Jethro Tull to the increasingly numerous quiet passages and interludes that entered their own songs, enough evidence was present to suggest that an album like Coma Ecliptic was imminent. Listening to the way Between the Buried and Me conduct their business on  Coma Ecliptic , it bears repeating that this feels like an album you could have seen coming about eight years away, from when they kicked off fourth album Colors with 90 seconds of sparse, piano-led balladry before plunging into the dizzying brutality they were better known for. I've long held the belief that one of the greatest risk/reward scenarios any metal band can face is the one where they take strides away from what most term "conventional" metal. It's a risk in that you stand the chance of alienating fans and/or giving the impression of a pe...