Notable recent rock and metal releases

I've added about 30 albums to the New Rock and Metal playlist in the last week. I'm adding all the time so just hit follow and sort by date added.

Metal Church - XI : Classic heavy metal (a la Priest, Accept). A band with a long history, influencers themselves, and here they're being true to their roots. This has been in the playlist for a couple of weeks, taking time to work its true magic.
★★★★★

Long Distance Calling - TRIPS : Although the sound of vocals / lyrics vary between bands more than anything else, they've never been very important to this blogger unless they're particularly special. So instrumental tracks / long instrumental passages is no problem to me, maybe even a plus. The complexity of the music makes it progressive, the style varies widely, at times reclining back and other times banging its head. Is it a coincidence that the last track, 'Echo' with its slide guitar and driving rhythm reminds me of Floyd, not 'Echoes' itself but 'One of These Days?"
Love it.
★★★★★

Angarthal - Uranus And Gaia : Steve Angarthal is primarily a guitarist so this solo project features plenty of virtuoso guitar work and some guitar-based instrumentals. The music is quality hard rock / melodic metal, a touch epic in places. I like the sound of his vocals though they often don't quite hit the mark. Overall, excellent stuff.
★★★★☆

The Order - Rock n Rumble : This really stood out from the crowd for me this week. As a teen of the 80s. It brings back memories of big hair, ripped jeans and pretty boys wearing make-up (which The Order aren't).  The titles sum up the feel - Play it Loud, Rock 'n' Rumble, Gimme a Yeah. Early in the first track I was getting strong hints of AC/DC but that gave way to Van Halen and 80s Kiss. The artwork looks like a well-played LP cover, they're not trying to hide where they're coming from. For this blogger it's like tasting Mum's cooking again. Retro done extremely well.
★★★★★