This past Friday here in America was Independence Day, so many of us attended BBQs and parties this weekend, and many of those attendees probably partied a little too hard because ‘Murica (the guy writing this included). Well, come to think of it, many of you not in America may have done the same thing because it was Saturday night and you didn’t need a reason. Either way, to help get you through the fun morning after, we have four new album reviews (three of which with music) and six First Impressions (two songs played) that we actually go through quickly! Honest! There are also a few little news bits in there and the usual fun banter you have come to know and love.
Also, I swear it is coincidence that it is Fourth of July Weekend and the one album we disliked was by a British band.
Reviews: Every Time I Die – From Parts Unknown (Epitaph); The Hell – Groovehammer (Prosthetic); Inanimate Existence – A Never-Ending Cycle of Atonement (Unique Leader); Mastodon – Once More ‘Round the Sun (Reprise)
First Impressions:
Overkill – “Armorist” from White Devil Armory out July 22nd thru Nuclear Blast
Darkest Hour – “Wasteland” from Darkest Hour out August 5th thru Sumerian
Pallbearer – “The Ghost I Used To Be” from Foundations of Burden out August 19th thru Profound Lore
Code Orange – “I Am King” from I Am King out September 2nd thru Deathwish
Cannibal Corpse – “Sadistic Embodiment” from A Skeletal Domain out September 16th thru Metal Blade
Every Time I Die – From Parts Unknown
Mastodon – Once More ‘Round the Sun
Inanimate Existence – A Never-Ending Cycle of Atonement
The Hell – Groovehammer
The Sideshow Podcast 
Once again, you got hosed by a pre-order. I realize that the ETID pre-order disappointment is for a different reason than others, but it is still another reason to me not to pre-order.
I’m pleasantly surprised that you guys both liked the new Mastodon enough to give it a 5. To me, Once More ’round The Sun isn’t hugely different than The Hunter, but neither of you guys liked that one (though I know it has grown on Nick). I’d disagree that Leviathan is the “massive jump” to Blood Mountain that Nick says it is. To me, it is Blood Mountain to Crack the Skye that is the massive jump of their career. Regarding the subject at hand, as you can probably guess, I’m liking Once More ’round The Sun.
You put Mastodon on in the car when you were with your non-metal girlfriend? Does that imply that you have a metal girlfriend as well? I suspect that most of us metalheads don’t have significant others who share our tastes in music.
That Cannibal Corpse song was quite good. I didn’t think that their last album was as good as everyone else thought it was, but I like that song you played.
I bought the Inanimate Existence album as well. I haven’t listened to it a ton, but I pretty much agree with everything you guys said about it. Similar to Nick, I did not buy a physical copy of the album, so I don’t have any liner notes and there was no way I’d know it was a concept album. But I can’t understand the vocals anyway, even the clean female vocals, which I love in the context of tech death and for me is probably the first time I’ve ever heard clean female vocals on a tech death album. The album could have benefited from more of those vocals.
Regarding Mastodon in the car, I had the volume on the lower side. lol At the same time, the music isn’t super heavy, so If you have it turned down and are talking over it, it’s not like playing Inanimate Existence in the background. It’s much more “rockin’.” And my g/f listens to primarily Country music, so yeah… In the car, we compromise largely on 90’s Rock Pandora.
Anyway, I agree with you on the Mastodon album transitions but either way, for some reason I have zero recollection of Blood Mountain. Maybe once I start listening to it, it would ring a bell, but off the top of my head, I can’t recall a single note or word from it. That said, a good chunk of that is probably from me largely overlooking it back in 2006 than it being that bad. One of these days I’ll go spin it again.