West Virgina heavy metal band, Byzantine, returns to the metal scene with their fourth album, self-titled, Byzantine. A mesh of the best parts of bands like Meshuggah, Lamb of God, and Pantera seems like a winning combination in the making. Formed back in 2000, Byzantine focuses on the thrash beats and feeds the occasional progressive beat or classical breakdown that keeps their originality intact. In fact, when the band first started they wrote songs with the help of a BOSS drum machine since they hadn’t found a drummer yet. Byzantine’s members are Chris Ojeda (vocals and rhythm guitar), Tony Rohrbough…

  It’s a difficult task to stand out in the metal scene, usually a band has to venture into other genres and incorporate musical ideas that will be innovative. Amaranthe does just that not only on their new second album, The Nexus, but as a staple of the band’s identity and sound. The combination of three different singers makes for a very unique way of each vocalist playing off of each other and developing an unpredictable array of verses. The melodic metal band infuses a little pop element into their songs with catchy choruses but maintain their heavy side with…