You got it.

Sorry about the wait! I've been really busy IRL lately. Let's get back into things.
http://www.metal-archives.com/images...65609.jpg?4017
Album: Aenigma
Artist: In Vain
Genre: Progressive Death Metal
Suggested by: mythsofmetal
Familiarity: None.

1. Against the Grain - Never was a big fan of most hardcore metal. The intro is alright. The melodies and harmonies feel a bit masked out by rest of the music. Whatever the lyrics are, I can't understand any of them. Yeah, I really don't understand why they want vocal parts if they're going to be barely intelligible. Towards the middle, I'm a bit more into it. As usual, it takes a bit more me to get into something. Yeah, the initial shock is gone. I really think I would like it more if I could hear the harmony a bit more over the distortion. As it is, it's sort of meh. Man, I wish I could just directly copy Trollheart's rating system.

2. Image of Time - Oh man, I can even hear the synthesizers over the distortion. It almost feels like there was no effort put into this album. The drums are really not necessary in between the beats. When the melody does shine through, it's just alright. This song definitely isn't as good as the first one. It also sort sort of feels like this song is trying to go everywhere at once, but isn't ever really getting anywhere.

3. Southern Shores - The soft guitar tunes at the start are a pretty good break. I figured toning the distortion down would help the band, and it certainly holds true.

4. Hyme til havet - Well, now it's back to metal. I'm a bit more used to it now, and to me at least, the composition is a bit better for the ears. Yeah, it's a lot better towards the end. I like it.

5. Culmination of the Enigma - I like the interplay between the power chords and the melody on the guitar. Lyrics here are very dark (I had to go to a lyrics page). This one is actually much nicer. A bit tighter control of the distortion definitely helps.

6. Times of Yore - I can't really think very hard about this stuff. I think it's better to just get into it. No problems at this point. Of course, there's still nothing that sets this album apart from the crowd in my opinion. The guitar interlude is alright, and the ending is pretty cool as well. Getting a bit bored though.

7. Rise Against - Wait, isn't that a hardcore punk band? Joking aside, this song got me pretty pumped at the start. The middle is just alright, but the saxophone interlude is pretty awesome. I want more of thi- Oops, nvm. I really think this band should be doing softer material. Even a bit softer would help.

8. To the Core - This feels like the stuff that belongs in death metal. Just simple hardcore riffs here. Love the guitar solo. This I can listen to. It doesn't get stale, for as long as it goes on, and it's generally just a awesome uptempo track.

9. Floating on the Murmuring Tide - The intro is a lot like the rest of the album. The quiet interlude is a bit longer, and includes piano, guitar, and a sax solo. The drums slowly lead the heavily distorted instruments back in. The saxophone continues, however, which I think creates an awesome effect. As the vocals come back in, the sax fades out. After the vocals leave, only the numbing heaviness is left. It's really really good. A second interlude comes in, with plenty of cool guitar. Suddenly, the guitar and drums come back in, and the beauty of the track is prefectly demonstrated. The ending part is really awesome. The heavy-hitting chords are perfect when combined with the more flighty guitars. The atmosphere is further enhanced by the return of the saxophone. This is an awesome track to close out the album.

At first, I wasn't into this one. I don't listen to much death metal, so I didn't know what to expect going into it. It actually really grew on me, and I ended up appreciating the place the heaviness holds. A death metal fan would absolutely adore this album, I'm sure, so if you're into that kind of stuff, check out this album. If you're not, but open to new opportunities, I'd say this is probably a good representation of the genre. For me, it left a pretty good impression, especially the last couple of tracks. So therefore, let me give it a pretty good rating.
OVERALL RATING: 9/10

A sore throat won't keep me from moving on with the "lovely" Merbox.
http://www.music-bazaar.com/album-im...83-292-292.jpg
Album: Collection Era Vol. 3
Artist: Merzbow
Genre: Noise
Suggested by: grindy
Familiarity: Done the others before it, now doing it. No familiarity for this one specifically.

1. Untitled - A helicopter-like noise persists throughout while other random noises come in. Very dirty sound on this one, I like it.

2. Untitled - Replace the helicopter with banging on metal, and you have this song. I still enjoy it though. Really comes full circle, bringing music back to its primitive roots in human culture. Nothing groundbreaking, but still cool.

3. Untitled - More noise, pretty energetic rhythm this time. Gets a bit tired towards the end.

4. Untitled - More "noise"y than the others. Cool.

5. Untitled - This one is really weird. More noises over a looping background noise. Same old song and dance (or lack thereof). It's alright.

6. Untitled - Yup. More noise here. A bit run-of-the-mill though. This one gets more and more boring by the minute.

7. Untitled - All pretty similar, so whatever.

8. Untitled - Still noise, but a bit longer than the other parts. It gets pretty abrasive at some points, but no major differences from the other songs.

This one ended up leaving a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Noise is fine in isolated bursts, but if you're going to listen to a whole album of it, you better have something to keep yourself busy, because otherwise you're going to get incredibly bored. There's really not any change in the overall feel of it, and of course, it's not very catchy in the first place. However, I'm certain that if you have something to keep you occupied, or if you just skip ahead when you get bored, you can definitely appreciate this one for what it is.
OVERALL RATING: 6/10

Can I rec my own release? Sort of dark ambient experimental electronic stuff, sort of in the vain of Kraftwerk and the more experimental parts of Kid A/Amnesiac. Bit jazzy too.
Almanac | The Deaf Aids

Once I've done your current rec, rec it again and I'll definitely put it on the list.

I love both Kraftwerk and Radiohead, so I'll pry love it.

Next rec: Auktyon - Girls Sing.
Should be on Spotify. Or shall I send you a link?

I'm gonna rec The Initial Frontier Pt. 2 by Vyre, the genre for it is a kind of Experimental/Progressive Post-Black Metal.

The Initial Frontier Pt. 2 | Vyre

I'm hoping you can get into it better than In Vain since it has a fair bit of Progressive Rock/Metal influence, plus has some experimentation, and it seems like you preferred the In Vain songs which experimented more so than the more straightforward ones, so yeah. The songs are kinda long though, (there's just five of them though,) and while they hold my interest, that's probably the one thing I'm the most uncertain about here.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61xy97ecG2L.jpg
Album: Days of the New II
Artist: Days of the New
Genre: Post-Grunge
Suggested by: aux-in
Familiarity: I've definitely seen the album cover before, but I don't believe I've heard any of it. I'm actually getting pretty hyped for this one.

1. Flight Response - Horses, definitely. Got some super weird acoustic guitars coming in. The bass and drums close off the rhythm section. The vocalist sounds very southern. This is super atmospheric. Wow, the way they layer the various instruments is awesome. I'm absolutely loving this album so far.

2. The Real - The acoustic intro is great. Yeah, the textures are still here. The harmonies in the chorus vocals are awesome, and so are the various instrumental solos towards the end. This album is a very strange combination of folk, alternative and soft rock. It's absolutely awesome. The ending is also cool.

3. Enemy - This one sounds almost industrial at the start. The acoustic guitars epicly contrast with the dancy beat. This is really cool. It's at once very human and innocent, as well as mechanic and dark. Like the last song, it has a small acoustic outro, that isn't really related to the song, but still fits in nicely.

4. Weapon & the Wound - This one feels like a Tool song except with acoustic guitars, but once it gets to the chorus, it starts to feel a bit like butt rock. However, it feels like the better butt rock. The violins are awesome towards the end of this one. I still really like it.

5. Skeleton Key - The intro is pretty experimental, which is alright. It's better once the other instruments come in. This one is more like some sort of tribal music than rock. Very synthy. It's still really good.

6. Take Me Back Then - Yeah, this really feels like butt-rock. Like, in the vain of Nickelback and all that. Definitely got that "grunge, but more radio-friendly" feel that popularized these bands. Of course, the acoustic rock influences help to diversify Days of the New. Imagine a Foo Fighters song, except replace the electric guitar parts with acoustic guitar parts. Add a fiddle, and you've rpetty much got this song. It's still good, but not as good as some of the others.

7. Bring Yourself - I love the female vocals that hail the beginning of this song. However, most of this one feels basically like a butt rock song. Trademark violin parts and all. It does mellow out on the butt-rock by the end, and ends up as some good old post-grunge. It ends with some folky nonsense vocals.

8. I Think - Woah, this one is pretty heavy. A bit of alternative metal influences are definitely blended in here somewhere. I think (hehe) that it's all acoustic guitars, but it gets really heavy in this one. It's another one sort of in the vein of Tool. This song is like a summary of the late 90s in rock, and it's awesome.

9. Longfellow - Weird synthy stuff going on here. More tribal music, except combine it with The Ape of Naples first track. So, just imagine you're sailing along on the sea, and you encounter a jungle island, and you explore it, except you're actually acting in an 80s documentary. This is the music that's playing. No vocals on this one, I should mention.

10. (Untitled) - This is really frickin' weird. Sounds like a guy screaming in reverse. All we need is some helicopter noises constantly running in the background. and you could convince me it's Merzbow. This is some scary sh*t. It's like, what the **** is even happening.

11. Phobics of Tragedy - It starts by playing the first few measures backwards, presumably to transtition from the last song to this one. This one feels a bit more acoustic, and it's definitely a lot less butt rock. Which, of course, is awesome. It's really just cool stuff all the way through. At the end it gets reversed again. Awesome.

12. Not the Same - No, you are the same! Yeah, pretty much more of what's described above. A bit more butt rock in this one, but it's still really good.

13. Provider - Another awesome acoustic intro. This one is a lot folkier and more atmospheric. Wow, it's really good. The acoustic bass takes center stage here. With all the layering, it's easy to forget that all of this is purely acoustic. Lyrics are a bit repetitive, to alk about them at least once here. However, I have to say that the lyrics are really not what you should be focusing on anyways. There's an awesome brass section at the end that layers over the rest of the instruments. It's just an overall excellent and textured song. Sends chills down my spine.

14. Last One - Another tribal intro, perhaps a bit creepier. Then it transitions into the main song. This one smells suspiciously of butt rock, but it doesn't go full throttle, so I'll give it a pass. Setting that aside, it's pretty much just a stand-up ending track, no strings attached. Cool.

I have to say that there's not really anything inherently wrong with this one. If you like bands like Nickelback or Creed, you're pretty much guaranteed to love this album. But if you hate butt rock, check it out anyways. It's not all bad, and if you're into 90s rock in general, you'll probably like it anyways. This album is like a musical crossroads, so there's probably something for every taste. If you like folk, you may also enjoy it. If you're into jazz, you could even get into the complicated acoustic bass lines. There's even some tribal parts mixed in. The whole album treads the line between cheese and genuine goodness. It does a pretty good job, but some of the cheese definitely leaks through, so it'll have a slightly dimished rating. However, beyond that, it's a creative and awesome album.
OVERALL RATING: 9.5/10

Days of the New is definitely one of the better post grunge bands, mainly for their guitar work. Still really don't like their singer though, or I'd probably be a fan.

I totally agree.