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Fantastic movie but so many questions left unanswered. I think episodes 8 and 9 will be a lot more crucial in bringing in new ideas and defining what story exactly the new trilogy is trying to tell.

Awesome album. My favorite track is Chlorine and Wine. Overall I think it's their best effort yet.

Here's my top 10: 10. Periphery - Juggernaut 9. Tremonti - Cauterize 8. Ghost - Meliora 7. Symphony X - Underworld 6. Tesseract - Polaris 5. Iron Maiden - Book of Souls 4. Soilwork - The Ride Majestic 3. Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful 2. Steven Wilson - Hand Cannot Erase 1. Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud Honorable mentions: Riverside - Love, Fear and the Time Machine Enslaved - In Times Baroness - Purple Kamelot - Haven Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror Honestly, I'm pretty stunned that Amorphis made it to #1 as I haven't been a huge fan of theirs in the past but this album is just so damn good. Highly recommend listening to it if you haven't heard it.

Horrible news. He was a true legend. RIP

Update: 1. The Sword - High Country: Eh, besides a few tracks this one didn't really do much for me. Stoner rock is great and all but other bands have done it better. I really think they should have stuck to their roots. 2. Iron Maiden - Book of Souls: Another solid album from one of the world's best metal bands. Death or Glory, Empire of the Clouds and The Red and The Black are my standouts. 3. Riverside - Love, Fear and the Time Machine: A very welcome, brilliantly executed change in style. Lots of hints of Steven Wilson, Opeth, Pink Floyd etc. on this one. Definitely one of the most beautiful albums of the year. 4. Soilwork - The Ride Majestic: It was a pretty hard feat to live up to the fantastic The Living Infinite but they definitely pulled it off here. Each song is really catchy and has a unique identity. An addictive album for sure. 5. Motorhead - Bad Magic: I dunno, it's solid enough but their style is so simplistic that it all the songs just start blending into each other after a while. Might give it another listen soon. 6. Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud: Wow! This might be my favorite of theirs! The melodies, the growls, the choruses, the lyrics...it's all pretty much perfect. Another strong contender for my top 10 of 2015 list.

Really strong Pink Floyd influence in that track. Looking forward to this!

So their new album Under the Red Cloud is coming out very soon. They've released two excellent songs from it so far. Can't wait to hear the whole thing! Death of a King: Sacrifice:

Heard this album a little while ago and it didn't quite hit the spot for me. Some good songs on it for sure but I enjoyed their last one much more.

Time to necro this thread. 1. Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful: Just a phenomenal album. Didn't think much of it at first but after a while I've grown to like it more than Imaginaerum. And I absolutely love the concept behind it. 2. Tremonti - Cauterize: Meat and potatoes hard rock/heavy metal. This has been my go-to album when I want something simple, catchy and heavy. 3. Symphony X - Underworld: This marks the first time they've incorporated old school elements since The Odyssey and I think it turned out really well. Every song is just killer! 4. Ghost - Meliora: Yeah, this is gonna make my 2015 top 10 for sure. I felt that Opus wasn't quite catchy enough while Infestissumam wasn't quite heavy enough. On Meliora they perfected the balance and delivered some of the catchiest, most memorable metal songs I've heard. I think it could have used one more song but otherwise it's definitely their best album. 5. Kamelot - Haven: Can't say I like it as much as Silverthorn (my favorite of theirs) but it's still fantastic and retains their trademark sound. 6. Paradise Lost - The Plague Within: Never been a huge fan of this band but this album definitely sticks out, especially after Nick's superb performance on the latest Bloodbath record. It's heavy as hell, dark and melodic all at the same time. 7. Tame Impala - Currents: It was pretty unexpected to see this band change their sound so drastically, but I'm a huge fan of 80's pop so I really dig the direction on this album. This and the new Chvrches record will probably tie for my pop album of the year. 8. Riverside - Love, Fear and the Time Machine: So this band definitely isn't metal anymore but that's not at all a bad thing. This is by far their softest and most beautiful album. Lots of influences from great artists such as Steven Wilson, Pink Floyd, Opeth etc. There's even one track that could fit on a Cure album. I really liked the last album but I haven't found myself going back to it nearly as much as I have with this one. 9. Chelsea Wolfe - The Abyss: This is her darkest and most pained album, which is saying a lot. I'm glad she toned down the vocal effects, but on the whole I'm not connecting with it quite as well as I did with Pain is Beauty. Still, there are some really beautiful, haunting tracks like Iron Moon and Carrion Flowers. 10. God is an Astronaut - Helios/Erebus: So many bands have done the whole post-rock thing but few others nail quite like GIAA do. Some truly mesmerizing, intense stuff on this album. And it's a huge plus that's it's so diverse. This is really what post-rock should sound like. Looking forward to: Iron Maiden - Book of Souls Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud Soilwork - The Ride Majestic Motorhead - Bad Magic Ahab - Boats of the Glen Carrig Stratovarius - Eternal Tesseract - Polaris Scale the Summit - V Deafheaven - New Bermuda Chvrches - Every Open Eye Clutch - Psychic Warfare David Gilmour - Rattle That Lock Graveyard - Innocence and Decadence Intronaut - The Direction of Last Things Deftones - TBA Saxon - Battering Ram Avatarium - The Girl With the Raven Mask Panopticon - Autumn Eternal Draconian - Sovran Trivium - Silence in the Snow

So I'm pretty much addicted to this album. Definitely my favorite of theirs and one of the best of the year so far. Streaming here for those who haven't heard it yet:

New song is great. Not the best but a solid Maiden track for sure. 3 weeks left until the album's out!

New song's released 8AM BST tomorrow (midnight tonight on the West Coast)!

another new one: http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/07/the-sword-shows-off-lively-new-sound-with-new-single-empty-temples-listen/

Samples are up: https://www.7digital.com/artist/the-sword/release/high-country-3/

The new song is great. Can't wait for this!

Last album was very solid. Looking forward to this.

Surprisingly good song. I like it a lot!

Album's definitely growing on me. I'd place it somewhere between 8.5 and 9/10 right now. I don't have any doubt it'll end up on my top 20 album list at the end of the year.

Can't wait for the new album!!!

Just heard the new album. There are some really good songs on it but I have to say overall I much prefer the last two. There's a bit too much sameyness here and there are no really amazing standout tracks like I Want My Tears Back or Rest Calm. In a lot of parts it feels like it's just coasting along, not really adding anything substantial to the band's stellar discography. I also feel like they didn't use Floor to her full potential. Anette's voice really stood out to me but Floor here sounds generic and boxed in (except for Our Decades in the Sun). And as for the 24 minute long closer The Greatest Show on Earth, they did the orchestral parts amazingly well but the metal part was pretty generic. Richard Dawkins' parts on this song are too numerous, but each one is relatively short so it's much more tolerable than the droning on Song of Myself. The animal sounds would be fine if they were shorter but they drag on too long. Overall, I would cut off at least five minutes from this song. All of this may sound harsh, but I actually do like the album. It's just that there's nothing here that would be a contender for my list of top 10 or even top 20 NW songs. Favorite tracks: Elan, Our Decades in the Sun, Yours is an Empty Hope, Edema Ruh, Shudder Before the Beautiful, orchestral parts of The Greatest Show on Earth

i can say that for the band. they've lost their spark for me. Mick This. They used to be one of my favorite bands but they've gone steadily downhill since BHaR. This song would be decent if it weren't for those cringeworthy lyrics. At least it's not dubstep though.

Black Sabbath by far in every case.

Here are some albums I've been digging recently: 1. Steven Wilson - Hand Cannot Erase: His most diverse and possibly strongest offering yet. The previous three albums were all fantastic, but this is the first one that I really feel like coming back to often. 2. Enslaved - In Times: Can't really get into this one as much as their last album, but it's still really good. It just could have done with a bit more experimentation. 3. Barren Earth - On Lonely Towers: Any of you miss Opeth's death metal sound? Then you're gonna love this! It mixes doom, death, prog, and even a bit of jazz. The vocalist is top notch. An all around fantastic album. 4. Enforcer - From Beyond: Wonder what happens when you mix 80's-era Iron Maiden with 80's-era Metallica? Check this out and you'll see. 5. A Forest of Stars - Beware the Sword You Cannot See: Another very impressive release from the experimental black metal kings. Love the folky sections and melodramatic vocals. But it's a very dense album so I haven't completely connected with it yet. 6. Ensiferum - One Man Army: A massive improvement over their last album. A few songs are a bit too long and I could have done without the country track but otherwise it's a fun, headbanging album. 7. Ghost Bath - Moonlover: Gorgeous post-black metal that's reminiscent of Deafheaven. It'll likely be my black metal AOTY. 8. Moonspell - Extinct: Never been a huge fan of this band, but this album is just killer! It's already one of my favorite gothic metal albums. The big release coming up for this month: Nightwish, can't wait!

Pretty good band. I like their most recent album a lot.

The new Steven Wilson is definitely a contender, but there's a ton of other amazing bands releasing new albums this year so we'll see...