In Iran, heavy metal is banned. Of course, this means there is a strong metal underground. One band from this scene, Ahoora, are trying to do what they can to get their music heard both inside and outside their home country. Luckily, although the music is not a step forwards (nor even a step sideways) for metal, it is very good.

This Austrian band's prior release, the spectacular Heavy Heavy Monster Dub, revitalized my interest in dub reggae and made its way into my "best of" chart in 2004.  So why does their new one leave me less than enthused?

The debut EP from the Atlanta doom metallers Zoroaster is a solid disc of riffery. It may not be the best Sabbath worship I’ve heard but it’s definitely above average. They do not reach the heady heights of Sleep or Electric Wizard but this release shows that they have the potential to rise up to meet those sonic titans.

Headlights play music which is not dissimilar to their predecessors on the Polyvinyl label like Rainer Maria: a mixture of male and female vocals with high melodies and catchy phrases. Songs alternate from jumpy to languid, sometimes even within themselves. Headlights use a healthy amount of keyboards at times for atmospheric sounds, strings, or chirpy measures. It's unpretentious music: all hooks and fun without dreary concepts regarding composition.

Those like I who have fallen under Delia & Gavin's spell will not be disappointed in the latest single. Relevee features an edited version of the album version along with remixes by Carl Craig, Baby Ford, and, of course, the DFA.  I'm most gleeful, however, for the bonus video of the song.

Luc Ferrari’s death last year meant that the world had lost a creative genius. I was saddened both at the loss of the man and at the fact that no new music would come from his direction. Luckily, Sub Rosa are making available some of his later works as well as some older unreleased material.

This recently reissued debut offers the tasty fruits from a rare instance where session singers, typically relegated indefinately to the background, claim some time for themselves in the spotlight.

This one-sided 10” mini-album is the debut of this San Francisco trio. Brash and playful, the group makes a surprising ruckus out of the unlikely combination of drums, flute, and clarinet.

I came across some Envy records years back and suddenly became ravenous to hear everything put out by the band. They seemed like a succinct Japanese amalgam of a bunch of post-hardcore bands who alternated between the delicate and the demolishing. Screamed vocals, melodic guitar tones, and anthemic songs were all part of the band's DNA.

Another CD released at the group’s recent dates in San Francisco, Rat Tapes One is a compilation of discarded sounds and songs from the past 20 or so years. Unlike something similar such as A Sucked Orange, though, this one feels closer to an album than a collection.

The latest album from Vienna’s B. Fleischmann embraces the electric guitar, especially the characteristically warm and full sounds of the humbucker style pickup. It is an enjoyable if forgettable album. The songs all blur into each other and the album plays through in what feels like an instant; there is nothing of any real interest on it.

Former Japanese hardcore group Envy continues their growth with their latest album, one of soaring guitar epics that are marred only by a sameness in mood and approach. While starting strong, the album starts to unravel as the group adheres to its own formula too frequently.

Inside this inverse carcass sleeve art comes a slice of fresh white vinyl, a very un-Dead Machines like piece of plastic; most Wolf Eyes side projects look like they’ve been scraped from the walls of a suicide watch art workshop. This is Mr and Mrs John Olson’s most straight and soundtrack-like work to date, managing to upset the neighbourhood’s canine contingent while retaining that trademark low tech malignant sound.

Compiling two separate albums on one disc, this Striborg release is a relatively disappointing affair. Over 70 minutes of pedestrian black metal is not something I need in life.

Jessica Bailiff's fourth full length for Kranky is easily her most approachable work to date. Feels Like Home provides all of the familiar elements of Bailiff's unique songwriting, but in easily-digestible three minute slices.

For his fourth CD, Yoshio Machida improvises on a steel drum, using no electronic processing as he has previously and only minimal overdubs to create music that’s both impressionistic and meditative.

The impression that I got from various official sources for the band is that Everlovely Lightningheart are some kind of artistic commune that have tapped into some abstract spiritual plane and have brought back enlightenment in the form of music. While there is a lot of beautiful music on this album, Everlovely Lightningheart are far from the cultural monument that they're portrayed as.

Lisa Germano's latest record (her first for Young God) is beautifully weird.  Any record that lays out the line "Go to hell/Fuck you" as the sing-along hook to a lush, folky lullaby can't be bad!

After puzzling some and dazzling others with the bizarre and inaccessible detour 'Plat Du Jour', Matthew Herbert makes a long awaited, though less than thrilling, return to the forward-thinking discotheque.

The fourth album from the Welsh experimental rock band Ectogram is a heavy going yet rewarding experience. Elements of angular post punk guitar playing are mixed with krautrock influenced rhythms (Ectogram being tour buddies with Faust make this no surprise) and some unusual “do I like it or hate it?” vocals to make a pair of intricate and fascinating CDs.