Underoath is hitting the road in January, 2011 in support of their latest CD Disambiguation. Openers include Thursday, A Skylit Drive and Animals As Leaders.

Underoath, Thursday, A Skylit Drive and Animals as Leaders Tour Dates:
1/20 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
1/22 Dallas, TX The Palladium Ballroom
1/24 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theater
1/25 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre
1/26 West Hollywood, CA House of Blues
1/27 Anaheim, CA House of Blues
1/28 Las Vegas, NV Hard Rock Café Las Vegas
1/29 San Diego, CA Soma
1/30 San Francisco, CA The Regency Ballroom
2/1 Portland, OR Roseland Theatre
2/2 Seattle, WA Showbox SoDo
2/3 Spokane, WA The Knitting Factory
2/4 Boise, ID The Knitting Factory
2/5 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue
2/6 Denver, CO The Summit Music Hall
2/8 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
2/9 Chicago, IL House of Blues
2/10 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
2/11 Buffalo, NY The Town Ballroom
2/12 Royal Oak, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre
2/13 Toronto, ON Phoenix Concert Theatre
2/14 Montreal, QC Metropolis
2/16 Pittsburgh, PA Club Zoo
2/17 New York, NY Terminal 5
2/18 Worcester, MA The Palladium
2/19 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero
2/20 New Haven, CT Toad's Place
2/22 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
2/23 Charlotte, NC Amos' Southend
2/24 Knoxville, TN Valarium
2/25 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
2/26 Lake Buena Vista, FL House of Blues
2/27 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Revolution

Tour Dates For Other Heavy Metal Artists

Once a week I'll turn the blog over to Dan Marsicano for his Retro Recommendation, giving you a chance to learn about underrated and overlooked gems from metal's past.  This week, Godflesh is in the spotlight.

If industrial metal could be siphoned down to a few important acts, Godflesh would be on that list. While not reaching the same levels of commercial appeal as Nine Inch Nails or Ministry, Godflesh played a part in scoping the whole industrial metal sound that countless imitators would try to recreate throughout the '90s. Guitarist/vocalist Justin Broadrick and bassist G. C. Green, along with a booming drum machine, are the driving force behind the band's second official album Pure.

Simplicity is the band's calling card, sticking to the same creepy melodies throughout the course of each song. Technicality is brushed over for crushing atmospheres of mechanized force. The whole album sounds processed, from the lifeless production to the hollow drums that repeat beats with the feeling of a zombie behind the kit. It's all relative to immersing one's own mind and body into the album. This is a harsh listen, but a listen that pays off in dividends if given the proper attention.

With a running time close to 80 minutes, this is not for the ADD-addled members of society. The songs average between a comfortable four minutes and an excruciating nine minutes. Getting through Pure in one shot is like traversing from one foxhole to the next during World War I's Battle of Amiens. Even after withstanding the screeching guitars on "Love, Hate (Slugbaiting)" and the abandonment of hope on "Monotremata," there is still the 20-plus minute ambient noise of closer "Pure II" that will shake the nerves of even the most hardened of metal listeners.

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A better evaluation of a year's best releases is done a few years later, as the passage of time generally provides a clearer perspective, but as of right now, 2010 was a very good year for heavy metal.  Narrowing down the multitude of quality releases to the top 20 was extremely difficult, and ranking them even more so.  When doing a year end ranking, it's important to revisit the albums, and not go just on the original impression or review.  Some CDs were growers, and others lost a bit of their luster since their original review.  Several of the releases on our top 20 you'll see on many other lists, but others may surprise you.  Not sure if that means we're idiots or visionaries, but in the end we're just metal fans with opinions, like everyone else.

2010 Best Heavy Metal CDs

(CD cover courtesy Nuclear Blast Records)

5 Questions With... is your chance to get to know new and up-and-coming metal bands. I The Breather just released their debut CD These Are My Sins. Drummer Morgan Wright introduces us to his band.

Give us a history of I The Breather.
I the Breather started back in August of '09.  We are a Christian Metal band from Baltimore, MD. The band was formed by Justin Huffman and myself. We just started off as a little project in my basement and evolved into us working super hard to make a name for ourselves in the music industry. The name I the Breather stems from God allowing of us to breathe; breathing is meaning.

How would you describe the sound of These Are My Sins?
When we started writing our record, we knew that we wanted to make it a very aggressive record. The sound of These Are My Sins is very heavy and in your face, but has a melodic and catchy side that keeps your attention throughout every song.

What inspired the lyrics on the album?
Lyrical topics mainly come from Shawn and I's personal problems with being lost at times and then found again by the Lord. Also some of the lyrical content is edgy. We call out the people who claim to be the holy ones but are the first to cast judgment and spit in your face. Just capturing the negativity and close-minded people in Christianity.

What are your upcoming tour plans?
Our upcoming tours I am very, very excited about! We have a lot of touring plans. We are doing the As Blood Runs Black tour that will take place all of December. In January we will be on the road with our labelmates Upon A Burning Body and some other great bands. There are a lot great tours that we are excited to be a part of coming up. We will have a busy schedule this year for sure.

Anything else you'd like to mention or promote?
Our debut album These Are My Sins came out December 7th. Please pick up a copy! Also you can order our record online at MySpace or Facebook. God Bless!

(photo courtesy Sumerian Records)