Alright! Welcome to the second edition of the column! I'll be taking a look at CD number two that was sent to me earlier for the great people at Metal Blade records, as well as an essential for your metal collection!

The Rotted
Get Dead or Die Trying
This one came out of nowhere for me. I had heard of a band called “Gorerotted,” but never got my hands on the disc (and forgot to sample them on the net). After reading about the band changing their name to just “The Rotted” in an issue of Terrorizer magazine (make sure you all buy it), this CD just happens to come my way.

The reasoning behind the band changing their name is twofold:

1) The band is moving away from the gore and horror type lyrics that they were known for in the past and…

2) They wanted to move away from just straightforward death metal with unrelenting double bass and blast beat attacks and to be able to pursue a more open ended metal amalgamation.

The disc doesn't disappoint at all. From the very first guttural words from front man Ben McCrow, followed up by amazing blast beat work from Nate Gould in the first few seconds of the opening track “Nothin' But A Nose Bleed” you know you're in for one hell of a ride.

Death metal fans (and fans that love the extreme stuff, but still demand some groove elements) will find this disc to be a repeat spin and don't need to worry about hitting the “next” button on their remote because this CD could be a contender for death metal album of the year. My favourite (and standout) track that you should sample is “It's Like There's A Party in my Mouth (and Everyone's Been Sick).” You can't top a title like that.

Essential Listening
Carcass's Descanting the Insalubrious and Heartwork

I know I've mentioned Carcass before, but now is a great time to get into the band if you haven't already.

These two discs are the pinnacle of their career as well as a blueprint for how to play metal. These two discs are now available as re-mastered editions with bonus material, unreleased songs and demos and well as a career retrospective interview done with the band this year (broken up over these two discs and the other forthcoming reissues from the band's catalogue).

You should be able to pick up both releases for just over $30 and believe me it's money well spent. I have the first editions of these discs and I had no problem shelling out the dough for the reissues just for the bonus material. The band and their work are that good.