Releases are all great metal

Today is Gigantour!

I've been in a metal mood since — well, since my junior high school days. But it seems the past few months I've been gearing up for this show.

During the past few weeks, leading up to today's concert, I have been overdosing on metal. Aurally speaking, of course. And let's just say I have a very patient wife.

So, in honor of Gigantour, here are mini-reviews of three important metal-band releases that are a must for any headbanger's library.

VARIOUS ARTISTS; "Gigantour" (Image Entertainment): This two-CD set is a compilation of live performances from various bands during last year's Gigantour.

Dream Theater, Anthrax, Life of Agony, Dry Kill Logic, Bobaflex, Fear Factory, Nevermore, Symphony X and, of course, Megadeth, are all featured here — recorded live, warts and all.

For those who attended last year's show, this could actually serve as a little reminder of the ferocity of these bands. Megadeth's "She Wolf," "A Tout Le Monde" and "Kick the Chair" are lined up with Fear Factory's "Transgression" and "Archetype."

And the two Anthrax cuts — "Caught in Mosh" and "I Am the Law" — that have found their way onto this compilation are not included on the live Gigantour DVD that was released earlier this year. But that doesn't lessen the intensity.

This is speaker-shredding material.

LAMB OF GOD; "Sacrament," (Prosthetic/Epic): This is LOG's fifth album, and its fourth studio album, which debuted at No. 8 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart. And the band is currently with Gigantour.

The songs on "Sacrament" are meticulously produced, which in some cases can drain some of the energy, but the musicality and arrangements are deeper and more brutal than on previous albums.

Each song is filled with the band's trademark mix of thrash and hardcore. From the opening eruption of the opening track, "Walk with Me in Hell," a song about co-dependency, to the sonic assault of "Beating on Death's Door," a song about drug addiction, it is evident that LOG isn't pulling any punches.

Then there's the single "Redneck," which has a catchy sing-along chorus that wouldn't go over well in mixed company. Pure LOG.