I’m stuffing new music onto the iPod on a daily basis, changing around allthe time. The music I play the most at the moment is old rediscoveries from the back of shelves, and some new favorites, sorted below by band, then album:

Alice in Chains: Jar of Flies
A change in sound from their previous records, there is a contemplative melancholy to this mini-album. The best tracks leave a lot of space for the instruments and vocals, especially the rich, nuanced bass sound.

Anthrax: Persistence of Time
A thrash masterpiece, it’s all kickdrum and airtight double guitar riffing goodness. I must admit to playing favorites on this album, returning to Keep it in the Family, Belly of the Beast, and Got the Time over and over again.

Battle of Mice: A Day of Nights
One of the female-fronted metal bands that don’t fall in the ditch with Nightwish. BoM is post-metal, and the singer uses her voice to accordingly expressive ends. Not a stellar album, but definitely in the top 20%

Megadeth: Symphony of Destruction
Another grab from my guilty pleasure pile. This was the first Megadeth record I heard, and I still get a kick out of the entire album – although I can’t help smirking at Dave Mustaine’s sneering voice

Metallica: Kill ‘em All + Master of Puppets
More classic thrash metal. You either know the albums, or you got left out. Metallica post Master has nothing on these.

Pantera: Great Southern Trendkill + Reinventing the Steel
Type O Negative: Origin of the Feces