Kingdom of Sorrow [Digipak] (CD - 2008)

Additional personnel: Steve Gibb, Zeuss (guitars); Derek Kerswill (drums).

Sporting a lineup that includes members of Hatebreed and Crowbar, Kingdom of Sorrow's got the kind of undeniable pedigree that makes headbanger mouths water. Jamey Jasta, too long sidelined as a TV host, rips into the material with lip-smacking, neck-bulging glee, and Kirk Windstein's industrial-strength riffs pile on stacks of burnished-steel heaviness. "Grieve a Lifetime" uses cascading guitar lines to paint moody shades of gray beside Jasta's martial roar, and "Screaming Into the Sky" zooms in on power-ballad wings before crashing down to earth in grinding anguish. Meat and potatoes metal doesn't come more filling than this. minimize