Each month, tons of new music from many taste-spanning genres is released into a fast-consuming, unforgiving market; it can be tough to get a handle on what’s new before it’s on to the next. In an attempt to highlight the standout releases, at the end of each month, AUX staff re-cap the month in Punk, Metal, Indie/Pop/Rock, Hip Hop, Electronic, and Pop with the top five releases in each. Consider it your cheat sheet for year-end lists.

Top 5 Metal Releases: June

Saccage – Death Crust Satanique

Death Crust Satanique is an inspiring blend of filths and stenches, mixing crust punk’s wet dog smell with thrash metal’s beer soaked adrenaline and black metal’s dusty cloak. The result is 29 minutes of heavy music that never strays too far towards any one genre, instead finding a way to masterfully run through all of the above in the most aggressive way possible. But while these songs all ultimately spiral into chaos, they’re not without dynamics: “Milice Anti-Police Calice” borders on straight-up street punk, while “Saccage Nocturne” and “Beer, Dope & Evil” each come with their own groovy breakdowns, and “Motörcrust” thrives when it takes things down to half-steps. (Maltkross Productions)

Gaytheist – Stealth Beats

We know, we know. The name. That name. But in spite of its silliness, Stealth Beats is a can’t miss release from a band that masterfully blends the smug and the sadistic. Not strictly a metal album, these 12 songs are short bursts that coat The Jesus Lizard’s sound with an extra layer of hot sauce, meshing the angular guitar work and rhythmic drumming with clever lyricism that never pats itself on the back. “Post-Apocalyptic Lawsuit” paints the picture of a society with no one left to sue, while “Hand Holder” illustrates Earth’s last two survivors (one man, one woman) going against their most basic survival instincts (“I don’t think we deserve a second chance. Fuck sex, let’s dance and call it romance”). If you loved what Daughters were doing before they split, this record’s right up your alley… and no, that isn’t a euphemism. (Good to Die Records)

The Faceless – Autotheism

Autotheism by title sounds like The Faceless continuing their journey into unabashed Cynic-worship, but it instead takes the band’s progressing sound down a different path. The reaction towards Autotheism thus far paints it as an album that wears its influences on its sleeve, but there’s no consensus on just who the band’s trying to sound like. In turn, they’ve come up with a sound that’s uniquely their own—Devin Townsend meets Cryptopsy with a pinch of Mr. Bungle thrown in for good measure. The new emphasis on clean vocals make for an interesting take on the band’s aggressive edge, and while the band has yet again proven their proficiency as musicians, the music never works too hard to prove it. Sweeps and blast beats are aplenty, but the music flows from one song to the next, never jerking the listener too far from a simple headbang. (Sumerian Records)

Ash Borer – Cold of Ages

Ash Borer’s Cold of Ages is US black metal’s wet dream, succeeding pretty instantly at making convincingly cold sounding songs in the dregs of the summer season. Cold of Ages checks most of the boxes—the distant, wallowed vocals and razor-thin production—of its predecessors, but with a level of execution not often scene in an increasingly oversaturated scene. Cold of Ages opts against the usual washes of fuzz that plague the genre, allowing some pretty remarkable drumming to shine through layers of guitars that while far from overproduced are clear enough to decipher. (Profound Lore)

Gaza – No Absolutes in Human Suffering

Like its predecessors, No Absolutes in Human Suffering mixes all forms of grind, death metal and sludge into a sinewy sound that can most easily be referred to as heaviness at its most absolute, but the band’s attention to detail this time around has made sure their third album is more than a wash of throwaway noises. These songs are as dynamic as they are unrelenting, and their mathy backbone is enough to make even Botch blush. (Black Market Activities)

Surprises, disappointments and albums to watch for next month

Surprise of the month: Remember the buzz that followed Necrophagist when Muhammed Suiçmez exploded onto the scene with Onset of Putrefaction? Sophicide’s Perdition of the Sublime is one young German dude’s attempt at recapturing that magic. And you know what? He does a pretty good job. Adam Laszlo was only 19 when he started writing the songs that would eventually take form on this self-recorded, mixed and mastered album, but his talent on the guitar goes well beyond his age. For the most these songs are the usual brutal tech-death fare, but there’s an enthusiasm to Laszlo’s guitar playing that’s got to have Suiçmez staring in the rearview mirror. Parts of this album are programmed, but we’ll let you find them for yourselves. (Willowtip)

Disappointments: Katatonia’s Dead End Kings is an intensely dull rehash of the band’s past few albums, meandering its way through glossy hard rock songs that rarely stray from the status-quo. This is the prime example of a band settling into a comfort zone, and if you’ve liked what they’ve been doing from Viva Emptiness onward, you shouldn’t be disappointed, but those looking for an escape from their established pace are going to be left wanting more—fittingly, bonus track “The Act of Darkening” is the most dynamic song on the album. Too bad it’s exclusive to the special edition. (Peaceville Records)

Out in September: Hooded Menace’s Effigies of Evil, Cryptopsy’s Cryptopsy, Devin Townsend’s Epicloud, and Enslaved’s RIITIIR