Acerose overcame a nice showing by newcomers DenimVenom and took the Loud title. Acerose is pummeling, scary loud, fronted by infamous death metal growls that sound like the Cookie Monster spazzing on crystal meth. Their new album, Tales of Treachery, isn’t filled with typical three-minute ragers (six tracks in 42 minutes) — these dudes are bringing “melodic metalcore” to levels unknown on seven-minute cuts “It Takes a Tragedy” and “The Fatal Gift.” There’s a little System of a Down and Iron Maiden mixed in with their Cannibal Corpse, and the six-man Providence outfit could hang with the fiercest Scandinavian death metalheads. The band accurately assessed the sound on their press release: “If the Nordic gods were to rain hellfire upon the earth, we would be the soundtrack.”
Runners-up
2_DenimVenom
3_Lolita Black
4_Red Theory
