Culling the Weak, Left Alive, Cheyenne, Gift of Prophecy, Fear the Day
(Studio Seven) An old-school-indebted, black-shirt-wearing hard-rock outfit that poses for unsmiling photos in graveyards and boasts a frontman named "Raven," Seattle's Culling the Weak combine technical metalcore with flashy '80s-style solos, providing an appealing alternative to the similarly styled (but infinitely sleazier) Avenged Sevenfold. Raven ranges from throatily enunciated barks to scratchy shrieks, sometimes during the same sentence. The band chug during their hardcore chants (usually some variation on the "rise up" exhortation) and shred through their instrumental showcases, with thrash-speed drum rolls and densely coiled guitar harmonies. Culling the Weak recently started recording their debut full-length, slated for a spring 2008 release. Until then, the group's frenetic headbang-intensive live shows will be the only way to experience their impressively heavy, fast-evolving sonic assault. ANDREW MILLER