Chthonic, Monstro and Saviours have the big metal releases of the week. Let’s take a look at those and a couple of others after the jump.

An Early Ending – Igniter (CI)
After streaming the preview track – also called “Igniter” – from AEE’s Facebook page, I really struggled with what to say. There’s not a whole lot of diversity in the metalcore scene, and this is representative of the band’s inability to move forward. It’s not terrible, but it’s definitely unlistenable if you can’t stand this kind of cookie-cutter stuff.

ChthoniC – Takasago Army (Spinefarm)
The Taiwanese crew return. Produced by Richard Bengtsson, who has also worked with Arch Enemy (with whom the band is currently on a MetalSucks-sponsored tour). Chthonic has carved out a spot as one of the most exciting metal bands from their area — and worldwide — with their melodic brand of black/death metal. New album Takasago Army completes a trilogy with the band’s two previous albums, 2005’s Seediq Bale and 2009’s Mirror Of Retribution.

Fantomas – The Director’s Cut Live: A New Year’s Revolution (Ipecac)
Taken from a performance on New Years Eve 2008, this album includes the Fantomas collection of movie score covers in its entirety, as well as a T.Rex cover and an Al Green cover. The show is being released as a DVD and audio download, and also features commentary by comedian Neil Hamburger.

MonstrO – MonstrO (Vagrant)
The first release from a band featuring former members of Torche, Skrew, Bloodsimple and more arrives today. Musically this could be compared mostly to Torche, just a lot less heavy. The preview tracks “Stallone” (streaming here on MS) and “Anchors Up!” sound like Torche taking their melodic side much further, showing guitarist Juan Montoya is a huge part of the songwriting in this new outfit. The other members are former Bloodsimple bassist Kyle Sanders and drummer Bevan Davies, as well as Charlie Suarez (ex-Sunday Driver).

Saviours – Death’s Procession (Kemado)
Any day a new Saviours record hits is a good day for new releases. Death’s Procession is their third for Kemado, and the album preview and sample track “Eye Of The Obscene” is streaming over at Revolver’s site. Judging by the preview, this is going to be another solid disc of heavy stoner jams that won’t leave my MP3 player before it’s 2012.

-VV