It’s a big week for metal releases. Children of Bodom, Destruction, The Human Abstract, Turisas, and Rival Schools are this week’s heavy hitters, while new ones from Agnostic Front, Maruta, Jag Panzer, Swamp Thing and more give hardcore a surprisingly robust showing. After the jump, all the goods:

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It turns out that Refused are not reuniting after all, and while Rival Schools will release a new album soon there’s been no indication that Quicksand will also. Oh well; it was fun to think about.

Thankfully there’s at least one important late ’90s metal-ish band that will be releasing new music in 2010… and it’s Jonah Matringa’s Far. Far were another one of those bands who seemed to enjoy much more success in critical circles then in, ya know, reality. Their two records, 1996’s Tin Cans With Strings To You and 1998’s Water and Solutions, were way ahead of their time but never got quite the recognition they deserved. As Metal Insider‘s Bram Teitelman put it, Far were “Heavy, but not metal, emotional, but not emo” and for that reason while I’m sure many of you won’t care about Far I’m guessing that any fans of mid/late ’90s metal/post-hardcore bands like Helmet, Refused and Quicksand will care a great deal.

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The reactions to yesterday’s post about the Rival Schools reunion record were much to my surprise mostly positive, which I guess could just indicate that those who didn’t know the band chose to skip over the post. But I’m guessing that even more of you were/are fans of Quicksand, Walter Schreifels’ main post-Gorilla Biscuits squeeze. I discovered Quicksand after their time in the sun had come and gone, but I still find myself wishing for a reunion. As cool as the new Rival Schools record could be, I think a new Quicksand record would smoke it.

Here’s the video for “Dine Alone” from 1993′s Slip. The video is so… ’90s. I love it.

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Recently reunited post-hardcore vets Rival Schools have a new album on the way via Photo Finish Records, report our metal cohorts at SMNnews.com. The dudes in Rival Schools are hardcore and post-hardcore royalty: Walter Schreifels (Quicksand, Gorilla Biscuits, Walking Concert), Sammy Siegler (Youth of Today, Judge, CIV), Ian Love (Burn, Cardia), and Cache Tolman (Iceburn, Institute).

When I saw Rival Schools at CMJ in 2008 they seemed a bit rusty, but that doesn’t deter my excitement for a new album. Here’s “Used for Glue” from their one and only album, 2001′s United by Fate. I’m guessing that a good portion of our readership is too young to know/appreciate the importance of this band and their members, but now’s as good a time to learn as any.

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Tonight, Gavin Rossdale will be playing New York’s Gramercy Theatre as part of a May/June U.S. tour supporting his 2008 solo effort Wanderlust. Those of you familiar with this record or its corresponding singles know that the former Bush frontman has departed significantly from the raucous yet melodic post-grunge of his old band, opting for a softer, essentially adult contemporary sound not entirely dissimilar to Chris Cornell’s post-Audioslave offering Carry On. While this description likely wont appeal to you metal maniacs (I sure as hell didn’t buy it), here are a few reasons why you should load up on alcohol and catch one of the upcoming dates.
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