There's not really another place to put this since there is no "hard rock" thread but if anyone is looking for some really good proto-metal/blues rock check out Frijid Pink's self-titled album.

New Gojira

Absolutely one of the most explosive rock concerts of all time.
It may sound cliched by this point, but DAMN this is some heavy shit for 1970!!!
All four of the guys are just on fire.

What's cliched is the black leather and the whorpse paint and the demon-drinking-drano vocals. What's cliched is the "I'm gonna get in touch with my pagan roots by banging a dead body on an altar right after I cannibalize my band mate" lyrics. Compared to that, Sabbath is as fresh as if it was recorded yesterday.

I agree somewhat. But there's a lot of good bands that kinda fit that description you give (Celtic Frost, Venom, etc...).

Doom at it's best.

new agalloch song/ep

http://agalloch.bandcamp.com/track/faustian-echoes

longest song they ever recorded. pretty good.

Reminds me of Gorguts.

New Gojira is fantastic.

Venom released their debut in 1981. Frost released their's in 1984. When you are amongst the first to do something, you are the originals. The 50th, the 500th, the 5000th band to do it, that is the cliche.

I'll echo this after hearing about it through pitchfork's positive review. I'm behind metal this year, but I can see this topping lists in the genre. The strength is the most simple thing but it speaks mountains in the realm of metal, and that is, dynamic variation. Most bands forget that brvtality in metal means that you have to contrast brvtality with non-brvtality and Gojira certainly does it without seeming faggish. There are also some oddball leftfield moments like the melan-comic interlude placed not at the halfmark, but after the 1/3 mark. So with all this variation, the thing moves its long duration quite smoothly and becomes less of a slog compared to most metal albums. And man, if ever there was a band with tricks up their sleeves, it is this band. There are more forward thinking ideas within the course of the 6 minutes in "The Gift of Guilt" than about 95% of progressive death metal bands' entire careers.

"The Gift of Guilt" is one of the best things they have ever done.

I've only given it one listen so far, but I didn't think it was that great compared to their other stuff. As far as 2012 metal releases go Ne Obliviscaris' Portal of I still beats it by quite a bit, imo.

Doom is how metal was meant to be played.
These guys brilliantly capture the essence of early Sabbath here...