Unlike many heavy-metal bands today, who sound all too similar, not to mention head-bangingly repetitive, the New York-based band, Anthrax jumps out of the speakers with substance and originality. Keep in mind, however, they still jump with force or the "threat" would not be real, as the name of their latest CD claims. Hints of country and southern rock give a few of the tunes a nice kick and guest appearances by Pantera members Phil Anselmo and Dimebag Darrell are an added bonus, albeit a somewhat unnecessary one given Anthrax's history in the business. With a discography that dates back to 1983, Anthrax has produced a steady stream of releases nearly every other year.

I noticed that Voodoo Glow Skulls were the band of the week on musicnewswire.com in early July. Although I'm not entirely sure what this means, other than a link to the band's site, I'm sure the Skulls enjoyed it while it lasted. It's too bad much of their site was under construction at the time. Did musicnewswire.com bother to look? Regardless, to get back to the matter at hand, this ten-year-old Californian band has previously expressed annoyance when critics attempt to categorize their music. Hence, at first, I hesitated to do so, but then I realized you may walk away from this thinking they sound like Johnny Mathis. Therefore, to set the record straight -- and to the dismay of the Skulls, I'm sure -- the band's fourth release is straight-up Ska Punk with a dash of Metal. Nothing more, nothing less. They're playing the Warped Tour this summer which will stop at Randall's Island, NYC on August 1.

You know the type of harder-than-hard rock I referred to in the opening paragraph. Well, that fits the description of Vision of Disorder to the tee. This New York-based band brags about having completed their second release, Imprint in 19 days. It sounds more like 9 days to me, but who's counting. Not much vocals to speak of, just angst-ridden guttural screams that make you kinda wonder what sort of childhood vocalist Tim Williams had, but like I said, no one is keeping track here. Then again, in case any one actually is counting, Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo makes yet another guest appearance on this CD. (The guy really gets around.) For those among us who also had a really rotten childhood, Imprint can be bought after July 14, 1998 at a record store near you.

Catatonia, International Velvet (1998 Vapor Records)

On a lighter and more sensual note, the six-year-old Welsh pop group Catatonia is finally invading American streets. Featuring the alluring vocals of Cerys Matthews (think Shirley Manson with blonde hair), the band churns out typical yet appealing UK pop. Some of the tunes on International Velvet have an attractive tinge of folk, however, titles like their hit single "Mulder and Scully" make me wonder -- not about the band as much as about our silly media-driven culture. Catatonia are playing the northeastern states in early August.