Too brutal for thrash, too lyrically comprehensible for death metal, too purist to resort to screamo or rapcore choruses, Virginia's Lamb of God are just commercial enough to have scored three consecutive Top 10 albums. On Resolution, the fivesome lurch into cruel claustrophobia again and again as Randy Blythe hectors angrily at enemies lying, dying or both: "The walking dead! Living a lie!" he rails in the mosh-pit tantrum "Cheated." Occasionally – the foggy instrumental "Barbarosa," or the boogie-bottomed "To the End" – they branch out slightly. But mostly, Lamb of God stick to conservative values that metalheads can respect and everyone else can continue to ignore.

Listen to "To the End":

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• Photos: Random Notes

“Ambling Alp”

The "Ambling Alp" was the nickname of the six-and-a-half-foot-tall Primo Carnera. Though the song is named after the Italian-born 1930s heavyweight champion, Yeasayer are actually paying tribute to boxing legend Joe Louis with this first-person psychedelic dance-rock tune. “I was always interested in writing a song that had boxing mythology in it,” Yeasayer’s Chris Keating said. “It’s pretty fascinating: There were so many amazing characters, and it was so closely entwined with 20th century history.” Yeaseyer also invokes German champ Max Schmeling and hints at the historical significance placed on the historic bouts between the Nazi-era boxer and the African-American Louis.