Various

Many record labels have a difficult time gathering enough passable, let alone great, songs/bands to create one compilation. Halifax’s Diminished Fifth is the anomaly. While The Music Of Artisanship & War Volume I seemed unsurpassable in its depths of metallic genius and great underrated bands, the 19 tracks on this follow-up feature even more bombast, genre variety and impact. It makes a ’banger sick to realize that the likes of Coffin Birth’s Carcass adoration, the black metal of Hellacaust, Iron Giant, Gallactus’s beefy groove metal and more are going virtually ignored everywhere west of the New Brunswick border. One feels left out of the loop, or not cool enough to be privy to what is some of the Great White North’s best music, metal or otherwise. Thankfully, we have DM5 looking out for our best interests by amassing such powerful collections. Like an older, wiser brother, they’re letting us into their room and introducing us to an amazing unknown world.