This veteran Virginia metal act has been steadily working its way out of the underground for the last decade, earning a Grammy Award nomination for a track from 2006's "Sacrament" and opening for Metallica on the latter's American arena tour late last year. The benefits of that increasing mainstream renown can be heard on the band's third major-label disc in the form of a production job more elaborate than on any previous release. Cuts like "In Your Words" and "Grace" cover an impressive amount of sonic ground, from delicate acoustic atmospherics to full-on rhythmic pummeling. Yet with frontman Randy Blythe's guttural growl—not to mention his bile-soaked lyrics about religious hypocrisy—this is hardly a bid for an active-rock breakthrough. Resolutely uncompromising.—Mikael Wood