I actually liked the new Haunted. And the new Nevermore...it was my favorite of the year. Very heavy and well-thought out. To those who hate the production...BAHH!!! It's not on par with their last for sure, but still beats the pants off tons of records' productions from the 80's from albums we consider "classic". I chose to focus on the songs, and I was wholly impressed.
I'm the biggest Maiden fan anywhere, but I was slightly disappointed with Dance of Death...compared to Brave New World at least.
I wasn't that impressed with the new Anthrax either, especially after waiting so damn long and hearing Scott and Charlie rant on on Blabbermouth constantly. You'd have a better following if you released a pummeling album boys (see Persistence of Time for example).
Another I wanted to like more was the new Gathering record. I love How to Measure a Planet?... but alot of that is for its diversity. Souvenirs seems like the trippiest stuff from the aforementioned, but all the way through. It's not bad mind you, but I was hoping for at least a couple uptempo songs. I wonder what a setlist of theirs looks like these days, they never tour the Western US. Anyway.