“There is no shortage of quality rock nowadays.”
Rock is dead, man.
Lots of great heavy rock being released nowadays. Check out Mastodon and Isis. Mastodon’s “Oblivion” is being played on some of the more adventurous Active Rock stations - it’s currently at #49.
Also, tons of great Indie rock.
For ease of analysis, I’ll say that Pitchfork’s “best new music”, is the best new music out there, and that “best new music” is actually very good.
If by “rock is dead” you mean “commercial radio rock is amazingly boring”, I agree. If you mean “rock is not as popular on commercial radio nowadays”, I agree. But it’s easier now than ever before, with the internet, to find and download quality rock.
And if you’re saying there ain’t no heavy rock coming out now that’s as good as Zep, I agree. But if you’re a Zep fan, check out Mastodon.