This week’s new heavy metal releases include a long-delayed experimental album from our favorite Canadian, a fuck ton of AC/DC covers, epic blackened metal, and more! To the metals…
ALSO! Today, Bandcamp is doing their monthly day of giving 100% of what you pay directly to the labels and artists as Covid-19 Pandemic relief. So if you can get stuff from Bandcamp, please do.
Corroded Spiral – Ancient Nocturnal Summoning
Genre: Experimental
Origin: Brazil/Venezuela/US
Label: Phantom Limb
Buy now and sample it on Bandcamp
Iggor Cavalera has joined forced with Venezuelan producer Cardopusher and Dwid Hellion of Integrity for a truly unsettling project. This is a diverse EP that's hard to really label as one thing as it dabbles in black metal, industrial, hardcore with noise, beeps, boops, driving rhythms, and screams.
Elder & Kadavar – Eldovar: A Story Of Darkness & Light
Genre: Stoner metal/psychedelic
Origin: Berlin, Germany
Label: Robotor Records
Buy now on Bandcamp
When I read that Elder and Kadaver collaborated, it made perfect sense to me. Both bands know when to riff, when you embrace spacy auras, and conveniently both bands live in Berlin these days. This album is the perfect sum of it's parts with psychedelic prog moments, straight forward stoner jams, and a sound that is sure to grow your beard three sizes. It's a shame this release occurred to late in the year as I could see if on more end of the year lists if folks had more time to groove to it.
Genocide Pact – Genocide Pact
Genre: Death metal
Origin: Washington, D.C.
Label: Relapse
Buy now on Bandcamp
On their eponymous third album Genocide Pact are hitting you with no bullshit death metal. The riffs have a little bit of a 90's Slayer vibe to them and when they slow things down things get real nasty. Fans of Creeping Death and others in the new crop of death metal acts should dig this one.
So Hideous – None But A Pure Heart Can Sing
Genre: Post-Black Metal/Shoegaze
Origin: New York, New York
Label: Silent Pendulum Records
Buy now on Bandcamp
It's been half a decade since these cinematic grim metalers unleased an epic beast on us and it's great having them back. They're more grand than ever on this one. The single below includes some awesome horn work and if feels like blackened Ennio Morricone track. Then it only gets more interesting from there.
Devin Townsend – The Puzzle & Snuggles
Genre: Ambient/experimental
Origin: Vancouver, British Colombia
Label: Hevy Devy
Order from Devin here
After oodles of delays and retooling Devin Townsend's next grand project has finally arrived. This pair of albums includes a chill album (Snuggles) and a experimental cathartic "highly orchestrated" album (The Puzzle). Dev called A LOT of folks to help him with this like Che from Casualties of Cool, Wes Hauch from Alluvial, Puddles from Puddles Pity Party, Jordan Rudess from Dream Theater, and around forty more. If you were a fan of his previous experimental records Devlab and The Hummer, you might dig these. If you're hoping for another Epicloud, these might not be the ones for you.
Various Artists – Back In Black [Redux] & Best Of AC/DC [Redux]
Genre: AC/DC Covers
Origin: Earth
Label: Magnetic Eye
Buy Back In Black on Bandcamp
Buy the Best of on Bandcamp
After the success the the Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd Redux covers albums Magnetic Eye are getting bands to take on AC/DC. One release is Back In Black in full and the other includes other AC/DC classics. As always the lineup of bands is wild with Red Fang, Whores., Caustic Casanova, Witchskull, Howling Giant, and lots more. Some covers are pretty true to the source materials, while others go a bit rogue.
Volbeat – Servant Of The Mind
Genre: Heavy metal
Origin: Copenhagen, Denmark
Label: Republic
Wrapping this week with some straight up rock, because why not? The band's eighth record doesn't exactly reinvent the band, but it's a solid record of tracks that will get your head moving. As always Rob Caggiano's guitar work is stellar. Chad has a full write-up here.
Also dropping today…
- Aquilus – Bellum I (Blood Music) – Neoclassical folk/black metal – Full review
- Ashbreather – Ow, My Eye (Self-released) – Progressive/sludge
- Bloodred – Hourglass Your Highness (Rough Trade/Out Of Line)
- Bog Wizard – Miasmic Purple Smoke (The Dregs Records) – Stoner/doom
- The Browning – End Of Exisence (Spinefarm) – Metalcore/electronic
- Cepheide – Les Ă©chappĂ©es (Les Acteurs de l'Ombre Productions) – Atmospheric black metal
- Confines – Work Up the Blood (Synthicide) – Synthwave
- Coronatus – Atmosphere (Massacre) – Gothic metal
- Crom – Into The Glory Land (From The Vaults) – Power metal
- Crown Lands – Odyssey Volume 1 (Spinefarm) – Hard rock
- Dead Space Chamber Music – The Black Hours (Self-released) – Avant-garde/neofolk
- Dead War – Grandfather Of War (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) – Blackened death metal/thrash
- Demonstealer – The Holocene Termination (Demonstealer Records) – Death/black metal
- Doodswens – Lichtvrees (Svart Records) – Black metal
- Dormant Ordeal – The Grand Scheme Of Things (Selfmadegod Records) – Death metal
- Erdling – Helheim (Out Of Line Music) – Dark metal
- Epica – Ωmega Alive (Nuclear Blast) – Symphonic metal
- Eyes Set To Kill – Damna (Revival Recordings) – Post-hardcore/metalcore
- Failure – Wild Type Droid (Self-released) – Alternative
- Hands of Despair – The Crimson Boughs (And Other Short Tales) (Self-released) – Death/progressive metal
- Heiress – Distant Fires (Satanik Royalty Records) – Hardcore/sludge
- If Anything, Suspicious – OFFAIR: Lullabies For The Damned (Offair Records) – Ambient
- Iscuron – The Pursuit of Unhappiness (Vacula Productions) – Atmospheric black metal
- Killer Hill – Frozen Head (Self-released) – Alternative/thrash
- Malacoda – The Year Walk (Old Haunt Studios) – Gothic/power metal
- Manimal – Armageddon (AFM) – Death metal/thrash
- Modder – Modder (Self-released) – Doom
- Nekromant – Temple Of Haal (Despotz) – Heavy metal/doom
- No Bragging Rights – No Bragging Rights (Pure Noise Records) – Melodic hardcore
- Of Mice & Men – Echo (SharpTone) – Metalcore/alternative
- Pantheist – Closer to God (Melancholic Realm Productions) – Doom/cinematic metal
- Psy:code – psvcode (Psy:code) – Hardcore
- Raibard – Dark Realm of the Daylight (Self-released) – Progressive
- Rebreather – The Line, Its Width, and The War Drone (Aqualamb) – Noise/sludge
- Redemptor – Agonia (Selfmadegod) – Technical death metal
- Sell Yourself – Short The Lowest Standard (Self-released) – Alternative
- The Swaggerlies – The Last of The One and Onlys (Self-released) – Punk/hard rock
- Unanimated – Victory In Blood (Century Media) – Melodic death/black metal
- Various Artists – Christmas Rocks, Vol. 2 EP (Mascot)
- Weedpecker – IV: The Stream of Forgotten Thoughts (Stickman Records) – Psychedelic/stoner
- Wolftooth – Blood & Iron (Napalm) – Heavy metal/doom
- Ye Banished Privateers – A Pirate Stole My Christmas (Napalm) – Pirate/christmas metal
