This week's new heavy metal releases include shapeshifting audio, the soundtrack to a video game you'll wish existed, and more! To the metals…
Ad Infinitum – Abyss
Genre: Symphonic/pop metal
Origin: Montreux, Switzerland
Label: Napalm
Buy now on Bandcamp
Starting this week with some metal ear worms. This straight ahead, well-written melodic metal with the powerful and compelling of Melissa Bonny who oscillates between the voice of siren and a demon. This would be a hell of a gateway album for a fledgling fan of heavy things.
Cemetery Skyline – Nordic Gothic
Genre: Gothic/melodic death metal
Origin: Sweden/Finland
Label: Century Media
Buy now on Bandcamp
Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity, Grand Cadaver, The Hallo Effect, and probably more) cannot stop making moves. This time he's fronting this mighty gothic metal outfit. You're not getting a lot of his death metal roars, but instead this is closer to HIM-esque rocking. Not mad about this at all.
Chat Pile – Cool World
Genre: Noise/sludge metal
Origin: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Label: The Flenser
Buy now on Bandcamp
Chat Pile has become one of those bands that gets a lot of praise from your more hip music sites (you know the ones) and it baffles me. Not because they're not talented. They are. This is just noisy, chaotic, and abrasive so I don't expect someone to praise The National and this in one breath, and yet. Caitlin has a full review here.
The Crown – Crown Of Thorns
Genre: Melodic death metal
Origin: Trollhättan, Sweden
Label: Metal Blade
Buy now on Bandcamp
Album number twelve from these legends is leaning into the evil side of things, as usual. They're doing so in a variety of ways too. They've got the thrashy number "Churchburner," the headbanging "Gone To Hell," and others to get your more reserved family members wonder if you need Jesus.
Master Boot Record – Hardwarez
Genre: Industrial/synthwave
Origin: Rome, Lazio, Italy
Label: Metal Blade
Buy now on Bandcamp
This project has been going for eight years and this is already release number fifteen of Victor Love's rad synth metal hybrid. As always this sounds like the soundtrack to the sickest old video game.
Oranssi Pazuzu – Muuntautuja
Genre: Psychedelic/avant-garde death metal
Origin: Tampere, Finland
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Bandcamp
Concluding this week with more abrasive experimental metal. It's been four years since Oranssi Pazuzu have made their fans feel the right amount of weird, and in that time they've some how gotten weirder. "Muuntautuja" translates to "shapeshifter" and this album does indeed twist and turn in wild ways. Most of them are dark and unexpected.
Also dropping this week…
- 10 Years – Inner Darkness (Mascot Label Group) – Hard rock/post-grunge
- Leila Abdul-Rauf – Calls From A Seething Edge (Cyclic Law/Syrup Moose) – Experimental
- Amputate – Abysmal Ascent (Massacre) – Death metal
- Cleanbreak – We Are The Fire (Frontiers) – Heavy metal
- Coping Method – Where Spirit Meets Bone (FiXT) – Metalcore
- Crucifiction – Will To Power (Rise) – Deathcore
- De Mannen Broeders – Sober Maal (Relapse) – Ambient
- Doedsmaghird – Omniverse Consciousness (Peaceville) – Black metal
- Dragony – Hic Svnt Dracones (Steamhammer/SPV) – Power/symphonic metal
- Envy – Eunoia (Temporary Residence Ltd/Pelagic Records) – Post-rock/metal
- Fixation – Speak In Tongues (Indie Recordings) – Metalcore
- Fupa Goddess – Fuckyourface (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) – Grindcore/death metal
- Heiress – Nowhere Nearer (Indecision Records) – Sludge
- Hell Is Other People – Moirae (Transcending Obscurity Records) – Blackened hardcore
- House Of Lords – Full Tilt Overdrive (Frontiers) – Hard/glam rock
- lolitslea – Nothing Lasts Forever (Self-released) – Pop punk
- Myles Kennedy – The Art Of Letting Go (Napalm) – Rock
- Kozoria – The Source (Black Lion Records) – Progressive/groove metal
- The Linda Lindas – No Obligations (Epitaph) – Punk
- Maitreya – Auxesis (Self-released) – Progressive metal
- Nasty Savage – Jeopardy Room (FHM Records) – Thrash
- The Offspring – Supercharged (Concord) – Punk/hard rock
- Radioactive – Reset (Frontiers) – Melodic rock
- Sandveiss – Standing in the Fire (Folivora Records) – Heavy/stoner metal
- Seven Hours After Violet – Seven Hours After Violet (Sumerian) – Nu/groove metal
- Smash Atoms – Smash Atoms (M-Theory) – Grunge
- Stoner – Hittin' The Bitchin' Switch (Heavy Psych Sounds) – Stoner
- The Sword – Live At LEVITATION (Self-released) – Stoner rock/metal
- Touche Amore – Spiral In A Straight Line (Rise) – Post-hardcore
- Veil Of The Serpent – Gallery Of Sin III (Self-released) – Heavy metal
- Vicious Rain – There Is Beauty In Letting Go (Arising Empire) – Metalcore
- Vomit Forth – Terrified Of God (Century Media) – Death metal
