This week's new heavy metal releases include some doom, an epic swan song, some grandpas guitars, and more!
To the metals…
Ahab – Live Prey
Genre: Funeral doom
Origin:Heidelberg, Germany
Label: Napalm
Like all metal fans, you're probably itching for a live show. However, the whole being near someone and breathing on each other is making that tricky right now (side note: please stay home so we can maybe go to shows next year). While this won't be the same experience as a hot, stuffy room with pricey beer, Ahab are giving you a little something something to give that itch a little relief. You're getting five tracks all from their The Call of the Wretched Sea record recorded live at Death Row Fest 2017.
Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin – Stygian Bough Volume 1 
Genre: Funeral doom
Origin: Seattle, Washington/Portland, Oregon
Label: Profound Lore
Buy now on Bandcamp
Let's keep things low and slow shall we? Doom darlings Bell Witch are back with their first batch of new material since 2017's epic Mirror Reaper. This time they have a friend Aerial Ruin with them on guitar and vocals. Aerial Ruin is primarily a haunting acoustic project by Erik Moggridge, but he is meshing wonderfully with the equally spooky Bell Witch. The fact that this is Volume gives me hope for another one from this group or perhaps Bell Witch and other pals in the future.
Carach Angren – Franckensteina Strataemontanus
Genre: Symphonic black metal
Origin: Landgraaf, Netherlands
Label: Season Of Mist
If you're still in the mood for corpse painted black metal, here's some new Carach Angren for you. This, of course, is black metal infused with symphonic elements and piano. The juxtaposition is as wonderful as always with this guys. Fairly certain I heard theremin on one of the songs I listened to. I'd love to hear their black metal take on "Good Vibrations." They could call it "Grim Vibrations." You're welcome for that free and great idea Carach Angren.
Falconer – From A Dying Ember 
Genre: Power/folk metal
Origin: Mjölby, Sweden
Label: Metal Blade
This is a bittersweet record for Falconer fans. Sure, it ends the six year wait since the last record, but From A Dying Ember is the swan song (or since it's an album, "swan album"?) for the band. It's a hell of a send off too. Falconer set out to make the most Falconer-y album they could, and I feel like they succeeded. This is grand power metal at its finest.
Thomas Giles – Feel Better EP
Genre: Experimental/progressive
Origin: Aliso Viejo, California
Label: Self-released
Buy now from Bandcamp
Between the Buried and Me's vocalist Thomas Giles Rogers has been off the road like all (smart) musicians for a few months now. With the extra time on his hands he has complied this trio of songs as a way to release some anxiety from all this uncertainty. Tommy did all the music and long-time BtBaM audio pal Jamie King handled the mix. So while there is no prog metal to be found, there's at least some familiarity in HOW it sounds. It's a brief sonic experience, but might be needed for some of you folks looking for some escape.
Grey Daze – Amends 
Genre: Grunge
Origin: Phoenix, Arizona
Label: Loma Vista
Grey Daze is the band Chester Bennington had before Linkin Park. In 2017 he rejoined them to work on some new stuff before he took his life. These are the songs they created together. It does have some LP vibes to it because of Chester's iconic voice, but musically it's quite different. This could have been the (re)start of something cool. We'll unfortunately never know, but at least we have this.
Netherlands – Zombie Techno
Genre: Sludge/electronic
Origin: Brooklyn, New York
Label: Records and Tapes Records
Buy now from Bandcamp
I really dig this band. They are a quartet that utilizes a pair of synth players in addition to guitar and drums. They have a sort of Torche meets No Spill Blood meets Autolux vibe. So, it's spaced out fuzzy quasi-shoegaze/sludge. This is an atypical heavy album, but it's heavy nonetheless.
Pyrrhon – Abscess Time 
Genre: Technical/experimental death metal
Origin: Brooklyn, New York
Label: Willowtip
Following Netherlands I was prepared to offer this up as a "typical" heavy album, and man was I going to be wrong. Abscess Time is a noisy chaotic death metal album in the realm of Gorguts and Ulcerate. If you're looking for some dissonant death metal (and aren't we all?) then it's time for Abscess Time.
Wino – Forever Gone
Genre: (mostly) Acoustic
Origin: Rickville, Maryland
Label: Ripple
On his first proper solo record in a decade The Obsessed frontman is (mostly) unplugged, but still bringing the weight you'd expect from the doom icon. Forever Gone, in title at least, gives off the impression of a sad man with a guitar, but this record has some upbeat grooves. "Isolation" is surprisingly fun, but again with the title "Isolation" I expected it to be such a bummer. This is undoubtedly more bluesy and/or folksy than The Obsessed or Shrinebuilder, but it's still cool to here him in the realm again.
Also dropping today…
- Battle Born – Battle Born (Self-released) – Power metal
- Bulb – Archives: Volume 7 (3DOT Recordings) – Djent/progressive
- C Trip A – Ozzy Nights (Translation Loss) – Rap metal
- Creature – Ex Cathedra (I, Voidhanger) – Avant-garde/symphonic black metal
- Dessiderium – Shadow Burn (Self-released) – Melodic death metal
- Draemora – Awakening (Ultra Nast) – Melodic death metal
- Emmure – Hindsight (SharpTone) – Deathcore
- Exocrine – Maelstrom (Unique Leader) – Progressive/technical death metal
- Fellwarden – Wreathed in Mourncloud (Eisenwald) – Black metal
- Feuerschwanz – Das Elfte Gebot (Napalm) – Rock
- Fleshvessel – Bile of Man Reborn EP (I, Voidhanger) – Death metal
- Hydraform – Hydraform (Self-released) – Death metal
- Inexorum – Moonlit Navigation (Gilead Media) – Melodic black/death metal
- Lantern – Dimensions (Dark Descent Records) – Death metal
- Locust Reign – Downfall (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) – Grindcore
- Long Distance Calling – How Do We Want To Live? (InsideOut) – Progressive/post-rock
- Magick Touch – Heads Have Got To Rock 'n' Roll (Edged Circle) – Rock n roll
- Mantar – Grungetown Hooligans II (Brutal Panda) – Sludge/black metal covers
- Mike LePond's Silent Assassins – Whore Of Babylon (Silver Lining) – Power metal
- Molitoth – The Tribunal (Self-released) – Atmospheric metal
- Neptunian Maximalism – Éons (I, Voidhanger) – Drone/free jazz
- Ohhms – Close (Holy Roar) – Doom/post-metal
- Paysage d'Hiver – Im Wald (Kunsthall Produktionen) – Black metal
- Serocs – Vore (Everlasting Spew) – Brutal death metal
- Second Arrows – Second Arrows (HellMinded Records) – Hardcore/metalcore
- Shed The Skin – The Forbidden Arts (Hells Headbangers) – Death metal
- Solar Flare – Who Cares, It's Live (Out of Line Music) – Electronic rock
- Stygian Crown – Stygian Crown (Cruz Del Sur Music) – Doom
- Thætas – Shrines to Absurdity (Maggot Stomp) – Technical/brutal death metal
- Thecodontion – Supercontinent (I, Voidhanger) – Bass-driven black/death metal
- Voidceremony – Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel (20 Buck Spin) – Death metal
