This week's new heavy metal releases include some yo-ho's, a Cure cover, lots of heaviness, and more! To the metals…
Alestorm – Curse of the Crystal Coconut 
Genre: Pirate metal
Origin: Perth, Scotland
Label: Napalm
I appreciate the goofiness of Alestorm. Committing to a pirate theme, for now six albums, could be enough for some bands, but not Alestorm. These guys are adding dog barks, videos with their heads CGI-ed on babies, and other well-executed absurdities. This is the most fun I've had listening to one of their albums. Max has a full review here.
Astralborne – Eternity's End 
Genre: Melodic death metal
Origin: Toledo, Ohio
Label: Prosthetic Records
First off, I think it technically was released by the band last year, but Prosthetic picked it up since then. The initially release seems to be scrubbed from the internet and they're calling this the release date now. Anyway, this is an incredibly solid debut from this band. They take combine super catchy guitar melodies, with doom-ish vocals, and crushing rhythms. They sort of have a Kalmah vibe to them, which is neat.
Behemoth – A Forest EP 
Genre: Blackened death metal
Origin: Gdańsk, Poland
Label: Metal Blade
Nergal and the Behemoth gang are certainly keeping folks guessing. We're now two years removed from their experimental I Loved Your at Your Darkest, which had a lot of turns I didn't see coming. Still, I never saw an EP built around a Cure cover in their future, but here we are. There are also a couple new tracks, so if blackened takes on an 80's goth rock classic isn't your thing, there are those two for you at least.
Mrs. Piss – Self-Surgery
Genre: Experimental
Origin: Sacramento, California
Label: Sargent House
Buy now via Bandcamp
I'm super on board for this one. Mrs. Piss is the new band with Chelsea Wolfe and her band's drummer Jess Gowrie (also of Horseneck). This definitely has the vibe of a Wolfe album, but with Gowrie handling much of the musicianship here makes this it's own beast.
Sorcerer – Lamenting Of The Innocent 
Genre: Doom/heavy metal
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden
Label: Metal Blade
Sorcerer are a band with doom in their bones. However, good golly are they epic. Their vocals soar, their guitars shred, and just everything about this band is grand, yet not in a power metal way. It's interesting that they are able to maintain the doom vibe, but have tons of energy and double bass throughout this album.
Xibalba – Anos En Infierno 
Genre: Death metal/hardcore
Origin: Pomona, California
Label: Southern Lord
Let's close this week out with something extra heavy. Xibalba are a mostly death metal act, but when they hit you with the hardcore breakdown, it hits hard. Then with tracks that translate into "Years In Hell," and "Saint Death," you know your in for some dark shit. Max is at it again with a review here.
Also dropping today…
- Acârash – Descend to Purity (Dark Essence Records) – Black metal/doom
- Akolyth – Akolyth (Amor Fati) – Black metal
- AntiMozdeBeast – The Red River (Self-released) – Noise
- Atavistia – The Winter Way (self-released) – Symphonic Death Metal
- Blacktop Mojo – Static EP (Self-released) – Southern rock
- Bleed From Within – Fracture (Century Media) – Metalcore
- Blood Star – The Fear EP (Shadow Kingdom) – Heavy/speed metal
- Centinex – Death in Pieces (Agonia Records) – Death metal
- Deathbreaker – Isolate (Facedown Records) – Hardcore
- Def Leppard – London To Vegas DVD/CD (Eagle Rock) – Glam rock
- Dyatlove – Dyatlove EP (Self-released) – Hardcore
- Geezer – Groovy (Heavy Psych Records) – Acid rock
- Grave Digger – Fields Of Blood (Napalm) – Heavy metal
- Lesser Glow – Nullity (Pelagic) – Doom/sludge
- Many Blessings – Emanation Body (Translation Loss) – Noise
- Mike LePond's Silent Assassins – Whore Of Babylon (Silver Lining) – Heavy metal
- Palaye Royale – The Bastards (Sumerian) – Hard rock
- Vandenberg – 2020 (Mascot) – Hard rock
- Vincas – Phantasma (Learning Curve Records) – Post-punk/deathrock
- The Wise Man's Fear – Valley Of Kings (SharpTone) – Fantasycore
