This week's new heavy metal releases include synth prog from a future apocalypse, Pirate jams about poop, doooooooooooom, and more!
To the metals…
Bush – The Kingdom 
Genre: Grunge/rock
Origin: London, England
Label: BMG
Admittedly Bush aren't the heaviest band in the world, but Gavin was part of Frank's Slay At Home Fest, so these guys will always get a nod from me. The Kingdom is a collection of solid rock songs with tons of catchy melodies. The band have clearly matured since the days of Sixteen Stone and Razorblade Suitcase, but fans of those records will have a lot to enjoy here.
Conan/Deadsmoke – Doom Sessions Vol. 1 
Genre: Doom
Origin: Liverpool, England/Bolzano, Italy
Label: Heavy Psych Sounds Records
Buy now on Bandcamp
Here's on for the slow-seekers (fuzz-seekers? Come on Doughboys fans, what are you calling yourselves in this?). Conan and Deadsmoke are both well-respected doomsters and this split serves as a good introduction to them both. Conan have the whopping seventeen minute epic that you can stream below while Deadsmoke are offering up a pair of equally heavy tunes.
Dark Sarah – Grim 
Genre: "Cinematic" metal
Origin: Kerava, Finland
Label: Napalm
"Cinematic" is a pretty apt description for this band. Vocally you're getting an soaring operatic approach, while musically Dark Sarah blend sweeping orchestral movements, driving electronics, and metal stuff (if you're into that sort of thing). This one is for fans of Leaves' Eyes and, of course, singer Heidi Parviainen's former band Amberian Dawn.
Entry – Detriment 
Genre: Hardcore
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Label: Southern Lord
Entry hit hard and they hit quick. Detriment is an album of nine hardcore bursts that will leave you on your ass. Too often, a band like this is a little too one-note, but Entry take listeners through a diverse heavy landscape with punk, hardcore, crust, and more subgenres in that realm that I'm frankly too ignorant of to name.
Rumahoy – Time II: Party 
Genre: Pirate rock
Origin: Argentina
Label: Napalm
While everyone still waits for Wintersun's sequel to Time I, Rumahoy took it upon themselves to do it for them. Time II: Party has these these guys setting sail and bringing the pirate party with anthems. Has this sort of thing been done? Sure, but this is a fun album that is somehow sillier than the rest. It could be because the other Pirate metal acts don't have songs about poop, and frankly they're cowards for not having songs about poop.
Zombi – 2020 
Genre: Progressive
Origin: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Label: Relapse Records
This year has been a journey already, and just based on this experience so far I was hesitant to check out the new Zombi. I figured I'd give the band's first album in five years a shot, and I'm glad I eventually caved. This is a synth-driven prog journey that despite being named after our current year, sounds like a message from the future. It's a message of doom still, but it sounds like pretty sweet doom.
Also dropping today…
- Daggers – Neon Noir Erotica (Throatruiner) – Experimental hardcore/punk
- Deathnoisefrequency – Horrid Dirge (Self-released) – Noise metal
- Guardian Of Lightning – Cosmos Tree (Eclipse) – "Thunder metal"
- The Hate Club – Death Of The Protagonist (The Label Group/INgrooves) – Industrial metal
- Inhalement – Eternally Stoned (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) – Death metal
- Khthoniik Cerviiks – Æequiizoiikum (Iron Bonehead) – Black/death metal
- Kruelty – Immortal Nightmare EP (Creator Destructor Records) – Death/doom
- Lifelong – Above The Waves (Solid State Records) – Doom/sludge
- Mystras – Castles Conquered and Reclaimed (I, Voidhanger) – Black metal
- Ramallah – Last Gasp Of Street Rock N' Roll (State Line Records) – Hardcore
- Serene Dark – Enantiodromia (Self-released) – Black metal
- Snøgg – Ritual of the Sun (Self-released) – Black metal/experimental
- U.D.O. – We Are One (AFM) – Heavy metal
- Xythlia – Immortality Through Quantum Suicide (I, Voidhanger) – Experimental death metal
- Ysengrin –Initiatio (I, Voidhanger) – Black/doom metal
