This week's new heavy metal releases include a wild prog ride, stoner jams from an indie legend, biker shred, and more!
You can also check out select new releases here on vinyl via Gimme Metal. Now, to the metals…
Anachronism – Meanders
Genre: Technical death metal
Origin: Lausanne, Switzerland
Label: Avantgarde Music
Buy now via Gimme Metal
Starting us off with some dissonant chaos. Anachronism are bringing you the weird, tortured death metal like Ulcerate or Gorguts might. There are breaks for atmosphere, but even those are largely unsettling.
…And Oceans – As In Gardens, So In Tombs
Genre: Symphonic Black Metal
Origin: Pietarsaari/Vaasa, Finland
Label: Season Of Mist
Buy now via Gimme Metal
Fans of these folks will be stoked to find that they won't need to wait another twenty years for a full album from …And Oceans with this record coming in a mere seventeen months after their last. It's fast, grand, and dark with occasional breaks for some digital or symphonic tension builds. Jordan's review is here.
Fucked Up – One Day
Genre: Hardcore/experimental
Origin: Toronto, Ontario
Label: Merge Records
Buy now via Gimme Metal
Fucked Up have become a band I really respect. Whether the music hits me or not, I love their desire to try weird shit. Thankfully One Day is a weird swing that works. The album was largely written and recorded in a single day. It's a testament to their ability for a first thought to be a best thought – or at least a really good thought.
Heavy Blanket – Moon Is
Genre: Psychedelic/stoner
Origin: Amherst, Massachusetts
Label: Outer Battery Records
Buy now via Gimme Metal
J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr is no stranger to a smoky riff and Heavy Blanket is where he leans into these riffs more than ever. If you're looking for some fuzzy, instrumental, jammy psych, then Heavy Blanket will warm you up. Oodles and oodles of solos here.
Liv Sin – KaliYuga
Genre: Heavy metal
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden
Label: Mighty
Buy now via Gimme Metal
After some time off while Liv returned to Sister Sin, Liv Sin are now back with their catchy, driving metal grooves. Heads will bang and you'll surely find yourself dancing like the person in the video below. Chad's full review is here.
Mask of Prospero – Hiraeth
Genre: Metalcore/progressive
Origin: Athens, Greece
Label: Sound Pollution
Buy now via Gimme Metal
If you're big on stuff like TesseracT or Architects, then you should give Mask of Prospero a listen. They're hitting you will intense grooves and massive melodies with spacey undertones. The catchy vs heavy blend is pretty on point with this one.
Smashing Pumpkins – ATUM: A Rock Opera in Three Acts: Act Two
Genre: Alternative
Origin: Chicago, Illinois
Label: Martha's Music/Thirty Tigers
Stream it and pre-order all three acts here
In 1995 The Smashing Pumpkins unleashed the undeniable classic record Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. In 2000 they dropped the sequel album Machina/The Machines of God (which then also had its own sorta sequel album of b-sides). Now they are releasing the sequel to those in Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts and this is act two. Act One dropped in November and three will be released later this year. Enjoy the second batch of eleven songs.
Steve Vai – Vai/Gash
Genre: Shred/biker rock
Origin: Carla Place, New York
Label: Mascot
Buy now via Gimme Metal
This is sort of a weird one. Busted is an album Steve Vai made in the 90's while trying to make some biker rock of sorts with vocalist Johnny "Gash" Sombrotto. He then shelved it until now. It's straight-forward, but still Vai-esque hard rock but It now serves as a sweet tribute to the departed Sombrotto.
The World Is Quiet Here – Zon
Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: Wisconsin
Label: Silent Pendulum Records
Buy now on Bandcamp
Taking us home with a really wild one. Zon feels like a BtBaM record with some djent and operatic vocals thrown in. They're tapping into a ton of influences throughout this record and it's one that's rewarding with each re-listen.
Also dropping today…
- Anzillu – Ex Nihilo (M-Theory) – Extreme metal/thrash
- Arctic Rain – Unity (Frontiers) – Power metal
- Ashen Horde – Antimony (Transcending Obscurity) – Progressive black metal
- Bizarrekult – Den Tapte Krigen (Season Of Mist) – Post-black metal
- Cancervo – II (Electric Valley Records) – Doom
- Cerbere – Cendre (Chien Noir) – Doom/sludge
- Conjureth – The Parasitic Chambers (Memento Mori) – Death metal
- Crowne – Operation Phoenix (Frontiers) – Symphonic metal
- Daevar – Delirious Rites (The Lasting Dose Records) – Stoner/doom
- Devil's Whiskey – Historias de Muerte (Wormholedeath) – Stoner/doom
- Die Oberherrn – Die By My Hand (Svart) – Gothic rock/experimental
- Dismal – Via Entis (Aural) – Gothic metal
- Dust Prophet – One Last Look Upon The Sky (Self-released) – Stoner metal
- Electric Mob – 2 Make U Cry & Dance (Frontiers) – Rock
- Emarosa – Sting (Out Of Line Music) – Pop/rock
- Flidais – Pathogen (Self-released) – Progressive/power metal
- Girish And The Chronicles – Back On Earth (Frontiers) – Melodic/glam metal
- Grief Symposium – …In The Absence Of Light (Church Road Records) – Death metal/doom
- Iron Void – IV (Shadow Kingdom Records) – Doom
- Knogjarn – Mera Bedövning (Self-released) – Hard rock
- Love Gang – Meanstreak (Heavy Psych Sounds) – Hard rock/psychedelic
- The Lucid – Saddle Up And Ride (SpoilerHead Records) – Alternative metal
- Malice Divine – Everlasting Ascendancy (Self-released) – Death metal/thrash
- Malleus – The Fires Of Heaven (Armageddon Label) – Speed/black metal
- Methane – Kill It With Fire (Self-released) – Southern/groove metal
- Mono Inc. – Ravenblack (NoCut Entertainment) – Gothic rock
- Myth Of Origin – Sane Asylum (Self-released) – Progressive metal
- Nephilim’s Noose – Blood Chants Of Impiety (Self-released) – Death metal/doom
- New Miserable Experience – Philosophy On Pessimism (Translation Loss) – Atmospheric rock/experimental
- Norwald – The Spark Of Freedom (SODEH Records) – Power metal
- Obelyskkh – Ultimate Grace Of God (Exile On Mainstream) – Doom/psychedelic
- Ominous Scriptures – Rituals Of Mass Self-Ignition (Willowtip) – Brutal death metal
- Oozing Wound – We Cater To Cowards (Thrill Jockey) – Crossover/thrash
- Raum Kingdom – Monarch (Argonauta Records) – Sludge/post-metal
- Ronnie Romero – Raised On Heavy Radio (Frontiers) – Heavy metal
- Schavot – Kronieken Uit De Nevel (Void Wanderer Productions/War Productions) – Black metal
- Seer Of The Void – Mantra Monolith (Venerate Industries) – Doom
- Sorrowful Land – Faded Anchors Of The Past (Black Lion Records) – Symphonic metal
- Suasion – The Infinite (Atomic Fire) – metalcore/electronic
- Superterrestrial – The Fathomless Decay (Self-released) – Ethereal black metal
- Uriah Heep – Chaos & Colour (Silver Lining) – Rock/progressive
- White Reaper – Asking for a Ride (Elektra) – Garage rock
- You Me At Six – Truth Decay (AWAL Recordings) – Rock
- Zombie Riot – World Epitaph (Kernkraftritter Records) – Death metal
