This week's new heavy metal releases include a lot of great EPs, nasty metal to fuel your Black Friday, and more!
You can also check out select new releases here on vinyl via Gimme Metal. Now to the metals…
It's also Record Store Day Black Friday! Peep that list here.
Black Lava – Soul Furnace
Genre: Black/death metal
Origin: Melbourne, Australia
Label: Season Of Mist
Buy now via Gimme Metal
Starting this week with a heavy one. This blackened death metal group features one of the techiest in the game in Dan Presland (Vipassi/ex-Ne Obliviscaris) and Ben Boyle (A Million Dead Birds Laughing/Vipassi), and yet the band is largely straight-forward. There are occasional flurries, but this is more of an album of evil grooves.
Circles – The Stories We Are Afraid Of Vol. 1
Genre: Djent/progressive
Origin: Melbourne, Australia
Label: Wild Thing
Buy now via Gimme Metal
Up next we have some of the smoothest prog out there. They are hitting you with polyrhythms and low, chunky guitars, but when they slow things show, these Aussies are hitting you with some down-right sexy R&B vibes. This already has me stoked for a Vol. 2.
Elder – Innate Passage
Genre: Progressive/psychedelic
Origin: Berlin, Germany
Label: Stickman Records
Buy now on Bandcamp
There appears to be no slowing of these Massachusetts turned German psychedelic lads. 2020 saw their incredible Omens record, then last year their collaboration with Kadavar, and now they're back with more spacey greatness. This will scratch the itch of stoners, prog dorks, and everyone in between. Max has a full review here.
Euphrosyne – Keres
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Origin: Athens, Greece
Label: Self-released
Stream it now here
I frankly don't know a lot about this band other than they rip. This EP is a hell of an introduction to this band though. They twist and contort though post-metal, black metal, symphonic metal, gothic rock, and there is even a dash of pop flair in there. They're like an extreme metal Lacuna Coil.
High Command – Eclipse Of The Dual Moons
Genre: Death metal/thrash
Origin: Worcester, Massachusetts
Label: Southern Lord
Buy now via Gimme Metal
Now, how about some nastiness? This is a record of old school metal worship of quote a few eras. You're getting echoey death metal, thrash riffs, grooves, and more. Quite the sophomore release with no slump to be heard.
The Last Ten Seconds Of Life – Disquisition On An Execution
Genre: Deathcore
Origin: Mansfield, Pennsylvania
Label: Unique Leader Records
Buy now on Bandcamp
On Disquisition On An Execution The Last Ten Seconds Of Life Come in like a fucking hammer. There's an ebb and flow here where the ebb is a kick to the teeth and flow is punch in gut. And yet they also build an atmosphere within that with sudden silences paired with devastating heaviness. It winds up being unsettling.
Melted Bodies – The Inevitable Fork Vol. 1
Genre: Experimental metal
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Label: Self-released
Buy now on Bandcamp
Look at that cover. You know it's about to get weird. Strap in. This four-track EP sounds like 90's Mr. Bungle with electronic elements and a love for Dead Kennedys. If you're a fan of bizarre, genre-bending music you should start here and work your way backwards though this great band's catalog.
Thy Catafalque – Mezolit – Live At Fekete Zaj
Genre: Avant-garde Metal
Origin: Budapest, Hungary
Label: Season Of Mist
Buy now via Gimme Metal
In August 2021 the long-time studio project of Tamás Kátai saw it's live debut, and this is that show. It includes Kátai and twenty-five other musicians taking on 15 songs from most of Thy Catafalque's oeuvre. It was clearly a feat, and it's rad to be fans now able to witness it since an international tour of these seems unlikely (and expensive to pull off).
Rody Walker – Velocicopter
Genre: Progressive/experimental rock
Origin: Whitby, Ontario
Label: Self-released
Buy now here
Concluding this edition with something super fun that dropped earlier this week. This EP is a trio of songs about just what the name and cover implies… a helicopter that's also a velociraptor. Hell yes! I'm not sure what's next for Protest The Hero, but if Rady wants to keep this story going forever, I'm game for it.
Also dropping today/this week…
- Lee Aaron – Elevate (Metalville) – Hard rock/heavy metal
- Alienatör – Regrets (Self-released) – Hardcore/noise rock
- Blackrain – Untamed (SPV/Steamhammer) – "Sleaze rock"
- Black Paisley – Human Nature (Self-released) – Hard rock
- Corlyx – Blood In The Disco (Out Of Line Music) – Darkwave/post-punk
- Dark Matter – The Rectory (Wormholedeath) – Doom
- Djevel – Naa Skider Natten Sort (Aftermath Music) – Black metal – full review
- Depressive Witches – Distant Kingdoms (Wormholedeath) – Black metal/rock n roll
- (Echo) – Witnesses (Black Lion Records) – Death metal/doom
- Finnegan's Hell – One Finger (Salute Sound Pollution) – Folk rock/hard rock
- Hibernus Mortis – The Monoliths Of Cursed Slumber (Blood Harvest Records) – Death metal
- Induction – Born From Fire (Atomic Fire) – Symphonic power metal
- In The Woods... – Diversum (Soulseller) – Avant-gard/progressive metal
- Karg – Resignation (AOP Records) – Post-black metal
- Katapult – Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes (Discouraged Records) – Melodic death metal
- Jaded Truth – Take A Seat (Self-released) – Grunge/punk
- Judicator – The Majesty Of Decay (Prosthetic) – Heavy/power metal
- League Of Distortion – League Of Distortion (Napalm) – Modern metal
- Leather – We Are The Chosen (Steamhammer/SPV) – Heavy metal
- Lykotonon – Promethean Pathology (Profound Lore) – Industrial
- Maceration – It Never Ends (Emanzipation) – Death metal
- Mycelium – Mycoticism (Disseminating The Propagules) (Blood Harvest Records) – Death metal
- Oceans – Hell Is Where The Heart Is – Part III: Clarity (Nuclear Blast) – Post-metal/metalcore
- Ofdrykkja – After The Storm (AOP Records) – Post-Black Metal/Neofolk
- Ofermod – Ofermodian Litanies (Shadow Records) – Black/death metal
- Our Mirage – Eclipse (Arising Empire) – Post-hardcore/heavy metal
- Rienaus – Luciferille (KVLT) – Black metal
- The Riven – Peace and Conflict (The Sign Records) – Hard rock/heavy metal
- Rocky & The Sweden/Boris – Split (Relapse) – Heavy metal
- Sépulcre – Cursed Ways Of Sheol (Invictus Productions) – Death metal
- Spiritworld – Deathwestern (Century Media) – Hardcore/thrash
- She Hates Emotions – Happy Pop Music (Out Of Line Music) – Goth/synthpop
- She Said Destroy – Bleeding Fiction II: Child Of Tomorrow EP (Mas-Kina) – Extreme metal
- Status Quo – Quo-ing In – The Best Of The Noughties (earMusic) – Rock
- Sword – III (Massacre) – heavy metal
- Terrörhammer – Gateways To Hades (Osmose Productions) – Speed/black metal
- Toxic Youth – Back to You-th (WTF Records) – Hardcore
- Witchmaster – Kazn (Agonia Records) – Black metal/thrash
