Just as I feel metal is in a funk for the year my inbox fucking explodes with promos for great records. Thanks Satan. This edition includes, frankly, a lot of amazing shit from your latest black metal darling, to a thrashy supergroup, to death metal mainstays, to doom legends, and STILL more! To the metals…
Act Of Defiance – Birth And The Burial
Genre: Heavy metal/shred
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Label: Metal Blade
Buy now on Amazon.com
Two chaps from recent Megadeth years, the ex-vocalist of Scar The Martyr and a fella from Shadows Fall have arrived, and they absolutely destroy. It's unsurprisingly thrashy and technical, so that's pretty neat. Overall this is an excuse for Chris Broderick to prove that he's even better at guitar than you once believed.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIDbvTpPGdc[/youtube]
Battlecross – Rise To Power
Genre: Thrash
Origin: Warren, Michigan
Label: Metal Blade
Buy now on Amazon.com
Without hyperbole, these guys are probably the best live thrash band I've ever seen and this album makes me want to revisit them in person. It's everything one would want in a modern thrash record without feeling like a band purely founded on recycling 80's shit.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIWZsP1Wm40[/youtube]
Disturbed – Immortalized
Genre: Metal
Origin: Chicago, Illinois
Label: Reprise
Buy now on Amazon.com
It's a Disturbed record. It's the musical equivalent of the Shia Labeouf "Do it" video.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvwo8f3SXKA[/youtube]
Ghost – Meliora
Genre: Occult Rock
Origin: Linköping, Sweden
Label: Loma Vista
Buy now on Amazon.com
BC no more! Everyone's favorite kinda stoner, kinda doom, kinda metal, yet very theatrical Ghost is back to get their pro-Satan ditties stuck in your head. Stream it all here.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS5-QmkKzJQ[/youtube]
Hate Eternal – Infernus
Genre: Death metal
Origin: St. Petersburg, Florida
Label: Season Of Mist
Buy now on Amazon.com
On their sixth album, Hate Eternal are continuing their reign as one of the most consistent bands out right now. They don't stray too far from what you've heard before, but it'll surely continue to crush you in the way you love.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MSu3kuW_nU[/youtube]
Kadavar – Berlin
Genre: Psychedelic rock
Origin: Berlin, Germany
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Amazon.com
I typically dismiss bands that just sound like rehashed 70's stoner rock, but there's something about Kadavar. They certainly are a fuzzy throwback band that loved that old smokey shit, but they do what they do so well. Old school bluesy at times too, so there's really no reason for me to love them so much.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHqF22EQc3A[/youtube]
Myrkur – M
Genre: Melodic black metal
Origin: Nordsjælland, Denmark
Label: Relapse
Buy now on Amazon.com
I fucking adored that first Myrkur release and half expected that to be it from Amalie Bruun's grim persona. Luckily, she dropped this full-length and there now even more lush, beautiful, and grim Danish goodness to enjoy. Again, black metal kvlt purists need not apply, but atmospheric fans get on this.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jrfX1FpXAQ[/youtube]
Pentagram – Curious Volume
Genre: Doom/Stoner
Origin: Washington, D.C.
Label: Peaceville
Buy now on Amazon.com
One of doom metal's longest running bands is back keeping their cult fan base fucking stoked. The little I've heard thus far isn't terribly doomy, but I'm sure things slow down and they give you plenty to hit a bowl for.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t8qX73lcgg[/youtube]
Rivers Of Nihil – Monarchy
Genre: Technical death metal
Origin: Reading, Pennsylvania
Label: Metal Blade
Buy now on Amazon.com
Stellar technical death metal. Now that that's out of the way, the included video features some of my least favorite tropes in music videos. The band is playing in a desolate area. Rocking as hard as they fucking can, but no amps. Also, no amps BUT a microphone. It's a suspension of belief I've never been able to get behind. Anyway, this album is really good though.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBoZXiuYO_c[/youtube]
Spock's Beard – The Oblivion Particle
Genre: Progressive
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Label: Inside Out
Buy now on Amazon.com
Not metal at all, but y'all know by know if there's prog to love on, I'm going to love on it. These fucking nerds are doing what they do best. Songs about time machines, flying, and plenty of other prog mainstays. I love this kind of stuff.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BFzL7rMajY[/youtube]
The Sword – High Country
Genre: Stoner
Origin: Austin, Texas
Label: Razor & Tie)
Buy now on Amazon.com
Finally we've reached the end of our Weekly Injection main course. The trucker cap stoner rock geeks of The Sword are straying from their early heavier roots here and expanding their sound further into spacey territory. I see it that they started as a band channeling early heavy, doomy Black Sabbath now they're a band channeling late 70's experimental, yet still based in blues, Black Sabbath. I've very curious for the rest of this record.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dykNYnmXlKI[/youtube]
Also dropping today… (started having internet issues at this point so no time for genres below. Sorry/You also have google)
Adversarial – Death, Endless Nothing and the Black Knife of Nihilism (Dark Descent)
Altar / Cartilage – Split (Xtreem)
Archer – Culling The Weak (Metalville)
Barrows – Swine Race (Inverse)
Bleach Everything – Free Inside EP (Magic Bullet)
Blistered – The Poison Of Self Confinement (6131)
Bonehunter – Evil Triumphs Again (Hells Headbangers)
Buckcherry – Rock 'N' Roll (F-Bomb)
Butcher Babies – Take It Like A Man (Century Media)
Chris Caffery – Your Heaven Is Real (Metalville)
Coffins – Craving To Eternal Slumber EP (Hammerheart)
Crown – Natron (Candlelight)
Cruciform – Atavism (Infernal Devastation)
Dalkhu – Descend Into Nothingness (Satanath)
Dark Sermon – The Oracle (eOne)
Dead Lord – Heads Held High (Century Media)
The Devil Wears Prada – Space EP (Rise)
Diabolus Arcanium – Path Of Ascension (Transcending Obscurity)
Draugurinn – Isavetur (Nordvis)
Extinction A.D.- Faithkiller (Good Fight)
The Fiend – Greed Power Religion War (Candlelight)
First Decree – This Is Our Rise (FD Music)
Gamma Ray – Heading For Tomorrow Anniversary Edition (earMusic)
Gaytheist / Rabbits – Gay^Bits Split (Good To Die)
The Infamous Gehenna – Deathkamp Ov The Soul + Funeral Embrace (Magic Bullet)
Kaledon – Chapter IV: Twilight Of The Gods Re-Release (Scarlet)
Kyy – Travesty Of Light (Saturnal)
Lewis and the Strange Magics – Velveet Skin (Soulseller)
Lychgate – An Antidote For The Glass Pill (Blood)
Lynch Mob – Rebel (Frontiers)
Manegarm – Vredens Tid Re-Release (Black Lodge)
The Murder Of My Sweet – Beth Out Of Hell (Frontiers)
Nathan Gray – Nthn Gry EP (Good Fight)
Necrodium – Remnants (Breaking Wheel)
Nekro Drunkz – Absolute Filth (Moribund)
Nuclear – Formula For Anarchy (Candlelight)
Oceans Of Slumber – Blue EP (Century Media)
P.O.D. – The Awakening (T-Boy / Universal)
Pop Evil – Up (eOne)
Praying Mantis – Legacy (Frontiers)
Publicist UK – Forgive Yourself (Relapse)
Rainbow – Denver 1979 (Cleopatra)
Raise Hell – Written In Blood (Black Lodge)
Renaissance Of Fools – Spring (Metalville)
Rotting Christ – Lucifer Over Athens (Season Of Mist)
Royal Hunt – XIII: The Devil's Dozen (Frontiers)
Rubikon – Delta (Round Hill)
Scythian – Hubris In Excelsis (Hells Headbangers)
She Must Burn – Under The Shadows EP (Ghost)
Skraeckoedlan – Sagor (Razzia)
Take Over And Destroy – Vacant Face (Pulverised)
U.D.O. – Navy Metal Night DVD/CD (AFM)
Unbreakable Hatred – Ruins (Unique Leader)
Vaee Solis – Adversarial Light (Signal Rex)
Vardan – Between The Fog and Shadows (Moribund)
Via – Sanitize This (Pavement)
Whoretopsy – Never Tear Us Apart (Vicious Instinct)
Wildlights – Wildlights (Season Of Mist)
Wolfheart – Shadow World (Spinefarm)
Wombbath – Downfall Rising (Pulverised)