This week's new heavy metal releases include progressive madness, dad rock, Monster Energy rock, and more!
To the metals…
Beneath The Massacre – Fearmonger 
Genre: Deathcore/technical death metal
Origin: Montréal, Quebec
Label: Century Media
Beneath The Massacre are in a class of their own when it comes to what they do. Fearmonger is a god damned flurry of notes and percussion. It's almost exhausting, in the way that a good workout is. Our resident tech death expert has a full review here as part of the Tech Death Tuesday column.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB6f13k5Qxs][/youtube]
John Dolmayan – These Grey Men 
Genre: Hard rock covers
Origin: Beirut, Lebanon
Label: Self-released
We are now on year fifteen of no new System of a Down music, so it seems as good as time as ever for drummer John Dolmayan to drop an album of covers with some friends. The friends include fellow SOAD lad Serj Tankian, M. Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold, Tom Morello, and more. Then they take on tracks originally by David Bowie, Madonna, Radiohead, Talking Heads, and other rather odd but cool choices. It's an interesting listen
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xvNSoXTB9Q][/youtube]
Five Finger Death Punch – F8 
Genre: Groove metal/hard rock
Origin: Las Vegas, Nevada
Label: Better Noise
Dom Toretto is on his honeymoon when his cousin winds up owing money to the wrong people. Dom is forced into a world of terrorism while his old crew has to stop him… or something… Family. Includes series favorites Dwyane Johnson, Jason Statham, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese, Ludacris, and many more. Or this is the eighth album by Five Finger Death Punch. I'm frankly uncertain.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsNzdKLKsKQ][/youtube]
Insect Ark – The Vanishing 
Genre: Psychedelic doom
Origin: Brooklyn, New York
Label: Profound Lore
Buy now on Bandcamp.com
Over the course of six lurching tracks Insect Ark take listeners on a trek though darkness. This album sees the duo lurching through heavy movements while hypnotizing listeners. You might not even realize that the journey you went on was instrumental by the time the trance wears off. Hear the whole dang thing here.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd-OtK1jHI4][/youtube]
Intronaut – Fluid Existential Inversions 
Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Label: Metal Blade
I often hypothesize about albums I could see on end of the year lists as I write these things, and this is a time when I could really see it for myself. This album you guys. Intronaut are playing with Alex Rudinger on this one and they come together in a way that feels like an entirely new band. There is more energy in this band than before, but the sludge atmosphere is still present. It's a wild, wonderful record.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APgWRQki20E][/youtube]
The Night Flight Orchestra – Aeromantic 
Genre: Hard rock/AOR
Origin: Helsingborg, Sweden
Label: Nuclear Blast
I'm frankly surprised to see this band back already. I sort of imagined that they were all busy with their main bands Arch Enemy, Soilwork, etc. However, I guess the urge to make straight up fun rock was just too much. Fans of the band's previous output, or stuff like Foreigner or Thin Lizzy will have a grand old time with Areomantic.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUh5iyl0Pyw][/youtube]
Tombs – Monarchy of Shadows EP
Genre: Black metal
Origin: Brooklyn, New York
Label: Season Of Mist
We've had fun this week with new releases, and that ends now. This EP is six tracks of darkness and blast beats by some pissed off Brooklynites. It's been three years since their last full record, but this should hold the fans over until then. Hell, bands are calling less "albums" these days, they could've just called this an album and got that sweet, sweet album listing on Apple Music (or whatever streaming service you choose).
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPX-GO5ZhS8][/youtube]
Also dropping today…
- Audrey Horne – Waiting for the Night (Napalm) – Hard rock
- Banisher – Degrees Of Isolation (Selfmadegod Records) – Technical/experimental death metal
- Be//gotten – < love/loathe/lust 3 (Stay Sick Recordings) – Experimental goth rock
- CB3 – Aeons (The Sign Records) – Psychedelic
- Christworm – Breeding Weakness (Self-released) – Doom
- Chronicles of Hate – The Birth of Hate (Extreme Metal Music) – Groove/death metal
- Dark Fortress – Spectres From the Old World (Century Media) – Melodic black metal
- Dead Man's Chest – Dear God (Upstate Records) – Thrash/hardcore
- Drown – Subaqueous (Prophecy Productions) – "Aqueous" funeral doom
- Fluisteraars – Bloem (Eisenwald) – Black metal
- Four Trips Ahead – …And The Fire Within (Dr. Music Records) – Hard rock
- Four Year Strong – Brain Pain (Pure Noise) – Pop punk
- Randy Holden – Population II (RidingEasy Records) – Acid rock
- Human Impulse – Human Impulse (Self-released) – Punk/Noise
- Nils Patrik Johansson – The Great Conspiracy (Metalville) – Heavy metal
- Kilter – Axiom (Alter-Nativ) – Jazz Metal
- Kvaen – The Funeral Pyre (Black Lion Records) – Black metal
- Muscipula – Little Chasm of Horrors (Caligari) – Death/Doom
- Neaera – Neaera (Metal Blade) – Melodic death metal/metalcore
- Orphans of Doom – II (The Company) – Progressive/sludge
- Phobophilic – Undimensioned Identities (Blood Harvest) – Death metal
- Regarde Les Hommes Tomber – Ascension (Season Of Mist) – Atmospheric black metal
- Shakra – Mad World (AFM) – Heavy metal
- Those Snakes – Widowmaker (Self-released) – Progressive thrash
- Today Is The Day – No Good To Anyone (BMG) – Noise rock/avant-garde
- Too Dead To Die – Tropical Gothic (Out Of Line Music) – Synthwave
- Toundra – Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (InsideOut) – Atmospheric post-metal
- Wishbone Ash – Coat of Arms (SPV/Steamhammer) – Hard rock
