This week's new heavy metal releases includes lots of experimental jams, cop movie grooves, melody, and more!
The the metals…
Cerebral Rot – Odious Descent Into Decay
Genre: Death metal
Origin: Seattle, Washington
Label: 20 Buck Spin
With bops like "Primordial Soup of Radioactive Sewage" and "Reeking Septic Mass," you know you're in from some nasty death metal. These Seattle boys took the earliest blueprints of the genre and sprinkled in a few modern flairs to create a truly unsettled listen. This would be a fun one to test those friends that say "I listen to everything." Do they really mean that? Cerebral Rot will help you find out.
Cloudkicker – Upending
Genre: Progressive
Origin: Columbus, Ohio
label: Self-released
Buy now and/or sample on Bandcamp
Technically this dropped yesterday, but Cloudkicker deserves all the attention. It's been about four years since Ben Sharp dropped an album under the Cloudkicker banner, and thank heck the wait is over. This has some Subsume vibes to it, but there's also a lot of freshness here. While I am totally able to respect Sharp's decision to focus on being a family man and his career, I've really missed his noises so much.
Devourment – Obscene Majesty
Genre: Brutal death metal
Origin: Dallas, Texas
Label: Relapse
Holy hell is this heavy. This has low-tuned guitars, low vocals, and non-stop percussive pummeling. Then the production has a kind of lo-fi quality to it that adds a filter over their whole sound. It winds up being more abrasive somehow.
HammerFall – Dominion 
Genre: Power metal
Origin: Gothenburg, Sweden
Label: Napalm
HammerFall always bring the cheese and epicness. After eleven albums, you know what you're getting and it's hard to be mad or surprised. I am surprised by unnecessary rage the capital F in the middle of their name continues to bring me though. Kevin has a full review of this puppy here.
Here Lies Man – No Ground To Walk Upon 
Genre: Experimental metal/rock
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Label: RidingEasy Records
This might be the coolest release of the week. It sounds like the soundtrack to a hip 70's cop movie that I'd want to watch. Chill grooves, tasty licks, and fuzzed out everything. This is their third batch of songs of some sort in as many years, and I'm not sick of them yet.
Killswitch Engage – Atonement 
Genre: Metalcore
Origin: Boston, Massachusetts
Label: Metal Blade
I cannot say that Killswitch Engage are taking huge risks with this album, but I'm feeling it so hard. Hell, this sounds like a Howard Jones-era KSE album with Jesse at the front, and hearing that long overdue duet with Mr. Jones cemented this idea for me. In a more surprising move, the album also features Chuck Billy from Testament on what might be the heaviest track on the album. Didn't see that coming. Not mad about it. J. Andrew has a review here.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Infest The Rats' Nest 
Genre: Thrash/Indie
Origin: Melbourne, Australia
Label: Flightless Records
Australia's ever-prolific and ever-shifting King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard usually dabble in the psychedelic rock realm, but with Infest the Rats' Nest the band are doing their take on thrash. It certainly still has their usual throwback sound, but more gallops and palm muting than normal. I wouldn't call it straight up thrash record per se. It's closer to Motorhead or Goblin Cock, and pretty fucking rad.
Shock Narcotic – I Have Seen The Future And It Doesn't Work 
Genre: Grindcore
Origin: Detroit, Michigan
Label: Housecore
I appreciate how there always seems to be one supergroup in the batch I write about. I love hearing what established folks do in in a different context. This one features folks past and present from Battlecross, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Child Bite. The result is swift and dark. Kinda grindy, kinda death metal, kinda hardcore, and kinda crazy.
Uniform and The Body – Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back 
Genre: Experimental
Origin: Providence, Rhode Island /New York, New York
Label: Sacred Bones
So if you're not keeping track, this is the third collaboration The Body has dropped this year. And these comes after a trio of releases in 2018. These guys cannot stop releasing music. Is this a cry for help? The ever experimenting duo is once again teaming up with Uniform for a aggressive, industrial assault. Fans of abrasive, driving music will likely love this.
Also dropping today…
1349 – Through Eyes Of Stone (Season Of Mist) – Black metal
Abysmal Lord – Exaltation Of The Infernal Cabal (Hells Headbangers) – Death/Black metal
Bound In Fear – The Hand Of Violence (Unique Leader) – Deathcore
Capture – Lost Control (Artery Recordings) – Metalcore
Cruickshank – Cruickshank (Ancient Temple Recordings) – Sludge
Church – UnHUMAN Beings (Zombie Shark Records) – Alt metal
Dialith – Extinction Six (Self-Release) – Power metal
FireWalkWithMe – The Eternal Black Rainbow (Velvet Coffin) – Rock
Hellvetron – Trident Of Tartarean Gateways (Iron Bonehead Productions) – Blackened doom
Shadow of Intent – Melancholy (Self-release) – Melodic deathcore
Sophist – Betrothal To The Stone: Conception of Mephisto (Self-Release) – Black metal
Superterrestrial – The Void That Exists (Self-Release) – Black metal
Twilight Force – Dawn Of The Dragonstar (Nuclear Blast) – Symphonic Power Metal
