This week's new heavy metal releases include lots of guitar shredding, lots of aggressive feedback and more!
ALSO! Today, Bandcamp is doing one of their days of giving 100% of what you pay directly to the labels and artists as Covid-19 Pandemic relief. So if you can get stuff from Bandcamp, please do. Or can also check out select new releases here via Gimme Metal. Now, to the metals…
Covet – catharsis
Genre: Progressive/math rock
Origin: San Jose, California
Label: Triple Crown Records
Buy now on Bandcamp.
Kicking this week off with some rather chill guitar noodles. Yvette Young describes this as a concept album where each song is the theme song for a character. Instrumental theme songs mind you, but I hear them as scores for someone's adventures still.
Paul Gilbert – The Dio Album
Genre: Shred/heavy metal
Origin: Carbondale, Illinois
Label: Music Theories
Buy now on Bandcamp.
The title on this one tells you exactly what you're in for. This is guitar shredder Paul Gilbert paying tribute to the work of Ronnie James Dio. Vocals have been swapped for a guitar performing the melody, but it's still just as epic. He takes on Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and solo stuff here.
Powerwolf – Interludium
Genre: Power/heavy metal
Origin: Saarbrücken, Germany
Label: Napalm
Buy now on Bandcamp or Gimme Metal
One of modern power metal's rising stars is giving fans a little something between albums here. This is a compilation that includes some new songs, some songs from previous records, as well as (on some editions) orchestral versions and their songs covered by their band pals. Those pals include Electric Callboy, Warkings, Rage, and many more. Shaun's review is here.
Scowl – Psychic Dance Routine
Genre: Hardcore/indie
Origin: Santa Cruz, California
Label: Flatspot
Buy now on Bandcamp.
Speaking of rising stars, the latest EP from Scowl will keep their upward trajectory going. It's a brief, but enjoyable, continuation of their trek into the unique territory of hardcore indie. Songs are catchy and they also hit hard.
Sunrot – The Unfailing Rope
Genre: Sludge/noise
Origin: New Jersey
Label:Prosthetic Records
Buy now on Bandcamp or Gimme Metal
On their first full album in six years, Sunrot are back to crush you. This is a fuzzed out, noisy, angry album. While sludge at its core, you're also getting some blackened and hardcore moments.
Tribulation – Hamartia
Genre: Occult rock/heavy metal
Origin: Arvika, Sweden
Label: Century Media
Buy now via Gimme Metal.
While most of this was released over the last six months or so as singles, this EP is still worth your time if you're a Tribulation fan. These four tracks serve as the band's introduction to new guitarist Joseph Tholl who does their whole grim rock thing well. There is also a Blue Oyster Cult cover which is pretty snazzy. Jeff's review is here.
Angel Vivaldi – Away With Words: Part 2
Genre: Shred/progressive metal
Origin: New Jersey
Label: Self-released
Buy now on Indie Merch.
Wrapping this week with some more guitar shredding. A Way With Words: Part 2 is the aptly titled sequel to A Way With Words: Part 1 and features five diverse instrumental tracks that dip into jazz, rock, and Latin influences. Also, calling it "Away With Words" is fun because it gets words away, because it's instrumental. Anyway, very good guitar work and songwriting as expected.
Also dropping today-ish…
- Blood Moon Wedding – Blood Moon Wedding: An American Nightmare (Mobilization Recordings) – Art punk/experimental
- Ceased Sunfire – The Divide (Ceased Sunfire) – Stoner
- Children Of The Reptile – Heavy Is The Head (Self-released) – Heavy metal
- Cultura Tres – Camino De Brujos (Universal/Bloodblast) – Sludge/psychedelic
- Descent Into Maelstrom – Dei Consentes (Club Inferno Ent.) – Death metal
- Devangelic – Xul (Willowtip Records) – Brutal death metal
- Dropout Kings – Riot Music (Suburban Noize) – Rap rock
- Dystersol – Anaemic (Black Sunset/MDD Records) – Melodic death/folk metal
- Ernte – Albsegen (Vendetta Records) – Black metal
- Exdestrier – Glorious Barbarism (Self-released) – Blackened sludge
- False Gods/Abiuro – Split (Doom Fujiyama) – Sludge
- Found Missing? – Blind Leading The Blind (Wormholedeath) – Alternative rock
- The Grifted – Doomsday & Salvation (Personal Records) – Death metal
- Godsleep – Lies To Survive (Ouga Booga and the Mighty Oug Records) – Hard rock
- Headwreck – Reflection Room (Self-released) – Melodic hardcore
- healthyliving – Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief (La Rubia Producciones) – Doom/noise
- Heathen Foray – Oathbreaker (Massacre) – Melodic death metal
- Heretic Plague – Context Is A Stumbling Corpse (Selfmadegod Records) – Brutal death metal
- Imperial Demonic – Beneath the Crimson Eclipse (Black Lion Records) – Melodic black metal
- Kiss – Off The Soundboard: Poughkeepsie, New York 1984 (UMe) – Live Kiss
- Lesotho – Through The Dying Light (Self-released) – Post-metal/blackgaze
- Lo! – The Gleaners (Pelagic Records) – Sludge/post-metal
- Lotus Thrones – The Heretic Souvenir (Disorder Recordings/Seeing Red Records) – Industrial/post-punk
- Maudiir – Soliloque (Self-released) – Black metal/thrash
- Medevil – Mirror in the Darkness (Self-released) – Sludge/thrash
- Nachtmuse – Darker Skies (Self-released) – Symphonic metal
- Omnicidal – The Omnicidalist (Non Serviam Records) – Death metal
- Ossaert – Offerdier (Argento Records) – Black metal
- Paraphilia – The Memory Of Death Given Form (Self-released) – Death metal
- Raider – Trial By Chaos (Self-released) – Death metal/thrash
- Rise Of The Northstar – Showdown (Atomic Fire Records) – Metalcore/groove metal
- Rollin' Coffin – Product Of Demise (Static Era Records) – Garage rock
- Savage Hands – Rock Bottom (SharpTone Records) – Hard rock
- SaviorSkin – Invicta Mori (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) – Gothic/doom metal
- Stillbirth – Homo Deus (Distortion Music Group) – Brutal death metal/deathcore
- Thysia – Islands In Cosmic Darkness (Chaos Records) – Black/death metal
- (Un)worthy – Where Light Divides (Rottweiler Records) – Deathcore
- Utilitarian – Gaslights (Self-released) – Death metal/d-beat
- Valensorow – Shorestank (Self-released) – Progressive/folk metal
- Yskelgroth – Bleeding Of The Hideous (Xtreem Music) – Black metal
