This week's new heavy metal releases include catchiness that might surprise you, heaviness where you'd expect it, and more! To the metals…
ALSO! Today, Bandcamp is doing one of their days of giving 100% of what you pay directly to the labels and artists. So if you can get stuff from Bandcamp, please do.
Atreyu – A Torch In The Dark
Genre: Metalcore/hard rock
Origin: Yorba Linda, California
Label: Spinefarm
Buy now on Amazon
With this EP we come to the end of a trilogy of releases in 2023 from Atreyu. If you enjoyed The Hope of a Spark and/or The Moment You Find Your Flame, then you'll dig this as they all form a pretty cohesive album of sorts. With the landscape of releasing music changing, this is a pretty smart way to keep peoples' attention.
Carnation – Cursed Mortality
Genre: Melodic death metal
Origin: Heist Op Den Berg, Belgium
Label: Season Of Mist
Buy now on Bandcamp
This is pretty snazzy. Carnation's third album has A LOT of early death metal influence, and yet it includes some breakdowns, melodic moments, and epic moments with none of them distracting from the death metal base. If you picked up their EP from last month most of this will be familiar, but the full album includes three more songs. Then just because I like shouting out guest appearances (when I remember to), Andy LaRocque from King Diamond is on the opening track.
Dying Wish – Symptoms Of Survival
Genre: Metalcore
Origin: Portland, Oregon
Label: SharpTone
Buy now on Amazon
Up next we have some aggressive metalcore. Dying Wish's sophomore record has all the melody of a Killswitch Engage record with the delivery of Light This City or Unearth. It's largely pissed off so when the soaring moments hit, they hit hard.
Fuming Mouth – Last Day Of Sun
Genre: Death metal/crust
Origin: Milford, Massachusetts
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Bandcamp
Looking for some crusty death metal with some catchy moments? Yes, weird, but good news! Last Day of Sun is an album of layers. There's a death metal foundation with just the nastiest sounding guitars then shredding guitar solos, hardcore rage, and then some big ol' choruses. This is a hard one to nail down, but an enjoyable record.
Insomnium – Songs Of The Dusk
Genre: Melodic death metal
Origin: Joensuu, Pohjois-Karjala, Finland
Label: Century Media
Buy now on Amazon
Just eight months after their last record, Anno 1696, Insomnium are already back with a trio of epic, sad death metal tracks that continue the full-length's story. This apparently includes an alternate ending to the album's story, so that's pretty cool. This is the perfect soundtrack to the looming cold season.
Spiritbox – The Fear Of Fear
Genre: Metalcore/progressive metal
Origin: Victoria, British Columbia
Label: Rise/Pale Chord
Buy now on Amazon
While fans eagerly await the proper full follow-up to their stellar debut Eternal Debut, Spiritbox are offering up a six-pack of groovy prog metal jams on The Fear of Fear. This is five new tracks and the physical release of "The Void" standalone single. Headbanging earworms start to finish.
Suffocation – Hymns From The Apocrypha
Genre: Brutal death metal
Origin: Centereach, New York
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Bandcamp
Bringing this entry to an end with one of the heaviest to ever be heavy. Their first record in six years is a what you'd hope for and expect from these Long Islanders. Low-ass vocals, fast drumming, ripping guitar work, and so on.
Also dropping this week…
- Angra – Cycles Of Pain (Atomic Fire) – Power/progressive metal
- Asteroid Witch/Greenseeker – Asteroid Witch/Greenseeker (Electric Valley) – Doom/psychedelic
- Axioma – Primal Descent (Stained Glass Torments) – Black/death metal
- Bad Wolves – Die About It (Better Noise) – Hard rock/groove metal
- Blazoner – Escape to Electric Land (Self-released) – Sludge/heavy metal
- Briqueville – IIII (Pelagic) – Post-metal/rock
- Carnal Tomb – Embalmed In Decay (Testimony) – Death metal
- Cirkeln – The Primitive Covenant (True Cult Records) – Black metal
- The Convalescence – Harvesters Of Flesh And Bone (Cleopatra Records) – Symphonic metalcore/deathcord
- Crystal Coffin – The Curse Of Immortality (A Beast In The Field) – Melodic black metal
- Degrave – Volume (HPGD) – Death metal/thrash
- Dirty Honey – Can't Find The Brakes (Dirt) – Blues rock
- Drop Nineteens – Hard Light (Wharf Cat) – Shoegaze
- Goatkraft – Prophet Of Eternal Damnation (Iron Bonehead) – Black/death metal
- Gong – Unending Ascending (Kscope) – Progressive/psychedelic rock
- Gozer – The Path Always Leads To The End (Self-released) – Post-metal
- Graven Sin – Veil Of The Gods (Svart) – Doom
- Green Lung – This Heathen Land (Nuclear Blast) – Occult rock/doom
- Gypsy Pistoleros – Duende A Go Go Loco! (Earache) – Glam rock
- Infinity Ritual – II (Self-released) – Doom/stoner metal
- Kill The King – Kill The King (Self-released) – Thrash
- Kontrust – madworld (Napalm) – Nu metal/pop
- Kraanium – Scriptures Of Vicennial Defilement (Unique Leader) – Brutal death metal
- Till Lindemann – Zunge (Self-released) – Experimental/heavy metal
- Light Beams – Wild Life (Dischord) – Dance punk
- Manipulator – Drawing Secret Circles (Self-released) – Grindcore
- Massive Scar Era – Metal Goes Ehyptian (Self-released) – Metal with Egyptian influences
- Melancholia – Book Of Ruination (Brutal Panda) – Extreme/dissonant death metal
- Morne – Engraved With Pain (Metal Blade) – Blackened doom
- Mortuary Drape – Black Mirror (Peaceville) – Black metal
- Mugshot – Cold Will EP (Pure Noise) – Hardcore/metalcore
- My Octopus Mind – Trying To Be Normal (Drongo Records) – Experimental rock
- Out To Destroy – When The Lights Went Out (Self-released) – Hardcore
- Paint It Black – Famine (Revelation) – Punk/hardcore
- Rosa Faenskap – Jeg blir til deg (Fysisk Format) – Black metal/post-rock
- Satan's Fall – Destination Destruction (Steamhammer/SPV) – Heavy metal
- Serenity – Nemesis A.D. (Napalm Records) – Symphonic/power metal
- Seventh Crystal – Infinity (Frontiers) – Hard rock
- Sigir – Rainmaker (Gramophone) – Melodic black metal
- Silent Planet – Superbloom (Solid State) – Progressive metalcore
- Sleepbomb – The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (Koolarrow Records/Consouling Sounds) – Cinematic metal/doom
- Strigoi – Bathed In A Black Sun EP (Season Of Mist) – Blackened death metal/doom
- Svartanatt – Last Days On Earth (The Sign Records) – Hard rock
- Tiffy – So Serious (Self-released) – Punk/indie
- Tripper – People Die Every Day (Self-released) – Hardcore/punk
- Ufomammut – Crookhead (Supernatural Cat) – Psychedelic sludge/doom
- Watain – Die In Fire – Live In Hell (Agony And Ecstasy Over Stockholm) (Nuclear Blast) – Black metal
- Xoth – Exogalactic (Dawnbreed) – Technical death metal/thrash
