This edition includes some deathcore, some weirdness, a lil fuzz, and more!
Astral Cult – The Sacred Flame
Genre: Doom
Origin: Sacramento, California
Label: self
Buy now on Bandcamp.com
A couple years ago I discussed Astral Cult as a Sacramento band to watch, and since then the band has gone through some changes. With a new vocalist and some newly infused straight-up heavy metal influence, their second record presents a band with a fire burning brighter than ever. The band still brings fuzziness and doom like no one else in town. Now they bring more to offer, and that's a good thing.
Be'Lakor – Vessels
Genre: Melodic death metal
Origins: Melbourne, Australia
Label: Napalm
Buy now on Amazon.com
Melodic death metal is an easy genre to do, but a difficult one to do well. It is easy to get caught up in the basic elements and phone it in. Be'Lakor don't phone it in one bit. All your necessities are here, but with plenty of their own creativity injected into them. The piano and symphonic elements on this record are pretty great.
The Browning – Isolation 
Genre: Deathcore
Origin: Kansas City, Missouri
Label: Spinefarm
Buy now on Amazon.com
Deathcore likes to include EDM elements these days. The Browning likes to bring those to the forefront and make them more important than their guitars. Not for me, but if you dig all the glitches of Within The Ruins or the Mortal Kombat movie soundtrack, I'd recommend giving this a listen.
Comet Control – Center of the Maze
Genre: Psychedelic
Origin: Toronto, Canada
Label: Tee pee
Buy now on Amazon.com
Frequent readers may notice that I often allude to an annoyance with the current throw-back, faux 70's aesthetic thing going on with metal adjacent bands. Just kidding, no one reads this. Y'all just skim who I talk about and whine if I don't talk about the shit you care about. Anyway, I continue to find and want to bring you bands that are doing it right, Comet Control is another one of those. They aren't very heavy, as they instead favor the spacey side of the movement they're a part of.
Denner / Shermann – Masters Of Evil 
Genre: Heavy metal
Origin: Copenhagen, Denmark
Label: Metal Blade
Buy now on Amazon.com
Mercyful Fate's axemen Michael Denner and Hank Shermann are here with a new record to show you guys a couple of things. 1) They can still shred with the best of them and 2) they still roll on the darkside without the King. Anyone else thirsty for some angel's blood?
Kayo Dot – Plastic House On Base Of Sky 
Genre: Experimental/Avant-garde
Origin: Brooklyn, New York
Label: The Flenser
Buy now on Amazon.com
I never get sick of these weirdos. It's getting harder and harder to call them metal, but then again, it's getting harder and harder to describe their sound. This release (and band for that matter) is all about trying interesting shit and telling a story doing it. Another cool album from a cool band. Fans of Ulver, and maybe the less obvious material of Pink Floyd, get on this.
Whitechapel – Mark Of The Blade 
Genre: Deathcore
Origin: Knoxville, Tennessee
Label: Metal Blade
Buy now on Amazon.com
Yup, they have clean vocals at some points now. I guess that's a deal breaker for some of their more meat-headed fans. God forbid they try something other than the usual aggro-core they've put out for the last decade. Can you still mosh? Of, fucking, course you can. Is the band just the teeniest, tiniest bit more "accessible" than they have been before? I mean, yeah, but this isn't going to send them to the top of the Billboard charts.
Also dropping today…
Battle Path – Ambedo (Wood and Stone) – Doom/black metal
CB Murdoc – Here Be Dragons (Vicisolum) – Groove/death metal
Countless Skies – New Dawn (Kolony) – Melodic death metal
Dark Avenger – Tales Of Avalon: The Lament (Scarlet) – Power metal
Dawn Of Disease – Worship The Grave (Napalm) – Death metal
Earth Ship – Hollowed (Napalm) – Sludge/doom
Faithsedge – Restoration (Scarlet) – Heavy metal
Forteresse – Themes pour la Rebellion (Sepulchral) – Ambient black metal
Front – Iron Overkill (Iron Bonehead) – Thrash/blackened death metal
Head Of The Demon – Sathanas Transmigestos (Ajna Offensive) – Doom/black metal
Light Of The Morning Star – Cemetery Glow EP (Iron Bonehead) – Black metal/goth
Neige et Noirceur – Les Tenebres Modernes (Sepulchral) – Atmospheric black metal/drone
Paradox – Pangea (AFM) – Speed metal
Secret Rule – Machination (Scarlet) – Melodic metal
Shed The Skin – Harrowing Faith (Hells Headbangers) – Death metal
Waxen – Weihung Auf Satan (Moribund) – Black metal
