This week’s new heavy metal releases include end of days death metal, melodic prog, lots of atmospheric stuff, and more! To the metals…
Gravesend – Methods Of Human Disposal
Genre: Death metal
Origin: New York, New York
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Buy now on Bandcamp
On their debut album, these folks are kicking your ass with grimy death metal. The songs are brief, but the messages are deep and intense. This album feels light an uncomfortable nightmare. Max has a full review here.
Harakiri For The Sky – Mære
Genre: Melodic Post-Black
Origin: Vienna/Salzburg, Austria
Label: AOP Records
On Mære, the band's fifth album, Harakiri For The Sky are continuing their win streak of killer black metal that is equal parts beautiful and intense. With so many Deafheaven or Wolves In The Throne Room clones in this scene, it's easy to look past a band like Harakiri For The Sky, but the truth is that this band has been one of the better kept secrets of this scene for a decade.
Infinity Shred- EP002 (Recovery)
Genre: Shoegaze/progressive rock
Origin: New York, New York
Label: 3DOT Recordings
This trio toe a lot of lines genre wise. They have some djent elements, some post-rock bits, synthpop, and more. They're a band that's impossible to slap one label on and that's always fun to explore. This EP serves as a pretty solid introduction to a prolific band. So if you dig this, you have a lot to work backwards through.
Lizzard – Eroded
Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: France
Label: Pelagic Records
Buy now on Bandcamp
Now for some fuzzed out prog metal. While not being as heavy, this band reminds me a lot of Gojira, but with melody at the forefront, or maybe a Fair To Midland that listened to Helmet and The Ocean. Again, a band that's difficult to label.
Mogwai – As The Love Continues
Genre: Post-rock
Origin: Glasgow, Scotland
Label: Temporary Residence Ltd
Lots of melodic atmosphere this week. Sorry? Anyway, this influential act's tenth album includes all the staples of their sound. Slow builds to soaring sonic releases, and lots of experimenting to get there. Not metal, but one of those crossover acts for fans of the slow and epic.
Suffering Hour – The Cyclic Reckoning
Genre: Death/black metal
Origin: Forest Lake, Minnesota
Label: Profound Lore
Something I love about the metal umbrella is the sonic assortment. Even within a sub-genre you find that a band like Suffering Hour and Gravesend, who both play death metal, instill different feelings of unease. Gravesend give me the feeling that life is over and I'm fucked while Suffering Hour infuses black metal and straight up spookiness to create a feeling that you're being tortured by ghosts. Different kids of terror! Yay!
Also dropping today…
- Ablaze My Sorrow – Among Ashes and Monoliths (No Fashion Records) – Melodic death metal
- The Amenta – Revelator (Debemur Morti) – Industrial/death metal
- Coronary – Sinbad (Cruz Del Sur Music) – Heavy metal
- Crystallion – Heads or Tails (Pride & Joy Records) – Power metal
- Detritus – Myths (Embryo Industries) – Thrash
- Dopelord –Reality Dagger (Green Plague Records) – Stoner/doom
- Escape the Fate – Chemical Warfare (Better Noise Music) – Metalcore
- Icon For Hire – Amorphous (Kartel Music Group) – Hard rock
- The Impaler – A Fate Worse Than Death (Self-released) – Black metal
- Kaupe – Cognitive Dissonance (Self-released) – Melodic metal
- cEvin Key – xwayxway (Artoffact Records) – Industrial
- Knocked Down –Anything But Luck (Wormholedeath) – Skatepunk
- Krokus – Adios Amigos Live @ Wacken (Sony Music) – Heavy metal
- Lair – At Our End (Hand of Death) – Doom/sludge
- Lake Of Tears – Ominous (AFM) – Gothic rock
- Lost For Life – Don't Let It Consume You (Dead Serious Recordings) – Melodic rock
- Malice Divine – Malice Divine (Self-released) – Blackened death metal
- Maudiir – La Part du Diable (Self-released) – Blackened death metal/progressive
- Austin Meade – Black Sheep (Snakefarm) – Rock
- Overneath – A Tribute To Overneath (Self-released) – Stoner/alternative
- Phantom Druid – Stages of Twilight (Off the Record) – Doom
- Philm – Time Burner (Metalville) – Avant-garde rock
- Qwalen – Unohdan Sinut (Time to Kill Records) – Black metal/punk
- A Scent Like Wolves – Mystic Auras (We Are Triumphant) – Melodic rock/metalcore
- Socioclast – Socioclast (Carbonized Records) – Grindcore
- Senyawa – Alkisah (Phantom Limb) – Experimental metal/folk
- Skywalker – Late Eternity (Pale Chord) – Modern metal/alternative rock
- Spire – Temple of Khronos (Sentient Ruin) – Black metal/ambient
- Temperance – Melodies Of Green And Blue EP (Napalm) – Acoustic power/symphonic metal
- Ricky Warwick – When Life Was Hard And Fast (Nuclear Blast) – Hard rock
- Wizard – Metal in My Head (Massacre Records) – Power metal