This week's new heavy metal releases include some (actually, quite a few) album of the year contenders, and more!
To the metals…
Arrival Of Autumn – Harbinger
Genre: Metalcore
Origin: Grande Prairie, Alberta
Label: Nuclear Blast
Metalcore bands are still a dime a dozen and, unlike nu metal, this wave of the genre never really died down. It forced bands to really up the quality to stay relevant. This is all to say that a younger band like Arrival Of Autumn is running up a hell of hill to run up. This band brings it though. They sound like seasoned vets, but with something to prove.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC-fm_LbOMs][/youtube]
Brutus – Nest
Genre: Post-hardcore/sludge
Origin: Leuven, Belgium
Label: Sargent House
This band's debut Burst was stellar and with Nest, they were up against the dreaded sophomore slump. With a sound so unique, they were basically doomed to it. However, they prevailed against that. Nest has all the soaring vocals, fuzzed out aggression, and emotion of the first album, but everything has pushed further than before, and they brought more to the table. This band is (once again) worth all of your attention.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtj9xx-kXXY][/youtube]
East Of The Wall – NP-Complete 
Genre: Progressive sludge
Origin: Keyport, New Jersey
Label: Translation Loss)
How is a band this good allowed to take so long to make another album? Redaction Artifacts was six years ago (SIX YEARS AGO!), and the band is back with awkward rhythms, The Ocean-esque darkness, and technicality that is uniquely East of the Wall. I missed this band so much.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwbl6GGQMAY][/youtube]
Moon Tooth – Crux 
Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: Long Island, New York
Label: Modern Static Records
Moon Tooth are the shit. They're another unbelievably unique band that blends progressive metal with an alternative rock sound. It's like Torche played by RX Bandits with Intronaut's sense of adventure.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCmV5LM_smk][/youtube]
Okilly Dokilly – Howdilly Twodilly
Genre: Nedal
Origin: Phoenix, Arizona
Label: Self-released
Buy now on Bandcamp
A couple years ago I interviewed Head Ned from Okilly Dokilly for my podcast (shameless plug to Far Beyond Metal), and he said the band was writing their second album. I didn't believe him. I then saw them play a set that was about forty percent new songs. I still didn't believe there would be another album. I just didn't think this niche as fuck band could strike gold again with another fun album of Simpsons-themed (and specifically Ned Flanders-themed) metal. And here we are, and I have been happily proven wrong.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzIOKCfDus0][/youtube]
Devin Townsend – Empath
Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: Vancouver, British Columbia
Label: InsideOut
In his first album since dissolving his Project, Devin Townsend has returned with what might be his wildest album yet. It features every era of his career on one disc, and sometimes these ears are juxtaposed at the same time. It also features a lengthy guest list that includes his former employer Steve Vai, DTP collaborator and Vuur leader Anneke van Giersbergen, fellow Casualties of Cool members Morgan Agren and Che Aimee Dorval, Chad Kroeger from Nickelback, and many others.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n7uvokARQ4][/youtube]
Vltimas – Something Wicked Marches In
Genre: Blackened Death Metal
Origin: Charlotte, North Carolina
Label: Season Of Mist
Former Morbid Angel vocalist David Vincent has resurfaced with a new project. This one is closer to old Behemoth or modern Vader than his former band's sound. Other chaps in this outfit include Rune "Blasphemer" Eriksen formerly of Mayhem fame and Flo Monier of Cryptopsy. It winds up being an evil supergroup, which makes them closer to a legion of doom.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fII8IIxy-vQ][/youtube]
Whitechapel – The Valley
Genre: Deathcore/Alternative rock
Origin: Knoxville, Tennessee
Label: Metal Blade
Uh-oh you guys. Whitechapel are expanding their sound, and this is going to piss off their fan base. This album includes more clean vocals than ever, and moments that sound more like Chevelle than a band built on breakdowns. I kind of like it.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw6hANHeIaw][/youtube]
Also dropping today…
9Electric – Megalith (Pavement) – Rock
Anthem – Nucleus (Golden Robot) – Heavy metal
Bloodline – Better View (Stay Sick) – Metalcore/alternative
Forever Autumn – Howls In the Forest at Dusk (Self released) – Ambient/folk
Forever Still – Breathe In Colours (Nuclear Blast) – Alternative metal
The Glorious Rebellion – Scholars of War (Sludgelord Records) – "Get To The Fucking Point Rock"
Hell Fire – Mania (RidingEasy Records) – Speed/heavy metal
I Prevail – Trauma (Fearless) – metalcore
I Set My Friends On Fire – Astral Rejection (Shelved Version) – Post-hardcore/experimental
Journey – Live In Japan 2017: Escape + Frontiers DVD/CD (Eagle Rock) – Rock
L.A. Guns – The Devil You Know (Frontiers) – Rock
Lance King – ReProgram (Nightmare) – Progressive power metal
Lee McKinney – Infinite Mind (Sumerian) – Progressive
Lost Dog Street Band – Weight Of A Trigger (Anti-Corporate Music) – Dark Country
Moros – Weapon (Hidden Deity Records) – Sludge/doom
Musket Hawk – Upside Of Sick (Unholy Anarchy Records) – Sludge/grindcore
A New Revenge – Enemies & Lovers (Golden Robot) – Heavy metal
Nightrage – Wolf To Man (Despotz) – Melodic death metal
Orpheus Omega – Wear Your Sins (EVP Recordings) – Melodic death metal
Oshiego – The Book Of Wonders (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) – Thrash/death metal
Prison – Come, Annihilation (Self-released) – "Garage doom"
Suzi Quatro – No Control (Steamhammer / SPV) – Rock
Rage Of Light – Imploder (Napalm Records) – Electronic groove metal
Red Sun Rising – Peel EP (Fearless) – Rock
Section H8 – Phase One (Flatspot Records) – Hardcore
Show Me The Body – Dog Whistle (Loma Vista Recordings) – Banjo infused hardcore
Slush – Lizard Skin (Self-Released) – Blues Doom
Skryptor – Luminous Volumes (Skin Graft/Aqualamb/Sleeping Giant Glossolalia) – Noise rock
Something Is Waiting Songs for the Sally Beauty Pavilion Learning Curve Records
TEL – Lowlife (Aural Music) – Doom/sludge
Terrorvision – Party Over Here…Live In London (earMusic) – Rock
Thunderclap – Inebriocean (Financial Ruin) – Sludge
Tides of Sulfur – Paralysis of Reason (Sludgelord Records) – Sludge/death metal
Totaled – Lament (Profound Lore) – Blackened hardcore
Triumvir Foul – Urine Of Abomination (20 Buck Spin/Invictus Productions) – Death metal
Ultar – Pantheon MMXIX (Temple of Torturous) – POst black metal
