This week's new heavy metal releases include lots of prog, weirdness, noise, and more!
Quick note friends! Bandcamp is donating their portion to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund today. So if you can get these on Bandcamp, do so!
To the metals…
Lamb Of God – Lamb Of God
Genre: New wave of American heavy metal
Origin: Richmond, Virginia
Label: Epic
There's a lot going on with this album. It's their first album with new drummer Art Cruz, it features guest vocals from both Jamey Jasta and Chuck Billy, and then it's their first new album in half a decade. This could be thanks to being Slayer's go-to for their farewell tour that lasted three years. Regardless, there is so much pent up Lamb of God-ness here. It wound up being the album I didn't realized I needed right now. Max has a full review here.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYZLs0Wg2so][/youtube]
Alarum – Circle's End 
Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: Melbourne, Australia
Label: Dinner For Wolves
Buy now on Bandcamp
Let's begin this week with some proggy goodness. Alarum have been around for a minute with almost thirty years under their belts. These guys originally popped up a little bit after bands like Atheist, Pestilence, and Cynic and the do their own version of that thrashy prog thing. There is something truly special about the Australian progressive scene and these guys are further proof of that.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXkLhiTkyY8][/youtube]
Cro-Mags – In The Beginning
Genre: Hardcore/crossover
Origin: New York, New York
Label: Mission Two
Cro-Mags seem like one of those bands that never really needed to release new music. They have a cult following and they keep reuniting long enough to keep people excited and moshing, then they'd disappear again. However, now twenty years since their last full album, In The Beginning has arrived. It's a brief, aggressive album that's unmistakably Cro-Mags.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zMEshmiobg][/youtube]
Eye of Nix – Ligeia 
Genre: Progressive doom/black metal
Origin: Seattle, Washington
Label: Prophecy
Buy now on Bandcamp
If Alarum wasn't quite in your progressive wheelhouse, why not give Eye of Nix a go? They combine blast beats, haunting doom, and atmosphere into one package that is constantly shifts moods and influences. They're a band for fans of Elder, Myrkur, and every band in between. Full review by Max right here.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCl8qgLKAdk][/youtube]
Mushroomhead – A Wonderful Life
Genre: Nu/groove metal
Origin: Cleveland, Ohio
Label: Napalm
Buy now on Bandcamp
Here's another band that took their sweet time plopping something new. A Wonderful Life is Mushroomhead's first album in six years and It features a bunch of new members to the band. Honestly, there was too much turnover to list, but the core sound of the band seems to remain even with so much new blood flowing through it.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJKjFSyAHKw][/youtube]
Protest the Hero – Palimpsest 
Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: Whitby, Ontario
Label: Protest The Hero Inc.
Buy now on Bandcamp
First off, good on them for dropping this a day early to not distract from Juneteenth. I know fans were treated to the Pacific Myth collection a few years ago, but it's really been seven years since Volition? Jesus. Stressful construct of time aside, this is might be the most welcomed return of the week (for this prog dork anyway). While Fortress will always be the band's game-changing classic, Palimpsest definitely gives it a run for it's money. This is their most diverse album so far, and it includes some of the songs that are their greatest ever like the one featured below.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mqNfLDwtm8][/youtube]
Them Moose Rush – Dancing Maze 
Genre: Progressive rock/experimental
Origin: Bjelovar, Croatia
Label: Dostava Zvuka
Buy now on Bandcamp
A few years ago I gushed about Them Moose Rush's album Don't Pick Your Noise which was a chaotic prog explosion. Dancing Maze is less chaotic overall, but no less weird. Before I would have paired them with At The Drive-In, but this time they're closer to math rock bands like Tera Melos, or maybe a jammy version Foxy Shazam? I literally have one job here, which is describing bands in short bursts, and I always appreciate a band that makes that job hard for me. Them Moose Rush are once again one of those bands.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blvjb1p5jvs][/youtube]
Vile Creature – Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm! 
Genre: Doom/sludge
Origin: St. Catharines, Ontario
Label: Prosthetic
Buy now on Bandcamp
Ending this week with a really unique and awesome band. Vile Creature are a noisy Canadian duo that flourishes in both feedback laden fuzz and ethereal atmosphere. This album is both beautiful and intense. It should also be noted that they may have the best band website of all time. It includes a gallery of their pets! More metal pets please!
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O52Bfo6eMc][/youtube]
Also dropping today…
- Asinis – Gaia (Seek and Strike) – Heavy metal
- Atavist – III: Absolution (Candlelight) – Sludge drone
- Aversio Humanitatis – Behold the Silent Dwellers (Debemur Morti/Sentient Ruin) – Black/death metal – Full review
- Beyond The Black – Horizons (Napalm) – Symphonic metal
- Constellatia – The Language Of Limbs (Season Of Mist) – Black/post-metal
- Dearth – To Crown All Befoulment (Sentient Ruin) – Black/death metal
- Eisregen – Leblos (Massacre Records) – Gothic/death metal
- Hail Spirit Noir – Eden In Reverse (Agonia Records) – Avant-garde/Post-black metal
- Kall – Brand (Prophecy Productions) -Black metal – Full review
- Limousine Beach – Stealin' Wine + 2 (Tee Pee Records) – Stoner/heavy metal
- Make Them Suffer – How To Survive A Funeral (Rise) – Metalcore/symphonic death metal
- Marthe – Sisters of Darkness (Caligari) – Extreme/black metal
- The Moon And The Nightspirit – Aether (Prophecy) – Folk
- Nexion – Seven Oracles (Avantgarde Music) – Black metal
- Pale Divine – Consequence of Time (Cruz del Sur Music) – Heavy metal
- The Path Of Memory – Hell Is Other People (Iron Bonehead Productions) – Deathrock
- Ritual Mass – Abhorred in the Eyes of God (Caligari) – Death metal
- Omar Rodríguez-López – The Clouds Hill Tapes: Part I (Clouds Hill) – Experimental
- Spirit Adrift – Angel & Abyss Redux EP (20 Buck Spin) – Doom
- Switchfoot – Covers EP (Fantasy) – Rock
- Underer – The Code (Nefarious Industries) – Avant-garde
- Vampire – Rex (Century Media) – Thrash/death metal
