This week's edition includes lots of West-Coast fuzz, weirdness of all sorts, some good ol' sonic assaults and more! To the metals…
Blood Red Throne – Union Of Flesh And Machine 
Genre: Death metal
Origin: Kristiansand, Norway
Label: Candlelight/Spinefarm
Buy now on Amazon.com
Kicking off this week with a kick to the gut. Blood Red Throne have been consistently brutal for nearly twenty years. Their eighth album is a death metal master class.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSY1HnAH9d4[/youtube]
Castle – Welcome To The Graveyard 
Genre: Heavy metal/doom
Origin: San Francisco, California/Toronto, Canada
Label: Van
Buy now on Amazon.com
Castle are perhaps my favorite fuzzy, doom band of recent memory. This is a band that clearly worships the heavy metal greats while bringing enough of a new approach to the sound to be really interesting and cool. Their fourth record stands up well along side their older material.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rb18z8M0WM[/youtube]
Meek Is Murder – Was
Genre: "Brooklyn Whatevercore"
Origin: Brooklyn, New York
Label: Granite House
Buy now on Amazon.com
Meek Is Murder's songs are quick and they pack a punch. Their third album has the band continuing their tradition of solid and eclectic wallops. The band once again tapped Kurt Ballou (Converge) to record this and his influence can be heard at times which gives this release a different edge than last year's Onward EP. This album is quite fun overall. Full-disclosure as always: the band's drummer is the same Frank that co-owns Metal Injection and this fact is not why I'm including and enjoying this record.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9BnT6cLsLc[/youtube]
Mos Generator – Abyssinia 
Genre: Heavy metal
Origin: Port Orchard, Washington
Label: Listenable
Buy now on Amazon.com
First off, I'm including this based on the global release rather than the North American because in 2016 why have different days at all? Anyway, Mos Generator are a band that would pair well with Castle, but they are the up-tempo proggier cousin from the Pacific-Northwest. The rhythms are weird, the melodies catchy, and the bass playing is rather ridiculous. A rad record.
Sample some here
Orbs – Past Life Regression 
Genre: Progressive
Origin: North Carolina/Colorado/Arizona
Label: Equal Vision/Hogweed & Fugue
Buy now on Amazon.com
Dan Briggs from Between The Buried And Me cannot slow down. When he's not traversing space and the dream world with BtBaM, he's getting jazzy with Trioscapes. And apparently when he's not doing that, it appears that he's getting real weird with Orbs again. In-case you need a reminder, this band is Briggs, Adam Fisher from Fear Before (The March of Flames) and Ashley Ellyllon from ex-Abigail Williams/Cradle of Filth. It's been six long years since the last record, and Past Life Regression is a great and welcomed exploration of the stranger side of these folks.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCgHzaY8uAY[/youtube]
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – Sworn Virgins
Genre: Experimental
Origin: El Paso, Texas
Label: Ipecac
Buy now on Amazon.com
The guitar wizard of the on-again/off-again At The Drive-In and former(?) Mars Volta leader is dropping a dozen records between now and year's end. Here's the first. I can't actually find any samples of it, but if it's anything like his twenty-six other solo records it could be eclectic, latin-infused rock or it could be chaotic noise. Regardless, this series of releases gives fans a lot to look forward to this year. Keep up with them here.
Scour – Scour 
Genre: Black metal
Origin: New Oreleans, Louisiana
Label: Housecore
Buy now on Amazon.com
Fronted by your racist Uncle Phil Anselmo, this supergroup of unlikely members (Folks from Cattle Decapitation, Pig Destroyer, and Strong Intention) brings it in this EP. I never had my doubts that the musicians had it in them, but I've never really been an Anselmo fan outside of Pantera, and I'm feeling this. A surprisingly solid set of new tricks from an old dog.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJs6g3-HOFc[/youtube]
Also dropping today…
-(16)- – Lifespan Of A Moth (Relapse) – Sludge
Ade – Carthago Delenda Est (Xtreem) – Death metal
ELECTRIC – The Damaged Ones (Another Century)
Burn… – From The Ashes (Bridge 9) – Hardcore
Family – Future History (Prosthetic) – Progressive
Fistula – Longing For Infection (N/A) – Sludge/doom
Psalm Zero – Stranger To Violence (Profound Lore) – Industrial
Raging Speedhorn – Lost Ritual (Self) – Speed metal
Save The Lost Boys – Temptress (Victory) – Alternative/punk
Seedna – Forlorn (Transcending Obscurity) – Black metal
Set On End – The Dark Beyond (Artery Recordings) – Groove/thrash
Toarn – Giant Killer (Luxor) – Metalcore
Trade Wind – You Make Everything Disappear (Graphic Nature) – Alt rock
