This edition features veteran weirdos, a split, a supergroup, lots of guests, and more! To the metals…
Born Of Osiris – Soul Sphere 
Genre: Deathcore
Origin:Â Palatine, Illinois
Label:Â Sumerian
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One of the masters of what would become "Sumeriancore" have returned to throw low-tuned riffs with some beeps and boops at you. You've got your djenty moments, your technical moments, and of course your smooth easy listening outros. What more could fans want?
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eWyo7MkqTA[/youtube]
Corrections House – Know How To Carry A Whip 
Genre:Â Doom/Experimental
Origin:Â Oakland, CA/High Point, North Carolina
Label:Â Neurot
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Part-Neurosis, part-Eyehategod, part-Minsk, and part-Yakuza. The sum of these parts is a rather odd mix of doom, electronic, ambient, spoken word, and even jazz. This sophomore release is more intense than their debut, and it seems like the band is more comfortable in this weird collective.
Earthside – A Dream In Static 
Genre: Symphonic progressive
Origin:Â New Haven, Connecticut
Label:Â Independent
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This record came out of nowhere for me and has been on repeat since I got the promo release. This debut is about 50% solid instrumental progressive metal. The other 50% features some pretty stellar guests like Lajon Witherspoon (Sevendust), Daniel Tompkins (TesseracT), Björn Strid (Soilwork), and Eric Zirlinger (Face The King). This is a really epic, emotive album that progressive metal nerds, djent fans, instrumental shredding folks, and fans of any of their guests bands should give a chance to. A recent favorite of mine.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu62Q1N64zc[/youtube]
The Ocean / Mono – Transcendental Split EPÂ 
Genre: Progressive sludge/Instrumental post-rock
Origin: Berlin, Germany/Toyko, Japan
Label:Â Metal Blade
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This split has done nothing but make be yearn for more material from both of these bands. The Ocean's "The Quiet Observer" was 13-minutes of aquatic bliss and Mono (who I am much less familiar with) became a band I sought out for more of with their track "Death In Reverse." A tremendous release, with my only gripe being that it's only two tracks.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRveu9sjaKU[/youtube]
Killing Joke – Pylon 
Genre: Gothic Rock/Metal/Industrial/etc
Origin:Â Notting Hill, England
Label:Â Spinefarm
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This band is one with a strong cult following, and with nearly 40 years of diverse musical history under their belts, it's hard to argue with the cult. This record is a driving heavy record that borders on industrial. Fans of their heavier stuff should pick this one up.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4wdbibV3IM[/youtube]
Shining – International Blackjazz Society 
Genre: Avant-garde metal/"Blackjazz"
Origin: Oslo, Norway
Label:Â Spinefarm
Buy now on Amazon.com
Those reading "Blackjazz" and hoping for the sprawling, improvised (sounding, at least), and chaotic jazz of that first Blackjazz record might be a tad disappointed here. While certainly more experimental and weird than their last effort One One One, this album still has more a hard industrial-based through line. The saxophone is still prevalent though, and that might enough for some folks. Fun ride though.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1GvbJoR-Hs[/youtube]
Vhol – Deeper Than Sky  
Genre:Â Avant black metal/thrash
Origin: San Francisco, California
Label: Profound Lore
Buy now on Amazon.com
With Shining and Killing Joke both dropping albums today, it's hard to imagine that any band would out-weird, or out-avant them…But Vhol totally does. This collective that features members of Hammers of Misfortune, Agalloch, and Yob speed things up quite a big and travel to every corner of the weird metal earth. This record is like a fun mashup of Mr. Bungle, Yob, and Exodus. Definitely going back to check out their first release also.
Also dropping today…
Amberian Dawn – Innuendo (Napalm) – Power metal
Apparatus – Apparatus (Lavadome) – Experimental black metal
Atena – Shades Of Black Won't Bring Her Back (Negative Vibe) – Death metal
Bauda – Sporelights (Temple Of Tortuous) – Folk metal
Billy Morrison – God Shaped Hole (King Mob) – Hard rock
Broken Teeth – Bulldozer (Texas Metal Underground) – Hardcore
Cane Hill – Cane Hill EP (Rise) – Nu Metal
The Crawling – In Light Of Dark Days EP (Grindscene) – Death metal
Curse Of The North – Curse Of The North: I (Static Tension) – Thrash
Enshine – Singularity (Naturmacht) – Melodic death metal/doom
Exquisite Ending – The Rite Of Misanthropism: Psalms V to IX (Hibernacula) – Black metal
Failure Anthem – First Word Problems (Razor & Tie) – post grunge or whatever
Genevieve – Escapism (Grimoire) – Black metal
Grave Digger – Exhumation: The Early Years (Napalm) –Â Heavy metal
Havukruunu – Havukruunu (Naturmacht) – Pagan black metal
Like Moths To Flames – The Dying Things We Live For (Rise) – Metalcore
Onirik – Casket Dream Veneration (Altare/Iron Bonehead) – Black metal
Shreddy Krueger – Deeper Darker (InVogue) – POst-hardcore
Suicide Silence – Sacred Words EP (Nuclear Blast) – Deathcore
Terzij de Horde – Terzij de Horde (Burning World) – Post black metal
Tibosity – Bimbocracia (Xtreem) – Grindcore
Varathron – The Confessional Of The Black Penitents EP (Agonia) – Black metal
Vederkast – Northern Gothic (Vederkast) – Progressive rock
Vehemence (U.S.) – Forward Without Motion (Battleground) – Melodic death metal
Vinnie Moore – Aerial Visions (Mind's Eye) – Heavy metal
