This week's new heavy metal releases include Serj going to the archives, an emotional return, a party on fire, and more! To the metals…
Bewitcher – Spell Shock
Genre: Black/speed metal
Origin: Portland, Oregon
Label: Century Media
Buy now on Bandcamp
Starting this week off with a fun one. This has all the attitude of a classic metal band paired with the grit of a blackened act. It sounds like a party where everything is on fire, and that's fine. This is a lovely one to pair with Midnight or even Kvelertak.
The Black Dahlia Murder – Servitude
Genre: Melodic death metal
Origin: Waterford, Michigan
Label: Metal Blade
Buy now on Bandcamp
On their first album without Trevor Strnad fronting the band, The Black Dahlia Murder are returning with a record that is intense. The intensity is multi-layered as this has the weight of a great loss and all the emotion that comes with that, but there is also the urgency of a band that is pushing themselves to prove they can still do this. Seems like they can to me.
Cyborg Octopus – Bottom Feeder
Genre: Progressive death metal/metalcore
Origin: San Francisco, California
Label: Silent Pendulum Records
Buy now on Bandcamp
A lot has changed for Cyborg Octopus on album number three. This could be because they faced some lineup shifts since their last record, but there is also a band that has matured some. They're still adventurous shapeshifting through thrash, jazz, deathcore, and prog, and they seem more pissed than ever. Still plenty of sax from metals rising sax star Patrick Corona (live-Rivers of Nihil).
Heriot – Devoured By The Mouth Of Hell
Genre: Metalcore/deathcore
Origin: Swindon, England
Label: Century Media
Buy now on Bandcamp
Damn this is heavy and in so many ways. There are tons of breakdowns and those are paired with sludge moments. I've seen early reviews call them "doomcore," and that's here, but it's also hardcore with post-rock in tow.
Lizzard – Mesh
Genre: Progressive metal/art rock
Origin: France
Label: Pelagic Records
Buy now on Bandcamp
On Mesh the ever-difficult to pin down Lizzard have become harder to label. Lots of anthemic moments like Muse, solid grooves like Royal Blood, sad proggy moments like a Steven Wilson project, and yet still sort of sludgy or at least sludge adjacent. Over all, another cool entry in the catalog of a cool band.
Ripped To Shreds – Sanshi
Genre: Death metal
Origin: San Jose, California
Label: Relapse
Buy now on Bandcamp
On their second record since branching out into a full band (as apposed to a solo act), Ripped To Shreds are providing some ripping death metal. This is one of those metal albums that sounds very of the Bay Area. I can't explain it, but this is Bay Area death metal to a tee.
Serj Tankian – Foundations
Genre: Experimental rock/metal
Origin: Beirut, Lebanon
Label: Gibson
Buy now on Amazon
On this EP Serj is reworking old unused ideas into something new. Some of these may feel like System of a Down because apparently they almost were just that. Pretty diverse over the five tracks too.
Also dropping this week…
- Adorior – Bleed On My Teeth (Dark Descent Records /Sepulchral Voice Records) – Death/black metal
- Arcania – Lost Generation (Self-released) – Thrash
- Arkona – Stella Pandora (Debemur Morti) – Black metal
- As Living Arrows – Hope & Ruin (I.Corrupt.Records/Best Life Records) – Post-hardcore
- Awake The Dreamer – Holocene (Arising Empire) – Melodic post-hardcore/metalcore
- The Bad Ups – Life Of Sin (Jump Start) – Ska/punk
- Cantervice – Zero Hour (FiXT) – Nu metal/electronic rock
- Crypt Of Reason – Stargazer (Self-released) – Progressive doom/death metal
- CWF – III (Sound Pollution/Black Lodge) – AOR
- D.R.U.G.S. – Until God Shows (Velocity Records) – Post-hardcore
- Demonical – Victorious Death – Live In Latin America (Agonia Records)
- Distant Dominion – Ripping Through Time (Fetzner Death Records) – Black metal/thrash
- Emasculator – The Disfigured And The Divine (New Standard Elite) – Brutal death metal
- Endonomos – Endonomos II – Enlightenment (Argonauta Records) – Death metal/doom
- Fâché – Violent Au Volant (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) – Grindcore
- Fatal Embrace – Hail Down Deep (Black Lion Records) – Melodic death/black metal
- Forsaken Rite – The Forgotten West (Self-released) – Operatic/folk metal
- Glorious Bankrobbers – Rock'n'Roll Church (Sound Pollution/Bollmora Rekords) – Rock
- High Parasite – Forever We Burn (Candlelight/Spinefarm) – Gothic metal
- Ingurgitating Oblivion – Ontology Of Nought (Willowtip) – Avant-garde/technical death metal
- Richie Kotzen – Nomad (BMG) – Rock
- Marche Funèbre – After The Storm (Ardua Music) – Death metal/doom
- Mimi Barks – This Is Doom Trap (Silent Cult) – "Doom trap"
- Mirror Queen – Dying Days (Tee Pee) – Hard rock
- Nehoda – Nehoda (Self-released) – Rock
- Obsidian Mantra – As We All Will (Via Nocturna) – Progressive death metal
- Oceans – Happy (Nuclear Blast) – Post-metal/metalcore
- Odium Humani Generis – Miedzyczas (Malignant Voices) – Black metal
- Our Hollow, Our Home – Hope & Hell (Arising Empire) – Metalcore
- Plague Mind – Always On the Outside (Self-released) – Hardcore
- Psychlona – Warped Vision (Magnetic Eye) – Stoner rock/psychedelic
- Pythonic – EP 1 (Self-released) – Groove metal
- Rolo Tomassi – Live At The Electric Ballroom (MNRK Heavy) – Progressive metal
- Salem Trials – Rot (Seek & Strike) – Black metal
- Serious Black – Rise Of Akhenaton (AFM) – Power metal
- Torrefy – Necronomisongs (Self-released) – Black metal/thrash
- Triskelyon – Shattered Elysium (Moribund Records) – Thrash
- Turbokill – Champion (Steamhammer/SPV) – Heavy metal
- Vicious Blade – Relentless Force (Redefining Darkness Records) – Thrash/crust
