Upcoming Metal Releases

Upcoming Metal Releases: 12/15/19 -- 1/5/20

Upcoming Metal Releases

Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of December 15th, 2019 to January 5th, 2020. Release reflect proposed North American scheduling, if available. Expect to see most of these albums on shelves or distros on Fridays.

See something we missed or have any thoughts? Let us know in the comments. Plus, as always, feel free to post your own shopping lists. Happy digging.

Send us your promos (streaming links preferred) to: [email protected]. Do not send us promo material via social media.

OakLone | Transcending Obscurity | Doom Metal | Portugal

Here’s a big one. Oak’s Lone is a monstrous doom effort featuring members of Gaerea; this debut for Oak will require some of your patience given all the emotion packed into one release. But, if doom is in your heart and soul, your patience will be rewarded, because Lone plays the long-long game so very well. Listeners will receive the crushing plod of doom’s lowest register plus plenty of atmospherics and ambiance to stretch and amplify the album’s extremely somber mood.

Cult of ErinyesÆstivation | Amor Fati Productions | Black Metal | Belgium

From Jon Rosenthal’s premiere of Æstivation:

Cult of Erinyes is more than just dark, of course, but Æstivation is so primeval, it simply oozes obscurity and fear. The collaboration between multi-instrumentalist and Renaissance man Déhà (who has collaborated with the band before, yet Æstivation is his first outing as a full member), as well as members of Wolvennest and LVTHN, has seemingly mastered the dark art of black metal’s deepest, most atmospheric core, and through this lack of coloration have they emerged as something all the more sinister. Æstivation is mighty in its sorrow, harrowing in its darkness, and masterful in its art.

Stream the entire album over at the premiere page.

Zac LeaserThe Arising | Technical Death Metal (Instrumental) | United States (Texas)

Beautiful, complex, and wide-ranging, Zac Leaser’s solo tech-death comes with special proggy flair that adds contrast and mood without neutering the album’s impact. The Arising is equal parts heavy and melodic, leaving us with a very balanced listen that doesn’t over-noodle or stupify our brains. Also, the guitar solos rip, and the grooves are solid. All-around great performance that keeps up the invigoration and entertainment without cheapening down.

MontechargeDemons or Someone Else | WOOAAARGH | Blackened Hardcore | Swizterland

Montecharge’s Demons or Someone Else goddamn rips, blending hardcore and blackened sensibilities into a hard-hitting package neither too complex nor simple. Instead of outright blending the two genres, the band quick-shifts between saturated blasting/layering and more staccato approaches to breaking you down. A visceral vocal performance rounds Demons or Someone Else out, coating this gemstone with a fine layer of grit.

Tod Huetet UebelNomen Nescio | Black Metal | United Kingdom

The band is no more, but it looks like one of the members has moved forward with releasing new music under the Tod Heutet Uebel name. It should be coming on New Year’s Day. We have no clue what it will sound like.

svrmЗанепад | Vigor Deconstruct | Black Metal | Ukraine

From my premiere of “Позбавлення”:

This project really has come full circle: “Позбавлення” showcases what made early svrm so great alongside what made the latest svrm perhaps even greater. The song (and the entire album) contains the well-paced surge of svrm’s early work, brimming with oceanic intensity, as well as the more melodic songwriting which emerged from later releases. The result is an uplifting (read: energizing) feeling not quashed by any super-depressive overtones, despite those overtones certainly existing and painting svrm’s music in the bleakest of greyscales. Занепад may be a pithy release, but true to svrm’s style, the project has cram-packed as much vigorous tension and power into five short-format songs as possible. We’re left with an album that is basically immune to overstaying any welcome while at the same time making its welcome something unforgettable.

From the Grave: Reissues and Re-Releases

AnarchosInvocation of Moribund Spirits | Blood Harvest | Death Metal | Netherlands

Modernized OSDM with extra grit; Blood Harvest is now reissuing Anarchos’ 2017 full-length Invocation of Moribund Spirits. Not an old release by any measure, but surely worthy of attention even two years down the road, even though death metal itself has come a long way in that short amount of time.

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