Upcoming Metal Releases

Upcoming Metal Releases: 5/19/19 -- 5/25/19

Upcoming Metal Releases

Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of May 19th to May 25th, 2019. 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.

MisþyrmingAlgleymi | Norma Evangelium Diaboli | Black Metal | Iceland

The highly anticipated second full-length from Icelandic chaos quartet Misþyrming, a band with an unpronounceable name but with pronounced heft in the black metal scene. Expectations would have it that Algleymi is cutting-edge. Spoiler alert: it is. It rips and roars with the veracity of the debut full-length, but with bolstered dynamics, meatier riffage, and even more extreme blasts. For an “all-in” black metal album, this is one to have on hand at all times.

[Sorry, no song streams from Algleymi are available at the time of this posting.]

Nocturnus ADParadox | Profound Lore | Death Metal | United States (Florida)

Nocturnus AD is the resurrection of Nocturnus, the Tampa-based death metal outfit responsible for 1990’s monstrous The Key. Helmed by Mike Browning, you’d expect the new album Paradox to be quite the savage trip down memory lane. In some ways, yes, but this album also glistens with modern touches as well. It jolts, it jabs, it sometimes goes completely haywire and noodles off into infinity. Within the death metal madness there is brilliance.

VerwoedDe Val | Sentient Ruin + Argento Records | Black Metal | Netherlands

From my premiere of “Verder Van Het Licht”:

Netherlands-based one-man black metal outfit Verwoed set the stage for their upcoming debut full-length back in 2016 with their Bodemloos EP. While the pithy outline provided by those three songs will expand into De Val, out later this month, relistening to them in the context of the new album is a reminder of the value and importance of EPs, especially when it comes to sole-practitioner projects like this. While very much “testing grounds” for ideas, projects can find quick success if and when they nail a distinctive sound — as far as De Val goes, “distinctive” is definitely the right word.

EarthFull Upon Her Burning Lips | Sargent House Records | Stoner Rock | United States (Washington)

In the lugubrious realm of metal’s lower and slower styles, few groups are more renowned and legendary than Washington’s long-running drone/doom project Earth. Formed by guitarist Dylan Carlson in 1990, the decades-old outfit have been constantly striving towards the perfection of their signature mix of meditative psychedelic sonic illustration and profoundly stirring doom profundity. Their upcoming ninth record Full Upon Her Burning Lips stands as yet another worthy addition to their immaculate track record; jam-packed with introspective, plodding riffs and melancholic minimalist songwriting, the record introduces a new chapter in Earth’s epic lore while staying faithful to their idiosyncratic sound.

— Thomas Hinds

EpectaseAstres | I, Voidhanger | Black Metal | France

From my premiere of “Entering the Domain of the Solar Soverign”:

Distinct “riffs” in black metal are sometimes hard to come by, owing to the genre’s penchant for dense atmospherics and thick layering which can sometimes obscure detail. However, it is plenty possible to showcase some extra guitar flair while still remaining heady as hell overall, it’s just a harder goal to achieve. For French duo Epectase and their debut full-length Astres, it seems the challenge was no sweat: this album is chock-full of mesmerizing guitar calisthenics which only enhance the veracity of its soundstage rather than clarifying it to any predictable point.

ValeBurden of Sight | The Flenser | Crusty Black Metal | United States (California)

Crusty black metal is badass. You get the piercing, infinite atmosphere of black metal with the crust’s knurled edge. And Vale does it right, balancing the straightforward rippage of something typically more abrasive with the abstraction of something typically more ethereal. If you want to split hairs, Burden of Sight is more black metal than crust, but both genres are well-represented in great balance throughout its runtime. The sensationally pained vocals are a hefty touch as well to the weight of this sinister release.

EsoctrilihumThe Telluric Ashes of the Ö Vrth Immemorial Gods | I, Voidhanger | Blackened Death Metal | France

One of black metal’s most mysterious and esoteric entities, not much is known about France’s experimental one-man project Esoctrilihum or its creator and sole contributing member Asthâghul. What is undeniable about the outfit, however, is its hyperprolific level of output, with Esoctrilihum now releasing their fourth full-length record in only two years. A disturbingly dissonant work, their latest album The Telluric Ashes of the Ö Vrth Immemorial Gods evokes nightmarish atmospheres and claustrophobic, dissonant hellscapes “tied together by stuporous dark melodies of cosmic proportions, intoxicant like mind-altering drugs and sour like poison.”

— Thomas Hinds

LVCIFYRESacrament EP | Dark Descent Records | Blackened Death Metal | United Kingdom

A pithy but powerful release from UK’s LVCIFYRE, an over-the-top blackened death metal band perfect for Dark Descent’s roster of absolutely eviscerating content. The Sacrament EP does not give a shit about speed limits: the first track “The Greater Curse” takes off like a rocketship. The drumming is especially impressive, at times impossibly fast, but always doled out in digestible doses. Well, sort-of digestible. This EP, though short, amounts to quite a bit of music at once.

VisigothBells of Awakening | Metal Blade | Metal | United States (Utah)

With last year’s full-length Conqueror’s Oath marking an explosive rise in prominence for Salt Lake City’s Visigoth, the outfit will now strike again with a two-track 7” entitled Bells of Awakening. Brandishing a razor-sharp mix of fiery power metal and classic heavy metal tendencies, this new effort presents the same majestically triumphant and hot-blooded attitude of Visigoth’s previous material, but with a slightly darker aesthetic and demeanor.

— Thomas Hinds

WidowerCataclysmic Sorcery | Black Market Metal | Blackened Thrash | United States (Texas)

Debuts are always so exciting. They always feel so make-or-break, when in reality follow-up albums offer so much reprise when understood as learning experiences instead of a game of self-oneupsmanship. This debut from Austin’s Widower is extremely promising in that regard: it slaps without biting, it hones in on itself and focuses on the raw power of riffs, and it understands the proper use of a guitar solo. The not-so-subtle blackening of Cataclysmic Sorcery‘s brand of thrash is definitely a tough execution, but done quite well here. If this band takes on a proggy edge on their next album, I’ll say that I called it ahead of time.

Neckbeard DeathcampSo Much For The Tolerant Left | Prosthetic Records | Black Metal + Noise | United States (Illinois + Michigan)

Neckbeard Deathcamp have patience for neither nazis nor lowercase letters. With Reddit references, hyper-aggressive satire, and slabs of harsh black metal, So Much For The Tolerant Left delivers exactly what the packaging and branding says. Even if the music (sans politics) isn’t your jam, credit is due where it’s due: this band sticks to its word, says what it means, and doesn’t take any fascist bullshit.

TanithIn Another Time | Metal + Rock | United States (New York)

You’ll go through about six Bic lighters listening to In Another Time, either lighting up or holding the flame in the air. It’s that kind of throwback jam, the unabashed 1970s musical lovemaking that we all secretly adore even if we get annoyed by recycled styles every so often. Tanith offers a nicely balanced blend of proggy hard rock and old-school metal, resulting in a groovy, easy listen great for the car (or shower, or wherever). Don’t expect to be melted by any extreme distortion or anything here, but that’s not the point anyhow.

KvalLaho | Hypnotic Dirge Records | Black Metal | Findland

Dedicated to forest floor decay as an allegory for brain-rot, Laho is ceaseless in its persistence and beautiful in its grimness. Kval has been simultaneously delicate and existentially unstoppable with this release, offering extended moments of gentle reprieve from the black metal onslaught to pad the album’s dynamics. This is an album of many dualities — slow/fast, big/small, hard/soft — and exploring each one through its atmospheric lens results in joyous but devastating listens.

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