Upcoming Metal Releases: 5/3/2020 -- 5/9/2020
…
Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of May 3rd to May 9th, 2020. Releases 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.
…
Sojourner — Premonitions | Napalm Records | Atmospheric Black Metal | New Zealand + Ireland
Epic is an overused word in metal, but that doesn’t stop Sojourner from embodying it. Check back later this week for a full stream of their new album.
— Jon Rosenthal
…
Cryptic Shift — Visitations from Enceladus EP | Blood Harvest Records | Death Metal | United Kingdom
The mental, stimulating, and supercharged death metal from Cryptic Shift is like strong-ass coffee in the morning after a night of barely any sleep. It’s invigorating both like a kick in the face and a complex math problem to be sorted out — Cryptic Shift doesn’t let their technicality get the best of them, though, and offer up straightforward passages of death metal sauce like few others in the genre right now.
— Andrew Rothmund
…
Forgotten Tomb — Nihilistic Estrangement | Agonia Records | Gothic + Black Metal + Doom | Italy
The Forgotten Tomb I love (Songs to Leave and Springtime Depression) is no more, but that doesn’t mean their newer material isn’t bad, per se. While I love the Katatonia worship (I hate to namedrop, but Forgotten Tomb did, in fact, steal the “Brave” riff, so I feel an exception can be made) of earlier material, the heavier, monolithic music found on Nihilistic Estrangement is certainly a step in the right direction. Song titles like “Active Shooter,” though… not so much.
— Jon Rosenthal
…
Forming the Void — Reverie | Ripple Music | Doom | United States (Louisiana)
The term “psychedelic” is attached to many things these days, but in doom metal it’s harder to find a better example of it than in Forming the Void, who garb their heavy doom in hallucinatory soundscapes and ever-shifting rhythm that makes for a trippy ride with or without additional substances in the picture. On Reverie, the psychedelia is in full command, but not without a healthy backing of coarse stoner riffs.
— Ted Nubel
…
Winterfylleth — The Reckoning Dawn | Candlelight Records | Black Metal | United Kingdom
The mighty Winterfylleth is back with their seventh full-length The Reckoning Dawn — over a decade of work culminates now in this monstrous release which also includes an Enslaved cover. If you recognize the name, you know what you’re getting into, and suffice it all to say that this album wins on all the fronts this band have chased over the years.
— Andrew Rothmund
…
Göden — Beyond Darkness | Svart Records | Death Metal + Doom | United States
From Jon Rosenthal’s premiere of “Twilight”:
But what of Goden itself? As expected, it’s just a tad heavier than the nearest star. The continually titled Beyond Darkness (for the uninitiated, Winter’s 1990 full-length was titled Into Darkness) takes from Winter’s minimal, plodding heaviness, but with a more mature take. After all, it’s been 30 years. Laced with funereal keyboards and croaking, inhuman vocals, the doom metal backbone which hoists Goden up is as classic as it is monstrous. Here, Flam holds no punches, and, when bolstered with his bandmates Vas Kallas and Toni Pinnisi, Winter’s historic gait finds a new footing. Stephen Flam returns. Blessed be.
…
B E A R — Propaganda | Pelagic Records | Progressive Metal + Hardcore | Belgium
Though some of the guitarwork and the tones used remind me of djent or mathcore, Propaganda rams them into a grimy, rock-oriented framework that chugs along with raspy hooks giving a little order to the chaos. If breakdowns are your thing, this could be good, but if not, there’s a lot of other post-modern metal weirdness involved to keep things fresh.
— Ted Nubel
…
Secrets of the Moon — Black House | Prophecy Productions | Dark Metal + Goth Rock | Germany
Secrets of the Moon’s last album Sun was a bit of a shock to the system for long-time fans as their previous flirtations with gothic metal and clean vocals came to the forefront, which all pointed to the band mostly abandoning their black metal origins. Some fans felt off put by too much change while others absolutely relished what felt like a goth metal masterpiece. However, their latest album Black House will probably be even more polarizing as it reveals Sun wasn’t an end to the band’s evolution. Secrets of the Moon are clearly forgoing any boxes of categorization at this point as most of the songs on the new album sit at the edge of numerous traditions whether metal, goth or alternative rock. Some metalheads will surely find disappointment but hopefully even more will find gold, especially anyone with a love for Alice in Chains or The Cure at their darkest.
— Joseph Aprill
…
Green Carnation — Leaves of Yesteryear | Season of Mist | Gothic + Progressive Metal + Rock | Norway
Is it 2005 again? Or even 1999? Truly, a new Green Carnation album is a portal to the past, if even further. Hearkening back to their more “progressive” material (read as: Light of Day, Day of Darkness and Journey to the End of Night), Green Carnation’s ethereal take on metal is a far cry from main songwriter Tchort’s black metal roots.
— Jon Rosenthal
…
…And Oceans — Cosmic World Mother | Season of Mist | Symphonic Black Metal | Finland
It has been too long since we last heard from …and Oceans, and even longer since the world has heard them quite like this. Check out our full stream of their first album in 18 years.
— Jon Rosenthal
…
Support Invisible Oranges on Patreon and check out our merch.
…
