Upcoming Metal Releases: 8/18/19 -- 8/31/19
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Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of August 18th to August 31st, 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.
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New Releases 8/18/19 — 8/24/19
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Sacred Reich — Awakening | Metal Blade | Thrash Metal | United States (Arizona)
I saw these guys at Dark Lord Day this year (a heavy music + beer festival hosted by Three Floyds which sells out almost immediately every year just south of Chicago), and they absolutely ripped. This band goes way, way back to the mid-1980s, but experienced a rebirth around 2006 which has culminated now with Awakening, their first full-length since 1996. Sacred Reich’s particular blend of thrash metal owes itself extremely well to drinking beer, but encompasses enough nuance and dynamic to function plenty sober as well. Either way, this band writes timeless thrash not beholden to old or new but only metal’s endless spirit.
— Andrew Rothmund
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WRVTH — No Rising Sun | Unique Leader | Post-Metal | United States (California)
Combining shimmering progressive atmospheres and somber melodic passages with the brutal speed and intensity of tech-death compositional stylings, San Jose death metal outfit WRVTH offer yet another wonderfully mystical serving of gorgeously harrowing extremity with their latest release No Rising Sun. Their fourth full-length and the highly anticipated follow-up to 2015’s self-titled release, the record sees the group leaning ever further into the niche realm of atmospheric tech in the vein of early Fallujah and further away from their deathcore-influenced roots. With cleaner breakdowns and grander interstellar harmonic odysseys, No Rising Sun represents a stunning maturation of WRVTH’s sound.
— Thomas Hinds
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Pa Vesh En — Pyrefication | Iron Bonehead | Black Metal | Belarus
Hot on the heels of last year’s Church of Bones release, Belorussian hermit Pa Vesh En returns with another meditation in bass-heavy, raw, doomed black metal. “Pyrefication” burns with a distant hatred and hidden longing.
— Jon Rosenthal
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Isole — Dystopia | Hammerheart Records | Doom Metal | Sweden
Isole has been dooming the world with their epic ballads for nearly 15 years now (not counting the band’s prior stint under the moniker Forlorn), and Dystopia is their seventh full-length. Expect monster musical build-ups and descents as the soaring vocal performance of Daniel Bryntse covers the whole thing in a layer of human beauty. Also expect riffs. Lots of riffs. Lots and lots of riffs.
— Andrew Rothmund
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meth. — Mother of Red Light | Prosthetic Records | Noisecore + Screamo | United States (Illinois)
From Andrew Sacher’s notable releases (via BrooklynVegan) last week:
Mother of Red Light goes way beyond anything meth. have ever done before. It’s one of those post-everything albums, where countless styles of music all come together at once without ever sounding like a hodgepodge of genres. Elements of the chaotic math/noisecore of the early EPs are still here, but so is so much more. The album is bookended by white-noise industrial electronics, and in between they seamlessly bounce between post-rock, post-hardcore, noise, sludge, and tons of other sounds that don’t fit neatly into any category. It’s an album where anything goes, as long as it’s dark and intense. Plenty of moments are as harsh and abrasive as the EPs, but there are even more moments than are atmospheric and dirgey, and meth.’s more somber side hits just as hard as their heavy side.
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Knocked Loose — A Different Shade of Blue | Pure Noise Records | Hardcore | United States (Kentucky)
From Andrew Sacher’s notable releases (via BrooklynVegan) last week:
It’s a nasty, uncompromising album, and one that’s more interested in experimentation than cheap thrills. There are some crowd-pleasing breakdowns in there, but Knocked Loose are great at practicing restraint, only offering up what’s necessary for the song and not dishing out machine-gun double kicks just to get kids moshing at Warped Tour. Vocalist Bryan Garris has developed his scream into something that’s piercing and desperate and human in all the ways the great hardcore bands of the past were. The album also has some very inhuman death growls in the mix, but they’re mainly used in moderation to complement Garris’ more distinct, impactful scream.
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New Releases 8/25/19 — 8/31/19
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Ledge — All I Hope For | Translation Loss | Crust + Death Metal | United States (Illinois)
Raw shit from the annals of Chicago which will fuck you up. Simply put: Ledge wield an almighty hammer of crusty death metal which they gleefully use to smash everything in sight. From thrashy throwdowns to doomy slowdowns and more, All I Hope For both rocks and rips. A bit of classic style never hurts, either, but the execution here on this album is wholly modern for sure.
— Andrew Rothmund
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Witch Vomit — Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave | 20 Buck Spin | Blackened Death Metal | United States (Oregon)
After gaining considerable notoriety in the Pacific Northwest’s savage underground death metal scene with their 2017 mini-LP Poisoned Blood, Portland’s Witch Vomit dig deeper than ever before with their sophomore effort Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave. On this new record, Witch Vomit move toward perfecting their fusion of Scandinavian-style terror and gore-obsessed pummeling assault of their American predecessors. With the addition of second guitarist C.L., this release achieves heightened levels of primal, blood-soaked madness, standing as a deadly addition to Witch Vomit’s growing catalog of horrendous atrocity.
— Thomas Hinds
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Keys of Orthanc — A Battle in the Dark Lands of the Eye | Naturmacht Productions | Black Metal | Canada
I don’t really give two shits about Lord of the Rings (though I do appreciate the artistry and resultant fandom, of course), but Keys of Orthanc make a strong case that maybe I should try to dig into Tolkien’s massive universe. Unlike most other movie-to-metal bands, Keys of Orthanc does not require you to be a subject matter master, and this second full-length rips equally well in either case. Their debut was strong, but this album doubles down and hits twice as hard.
— Andrew Rothmund
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Crimson Moon — Mors Vincit Omnia | Debemur Morti Productions | Black Metal | Germany
Cult classic black metal act Crimson Moon return with their fourth record Mors Vincit Omnia, their first full-length record since 2016’s Oneironaut. Originally formed in 1994 in the US as the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Scorpios Androctonus, the group relocated to Germany in 1998, transforming into a full-fledged four-piece touring act. Consisting of eight tracks of epic occult grandeur, Mors Vincit Omnia is constructed from violent riffage, ritualistic choral incantations, and cosmic synthesizer soundscapes with the goal of paying homage to the arch-demon Azrael.
— Thomas Hinds
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Hope Drone — Void Lustre | Silent Pendulum Records + Moment of Collapse Records | Black Metal | Australia
From Andrew Rothmund’s premiere of “This Body Will Be Ash”:
In typical Hope Drone fashion, the band spreads dozens of ideas out across single tracks, but manages to tie them all together for a seamless experience (they also manage to tie tracks together too, giving Void Lustre as a whole that same seamlessness). With “This Body Will Be Ash,” the fires burn bright to start but gradually dwindle away, revealing a profound and anxious darkness by the song’s ten-minute mark which then explodes into its staggered, anxiety-inducing closing remarks. The whole experience is very all-encompassing, with Hope Drone utilizing elements of modern black metal, post-metal, and even blackgaze to weave their grand and bleak sermons. There are blast beats aplenty, for sure, but the band really comes into focus during those tense midpoints between climaxes which, as usual, leave you wanting more and more.
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Tenebrae in Perpetuum — Anorexia Obscura | Debemur Morti Productions | Black Metal | Italy
From Jon Rosenthal’s premiere of Anorexia Obscura and interview with project mastermind Atratus:
The recently revived Tenebrae in Perpetuum, laid to rest by its mastermind Atratus in 2010, seeks to terrify, or at least make the listener feel the terror. “I would define the new album Anorexia Obscura as pure expressionist black poetry,” multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Atratus posits… “and I think that’s how black metal should be, like wandering all night in a snowy forest and finally seeing the clear light of dawn.” Expressionism, of course, referring to a style of art which concentrates on the emotional experience rather than an impression of said experience (see: “The Scream,” Emil Nolte’s “The Prophet,” etc.).
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Orm — Ir | Indiscipinarian | Atmospheric Black Metal | Denmark
The multifaceted atmospheric black metal of Orm shines again, now with Ir, the quartet’s second full-length. The album consists of two 20+ minute behemoths, a change-up from the shorter song formats of the debut self-titled. The band does extremely well with longer storytelling, weaving their brand of blast-heavy atmospherics with a bit more delicate than last go-around. A definite maturation for Orm without the loss of their initial energy.
— Andrew Rothmund
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Horrid Apparition — Evil Reigns EP | Redefining Darkness | Black Metal + Thrash | France + Netherlands
This brand-new black/thrash metal crossover act has appeared on the European underground scene in a blaze of satanic glory with their debut demo Evil Reigns. Drawing influence from old-school extreme metal legends such as Bathory and Slayer, their material is incredibly hard-hitting and straightforwardly aggressive with a jagged, satisfying frostbitten sound reminiscent of the stylistically nebulous intensity of the early 1980s sound they capture. Proving their prodigious might over the eight-minute span of two brief yet densely composed tracks, Horrid Apparition have only just begun to unleash their surprisingly fresh take on a nostalgic sound.
— Thomas Hinds
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Mystagogue — And the Darkness Was Cast Out Into the Wilderness | Vendetta Records | Black Metal | Netherlands
And the Darkness Was Cast Out Into the Wilderness is yet another strong black metal release from Holland. Mystagogue bridges the gap between rawer, more visceral forms of blackened expression with the stylistic rapture of trendier outfits. Whether laying out a simple punky beat or just slathering on the layers in an atmospheric frenzy, this band feels absolutely tight as a drum.
— Andrew Rothmund
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Polemicist — Zarathustrian Impressions | Fólkvangr Records | Black Metal | United States (Pennsylvania)
From Brian O’Neill’s premiere of “The Convalescent” and interview with guitarist Lydia Giordano and vocalist/guitarist Josiah Domico:
Such notoriety hasn’t come quite that quickly for the Philadelphia group, though it may seem so. In the fall of 2017, Domico and Giordano formed the group from the ashes of Surgeon, a progressive-leaning multifaceted metal outfit that had a small following around their Philly homebase. Although a polemicist is “a person who engages in controversial debate,” Domico was amiable and not at all confrontational. He wouldn’t even let me buy a round.
“What drew me to the name specifically was having studied philosophy,” he said, “so the idea of a polemicist attracted me, both from the philosophical and rhetorical angles, meaning that some knowledge some people are unwilling to discuss, more so than just governmental/political debates. This is more like ideas that are challenging and Nietzsche was the perfect place to start.”
https://youtu.be/DkW68ViqwSU
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Mutilatred — Ingested Filth | Redefining Darkness | Death Metal | United States (Ohio)
Nasty brutal thumping caveman shit with more dynamics than you might expect. Ingested Filth feels super sinister without copping br00tal tropes or being purposefully daft. It’s pithy and perfect.
— Andrew Rothmund
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Essence of Datum — Spellcrying Machine | Season of Mist | Melodic Death Metal | Belarus
Melding the unique complexities of classical first-wave death metal and modern neoclassical tech-death, Belarus-based outfit Essence of Datum present their third full-length offering of hyper-virtuosic instrumental annihilation Spellcrying Machine, their first release with Season of Mist. Deftly balancing brutality, technicality, and melodic lyricism, the record represents a considerable evolution and aesthetic shift for the group, evoking images of latter-day Death with its acrobatic motifs and crisp performances. This album sees the band expanding their sound magnificently without abandoning the mastery and passion that defined their first two records.
— Thomas Hinds
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Imperium Dekadenz — When We Are Forgotten | Napalm Records | Black Metal | Germany
Vespasian and Horaz have returned with their sixth full-length When We Are Forgotten, a gorgeous consummation of this band’s reliable performance over the last 15 years. Simultaneously catchy and destructive, Imperium Dekadenz feel agile and powerful in this latest execution of their brand of black metal. The atmospherics are frigid, the riffs slay, and the vocals tear holes in spacetime. This is a wonderfully solid all-round black metal album as we close out yet another decade.
— Andrew Rothmund
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Tool — Fear Inoculum | RCA Records | Progressive Rock/Metal | United States (California)
After 13 years of waiting, teasing, and excruciating legal troubles, legendary 1990s progressive rock/metal iconoclasts Tool will finally release their fabled fifth album Fear Inoculum to the delight and surprise of patient fans and naysayer critics alike. Locking into the same entrancing, psychedelic grooves of their previous material, the droning astral riffs of Tool’s latest release pay faithful homage to the classic sound that gained them widespread popularity with enough cutting-edge production and engineering to provide the record with a relevant modern sound.
— Thomas Hinds
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Culted — Vespertina Synaxis — A Prayer for Union & Emptiness EP | Season of Mist | Doom Metal | Sweden
Prepare your head (and body) for the new EP from Swedish doom four-piece Culted. This is the band’s first release in five years and carries forward a dissonant and angular sound perfect for melting yourself into the darkness of night. The Vespertina Synaxis — A Prayer for Union & Emptiness EP achieves that perfect balance between rough and smooth, and for doom metal, that means an all-around hit for any mood or persuasion.
— Andrew Rothmund
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Entombed A.D. — Bowels of Earth | Century Media | Death Metal | Sweden
The after-death of legendary Swedish death metal band Entombed continues with Bowels of Earth, the third full-length of Entombed A.D. since its formation in 2014. Old-school as fuck, but with modern touches of course, this album makes sense as the project’s next step but won’t be setting any new standards for all the genre revivalists out there. Fans of the group, though, should find everything they’re looking for and nothing more.
— Andrew Rothmund
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Hesitation Wounds — Chicanery | Deathwish | Hardcore + Punk | United States (California)
Hesitation Wounds is another band fronted by Touche Amore vocalist Jeremy Bolm, and — thanks in part to a metal-friendly lineup that also includes Stephen LaCour (ex-Trap Them) and Neeraj Kane (The Hope Conspiracy) — they’re much heavier than Bolm’s main band. (They also used to have drummer Jay Weinberg, currently of Slipknot, but now have drummer Thomas Cantwell of Gouge Away and Axis.) Bolm has spent the last decade cementing himself as one of the most commanding vocalists in hardcore, and if you prefer your hxc on the heavy side, Hesitation Wounds is not to be overlooked. Forget calling them a “supergroup” or a “side project,” they’re just a killer band in their own right, and their sophomore album (and Deathwish debut) Chicanery sounds even tougher than their still-great 2016 debut release.
— Andrew Sacher
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