Upcoming Metal Releases

Upcoming Metal Releases: 9/8/19 -- 9/14/19

Upcoming Metal Releases

Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of September 8th to September 14th, 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.

Upcoming Releases

Dold Vorde Ens NavnGjengangere i hjertets mørke | Soulseller Records | Black Metal | Norway

This supergroup is no joke. Featuring members from acts like Dødheimsgard, Ved Buens Ende, Nidingr, and the like, Dold Vorde ens Navn’s power is already immeasurable, but it is the return of Håvard Jørgensen of the Ulver Trilogie fame which truly leaves its mark. Finding itself in the middle-ground between the avant-bizarre leanings of the majority of this band’s lineup as well as Jørgensen’s more classic, melodic, blistering riffage a la Nattens Madrigal, the dualistic Gjengangere i hjertets mørke presents itself as black metal’s past and future. Keep an eye out for a special interview with Jørgensen in the coming weeks.

— Jon Rosenthal

Weeping SoresFalse Confession | I, Voidhanger/Riff Merchant | Death Metal + Doom Metal | United States (New York)

Featuring current, former, and live members of a variety of acts (Pyrrhon, Seputus, Tchornobog, Hell, and so on), Weeping Sores magically sounds like… none of those bands. Instead, we are given a harrowing listen of emotive, melodic death/doom metal, not super distant from the Peaceville 3 sound, but injected with enough of that deathy-power (thanks in part to IO alumni Doug Moore’s gut-thrown voice) to set it in a league all its own.

— Jon Rosenthal

HaunterSacramental Death Qualia | I, Voidhanger | Blackened Death Metal | United States (Texas)

From Andrew Rothmund’s premiere of Dispossessed Phrenic Antiquity and interview with band members Enrique Bonilla and Bradley Tiffin:

Black metal succeeds when it feels composed and summoned, not necessarily spewn forth or thrown together with even creative haphazard. Owning to the genre’s penchant for atmospherics and abstraction — two things which bleed some bands dry compositionally — writing coherent but still extreme black metal actually doubles the difficulty. Some of this feels like a balancing game (e.g. ensuring ranges of slow to fast tempos and vocals which aren’t monolithic), and one band in particular that pretty much nails the fulcrum is Texas-based project Haunter. They’re an underground pressure-cooker of creativity, and their most multifaceted diamond is about to form: their upcoming second full-length Sacramental Death Qualia.

NightfellA Sanity Deranged | 20 Buck Spin | Blackened Death Metal | United States (Oregon)

Returning after four years of silence following their previous release Darkness Evermore, the all-consuming tempest that is blackened death metal duo Nightfell’s third album A Sanity Deranged is unleashed upon a world in fractured turmoil. A dour, doom-influenced dirge of insanity, vitriol and contempt, the album sees Nightfell at their most spitefully deliberate, evoking their most dense and dynamic material to date. It’s an annihilating omen for the end times upon us, as topical and relevant as it is grim and foreboding.

— Thomas Hinds

EschatonDeath Obsession | Unique Leader | Technical Death Metal | United States (Connecticut + Massachusetts + Florida)

Nice. Technical death metal via Unique Leader which isn’t overloaded with deathcore influences. Nothing wrong with deathcore in tech-death (in fact, tech-death-infused deathcore is usually king), but it’s definitely a stylistic choice. Eschaton went with “technical or die” approach, meaning each second of Death Obsession is a trove of riffy delight. Songwriting, too, this band has no problem writing interesting yet brutal movements in an otherwise stale subgenre.

— Andrew Rothmund

Void KingBarren Dominion | Off the Record Label | Sludge + Doom Metal | United States (Indiana)

Born at the crossroads of America, Indianapolis stoner doom act Void King have returned after three years with their second full-length offering Barren Dominion. With their massive, gradually unfolding compositions, Void King construct towers of crushing fuzz and sinister sludge outlined by gargantuan riffs and soaring, near-operatic melodies from vocalist Jason Kindred. With their marriage of funereal doom instrumentals and heartbreaking harmonic melancholy, the group’s sound showcases impressive levels of collaborative musicianship working towards a timelessly cohesive sound.

— Thomas Hinds

WigridEntfremdungsmoment | Bleeding Heart Nihilist Productions | “Depressive” Black Metal | Germany

It’s been 14 years since we last heard from Wigrid, the German master of bleak, depressing black metal. Lost somewhere between classic, droning minimalism and an anti-Romantic, melodic style all his own, lone wolf “Ulfhednir”‘s return is marked in harrowing tones and anti-human/anti-life sentiment. Music like this is difficult, but there is beauty deep beneath the horrifying shrieking and harsh buzz which defines it. The master has returned.

— Jon Rosenthal

RamThe Throne Within | Metal Blade | Heavy Metal | Sweden

Originally formed in 1999, Gothenburg traditional-metallers Ram will commemorate their 20th anniversary with The Throne Within, their sixth full-length album to date. Laden with galloping 1980s riffs and melodic Priest/Maiden style vocals, this new release sees Ram staying true to their epic and vibrant strain of classic heavy metal with more potency and creative edge than ever before.

— Thomas Hinds

Visceral DisgorgeSlithering Evisceration | Agonia Records | Death Metal | United States (Maryland)

Fucking non-stop death metal brutality which leans toward the “slam your skull into the ground” type of heaviness. Paired with a pretty damn fine production, Slithering Evisceration is a premiere all-out death metal record for maximum mental stimulation. Visceral Disgorge master both the slower and faster methods of ripping out the metal heart from death’s rotting chest.

— Andrew Rothmund

Black Fucking Cancer + GloamBoundless Archane Invokations | Sentient Ruin Laboratories | Black Metal + Total Chaos | United States (California)

After years of development hell and of adverse fate, two of America’s most uncompromising underground extreme metal acts — San Jose’s Black Fucking Cancer and Santa Cruz’s Gloam — come together to finally unleash the long-awaited Boundless Arcane Invokations split, a collaborative aural conspiracy of unyielding hellish black metal and aural misery. Written together in the same studio, their respective contributions bear the same title, concept, and recording quality, and are joined together by gapless atmospheric segues as to create a looped bout of endless destruction. With no conventional track sequence, and no defined sides, the split functions as a double-headed beast created to assault the listener with immediate viscerality.

— Thomas Hinds

EternityTo Become the Great Beast | Soulseller Records | Black Metal | Norway

Here’s a supergroup of sorts, featuring Blasphemer (Aura Noir, ex-Mayhem) and members of Nocturnal Breed, plus a guest appearance by Brynjard Tristan (ex-Dimmu Borgir). To Become the Great Beast has that level of professional quality that you’d expect from artists of that stature, but that doesn’t preclude Eternity’s second-full length (first in more than a decade) from feeling downright authentic and hellborn. This is black metal for ripping brains to shreds, but with a bit of style to boot. Expect plenty of second-wave influence but with enough modern twist to keep things aggressively modern.

— Andrew Rothmund

ApparatusYonder Yawns the Universe | Seed of Doom Records | Blackened Death Metal | Denmark

Apparatus write extremely bleak visions through mid-paced blackened death metal which powers forward like a locomotive. And indeed, Yonder Yawns the Universe is just that: a gargantuan train heading downhill with no brakes into an infinitely deep chasm. Kafkaesque in its claustrophobia, but expansive in its dynamics, Yonder Yawns the Universe is wonderfully extreme music for the discerning and pained soul.

— Andrew Rothmund

EndseekerThe Harvest | Metal Blade | Death Metal + Thrash Metal | Germany

Presenting yet another offering of punk-oriented, thrashing death metal in the Swedish proto-metalcore style, Hamburg-based outfit Endseeker have teamed up with Metal Blade for the release of their sophomore record The Harvest. With breakneck tempos and jarring timbres, the record sees Endseeker streamlining their sound into a despairingly raw yet well-polished assault of the highest caliber; the result is ten ceaselessly compelling tracks of modern death metal paying faithful homage to its 1990s roots.

— Thomas Hinds

Cloud RatPollinator + Do Not Let Me Off the Cliff EP | Artoffact Records | Grindcore + Black Metal | United States (Michigan)

Stay tuned for tomorrow, we have a special Cloud Rat treat in store. In the meantime, check out Pollinator, the continuation of the band’s primal, grindy, blackened goodness, as well as bonus EP Do Not Let Me Off the Cliff which showcases Cloud Rat’s moodier, more emotive side. This twin release of sorts is a major step forward for the band, increasing their capability and the breadth of their sound without sacrificing any intensity or pure aggression.

— Andrew Rothmund

Crypt SermonThe Ruins of Fading Light | Dark Descent Records | Doom Metal | United States (Colorado)

Stay tuned for some Crypt Sermon live report action — this band already sounds utterly brilliant on record, so the quality of the live performance will make/break Crypt Sermon’s success. Suffice it to say, though, that The Ruins of Fading Light is 110% metal, hell maybe even 120% metal, and gives no shits about laying down stylish crowd-pleasers as well as more nuanced dynamics for discerning headphone listens. Technicall, I think this album falls under the doom metal tag, but honestly, this is just metal. Heavy fucking metal. Stream the full album now via Decibel.

— Andrew Rothmund

Eye FlysContext | Thrill Jockey | Hardcore + Death Metal + Progressive | United States (Pennsylvania)

Eye Flys was conceived between Full of Hell guitarist Spencer Hazard and ex-Backslider drummer Patrick Forrest, so Context‘s pedigree should go without saying. What should go with saying is this: Eye Flys fucking slaps with their mixture of hardcore beats, death metal distortion, and progressive/experimental arrangements. Context twists and turns at every chance it gets, leaving your mind disoriented but in the best way possible. Stay tuned later this week for some special coverage of this band and album.

— Andrew Rothmund

KostnatěníHrůza zvítězí | Black Metal | United States

Sensationally lush, powerful, and eviscerating black metal courtesy of the mysterious Kostnatění. This is the project’s debut full-length, and it’s one sinister motherfucker. I won’t say too much more about it, mostly because I think you should almost certainly give this a listen, but let’s leave it at this: Hrůza zvítězí is extreme black metal without the indigestion. There’s a lot on this album, but it’s arranged and engineered to perfection.

— Andrew Rothmund

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