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Upcoming Metal Releases 10/28/2018-11/2/2018

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HAPPY. HALLOWEEN.

https://youtu.be/8VJc27qhWxg

Here are the new metal releases for the weeks of October 28 – November 2, 2018. Release dates are formatted according to proposed North American scheduling, if available. Expect to see the bulk of these records on shelves or distros on the coming Fridays unless otherwise noted or if labels and artists get impatient. Blurbs and designations are based on whether or not I have a lot to say about it.

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

As a little bit of a challenge, include your own opinion about anything you want to add. Make me want to listen to it!

Please note: this is a review column and is not speculative. Any announced albums without preview material will not be covered. Additionally, any surprise releases which are uploaded or released after this column is published will be excluded.

send Jon your promos at [email protected]. Do not bother him on social media.

ANTICIPATED RELEASES

Xibalba Itzaes – Ah Tza Xibalba Itzaes | Nuclear War Now! Productions | Black Metal | Mexico
From my premiere of the album:

Bursting through the gate with “Ah Tza”, previously heard on 7″ EP of the same name, Xibalba plays the energetic game, sprinting at full tilt throughout the album’s length. For a black metal album, this is no feat, but the incensed, burning nature of Ah Tza Xibalba Itzaes speaks of decades of anticipation and restlessness.

Sylvaine – Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone | Season of Mist | Black Metal/Shoegaze | Norway
Much like its predecessor, Wistful, Sylvaine’s Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone revels in the poppy, catchy side of the whole “post-black metal” thing. It was so much better when things were more “alt,” or whatever people call it now. In a moment of name-dropping nostalgia, I recall Amesoeurs’s ground-breaking debut EP with each listen, but without the desire to stop listening to Sylvaine in order to put the other band on. That isn’t a bad thing!

The Ocean – Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic | Metal Blade | Progressive Post-Metal | Germany
I have a weird relationship with The Ocean. A few of their albums, especially the Anthropocentric and Heliocentric duo, really resonate with me, but I’m not exactly sure why. Then, there’s Pelegial, which excited me with its energy and in-depth thematics, but never left me wanting more of it. I’ve had the opportunity to see The Ocean live twice, but both times were snafus as unexpected things came up last-minute. As for this new album, I’m putting it in the “lukewarm” category — by no means does this mean I’ve lost any respect for this band, or interest for that matter. Maybe the right mood for me will come along soon, but until then, em>Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic should appeal to the broad majority of The Ocean fans. Bonus: check in tomorrow for our in-depth and critical look into the new album.

— Andrew Rothmund

Paragon Impure – Sade | Ván | Black Metal | Belgium
The freedom and distance from god as expressed by the Marquis de Sade made music. This is horrific, vicious black metal — total and free expression through the medium of blasting discord. Originally written in 2008, the once-shelved second Paragon Impure album, following a concept album about the infamous Caligula, sounds like a time capsule to the impetus of “dissonant” black metal — back when it was ruled by riffs and compelling songwriting. Beware of some very… not safe for work lyrics. I did mention the Marquis, after all.

Arsis – Visitant | Nuclear Blast | Technical Melodic Death Metal | United States
Arsis is another tech-death band which doesn’t sound like, well, every other modern tech-death band. This is probably because they’ve been at it for nearly two decades, and also because they’re hyper-talented individuals. The general consensus might be that Arsis’s earlier albums are superior to their later ones, and that’s a fine assessment (it probably all depends on when you discover them). If, by chance, this is your first listen to Arsis, you’ll be welcomed with everything the band has to offer. That is to say: Visitant is a well-rounded package, but nothing overreaching or super-progressive.

— Andrew Rothmund

myopic cover

OF NOTE

Myopic – Myopic | Grimoire | Post-Metal | United States
From Ivan’s premiere of “Resting Place”:

For most of “Resting Place,” Myopic largely abstain from the flurries of aggression and nomadic tremolo leads that characterize much of the album’s preceding tracks. What the song foregoes in blast-beaten bombast is more than made up for by the weight of its emotional intensity. Befitting its morose subject matter, it’s easily the most doom-aligned track on the album. “The lyrics are the thoughts on dying from the viewpoint of the man the album follows,” said Myopic, alluding to their record’s scope as a larger concept work. The central character progresses through stages of “tension, sadness [and] anguish,” eventually reaching “a melancholy peace” as the record brings itself to a close.

Noise Trail Immersion – Symbology of Shelter | Moment of Collapse | Black Metal/Chaotic Hardcore | Italy
From Andrew’s premiere of “Mirroring”:

It’s hard to look away from this video, but it definitely hurts to stare. The same goes for “Mirroring” as a song: it’s so infectiously visceral but, at times, utterly cacophonous. Relying on mega-swaths of blast beats which blast in and out of existence, the climax of “Mirroring” is deliciously dynamic, spinning your mental state into a whirlwind. Leading up to this denouement, Noise Trail Immersion grind out gnarly passages of very-death-metal mathcore which never seems to harmonize or repeat; transitions are frequent and immediate and themselves become an integral element of the song’s staggered flow. It’s all extremely pointy, and that’s the extreme point — the coherence, complexity, and coalescence that Noise Trail Immersion pull of with all this blistering intensity at hand is the true display of talent, even musicianship notwithstanding.

FOR THE ADVENTUROUS

Kelly Moran – Ultraviolet | Warp Records | Avant-Garde/Modern Classical | United States
There is “challenging” music, and then there is pure modernism. Kelly Moran’s physically treated piano — that is to say, a piano physically manipulated with outside elements like screws, paperclips, wire, and so on to create otherworldly sounds completely outside the instrument’s normal timbre palette — transports the listener to a dreamworld of crystalline other-music. For something so unique, so brazen, Moran crafts beautiful microcosms within each song.

OTHER RELEASES

Bismuth – The Slow Dying of the Great Barrier Reef | Tartarus | Drone/Doom Metal | England
As always, Bismuth’s bass-and-drums DOOM is bleak and destructive. Drone on. Get crushed.

Gorycz – Piach | Pagan Records | Post-Black Metal | Poland
Slow(ish), dissonant, interesting. Worth a click if you need background noise but are feeling uneasy and unstimulated otherwise. Has some pretty deep/dark moments, but nothing spectacular.

— Andrew Rothmund

Ursa – Abyss Between The Stars | Blood Music | Progressive Rock/Metal | United States
Solid psychedelic doom — generic riffs and vocals, but the arrangements are contemporary and challenging. The heavier parts are the best parts; other times, the band can get lost in their own super-layered mire.

— Andrew Rothmund

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