Upcoming Metal Releases

Upcoming Metal Releases: 11/17/19 -- 11/23/19

Upcoming Metal Releases

Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of November 17th to November 23rd, 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.

Surprise Releases + Things We Missed

ConstellatiaThe Language of Limbs | Isolation Rec. | Black Metal | South Africa

I discovered this project via Crow Black Sky, a super-dramatic black metal outfit from South Africa featuring gobs of atmo-blasting and a high-end production. Constellatia is much along the same lines, with The Language of Limbs focusing less on the minutiae of black metal, more on its big-picture sound, all while eschewing any sandpapery roughness. The album is buttery smooth, actually, and uses that quality to its benefit as it attempts to hurdle you into space and beyond.

— Andrew Rothmund

Humanity DefiledMankind is the Disease EP | Death Metal | Belgium

Raw, untethered death metal from Belgium. We haven’t seen a full-length from this project since 2015, but the Mankind is the Disease EP is plenty to keep us busy. Here, Humanity Defiled seems to love the mid/fast-paced onslaught of riffs which keep the music flowing, but never really going so overboard with speed or intensity. This keeps the EP from falling flat, despite its brief runtime (the final four tracks of the album are instrumental versions of the prior four).

— Andrew Rothmund

Upcoming Releases

Blood IncantationHidden History of the Human Race | Dark Descent Records | Progressive Death Metal | United States (Colorado)

Though this was accidentally leaked due to a Bandcamp snafu during the preorder phase, the long-awaited Hidden History of the Human Race is finally here, and what an album it is. Though this is undeniably old-school, one must remember the whole OSDM thing happening right now completely ignores the lineage left by people like Chuck Schuldiner, Paul Masvidal, and the rest of the progressive minds which gave birth to death metal. Luckily for us, Blood Incantation does not, and Hidden History of the Human Race fits right alongside the old masters, performed and composed convincingly enough to be some lost early 1990s great one might find deep in an obsessor’s collection.

Stay tuned later this week for an in-depth review by Langdon Hickman.

— Jon Rosenthal

DenIron Desert | Corpse Flower Records | Doom Metal + Noise | United States (Illinois)

We’ll be bringing you a special Den treat tomorrow, but in the meantime, check out the two tracks streaming now. This band combines undulating, harsh soundscapes with everything from old-school doom to modern sludge. What helps this nasty music shine through its grime is both the throat-blistering vocal performance and the album’s sound dynamics as produced. Equal parts smooth and gritty, Iron Desert is a wonderful balance by a band who tips the scales way, way toward heavy-as-fuck.

— Andrew Rothmund

ObsequiaeThe Palms of Sorrowed Kings | 20 Buck Spin | Castle Metal | United States (Minnesota)

Make no mistake, Obsequiae is Castle Metal. Not quite black metal, not quite melodic death metal, but very Medieval and very, to fairly use an overused word, epic. The trio’s third album The Palms of Sorrowed Kings is a sharpening of blades, a hoisting of ballasts, and a call to battle. Undeniably their strongest material to date, Obsequiae’s latest is the perfect balance of the ethereal and the aggressive.

— Jon Rosenthal

Street SectsGentrification IV: Suspended From Gallery Rails EP | The Flenser | Electronic + Punk + Noise | United States (Texas)

Street Sects, a very unusual and challenging band, released the below video for the first of two tracks on their newest 7″ EP. It’s freaky, groovy, and weird as expected, featuring plenty of tempo-shifts, glitchy effects, and noise-layering among a myriad of other touches which all add up to… Street Sects. As someone who’s not super into this project, I think this latest pair of songs are so far my favorites, but they should still offer plenty of appeal to hardened fans.

— Andrew Rothmund

VesperithVesperith | Experimental Black Metal | Finland

It’s always great when a black metal artist goes above and beyond. While rooted in the classic progressive, symphonic style popularized in the early and mid 1990s, Finnish black metal experimentalist Vesperith looks back to early 1980s Brooklyn for inspiration. Fusing no-wave with symphonic black metal seems like it would be some odd combination, but Vesperith’s pulsing, hypnotic music proves otherwise.

— Jon Rosenthal

KingColdest of Cold | Indie Recordings + EVP Recordings | Black Metal | Australia

If we wanted to get super genre-specific, King is more like blackened melodic death metal than just black metal, sure, but it’s their second full-length Coldest of Cold‘s shaded, nocturnal edge which gives it life. First impressions may be very black-‘n’-roll, but once you dive into this album’s twisted core, you discover tons of melodeath working in tandem with blasts and ice-frosted vocals. Big win, in my book, as a fan of both genres.

— Andrew Rothmund

Lord MantisUniversal Death Church | Profound Lore | Sludge Metal | United States (Chicago)

After releasing 2014’s Death Mask, vocalist Charlie Fell left Lord Mantis and joined Cobalt (and sang on their great 2016 album Slow Forever), but he rejoined Lord Mantis last year after original drummer Bill Bumgardner passed away. Lord Mantis decided to regroup to release a new album in his honor, and the result is this ripper of a new album. Charlie and longtime guitarist/vocalist Andrew Markuszewski made with new drummer Bryce Butler and Death Mask guitarist Ken Sorceron (whose band Abigail Williams just released a killer record last week that Markuszewski played on), and the Sanford Parker-produced effort also features contributions from honorary vocalist/member Dylan O’Toole of Indian (who Bumgardner was also a member of), Bruce Lamont (Yakuza), and Dallas Thomas (Pelican). That’s one hell of a lineup, and it’s no surprise that a crew like this could make a great record. “Reunion” records don’t always go so well — if you can even truly call this that — but Universal Death Church was very much worth re-starting the band for.

— Andrew Sacher

Leonard CohenThanks for the Dance | Columbia Records + Legacy Recordings | Singer-Songwriter | Canada

The legendary Leonard Cohen is no longer with us, but his legacy lives on with these final recordings which have been lovingly orchestrated by his son. The few songs we’ve publicly heard hearken back to his earliest, stripped-down recordings like Songs of Leonard Cohen and Songs of Love and Hate rather than the dense neo-noir of his later works.

— Jon Rosenthal

Order ov Riven CathedralsThermonuclear Sculptures Blackness | Technical Death Metal + Black Metal | Italy

Thermonuclear Sculptures Blackness contains (probably) over 400 billion individual notes; it’s basically inhuman, meaning Order ov Riven Cathedrals nails that cold cyborgian feel where the music assaults your mind for control instead of asking for it.

— Andrew Rothmund

From the Grave: Reissues and Rereleases

GrylleLes Grandes Compagnies | Antiq Records | Black Metal | France

Black metal’s Medieval obsession has been a long one, and Grylle’s own “unplugged” performance sounds more “black metal” than most. Check out our full stream from this morning of this new, expanded edition.

— Jon Rosenthal

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