dead cross

Upcoming Metal Releases 7/30/2017-8/5/2017

66.6% of our editing staff is relocating this week, so I’m assuming temporary bossman duties, especially when the release schedule is so light. Tremble before my e-might.

Here are the new metal releases for the week of July 30, 2017 – August 5, 2017. 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 Friday 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

Dead Cross – Dead Cross | Ipecac | Avant-Garde Thrash Metal/Rock | United States
What the hell is this? I’ll be honest with you – I generally loathe anything Mike Patton touches. His crazed vocal presence even ruined a Bohren und der Club of Gore album for me. However, I’ve never really heard him in a situation quite like this. With occasional collaborator Dave Lombardo (yes, that Dave Lombardo), Patton’s Dead Cross takes the manic, circus atmosphere of Mr. Bungle’s impenetrable self-titled album and…makes it thrash metal? I can’t figure this out, but it’s really fun. Fun in an unexpected sort of way, like when you don’t remember how delicious Capri Sun is on a hot day until that’s all there is left to drink. What a feeling.

Blooming Carrions – Sparking Rotten Dreams | Iron Bonehead Productions | Death Metal | Finland
Blooming Carrions is kind of like death metal, but also kind of like Beherit, and also kind of like a chainsaw. I suppose, given the correct contexts, all three are one and the same. This writeup is really vague, but allow me to clarify by saying I enjoy this little, three-song EP, especially when strange, almost pretty sections emerge from the murk. You could say they sparkle.

Marty Friedman – Wall of Sound | Prosthetic Records | Progressive/Heavy Metal/Shred | United States
Remember how Marty Friedman was the best part of Megedeth? Those were simpler times. He still has “it,” though Prosthetic is a strange home for this internationally acclaimed guitar hero. At this point, I think you know what to expect. I mean, it’s Marty fucking Friedman. Do you live under a rock or something?

bonehunter

OF NOTE

Bonehunter – Sexual Panic Human Machine | Hells Heabangers Records | Black/Thrash Metal/Punk | Finland
That album cover looks like something friends and I would draw while smoking weed and playing Halo in high school. We would probably listen to something like Bonehunter, too, if just for its comedic value. Sexual Panic Human Machine is certainly fun, but its “violent, animalistic sex” gimmick prevents intake beyond face value. Oh well!

FOR THE ADVENTUROUS

because only listening to metal is dumb

Rope Sect – Personae Ingratae | Iron Bonehead Productions | Deathrock/Post-Punk | Germany
People keep calling this crust. Allow me to help you: listen to more actual post-punk. I know this is an alien sort of release for the oft-bestial Iron Bonehead Productions, but Rope Sect’s detached, gothic punk dirges are a rare example of moving outside one’s purview and finding gold.

FROM THE GRAVE

MRTVI – Negative Atonal Dissonance | Transcending Obscurity | Black Metal | England
When you title your album with so many performance descriptors, it makes it so I don’t even have to listen to it! Coming up, acclaimed pop-punk debut Happy Consonant Major Chords.

Quiet Riot – Road Rage | Frontiers Records | Heavy Metal/Hard Rock | United States
As opposed to Marty Friendman’s continuous, solid presence in the music world, Quiet Riot should have stayed with the ’80s.

Accept – The Rise of Chaos | Nuclear Blast | Heavy Metal | Germany
It’s the week of old dudes playing metal! Accept kind of follows the Anvil path, never giving up, but, also, never really evoking enough of an emotional reaction to garner further listens.

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