Upcoming Metal Releases 8/27/2017-9/2/2017

…

Hey friends. Going on vacation and then school starts up again. See you in two weeks.

Here are the new metal releases for the week of August 27, 2017 – September 2, 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.

…

ANTICIPATED RELEASES

Botanist – Collective: The Shape of He to Come | Avantgarde Music | Experimental Black Metal | United States
Botanist’s “verdant metal” has reached a creative peak. Their first effort as a “band,” or at least more so than usual now that Otrebor has reached out to his live band for studio assistance, the “Collective” sounds much more lush and green when compared to the strange, hermetic music which precede this new album.

Septicflesh – Codex Omega | Prosthetic Records/Season of Mist | Symphonic Death Metal | Greece
From my premiere of Enemy of Truth:

Codex Omega, the band’s tenth studio album (and fourth since their 2007 reformation), pushes the envelope even further. The heavy, rhythmic element is carved with a sharper blade, the orchestra ebbs and flows with the arc of the music, and the band’s trademark “epic” sound remains a constant. Of course, creating “epic” music is difficult, especially if the music builds upon that sound as a base. Songs like “Enemy of Truth”‘s intimidating atmosphere strengthen Septicflesh’s presence in the upper echelon of extreme metal bands, always building tension and pushing to the breaking point, but never giving way.

Paradise Lost – Medusa | Nuclear Blast | Gothic/Death/Doom Metal | England
Like dinosaurs walking. Paradise Lost embraces their devastating doom roots even more, and I sure do love hearing Nick Holmes growl atop mammoth tragedy.

…

…

OF NOTE

Nyss – Princesse Terre (Three Studies of Silence and Death) | Avantgarde Music | Experimental Black Metal/Noise/Ambient | France
Cold, abstract black metal. Some might name-drop the usual, discordant suspects when listening to this one, but I hear a more textured, bizarre take on the early second wave.

When Bitter Spring Sleeps – Star-Thrown | Pagan Flames | Atmospheric Black Metal | United States
Black metal, but only in spirit. When Bitter Spring Sleeps has been approaching classic doom metal for a few years at this point, and the further inclusion of “epic” clean and choral voices, as well as a slow, methodical approach, further makes the case.

At Dusk/Sacerdos – Split | Pacific Threnodies | Depressive Black Metal / Black/Doom Metal | United States
Big, sad black metal all around.

…

OTHER RELEASES

Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition – Raping Angels in Hell | Animate Records | Death Metal/Grindcore | France
Non-stop, eyes-rolling-back, underbite-fueling grindcore. Most in this genre prefer muddiness and disgust, but Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition are crisp and clear. Get ready for riffs.

Subterranean Masquerade – Vagabond | ViciSolum Productions | Progressive Metal | International
With each new release delving further and further into having way too many things happening all at once, I’m convinced we’ll never get another Suspended Animation Dreams. Bummer.

River of Souls – The Well of Urd | Independent | Death/Doom Metal | Netherlands
If you like the Peaceville 3 (see Paradise Lost above), you will be happy with the heavy, gothic leanings of River of Souls’ classic-styled death/doom metal.

Ovakner – Ar/Lume | Eihwaz Productions | Death Metal/Crust | Spain
I’m really burnt out on the whole “let’s overuse the D-beat and then say we’re crust” phenomena.

…