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Upcoming Metal Releases: October 27 - November 1, 2013

You picked a bad week to be broke.

Before the nation crashes into a Pixy Stix hangover, Wilfred Brimley fills his calendar with speaking engagements, and frazzled parents wonder if they can be committed for the next couple months, the shadowy organization coordinating album release dates decided to inundate the market with all of the records. Subsequently, the Anticipated half of this Upcoming Metal Releases edition has something for every ‘head, whether you trade in trad or blaze your own trail. However, if there’s a theme loosely connecting the seeming disparity, it’s killer riffs. Inquisition, the band who has called both coffee capitals home, comes with the most hype, but each entry gives its unique spin on what it means to be metal. Even the rather riff-less Corrections House, with a membership reading like a Last.fm-driven wishlist, offers memorability through familiar maxed-out heft. There may be better or (shudder) busier seven-day spans. This week, though, testifies to how terrifically varied our little niche has become.

Neat things abound on the Of Note side. Catuvolcus is particularly clever and will be of interest to all musicians still slagging black/folk metal for its supposedly rudimentary skills. Untimely Demise demonstrates thrash can still smell fresh in the 21st century. And, if you were looking to cruise around with some degenerates, your luck must come in threes. Nekrofilth, Shitfucker, and Whipstriker all act as their monikers suggest. Guess you picked a bad week to feel clean, too.

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

— Ian Chainey

New metal releases for the week of 10/27/2013 – 11/01/2013. 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 Tuesday unless otherwise noted. Blurbs and designations are based on available promotional material and perceived buzz.

Anticipated releases:

Asomvel – Knuckle Duster | Bad Omen Records | Heavy metal, hard rock
English traditionalists power on with a well-oiled motör for their sophomore LP. Stream these smoking valves in full here.

Corrections House – Last City Zero | Neurot Recordings | Industrial, avant-garde
Full-length debut for this experimental all-star side-project of Mike IX Williams (Eyehategod), Scott Kelly (Neurosis), Sanford Parker (Buried at Sea, Minsk), and Bruce Lamont (Yakuza). Picture a synthesized amalgamation of the day-jobs of the aforementioned filtered through the mechanisms of Coil-ed industrial.

Glorior Belli – Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls | Agonia Records | Black metal
On their fifth full-length, France’s answer to Burt Reynolds wrassles with muscular blackened blasts in the sludgy backwater bayou.

Hail Of Bullets – III: The Rommel Chronicles | Metal Blade Records | Death metal
Dutch death metallers keep the bolt tossing tanks rolling for LP number three. Features the eternally busy Martin van Drunen (Asphyx, Grand Supreme Blood Court, ex-Pestilence) on vocals.

Impaled – The Dead Still Dead Remain | Willowtip | Death metal
To chainsaw through a legal nightmare keeping their old material out of print, these American patho-death gorehounds have re-recorded their 2000 debut. Endear yourself to the neighborhood by lining trick or treat bags with it.

Inquisition – Obscure Verses For The Multiverse | Season of Mist | Black metal
Colombian Seattleites curate a riff slaying exhibit for their sixth album.

Kataklysm – Waiting For The End To Come | Nuclear Blast | Death metal
Still slamming after 22 years, these Canadian heavies continue down their more modern/streamlined path.

Necrophobic – Womb Of Lilithu | Season of Mist | Black metal, death metal
Seventh album for one of Sweden’s O.G. purveyors of blackened death metal. This sits closer to their more symphonic work.

Noctum – Final Sacrifice | Metal Blade Records | Heavy metal, doom
Sophomore effort from these Fated Swedes who prefer to travel at a pace befitting a doomsayer.

Pyrexia – Feast of Iniquity | Unique Leader Records | Death metal
Long-awaited return of the NYDM nuts. Drum duties were split between Doug Bohn (Pierced from Within) and Dave Culross (Despise the Sun).

Russian Circles – Memorial | Sargent House | Post-metal
The third release from Chicago’s other big, mostly instrumental post-metal export is certainly bringing the buzz by tapping Chelsea Wolfe for a cameo.

Sahg – Delusions of Grandeur | Indie Recordings | Doom, psych-rock
For their fourth (and first non-numerically titled) album, Norway’s Sahg blasts off towards progressive galaxies.

Sepultura – The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart | Nuclear Blast | Groove metal
Brazil’s biggest metal band may no longer include a Cavalera and will surely perturb their thrash-only fans, but something has to be said regarding their resiliency.

Skeletonwitch – Serpents Unleashed | Prosthetic Records | Blackened thrash
Celebrating their 10th anniversary with their fifth album, these Ohioans are a skeleton key subtly unlocking a myriad of modern styles.

Throne of Katarsis – The Three Transcendental Keys | Candlelight Records | Black metal
For their fourth LP, Sanrabb (Gehenna) and the rest of his Norwegian squad go long, turning in three tracks running 47 minutes.

Toxic Holocaust – Chemistry Of Consciousness | Relapse Records | Blackened thrash
Portlander Joel Grind issues his third non-single release of 2013 (Yellow Goat Sessions, Green Tea or Die) with his heralded thrash trio.

Vaura – The Missing | Profound Lore Records | Avant-garde, progressive metal
Toby Driver (Kayo Dot, Maudlin of the Well), Kevin Hufnagel (Gorguts, Dysrhythmia), and company quickly follow-up last year’s surprising Selenelion with an equally impressive genre jumper.

Whores – Clean | Brutal Panda Records | Sludge, noise rock
Second EP of lockstep, circular grooves courtesy of this uncouth collective from Atlanta.

Of note:

Aetherium Mors – Entrails of the Soul | Self-released | Black metal
The UK duo get down with a deathly variation on the dark arts. Here’s their 2012 release.

As Autumn Calls – Cold, Black & Everlasting | Rain Without End Records | Death/doom
Melancholic Canadians deliver pretty doom with folk deviations and funeral processions.

Blind to Faith – Under the Heptagram | Holy Terror Music | Sludge
Speedier than the normal sludge trudge. Inhume, Acid Deathtrip, and Bile/Skullhog members are involved.

Catuvolcus – Voyageurs de l’Aube | Deathbound Records | Black metal
Self-tagged as “Gaul metal,” these Québécois remold blackened folk with the dextrous hands that served them well in their previous tech-minded projects (Augury, Neuraxis, Negativa). Dominic “Forest” Lapointe‘s bass work deserves mention.

Cuckoo’s Nest – Everything Is Not as It Was Yesterday | Self-released | Post-black metal
Endearingly all-over-the-place post-kvlters manage to fuse the likes of Envy to their grim melodies without making much of a mess of it.

The Dead – Deathsteps to Oblivion | Transcending Obscurity | Death metal
This bass-heavy Australian trio utilizes a comparative crawl to score their incantations.

Fōr – Blakaz Askǭ Hertô | Iron Bonehead | Black metal
Anonymous Swedish horde spelunkers find an unexplored cavern to blargh in.

Harm – Cadaver Christi | F.D.A. Rekotz | Death metal
German OSDM nastiness. The over the top vocals are a detour away from the usual left hand path.

Heretic Soul – The Nihilistic Attitude | PRC Music | Death metal
Modern death metal from Turkey with double-bass kicks aplenty.

Idensity – Chronicles | Send the Wood Music | Progressive death metal
This French sextet with a melodeath streak finds a way to integrate a violin as more than just a gimmick.

In the Burial – Born of Suffering | PRC Music | Death metal
Quick tech widdles allow In the Burial‘s debut to match the gait of fellow Aussies Entrails Eradicated.

In the Company of Serpents – Of the Flock | Self-released | Doom, stoner
Denver groovers slowly slither towards the riff filled land.

Mord’A’Stigmata – Ansia | Pagan Records | Black metal
Polish misanthropes patiently build things up in a post-metal kind of way.

Morok – Fiery Dances of Dying | Sound Age Productions | Pagan metal
Well-executed German pagan metal with a great, gruff vocal performance.

Mountain Witch – Cold River | This Charming Man Records | Doom
Hooky doom with a retro rock vibe.

Nahemoth – Novum Testamentum: Evangelium Morti | Cold Breath of Silence | Black metal
Second-wave Ukrainians balance their bold blasts with melodic (and sometimes unexpected) respites.

Nekrofilth – Devil’s Breath | Hells Headbangers Records | Blackened thrash
Absolutely filthy thrash straddling the death metal line of demarcation. The Clevelanders burn like Repulsion cutting crossover.

Preludium – Redemption | Transcending Obscurity | Blackened death metal
These Poles provide a pretty even split of black and death, ensuring neither side is underrepresented. Shares a member with Mord’A’Stigmata.

Second Grave – Antithesis | Pariah Child | Doom
Boston’s Second Grave does doom like it’s an arena anthem. The two-fer stretches its legs for eighteen minutes.

Shitfucker – Suck Cocks in Hell | Hells Headbangers | Blackened thrash
This Acid Witch side-project gives nary an eff. An even DGAFier Nekrofilth, perhaps.

Untimely Demise – Systematic Eradication | Punishment 18 | Thrash
Caustic Canadian thrash that knows its way around a turbo-trem.

Whipstriker – Troopers of Mayhem | Urubuz Records | Blackened heavy metal, punk
In a parallel dimension, Venom and Discharge coalesced into one entity. And where from Rio de Janeiro. And the Cubs won the World Series. And Jerry O’Connell got home.