Upcoming Metal Releases: 10/1/2023-10/14/2023
Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for October 1st through October 14th. Releases 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.
New Releases 10/1-10/7
Carnifex — Necromanteum | Nuclear Blast | Deathcore | United States (California)
Ninth record from the deathcore misanthropes. Here, the San Diego quintet bake into their sound the atmospheric and symphonic experimentation of their last three records, probably because all the kool deathcore kidz are doin’ it now. Thankfully, Carnifex are smart enough to splice groove metal riffage into their songs to at least try sounding a bit different—perhaps thanks to former DevilDriver guitarist Neal Tiemann joining officially. Fear not, though, longtime fans: the majestically spastic leads are still here, as are the br00tal breakdownz. (In fact, “Crowned in Everblack” and “Bleed More” break down so much, they have clean guitar.) It’s likely Carnifex won’t ever really change or evolve. Indeed, the ain’t-broke mentality has worked for Black Dahlia for two decades, so why not. In other words: deathcore gonna deathcore.
–Steve Lampiris
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Restless Spirit — Afterimage | Magnetic Eye Records | Doom Metal + Heavy Metal | United States (New York)
Third and best album from the Long Island stoner/doom trio composed of vocalist and guitarist Paul Aloisio, bassist Marc Morello, and drummer Jon Gusman. Imagine the middle ground between The Sword and Pallbearer, and you’re close. This time, the compositions have been trimmed and streamlined compared to 2021’s Blood of the Old Gods, resulting in sharper and more immediate songs. Thankfully, the shit-hot leadwork and concrete-splitting riffage remain. Ditto for the burly yet agile rhythm section and Aloiso’s soaring, neurotic wail. Afterimage is crushingly heavy and strikingly melodic and deeply satisfying—which is to say, really fuckin’ good.
–Steve Lampiris
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Dopelord — Songs for Satan | Blues Funeral Recordings | Stoner + Doom Metal | Poland
Here’s a quick litmus test for something being Truly Dank Doom Metal: does it have a song later in the album referencing an earlier one? See: “Night of the Witch” / “Return to the Night of the Witch”. And yes, Dopelord is certainly TDDM, an acronym for a term I’ll never use again, fusing mind-numbingly plodding riffs with echoing, mystical vocals — and where lesser bands play those cards to middling results, there’s a secret sorcery to the way that Dopelord does it that always hits home. It’s a less-is-more philosophy, I think: behind the huge guitar tones and sonic battery lies smart songwriting and an ear for catchy, minimalist melody.
–Ted Nubel
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Spider God — Blackened: Pink | Independent | Black Metal | United Kingdom
Spider God’s willingness to engage with pop has been nothing but fruitful, arming him with the punchiness, immediacy, and hooks that could climb up the charts. Blackened: Pink isn’t that much of a surprise then. It’s the first in Spider God’s series of female pop covers. While the tracklist isn’t that impressive aside from Ariana Grande’s “Problem,” it’s another piece of evidence that pop with a black metal palette, when performed like this, works much better than it theoretically should.
–Colin Dempsey
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Auriferous Flame — Ardor For Black Mastery | Independent | Black Metal | Greece
Ayloss of Spectral Lore and Mystras fame has fashioned Auriferous Flame into his primal black metal side project, and it’s glorious. His latest album Ardor For Black Mastery is a beautiful send-up to black metal’s musical identity. It hones in on the toothy riffs, blast beats, and repugnant attitude that’s characterized the best black metal–from Venom to Bathory to Darkthrone–for four decades.
–Colin Dempsey
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Capra — Errors | Metal Blade Records | Metallic Hardcore | United States (Louisiana)
The latest from Capra takes their chaos and reigns it in a bit, creating something that is still heavy as hell, but brings in more nuanced elements. Definitely a great next step for the band.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
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The Keening — Little Bird | Relapse Records | Dark Folk | United States (Utah)
The debut solo album from Rebecca Vernon of Subrosa fame is as beautiful and strange as her previous band, and also a bit more personal. This is a record for issuing in the fall.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
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Heavy Load — Riders of the Ancient Storm | No Remorse Records | Heavy + Power Metal | Sweden
Who doesn’t love a comeback album after 40 years? Let’s all try not to think about how 1983 was 40 years ago, though.
After dropping a few seminal albums in the early 1980s, Heavy Load was seemingly a done deal, but they’ve returned in fairly classic form on Riders of the Ancient Storm. New single “Ride the Night” feels a lot more like classic 1980s metal than most revival bands can pull of, and certainly more ‘true’ than we can hope for from a reunion after so long. It’s not fully available to stream yet, and vinyl is delayed, but nevertheless you can buy it over at No Remorse!
–Ted Nubel
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Scrollkeeper — Wetiko | Golden Core Records | Heavy Metal | United States (Houston, TX)
Sinewy, aggressive riffs propel Scrollkeeper’s latest album forward. Packed with evident bitterness and menace, it’s retro heavy metal but with a cynical edge for some extra weight behind the swing of the blade.
–Ted Nubel
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Crow Black Sky — Sidereal Light – Volume Two | Independent | Atmospheric Black Metal | South Africa
Cosmic’ in the sense of being all-encompassing, the second volume of Crow Black Sky’s epic Sidereal Light saga instills wonder from the very first moment that never goes away. Massive, world-shifting melodies blaze in the galactic storms the South African band conjures up.
–Ted Nubel
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New Releases 10/8-10/14
Body Void — Atrocity Machine | Prosthetic Records | Sludge + Drone + Doom Metal | United States
In case you were getting a little too complacent maintaining a stable balance between internal thought and external stimuli, Body Void’s new record uses scream-punctuating droning sludge as a vector to upset that balance. It’s haunting and invasive, and yet the scouring incursion is cathartic in its own way. We’ve got more on this one coming later this week!
–Ted Nubel
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Furia — Huta Luna | Pagan Records | Experimental + Black Metal | Poland
From Spencer Grady’s full album premiere:
Silesian scene veterans Furia mark their return with the release of Huta Luna, a typically enigmatic offering, liberated from the self-imposed limitations affecting more orthodox metal projects. Indeed, vocalist/guitarist Nihil, now shuns the ‘metal’ tag completely, seeing Furia instead as “an outgrowth of the genre, only using the tools of metal to an extent.”
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Laster — Andermans Mijne | Prophecy Productions | Black Metal + Avant-Garde Metal | Netherlands
Dutch madmen Laster are back with an album so utterly bonkers that it almost defies description. It’s kinda black metal, kinda not, kinda a bit of everything and it is in this melding of the weird and obscure that the trio find melodies and rhythms that would fall apart in lesser hands. You can move to it but you’ll look bizarre in the process. Laster would love that.
–Cheryl Carter
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Catafalque — Dybbuk | Aural Music | Drone Metal + Doom Metal + Noise | United Kingdom
Catafalque make music that you may rarely listen to, if only because it suits an often-underreported mood. Scarcely throughout our lives do we feel so dismal that the UK band’s scathing and pessimistic drone metal is fitting, but when those moments occur, you’ll be lucky to have Dybbuk by your side.
–Colin Dempsey
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Félonie — De Sève et de Sang | Aural Music | Black Metal | Switzerland
The Swiss Alps hold an average customer review score of 4.7 out of 5 stars on Google Reviews, with visitors praising the breathtaking views and amazing scenery. That’s not the interpretation Félonie delivers on De Sève et de Sang about his homeland. The one-man black metal artist’s dedication to his country’s mythology is a gritty and chunky offering filled with morbid tales and quaint dungeon synth. It’s far away from the typical atmospheric metal you’d expect from such an album.
–Colin Dempsey
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Fortíð — Narkissos | Lupus Lounge | Black Metal + Heavy Metal + Viking Metal | Iceland
Fortíð’s seventh full-length record Narkissos moves with the type of confidence one can only obtain from a 20-year legacy. It plays without a care for style or tonal consistency, instead being tied together by Fortíð’s identity. The result is an epic (occasionally, only subtlely, while sometimes very much so) album that oscillates between varying degrees of Viking reverence.
–Colin Dempsey
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Slidhr — White Hart! | Debemur Morti Productions | Black Metal | Iceland
Originally from Ireland and now based in Iceland, Slidhr take on many aspects of their current scene in order to propel their dynamic black metal forward. Slithering masses of guitar wrap around a vocal performance that is as powerful as it is varied, with Joseph Deegan’s voice operating in the depths throughout. White Hart! is a fascinating look at the heart of darkness.
–Cheryl Carter
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Arabrot — Of Darkness and Light | Pelagic Records | Noise Rock | Norway
The latest from these folk, rock, whatever weirdos is nothing short of uplifting—in the true religious music sense. Much like a solid hymn, the catchiness and authenticity of these songs will move you and make you want to listen again and again.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
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The Answer Lies In The Black Void — Thou Shalt | Burning World Records | Doom Metal | International
Comprised of Martina Horváth (Thy Catafalque) and Jason Köhnen (Celestial Season / ex-The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble), The Answer Lies In The Black Void play slow-burning, emotionally-taxing, and, occasionally, beautiful doom metal. The third aspect is all Horváth’s doing, as she commands the tracks with her nigh-holy vocals. Compositionally, The Answer Lies In The Black Void aren’t heavy in the traditional sense, but this works to their benefit. Their songs contain plenty of blank space and breathing room, granting Horváth the necessary freedom to flex her chops.
–Colin Dempsey
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Morag Tong — Grieve | Majestic Mountain Records | Stoner + Doom Metal | United Kingdom
From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “At First Light”:
Although their songs are monumental, they’re built from the ground up from engaging melodies and carefully plotted escalation. On their new album Grieve, the band funnels their toke-worthy riffs into vast, striking scenery that paints their sonic dominance into a picturesque landscape.
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Stygian Ruin — A World Past Hope and Fear | Independent | Black Metal + Ambient | Norway
Stygian Ruin paints extremely vivid portraits with a theoretically limited palette: black metal and ambient music. Each album conjures up wild thoughts of fantastical alien worlds, and this latest one is maybe their darkest and richest yet.
–Ted Nubel
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Torture Chain — The Reign of Deimos | Hospital Productions | Black Metal | United States
Torture Chain is the one-man black metal project of Brendan Radigan (Pagan Altar, Sumerlands, etc., etc.). It’s been four years since the last record, but honestly that’s impressively fast given everything else he’s been doing. Not necessarily old-school but neither a modern, sharpened production, this new record explores twisting corridors of whirling guitar leads with gleeful recklessness and a slight hint of scorn. There’s some haughty, imperious riffs here that pair nicely with Radigan’s refined snarl-growls.
–Ted Nubel
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Krieg — Ruiner | Profound Lore Records | Black Metal | United States (New Jersey)
Rejoice! The mighty Krieg is back, and their frontman Neill Jameson hasn’t written for us in just long enough that I can write about this release without feeling like it’s a conflict of interest. Ruiner is a record built from the bones up on sounding killer, particular scene sound-alikes and band name-drop comparisons be damned. The drums rip (that snare!), guitars and bass lock into abrasive harmony, and Jameson’s vocals ride atop them into furious battle. I’m positive some of IO’s writers could put this in more intelligent terms (but they’re not pulling together a two-week special edition of UMR past midnight, are they?!), but simply put, when I think about what I want to hear from black metal, that’s what Krieg delivers on Ruiner.
–Ted Nubel
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Sadistic Force — Midnight Assassin | Goat Throne Records | Black Metal + Speed Metal | United States (Texas)
You can practically smell the vibes on Sadistic Force’s second album from the cover alone. It’s grimy and low-rent, much like their scorching speed metal, with a tight focus on violence. There’s no blubber on Midnight Assassin–only riffs so lean you can see their veins.
–Colin Dempsey
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