Upcoming Metal Releases: 10/24/2021-10/30/2021

Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of October 24th, 2021 to October 30th, 2021. 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.

Things We Missed

Autumn Nostalgie — Ataraxia | Northern Silence Productions | Post-Black Metal | Slovakia

The name Autumn Nostalgie conjures images of DSBM more than lush post-black metal with good production values and solid pacing, but fret not fall aficionados, Autumn Nostalgie bakes enough seclusion into his sunset-lit pastures to soundtrack your mid-afternoon brooding session.

–Colin Dempsey

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Upcoming Releases

Mastodon — Hushed and Grim | Reprise Records | Progressive Metal + Rock | United States (Atlanta, GA)

For a band as vital to the formative years of multiple generations of metalheads as Mastodon has been, every new, modern release (hell, every single) comes with massive scrutiny: that’s the problem with putting out four badass records in your first ten years of existence, I guess. Fun fact—the time elapsed from The Hunter to this new record is longer than the gap between their debut Remission and The Hunter. Even in what is now their third decade of existence, Hushed and Grim is still a marked step forward from familiar territory, even if all the trace elements can be found in the past. Multilayered, progressive, and cinematic—with less of a bite than the really early stuff, definitely—it’ll take some unraveling to grasp.

–Ted Nubel

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Archspire — Bleed the Future | Season of Mist | Technical Death Metal | Canada

Some death metal strikes on an epistemic level, some embellishes blues to its logical, overemphasized conclusion, and some is equivalent to taking a blow torch to your brain. Give “Drone Corpse Aviator” ten seconds and you’ll learn which camp Archspire slot themselves into.

–Colin Dempsey

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Sunless — Ylem | Willowtip Records | Technical Death Metal | United States (Minnesota)

Sunless play uncomfortable death metal with guitars that poke like a dull surgeon’s knife, crusted bass tones, and rhythms informed by mysticism rather than technicality. In short, they play the best death metal.

–Colin Dempsey

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Monolord — Your Time to Shine | Relapse Records | Doom + Stoner Metal | Sweden

Monolord has always seemed to be a special kind of heavy: their emotionally-charged approach to bludgeoning stoner-doom makes the massive riffs, fuzzy textures, and copious guitar overdubs connect on a deeper level.

–Ted Nubel

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Lucifer — Lucifer IV | Century Media Records | Heavy + Doom Metal + Rock | International

Very few bands execute the classic-rock-meets-classic-doom throwback as well as Lucifer does—and I’m extremely thankful they’ve made it to album number four with no signs of attempting to shoehorn in unnecessary post-punk or gothic rock elements, diverge into krautrock, or generally stray away from their signature sound. Look, all that stuff is great, but Lucifer are masters of this particular sound and rightfully dominate it. On IV, they’ve kept their key formula, but pushed their atmosphere and songwriting to another level.

–Ted Nubel

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Be’lakor — Coherence | Napalm Records | Melodic Death Metal | Australia

Punchy production and in-your-face growls add extra bite to the band’s riff-focused melodic death metal, which is built from astoundingly complex layers of riffs, synthesizers, and percussion.

–Ted Nubel

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Running Wild — Blood on Blood | SPV/Steamhammer | Heavy + Power + Speed Metal | Germany

Hey, more Running Wild is never a bad thing. If you like power metal and pirates, you’ll be on board with this, even if it’s not quite as energetic and memorable as their classic works.

–Ted Nubel

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Jerry Cantrell — Brighten | Warner Bros. Records | Hard Rock | United States

It’s strange calling Cantrell’s vocals soothing, but that speaks to his enduring talent. His first album in nearly two decades boasts a stacked roster of guests including Gil Sharone, Greg Puciato, and Duff McKagan. It operates in a dusty yet pleasing area of dad-rock; imagine Dirt but with 30 years of hindsight.

–Colin Dempsey

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Death SS — Ten | Lucifer Rising Records | Heavy + Doom + Power Metal | Italy

Like many others, I suspect, I discovered Death SS by means of their very early works and then, advancing up their discography, checked out right around Panic. I generally hold that as a viable strategy for Death SS consumption, but, as much as this new record really felt like making the kick drum the star of the show, the material does have some links back to the past — if you’re an early-works-only listener as well, it’s worth hearing where they’ve landed so many years later. I mean, yeah, the aesthetic is, er, over the top, but wasn’t it always?

–Ted Nubel

(NSFW) music video for “Zora” available on YouTube.

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Count Raven — The Sixth Storm | I Hate Records | Doom Metal | Sweden

Count Raven returns after 11 years with their sixth album, and their aptitude for classic Maryland-esque (though, they’re from Sweden) doom remains unchanged. It’s also rather long (73 minutes) but thanks to Iron Maiden dropping an absurdly long record this year, everyone gets a pass on that.

–Ted Nubel

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Canyyn — Canyyn | Independent | Doom + Stoner Rock | United States (Chicago, IL)

From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “In Deep Water”:

Now, stoner rock indulging in blues and heavy metal at the same time isn’t a new concept, but it’s usually not this seamless: where the heavy metal on Canyyn ends and the heartfelt blues begins is hard to say, because both imbue the other. Drawn-out, minimalist licks hit with the impact of fully-revved-up amplifiers and pounding drums, while even the quickest, meanest riff on the album comes wrapped in warm tones that eagerly invite repeated listens.

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Kayo Dot — Moss Grew on the Swords and Plowshares Alike | Prophecy Productions | Avant-Garde Metal + Progressive Rock | United States

Toby Driver resides as an artist whose ideas are at the very least interesting, regardless of their quality. That alone makes Moss Grew on the Swords and Plowshares Alike worth spinning as Kayo Dot continue down the progressive rock path Blasphemy previously tread.

–Colin Dempsey

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Mortal Vision — Mind Manipulation | Redefining Darkness Records | Thrash Metal | Ukraine

From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “Apophenia”:

Essentially, it’s all a story of cohesion: every element of the band works together, not just serving as a vanity vehicle for guitar playing. Even the moments when the guitars let the bass shine are tremendous, and the neat little bits of lead work on the record are designed as a coherent complement to the meat-and-potatoes side of the record. As a shining (or more accurately, blood-stained and filthy) example of throwback thrash’s potential, Mind Manipulation is set to be one of this month’s most crucial thrash listens.

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Goat Torment — Forked Tongues | Season of Mist | Black Metal | Belgium

Broadly speaking, Belgium isn’t a known hotbed for heavy metal, and especially not for black metal. But strange currents run within the country—Goat Torment’s clean and groovy craftsmanship differentiates them from their genre peers.

–Colin Dempsey

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