New Metal Releases: 11/06/2022-11/19/2022
Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the weeks of November 6th, 2022 to November 19th, 2022. 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.
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New Releases
Week of November 6th
Spider God — Fly in the Trap | Repose Records | Melodic Black Metal | United Kingdom
For their debut LP, Spider God has composed a concept album about the mysterious death of Elisa Lam, who was found at the bottom of a rooftop water tank in 2013. Fly in the Trap is as fiercely catchy as it is morbidly fascinating, with irresistible hooks that punctuate every development in the album’s twisted narrative.
–Alex Chan
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Snipers of Babel — Gabriel | Horror Pain Gore Death Productions | Death Metal | United States (Washington, D.C.)
From Addison Herron-Wheeler’s full album premiere:
The band’s debut record solidifies them in the scene as a proggy addition to the groovy death metal genre that is currently popping off. […] Let the groovy prog take you away and carry you through on this chilly week.
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Night Lord — Death Doesn’t Wait | Ossuary Records | Heavy + Speed Metal | Poland
Each song on this record seems custom-built to get people moving–it’s late at night when I’m writing this blurb, and I have the strangest urge to go start a circle-pit somewhere in my house. Highly creative riffing and unstoppable momentum make this one an easy recommendation.
–Ted Nubel
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Lamentations — Passion of Depression | Willowtip Records | Progressive Death Metal | Singapore + United States
Fans of proggy death metal with classic influence and modern style should take note of the latest from Lamentations, out now via Willowtip. Passion of Depression is loud, despairing, and musically savvy.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
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Kampfar — Til Klovers Takt | Indie Recordings | Black Metal | Norway
From Kelley Simms’s interview:
Featuring vocalist Dolk, guitarist Ole Hartvigsen, bassist Jon Bakker, and drummer Ask, Kampfar has forged a strong history. On its ninth full-length album Til klovers takt, the band has created another captivating musical journey that stands poignantly alongside their back catalog.
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Incursion — Blinding Force | No Remorse Records | Heavy Metal | United States (Nashville, TN)
After dropping a demo in 1984, Incursion wouldn’t be heard from again until 2020 with The Hunter EP–and that was just a precursor for their debut LP Blinding Force. Focusing on energetic mid-tempo riffs and belligerent heavy metal, Blinding Force feels like a record from metal’s heyday that just, uh, took about 40 years to make its way to the world.
–Ted Nubel
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Fell Ruin — Cast in Oil the Dressed Wrought | Death Psalm | Black + Doom Metal | United States (Detroit, MI)
From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “Stain the Field”:
Will the apocalypse have riffs? Fell Ruin certainly seems to think so. While their upcoming album Cast in Oil The Dressed Wrought doesn’t concern itself lyrically with the world ending (or at least, going off of what little I can glean from their cryptic lyrics), the band’s twisted mix of black, death, and doom metal still assails the senses like a planet set aflame: it veritably reeks of sulfur, and it’s hard not to imagine a hazy shade of red while buffeted by acrid guitars and moody synths that issue forth. Whatever’s going on in Fell Ruin’s world, it’s certainly not auspicious.
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Encryptment — Dödens födsel | Nuclear Winter Records | Death Metal + Grindcore + Crust | Sweden
It’s right off into the maelstrom with this record: there’s no intro track to ease your weak flesh into the impressively dense Swedish death metal barrage that follows. Look, sometimes you just have to throw yourself off the stairs into a horde of feasting demons. Them’s the rules.
–Ted Nubel
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Drowse — Wane Into It | The Flenser | Experimental + Post-Metal | United States (Portland, OR)
If you’re looking for an experimental, post-metal take on the softer, more introspective side of music, the latest from solo project Drowse, Wane Into It is one of the more solid offerings so far this year. This is the perfect record to help ease you into the colder season of hibernation.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
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Dream Unending — Song of Salvation | 20 Buck Spin | Atmospheric Doom + Death Metal | United States + Canada
Sitting at the crossroads of lush psychedelia and crushing death doom, Song of Salvation is poised to be one of the most beautiful heavy releases of the year. Derrick Vella’s guitarwork lights up the night sky like the aurora borealis while tectonic plates rumble and subduct beneath the sheer weight of Justin Detorre’s thunderous drums and vocals. Add in some surprising guest appearances (e.g. Leila from Vastum…on trumpet?!), and you’ve got an album that expands on Dream Unending’s already lofty and majestic sound.
–Alex Chan
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Doomocracy — Unorthodox | No Remorse Records | Epic Doom Metal | Greece
Exceptionally polished epic doom metal with tons of acrobatic riffing and progressive flourishes behind their immensely theatrical doom.
–Ted Nubel
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Destroyer of Light — Panic | Independent | Doom Metal | Austin, TX
From Ted Nubel’s full album premiere:
A steady hum, a low-slung guitar riff, and hi-hats counting down to the inevitable cavalcade of thunderous drums: Destroyer of Light’s new album Panic starts in the old familiar way. The Austin melodic doom band experiments significantly with how to achieve true heaviness on their new album, but every moment feels tailored toward the timeless quest of bringing life into a dark room full of beer and denim.
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Black Spell — Season of the Damned | Regain Records | Psychedelic Doom Metal | Italy
Drugged-up doom metal with a punky attitude: put this one on for fuzzy Satanic madness.
–Ted Nubel
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Ayyur — Hidden Rooms Sessions I | Xenoglossy Records | Black Metal | Tunisia
From Colin Williams’s full album premiere:
Ayyur uses spare instrumental folk passages and sections of doomy black metal to paint nocturnal scenes suffused with loss and longing.
[…] Beginning with the sorrowful “They Learned to Suffer in Silence,” the EP—the first in a planned trilogy—meanders through gauzy synth landscapes and windswept guitar passages. The songs’ titles paint a picture of stoic suffering, of historic wrongs borne patiently over centuries.
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The Mountain King — Collateralus | Independent | Doom + Drone + Electronic | Germany
Not one to stick with a particular sound, The Mountain King’s latest album is a mixture of doom and drone metal and… techno? It works better than you might think, hypnotically sublimating into your subconscious.
–Ted Nubel
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Feminizer — Feminizer | Independent | Depressive Black Metal | United States (Seattle, WA)
Full of mournful piano leads and looming synthesizers, Feminizer’s debut LP shrouds aggrieved, doomy black metal in a mesmerizing cloud.
–Ted Nubel
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Week of November 12th-18th
Candlemass — Sweet Evil Sun | Napalm Records | Epic Doom Metal | Sweden
Did y’all see that Loudersound feature where they asked Leif Edling for his picks for the 10 heaviest riffs of all time, and he gave them all Black Sabbath songs? Classic, even if the Tony Martin era erasure was uncalled for.
Anyway, yeah, new Candlemass! Lots of great riffs here, and the band’s songwriting continues to leave plenty of room for these riffs to breathe, with vocals having their own time to shine.
–Ted Nubel
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Witchhunter — Metal Dream | Dying Victims Productions | Heavy + Speed Metal | Italy
The first thing you’ll notice about this record is that the vocals are surprisingly good. That, plus poignant, dramatic riffs gives Witchunter an emotional edge over many lesser acts–plus, there’s nods to 1970s/80s prog that are just incredibly fun.
–Ted Nubel
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Witchfinder — Forgotten Mansion | Mrs Red Sound | Stoner + Doom + Sludge Metal | France
We had an EP from these French doomsters earlier this year, and they’re back with a full-length full of more occult, horror-tinted doom metal.
–Ted Nubel
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Rise to the Sky — Stay with Me When You’re Gone | Independent | Atmospheric Doom + Death Metal | Chile
I have historically failed the “don’t cry when listening to Rise to the Sky” challenge. Still no luck there.
Despite turning out four albums in two years, Rise to the Sky has an excellent grasp on their genre, and seems not so much interested in innovating musically as they are in capturing the utmost depths of sorrow and longing theoretically possible.
–Ted Nubel
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Scars of the Flesh — In Darkness Alone | Bonespill Recordings | Progressive Death Metal | United States (San Antonio, TX)
From Kelley Simms’s interview:
However, due to the global pandemic, the band’s progress was halted for the past two and a half years. Finally, the band’s third album In Darkness Alone will see the light of day. Consisting of five original tracks and four stellar cover songs, the band has created a dark blend of atmosphere, melody and aggression.
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Cryptae — Capsule | Sentient Ruin | Death + Doom Metal | Netherlands
From Jon Rosenthal’s track premiere of “Salt”:
On “Salt,” the duo of guitarist Kees Peerdeman and prolific drummer René Aquarius (Dead Neanderthals, Plague Organ et al) embrace their love of ’80s synthesizer music (primarily the Berlin School) in conjunction with their most traditional death metal to date. The result is dizzying, almost too much for me to handle before my morning coffee, but enthralling all the same.
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Critical Extravasation — Order of Decadence | Redefining Darkness Records | Technical Death + Thrash Metal | Russia
From Colin Dempsey’s track premiere of “Redeeming Flames”:
Critical Extravasation operate with reverence for their craft as if they’re discovering how much was left on the cutting room floor from death metal’s earliest days. They have a sharper, thinner sound that expands upon the genre’s origins using moody interludes. Beyond that, there’s a modesty to “Redeeming Flames” wherein the track forgoes overindulgence–both musically and theatrically–for fundamentals. It’s still a romp to listen to but there’s no exaggerated performativity. It’s workmanlike rather than provocative, meaning that there’s little buy-in necessary. Its appeal–crystalline riffs and untethered energy–is as apparent as a hammer to the face.
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-(16)- — Into Dust | Relapse Records | Sludge Metal | United States (Los Angeles, CA)
-(16)-‘s new record is bafflingly catchy, a trait entirely at odds with their bizarre experimental approach to sludge metal that never really finds them standing still. Truly, the only constant (and the element keeping them away from the mainstream) is the snarling, pessimistic riffs: they’re mean ones, folks, and they’re plentiful.
–Ted Nubel
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Griefbringer — The Horrible Wilting | Church of Crow Records | Doom + Sludge Metal | Italy
From Ted Nubel’s full album premiere:
The Horrible Wilting displays a refreshing willingness to be uncomfortable. Griefbringer has an aptitude for picking riff tonalities and vocal approaches that, rather than just being heavy or fitting doom and sludge metal archetypes, fundamentally feel off-putting. Of course, this being metal, that’s a good thing–and this is something Italian doom metal has long excelled at, so it’s nice to see that legacy carried on.
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