Upcoming Metal Releases: 11/1/2021-11/6/2021

Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of November 1st, 2021 to November 6th, 2021 (looking for Halloween releases? Check here). 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.

Upcoming Releases

Mortiferum — Preserved In Torment | Profound Lore Records | Death Metal + Doom Metal | United States (Washington)

I’d hesistate to call most death metal “feel-good music,” but there’s something about Mortiferum’s chunkiness that makes it the auditory equivalent of comfort food — if you find comfort in filth.

–Colin Dempsey

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Gaahls Wyrd — The Humming Mountain | Season of Mist | Black + Heavy Metal | Norway

Gaahls Wyrd’s blend of black and heavy metal is, primarily, a combination aimed at producing the most righteous and unrestrained riffs imaginable, and it continues to achieve exactly that on this EP.

–Ted Nubel

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Altareth — Blood | Magnetic Eye Records | Stoner + Doom Metal | Sweden

Have you come to this Upcoming Releases column with a mind to worship at the altar of the almighty riff? Cease your pilgrimage here—Altareth’s long-awaited full-length debut arrives via Magnetic Eye a mere nine years after their founding. Big fuckin’ riffs and surprising depth await—oh, and that horn riff on “Satan Hole”? Amazing.

–Ted Nubel

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Diablo Swing Orchestra — Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole | Candlelight Records | ??? | Sweden

Is… is this progressive metal? Jazz metal? Groove metal? Is it a completely indecipherable fusion of all of the above? Probably the latter, if anything. The Swedish band seems to pride themselves on being as unpredictable as possible, which—I dunno, I dig a lot of this, but some elements (like the vocals) take me out of it. It’s definitely not going to be what everyone’s looking for, but if you’re in the mood for some self-aware chaos, it ought to fit the bill.

–Ted Nubel

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In Aphelion — Luciferian Age | Edged Circle Productions | Black Metal | Sweden + Netherlands

From Brandon Corsair’s track premiere of “Luciferian Age”:

Backed by a songwriting history that goes all the way back to early demos at the start of the ‘90s, Luciferian Age is bold and well-conceptualized despite the age of the new band itself. Though the material itself is founded on the concepts of classic Swedish-styled black metal that’s been done before, the execution is near-flawless; mesmerizing repetition, catchy vocals, beautiful lead guitar, and big riffs carry the torch through the short playtime of the EP.

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Anomalie — Tranceformation | AOP Records | Post-Black Metal | Austria

I’m not the only one who looks at this album art and sees the Ghostbusters logo… right?

Anyway, Anomalie’s take on post-black metal skillfully whirls listeners through a voyage of trance-inducing (so the album title’s pun is forgiveable) black and post-metal that plunges into deep valleys of reflection and proggy spires alike.

–Ted Nubel

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Heads for the Dead — Slash ‘n’ Roll | Transcending Obscurity Records | Death Metal | International

If there was ever a release that should have been out on Halloween, it would be this one—but it’s out the Friday after, so close enough! The band’s horror-fixated death metal is, like the album title implies, pretty closely aligned with rock ‘n’ roll at the same time, adding haunting synths and delighting in creepy-crawly slow grooves in-between the death metal main course (plus, there’s Misfits and Ramones covers at the end).

–Ted Nubel

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Mother Iron Horse — Under the Blood Moon | Ripple Music | Stoner + Sludge Metal | United States (Salem, MA)

From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “The Devil’s Work”:

As the galloping introduction to the album, “The Devil’s Work,” hits its stride, the unhinged stoner grooves on display come doused in enough abrasion and noise to raise the hairs on the back of the neck. It’s a racket fit to raise spirits, and presumably that’s the point. There’s chaos and danger here that more subtle or atmosphere-intensive approaches can’t capture nearly as well, and this unsettling element raises an important point: dealing with Hell is not for the meek.

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Bryan Eckermann — Plague Bringers | Independent | Melodic Death + Black Metal | United States

From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “Plague Bringers”:

Impressively varied and threading an intriguing narrative path, the over-the-top yet resolutely consistent Plague Bringers highlights some of the best parts of modern melodic black/death metal. This is a genre that absolutely thrives on theatricality and an understanding of how to make killer riffs fun, and here both these aspects come in majestic, malicious excess.

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Autokrator — Persecution | Krucyator Productions | Black + Death Metal | France

In keeping with Autokrator’s overall theme, Persecution suffocates and dominates, pressing down on the listener with a morose, militaristic black/death metal assault.

–Ted Nubel

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Mors Verum — The Living | Independent | Death Metal | International

Intricate and slightly murky death metal with unconventional but fully delightful riffing—there’s definitely some level of ‘progressiveness’ to this that feels modern, but it’s more heavily rooted in the genre’s swampy past.

–Ted Nubel

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Nequient — Collective Punishment | Nefarious Industries | Death Metal + Crust + Hardcore | United States (Chicago, IL)

Twisting grind, crust, death metal, and hardcore into a lethal, bespoke implement, Nequient’s versatile, ever-angry assault makes them a staple of Chicago’s local live scene and a great choice for anyone needing an excuse to punch a hole in drywall. This brief EP packs two studio tracks and two live tracks, demonstrating Nequient’s on-album chops and how that brutally translates to a live show.

–Ted Nubel

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Rongeur — Glacier Tongue | Fysisk Format | Sludge + Post-Metal | Norway (Oslo)

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

Through stoically unwavering sludge, the Norwegian act Rongeur takes listeners within their own selves, assessing this painful chasm and following it all the way down. Enormously impactful without overcomplicated orchestration, each note on the band’s latest single from their upcoming album Glacier Tongue strikes deep, tracing out details of our perceived failings and getting to the root of it all.

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Mystras — Empires Vanquished And Dismantled | I, Voidhanger Records | Black Metal | Greece

Epic black metal that expands with aplomb while retaining a pleasing lo-fidelity timbre. Mystras carry a victorious tone throughout their compositions that is as rousing as a bard performing at a king’s behest.

–Colin Dempsey

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Møl — Diorama | Independent | Post-Black Metal | Denmark

It appears Møl is dropping one of 2021’s most interesting post-black metal albums as they fuse equal parts shimmering guitar and cutting tones with an infectious bounciness.

–Colin Dempsey

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Nordicwinter — Le dernier adieu | Pest Productions | Atmospheric Black Metal | Canada

Nordicwinter blanket overwhelming melancholy through a particularly dense production. It’s not light listening, especially given that the album is dedicated to Nordicwinter’s parents’ memory and the lyrics are all taken from French poems.

–Colin Dempsey

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Glassing — Twin Dream | Brutal Panda Records | Post-Black Metal + Doom Metal | United States (Texas)

We somehow missed including this album in the initial posting of this column this morning—now, a solemn warning: don’t repeat our mistake. Glassing disintegrate the lines between genres in the same way they trivialize reality. Hardly is music ever as emotive and mind-melting as Twin Dream.

–Colin Dempsey

From Colin’s track premiere of “Absolute Virtue”:

While the aforementioned genres may be the styles de-jour, and genre cross-pollination is hardly a novelty, Glassing find the commonalities between each in one streamlined pursuit. They don’t innovate so much as they investigate. None of the genres they pull from are optimistic per se, but they each express their solemnity differently. For example, post-rock’s solitude is miles away from black metal’s rejection of humanity. To tie these loose threads into a quilted noose, Glassing escalate affairs, binding “Absolute Virtue” with bombastic vigor.

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