Upcoming Metal Releases: 11/18/18 - 11/24/18
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Hello friends.
As Jon wrote last week, Upcoming Metal Releases (UMR) has been handed over to me. I’m both excited and nervous: I love new music (and I spend an inordinate amount of time listening to new music), but there are very high expectations for this column, and for good reason. We want this recurring Monday morning post to be The Place for the finest tunes in the underground (and aboveground) metal scene. It’s a delicate balance between curation, commentary, and conclusion — something Jon had nailed pretty much perfectly.
This means three things for me: 1) I will showcase unknown and hidden talent across the entire metal spectrum, 2) I will offer insight into why more renowned bands are successful with their latest releases, and 3) I will be critical of more renowned bands who fail to live up to their past work My aim is to be both broad and comprehensive.
I hope my three-pronged (like a trident!) approach offers you, our readers, the coverage you’re looking for when it comes to “what’s what” with new metal. The UMR will definitely continue to be a review column, but I plan on bringing in some new guest voices to break up my own monotony and offer varied insights into new music. Not much else will change — maybe some layout and formatting here and there — but in the meantime, feel free to leave you own feedback on the UMR in the comments section below. What do you want to see?
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Here are the new metal releases for the week of November 18th – November 24th, 2018. 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 coming Fridays unless otherwise noted, or if labels and artists get impatient.
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 to: [email protected]. Do not send us promo material via social media.
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ANTICIPATED RELEASES
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Corpsessed — Impetus of Death | Dark Descent Records | Death Metal | Finland
From Thomas’s premiere of “Forlorn Burial”:
Although [“Forlorn Burial”] begins and ends with a definite doom-metal feel, one can sense that the elements of doom on Impetus of Death – and “Forlorn Burial” in particular – are not intended to create the effect melancholy or sorrow but rather claustrophobia; as they compress and flatten out into slower, more malign creations, the effect is one of remarkably unsettling creepiness. These moments help to build towards the more immediately savage passages throughout the album and help to change up the record’s pacing, keeping listeners guessing with constant shifts in tone. The album’s eight tracks juggle deftly between death, black, and doom metal, but furthermore provide a perfect sonic balance of 1990’s throwback and modern innovation and panache.
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Chapel of Disease — …And As We Have Seen The Storm, We Have Embraced The Eye | Ván Records | Blackened Death Metal | Germany
Jon clued me into Chapel of Disease, and I’m goddamn glad he did. Their new album …And As We Have Seen The Storm, We Have Embraced The Eye has all the classic (and upbeat) metal riffing you could ask for, but structured on a blackened death metal framework. The vocals are what darken the mix: harsh, guttural, raspy. To put it one way, Chapel of Disease is as much for windmilling your hair as it is holding lighters in the air. The balance here is extraordinary, as you can hear on “Song of the Gods” — everything from the soft intro to the wild, climactic guitar solo tells you that Chapel of Disease are as much about impact as they are about mechanical proficiency. The element of fun in metal should never be forgotten. Chapel of Disease are dark, but fun as hell. Stay tuned for an exclusive premiere later this week!
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Unearth — Extinction(s) | Century Media | Metalcore | United States (Massachusetts)
Unearth is one of my favorite metalcore bands. Stay tuned later this morning for my video interview with frontman Trevor Phipps, plus coverage from their show two days ago in Joliet, Illinois. Unearth are on tour through December 1st. You definitely, definitely do not want to miss the show. In the meantime, check out their new (as of last week) music video for “One With The Sun.” The energy this band has after nearly two decades is showstopping, to say the least — in fact, they may be more energetic now than ever. This new album of theirs is second-in-line to The Oncoming Storm in my opinion (and the only reason I totally love that album is because I grew up with it — Unearth has retained their core essence on Extinction(s), but have also adopted a ton of wild new flair.)
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OF NOTE
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Clavicvla — Sermons | Sentient Ruin | Industrial, Ambient, Dark | Italy
From Michael Siebert’s premiere of “Ma”:
“Ma” is successful because it is all tension. Where other projects might use all this atmosphere as a build-up to something more musical, Clavicvla ends right when the mood is almost unbearable. It hints at something even darker on the horizon. The bones in the foreground of the album art are fitting, but it is the shadowy hills in the background, full of unknown terrors, that best represent Clavicvla’s place in the world of death industrial.
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In The Woods… — Cease the Day | Debemur Morti Productions | Black Metal, Progressive Rock | Norway
From Jon Rosenthal’s premiere of “Respect My Solitude” and interview with Anders Kobro:
In the Woods… has changed, but In the Woods… has always been a changeling. The legendary Norwegian — now Norwegian and English — avant-garde metal danced between a near confusingly wide array of genres, finding a new means of expression with each turn. Even in their first, pre-reunion era, no two albums were alike. HEart of the Ages bore little resemblance to Omnio, and the same for the follow up Strange in Stereo. Even with a stable lineup, In the Woods… threw out the rulebook and did… pretty much whatever they felt like. It worked, and their mark was left on metal.
However, no change was as dramatic as this. After the 2016 departure of the Botteri brothers, the newfound duo of James “Mr. Fog” Fogarty and final original member Anders Kobro were left with both the band’s legacy and future in their hands. Two years later, the band unleashes Cease the Day, one of their most brazen albums to date.
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Letheria — Death — Principle | Saturnal Records | Blackened Death Metal | Finland
Abrasive, winding death metal with blackened twists. Death — Principle definitely has an old-school vibe, but the atmosphere feels modern. This death metal is also well-paced: in a realm where speed seems to reign king, Letheria take their time with these songs (though they’re by no means overlong). Some doom even creeps in as things slow down. All this, plus the gnarly guitar tone, equals a well-rounded package.
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FOR THE ADVENTUROUS
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Echtra — BardO | Temple of Torturous | Experimental Black Metal | United States (Washington)
Two beautiful 20+ minute beasts of experimentation comprise BardO, and they take a long time to digest and absorb. Echtra requires patience (and the right mood, probably a moment of solemnity or regression), but delivers fantastically when the moment is right. This falls squarely under my personal category of “night music” — both dark and hypnotic, these two tracks undulate across wavelengths of rising and falling intensities, ever so cautiously and patiently. This isn’t depressing music per se, but definitely music for depression: in-depth, introspective, and contemplative.
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Huata — Lux Initiatrix Terrae | Seeing Red Records | Doom | France
Big doom. Big songs. Big movements. Big atmosphere. Big noise. Everything about Huata is big, and for good measure: doom is thematically about the grandioseness of the all-consuming void of despair. It can be beautiful, though, and in the case of Lux Initiatrix Terrae. The clean vocals add a polished touch, but the music itself is thick, heavy, and bass-driven. To be honest, this album wasn’t originally on my radar, but it sure as hell now is.
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OTHER RELEASES
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Cattle Decapitation — Medium Rarities | Metal Blade | Death Metal | United States (California)
Cattle Decapitation fans, rejoice. This compilation includes: six previously unreleased demos which date from before Human Jerky (1999), the bonus track from To Serve Man (2002) “Rotting Children For Remote Viewing,” six songs from the 2005 split with Caninus, and more. This band is a staple, and nothing additional need be said, except that that album art is as fitting as ever for Cattle Decapitation.
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Stryvigor — Шлях завдовжки у нескінченність (Lifelong Journey) | Northern Silence | Atmospheric Black Metal | Ukraine
Pretty excellent atmospheric black metal. Both Jon and I agree on this one. The music (and vocals) are especially impassioned — this type of black metal is easy to digest, but hits home pretty hard.
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Type O Negative — Bloody Kisses [Reissue] | Roadrunner, Run Out Groove | Gothic Metal | United States (New York)
It’s the 25th anniversary of this album, and a really high-quality reissue has been set for Black Friday Record Store Day — details here. This hasn’t been pressed on vinyl in almost two decades, so definitely worth a look-see.
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