Upcoming Metal Releases: 1/30/2022-2/5/2022

Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of January 30th 2022 to February 5th, 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.

Send us your promos (streaming links preferred) to: [email protected]. Do not send us promo material via social media.

Upcoming Releases

Venom Prison — Erebos | Century Media | Death Metal + Hardcore | United Kingdom

Venom Prison is one of those bands where genre labels seem like a futile, inadequate attempt at categorization, but they’re an acceptable starting point: while they’ve held on to their devastating death metal and hardcore underpinnings here, Erebos is emotionally charged and sometimes even fragile, full of wild exploration that goes a bit beyond what we’ve heard before from the band.

–Ted Nubel

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Saxon — Carpe Diem | Silver Lining Music | Heavy Metal | United Kingdom

This is now Saxon’s twenty-third album, and frankly, the fact that they’re still able to write new songs without accidentally just covering old ones deserves significant respect on its own. With a staunchly consistent lineup as well, Saxon’s commitment to heavy metal is evident, and—fortunately, or else I’d be unsure what else to say here—album number 23 is pretty good. Biff Byford’s vocals still rip it up, and the band knows how to write a riff that hits hard and then gift-wrap it in gleaming steel for our eager consumption.

–Ted Nubel

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Abysmal Dawn — Nightmare Frontier | Season of Mist | Death Metal | United States (Los Angeles, CA)

After five straight full-lengths since their first demo, an EP release is a nice change of pace for the band, offering a slightly shorter-form demonstration of their riff-packed, malicious death metal.

–Ted Nubel

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Krvvla — X | Brucia Records | Post-Black Metal | Belarus

Krvvla’s twisted offerings are disconnected from reality. They are voids to tumble down as opposed to creations forged by human hands. They are blunt, repetitive, and all-encompassing.

–Colin Dempsey

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Persefone — Metanoia | Napalm Records | Progressive Metal + Melodic Death Metal | Andorra

Persefone overload the senses to the point that one wonders whether it’s possible to overdose on dopamine. The group keeps their ambitions large even in tight contexts like “Katabasis,” a five-minute track that plays like an entire album’s highlight reel.

–Colin Dempsey

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Seremonia — Neonlusifer | Svart Records | Psychedelic Rock + Doom Metal | Finland

Neonlusifer is, quite possibly, one of the druggiest-sounding psychedelic doom records I’ve ever heard. Sometimes you only get a vague indication that there was probably at least weed involved—but here, I’m not ruling anything out. If you’re a psych-rock purist lamenting the lack of true psych rock influences in doom metal, get on this.

–Ted Nubel

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Thorn — Yawning Depths | Chaos Records | Death + Doom Metal | United States (Phoenix, AZ)

A new, mutilating chapter in Thorn’s abominable tale—we’ve got an interview about the new record coming tomorrow.

–Ted Nubel

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Skinliv / Vermisst — Split | Nebular Carcoma | Black Metal | Denmark + Poland

From Jon Rosenthal’s full album premiere:

Denmark’s Skinliv (which I believe is tangentially related to the prolific Korpsånd circle) and Poland’s Vermisst both operate in a similar sphere; both bands compose ethereal takes on black metal, often relying on keyboards to “fill in the cracks” where guitars, vocals, drums, and bass might not quite reach. This doesn’t make them symphonic, though, just to be clear, as both acts operate on a subtler level than their VST-laden cousins–both Vermisst and Skinliv look towards atmosphere as a primary, often doubled with some sort of aggression, be it a riff-after-riff onslaught or a sinister melody which sneaks its way through to the surface.

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Trauma Field — From Wounded Soil | Independent | Melodic Doom + Death Metal | Finland

Trauma Field’s melodic death-doom ventures beyond the sad and gothic realms the genre usually explores, instead opting for a majestic triumphant atmosphere that occasionally gives way to sorrow.

–Ted Nubel

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Bevar Sea — The Timeless Zone | Metal Assault Records | Heavy + Stoner + Doom Metal | India

Bevar Sea’s newest album is a curious mix of groove-focused stoner doom and burly heavy metal: one one hand, it packs majestic riffs and leads, but it’s also teeming with swampy chugs and raspy vocals. This is one of those two-great-tastes scenarios, but also a look at how there’s still ways to toy with the boundaries between subgenres.

–Ted Nubel

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Cryptivore — Celestial Extinction | Bitter Loss Records | Death Metal +Grindcore | Australia

Celestial Extinction got its filthy, rotting hooks into me within seconds—it is not a record at all concerned with easing the listener in or wasting time, instead tossing you into a HM-2-fueled maelstrom of twisting riffs and perception-shifting grooves.

–Ted Nubel

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Seid — Svartr sól | Independent | Black Metal | Sweden

Viking-themed black metal that’s suited for long trips down a fjord. Seid turn gallivanting rhythms into the backdrop for existential questions about warfare.

–Colin Dempsey

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Dorchadas — Uisge | Independent | Black Metal | United Kingdom (Scotland)

Rainy and dolorously-paced black metal from Scotland that sets out a convincing, sad ‘n’ cozy atmosphere, and then knocks out some catchy riffs within it.

–Ted Nubel

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Obsidian Sea — Pathos | Ripple Music | Doom Metal | Bulgaria

Obsidian Sea takes a sort of proto-prog approach to stoner/doom, never shy about inserting vocal harmonies and dazzling guitar antics in-between cowbell-driven grooves. If you theoretically dig stoner/doom metal, but dread stereotypical conformity, there’s nothing to fear here.

–Ted Nubel

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Golgothan — Leech | Lacerated Enemy Records | Death Metal | United States (Louisiana)

Golgothan takes tidbits from brutal death metal without going knee-deep into unintelligible swamps. It’s still a bloody mess, thankfully, with earworm grooves and touches of 90s death metal.

–Colin Dempsey

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Sphinx — Deathstroke | Diabolic Might Records | Thrash Metal | Germany

This is a throwback to when thrash metal was synonymous with violence. Sphinx has the same vivacity as their Teutonic thrash ancestors and the stonefaced dedication to keep it dangerous.

–Colin Dempsey

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Genophobic Perversion — Conversationalist | Independent | Noise + Goregrind + Sludge Metal | United States (Massachusetts)

Buried beneath all the ways Genophobic Perversion challenge conventional good tastes (of which there are many, like the unforgiving drum production) are the revelatory moments when the cacophony lines up with itself. The incessant noise, subhuman vocals, and lacerating guitars align almost as a reward for surviving Conversationalist.

–Colin Dempsey

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Grimentity — DSM​-​5. The New Chapter | Independent | Death Metal + Grindcore | Belarus

Grimenity would be worthwhile for their muscular approach to deathgrind alone, but they’re also hilarious lyricists. Here’s an excerpt from “Psilocybin Recombination”:

Oh, how I love this sweet blend of smells,
Created by the harmony of dampness and rotting flesh!
The perfect flavor can only be accompanied by
2nd concert of Rachmaninov

–Colin Dempsey

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The Final Sleep — Vessels of Grief | Independent | Progressive Metal | United States (New York)

If three layers of guitars weren’t enough to satisfy you, you greedy pig, then how about three vocal layers? The Final Sleep use their trident philosophy to hit multiple registers simultaneously. It’s incredibly cohesive. Plus, there’s a punkish toughness hidden amongst their ranks that contrasts against the operatic choruses.

–Colin Dempsey

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Abhoria — Abhoria | Prosthetic Records | Black Metal | United States (Los Angeles, CA)

Abhoria flex their chops on this release, blending aggressive black metal with high-speed technical flourishes, but the primary goal isn’t showing off as much as it is ensuring absolute ruin. A mix of screams and brusque, almost-spoken-word growls accompany the instrumental maelstrom like harbingers of a coming end.

–Ted Nubel

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