New Metal Releases: 2/11/2024-2/17/2024
Here are all the new releases for February 11th through February 17th. 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 2/11-2/17
Pestilength — Solar Clorex | Debemur Morti Productions | Death Metal | Spain (Basque Country)
That this misery-compiling Basque duo went toe to toe with the mighty Reverence to Paroxysm on a 2020 split and emerged relatively unscathed should tell you plenty about the mettle of their gruesomely pugnacious fare. Ignore the album title that reads like a brand of zesty-fresh detergent and yield to the mind-flaying “corrosive death metal” swinging lower than a boss-eyed pugilist.
–Spencer Grady
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Witchorious — Witchorious | Argonauta Records | Doom Metal | France (Paris)
Although Witchorious centered their songs around riffs for their debut album, they’re not what oozes character. Rather than the riffs carrying the show, they received the least amount of thought compared to the explosive drumming, lo-fi horror movie vibe, and the haunted vocals that oscillate between nasally and grumbling. That’s saying something, considering the riffs are quite good.
–Colin Dempsey
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Praise the Plague — Suffocating In The Current Of Time | Lifeforce Records | Atmospheric Black Metal + Sludge Metal | Germany (Berlin)
Praise the Plague either sound like a gruff black metal band or a shrill sludge metal band, depending on which part of a track you’re hearing at a given time. The transitions between these two phases feel natural, likely because it doesn’t seem as if they’re trying to force them together into a turgid, bloated mess with corpse paint and a construction vest. They let each style exist by itself with the appeal laying in how they balance both over a track’s runtime.
–Colin Dempsey
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Cercenatory — GoreSphere | Comatose Music | Brutal Death Metal | United States (North Carolina)
Feel free to judge this record by its cover. Unless you’re expecting rainbows and major chords, your assumption is at least close to what’s offered. Cercenatory’s slam-y brutal death metal is absurdly over the top in every way, and proudly so. (To wit: part of the liner notes read, “NO FUCKING VOCAL EFFECTS!!”) Naturally, the lyrics are as gleefully obscene as any in extreme music—e.g., “Cumming on the surface of the brain / Wet odor of rotten souls, brain fluids.” There are no surprises here, and that’s a good thing.
–Steve Lampiris
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Eternal Storm — A Giant Bound to Fall | Transcending Obscurity Records | Melodic Death Metal + Progressive Death Metal | Spain (Madrid)
On their superb second album, the Madrid-based progressive melo-death outfit fulfills the promise of 2019’s excellent Come the Tide: namely, they’re filling the void left by Opeth’s disappearance into prog-rock. Here, Eternal Storm sharpen and expand their songwriting, meaning it’s more melodic—at times, pretty—and there’s more room for satisfying lead-work and mantra-esque singing. A Giant Bound to Fall, then, is confirmation of greatness.
–Steve Lampiris
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Ponte del Diavolo — Fire Blades From the Tomb | Season of Mist | Doom Metal + Black Metal | Italy (Turin)
The latest from this doom unit is a solidly Euro-doom sounding record featuring dual bass attack and lilting, beautiful vocals. The care and attention to detail on this album is real, and we can’t wait to hear what’s next from them.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
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Darkspace — Darkspace -II | Season of Mist | Atmospheric Black Metal | Switzerland (Bern)
This is the perfect record to throw on if you need to create and cultivate a meditative atmosphere. That is not at all a dismissal of the album, as it is also captivating and unique. It’s just a lot more easy listening than heavier works in the genre, though it still takes listeners on an epic journey that pushes the limits of trance-like extremity.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
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Ihsahn — Ihsahn | Candlelight Records | Progressive Metal + Symphonic | Norway
Ihsahn’s latest work is a set of sibling albums that form a narrative whole. One is a progressive metal affair while the other is symphonic. Both were conceived as scores that could complement and contrast one another. Not enough has been teased prior to release to determine how well that pans out, but fortunately the pre-release singles have been captivating and, at times, highly dramatic.
–Colin Dempsey
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Farsot — Life Promised Death | Lupus Lounge | Black Metal | Germany
From Colin Dempsey’s interview:
Life Promised Death is, instead, cloudy and morose. It asks for your attention not through ambiance but by slowly peeling itself back and laying its softer elements bare.
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