Upcoming Metal Releases: 2/13/2022-2/19/2022
Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of February 13th 2022 to February 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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Upcoming Releases
Immolation — Acts of God | Nuclear Blast | Death Metal | United States (New York)
The New York death metal titans continue their undefeated streak on Acts of God. It’s remarkable that their formula still reaps such high rewards despite little variance between albums. Nevertheless, they sound as fresh as they ever have over the past 30 years.
–Colin Dempsey
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The Neptune Power Federation — Le Demon De L’Amour | Cruz del Sur Music | Hard Rock + Psychedelic Rock | Australia
The Neptune Power Federation look to reclaim the love song on their fifth album. They fill their quiver with fuzzy riffs and shoot romantic arrows in a style that’s much tamer than their aesthetic would lead one to believe.
–Colin Dempsey
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Urushiol — Pools of Green Fire | Independent | Experimental Death Metal | United States
Delirious, bordering-on-impossible death metal from Yellow Eyes bassist Alexander DeMaria — though the production is murky and appropriately hallucinogenic, the insane paths the riffs carve through the gelatinous mess are supremely fascinating.
–Ted Nubel
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White Tower — White Tower | Alone Records | Heavy Metal | Greece
The Udo-like vocals are a nice, authentic touch on this unrepentantly old-school metal offering focusing on super-tight riffs and guitar heroics.
–Ted Nubel
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Archvile King — À la ruine | Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions | Black + Thrash Metal | France
An intricately melodic spin on black/thrash metal — and not just in the leads, but in how the riffs spiral and twist around the pummeling drums.
–Ted Nubel
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Glyph — Remind Us of the Sun | WereGnome Records | Black Metal | Black Metal
WereGnome Records usually makes it onto Invisible Oranges via our niche, but awesome dungeon synth digest, but here’s a proper black metal release from them. Distant screams filter into Remind Us of the Sun like rays of sun passing through decrepit stained glass, adding an ambient terror to the malevolent riffs within.
–Ted Nubel
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Hydra — Beyond Life and Death | Piranha Music | Stoner + Doom Metal | Poland
Adventurous stoner metal not content to sit in one tedious bucket or another, instead spanning everything from crushing bongs-in-the-air slow stomps to up-tempo heavy-metal-laced rockers.
–Ted Nubel
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Kluizenaer — Ein Abbild Der Leere | Wolves of Hades + Breath Sun Bone Blood| Atmospheric Black Metal | Germany
From Colin Dempsey’s track premiere of “Verewigung”:
The 11-minute track opens Kluizenaer’s latest record with an incantation. The German black metal trio run through several spine-shivering segments of modulating frequencies. Their escapades threaten to derail the song’s cloaked atmosphere but in actuality they work to the track’s advantage. The ambient introduction gives way to lashing black metal stanzas wherein F.’s shrieks plummet into the mix. Kluizenaer don’t rest there, though: they assault, grovel, and ponder throughout the remainder of “Verewigung” while shackled to their conjured atmosphere.
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MÆNTRA — Kundalini Rising | Independent | Brutal Death Metal + Industrial Metal | United States (California)
MÆNTRA are too wild to be described as meditative – unless you can find peace in utter torment – but their aesthetic concerns healing through attaining self-knowledge. It’s not what you’d expect from a spiritual uplifting album but there is a sort of remedial clarity in Kundalini Rising.
–Colin Dempsey
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Lord Agheros — Koinè | My Kingdom Music | Atmospheric Black Metal | Italy
Lord Agheros lists Ulver, the Hellenistic Age, and early atmospheric black metal as inspirations for Koinè and synthesizes them into exactly what you’d expect. It’s melodramatic and turbulent with a good dash of Mediterranean seasoning.
–Colin Dempsey
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Disconnect — Useful Ruins | Independent | Black Metal + Death Metal + Industrial Metal | United Kingdom (Belfast)
Disconnect’s new EP is the opposite of up-close-and-personal. Plenty of albums have reflected COVID-19-induced boredom but Disconnect go a step beyond reflection. Their new collection of distant and toiling tracks invert the doldrum of recording during the pandemic.
–Colin Dempsey
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Sirens Bay — In the Shadow of the Lighthouse |Independent | Black Metal + Post Rock | Italy
In the Shadow of the Lighthouse is magical in the sense that there’s something otherworldly about it beyond its concept. It could be the strings that tie the songs to the sea, or it could be the way the riffs mimic the waves lapping against the shore. It has a nautical mis-en-place befitting its story.
–Colin Dempsey
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Lunar Blood — Twilight Insurgency | Pulverised Records | Death Metal | United States (New Jersey)
Lunar Blood’s debut album is an HM-2-loving, cop-hating, sunless, and politically pointed affair. It’s as tight as you could want an album of this sort to be.
–Colin Dempsey
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Kato — Conflagration | Independent | Black Metal | United States
“Burn” has a very unusual introduction compared to the sneering black metal that follows, but the dramatic buildup and ensuing destruction (and weird synths) are a good illustration of how Kato mixes black metal’s primordial rage with other, stranger mediums.
–Ted Nubel
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Masakre — Morbid Extinction | Pulverised Records | Death Metal + Crust | Indonesia
Masakre (whose spelling smartly avoids conflicting with about 15 other bands) wield their death metal with a bloody iron fist, smashing chainsaw riffs into your face in gleeful excess while barked vocals echo out in the background.
–Ted Nubel
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Morgued — Terrorformed | Life After Death | Death Metal | United States (Boston, MA)
Packing some of the wilder album art I’ve seen this year and delightfully gruesome production, Terrorformed is a gross, snarling mass of death metal to be enjoyed with as few brain cells involved as possible.
–Ted Nubel
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Pyrrhic Salvation — Manifestum I | Independent | Technical Death Metal | United States (Richmond, VA)
From Colin Dempsey’s full album premiere:
Pyrrhic Salvation succeed in spite of their recording situation, and the trio’s internet-only status provides the EP other notable features. For example, the mixing is rough around the edges, with the drums sounding rawer than guitars. Yet Pyrrhic Salvation optimize this contrast to highlight the technical guitar lines, and the drums connect them back to death metal’s muddy roots. Furthermore, the uneven production allows Pyrrhic Salvation to distance themselves in a dehumanizing manner. It fosters unpredictability, which the group adds to with their stylistic versatility.
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Pure Wrath — Hymn to the Woeful Hearts | Debemur Morti Productions | Atmospheric Black Metal | Indonesia
Triumphant and melodic black metal, full of invigorating (if not exactly uplifting) lead guitar work to contrast the gnarly vocals and excoriating pace.
–Ted Nubel
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Sickbay — Brutal Existence | Redefining Darkness Records | Death Metal + Hardcore | United States
Sometimes, death metal bands insert a little bit of hardcore and slam to add some extra dimension and live energy into their music. Sickbay, in contrast, tosses in so much slam that it’s like the lid on the “slam” shaker was unscrewed. Their gluttonous excess is in top form on this Brutal Existence EP, which is chock-full of breakdowns so jubilantly anti-cerebral that you probably shouldn’t operate heavy machinery while listening to this.
–Ted Nubel
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