shabti

Upcoming Metal Releases: 3/17/19 -- 3/23/19

shabti

Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of March 17th – March 23rd, 2019. Release reflect proposed North American scheduling, if available. Expect to see the bulk of these records on shelves or distros on Fridays unless otherwise noted.

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.

Surprise Releases + Ones We Missed Last Week

Body VoidYou Will Know The Fear You Forced Upon Us | Seeing Red Records | Crust, Doom | United States (California)

Body Void is back with their signature brand of abstract, crusty horror. These two nearly 20-minute behemoth songs are nearly unlistenable considering the sheer scope of their onslaught — but, as with a lot of heavy music, your patience will be duly rewarded. Body Void demonstrate excellence at this brand of claustrophobic, all-encompassing noise devastation. And despite the abstraction, there’s plenty of concrete to weigh you down: You Will Know The Fear You Forced Upon Us is heavy as fucking fuck, both in the emotional and traditional sense (and political sense, for that matter).

WoeA Violent Dread EP | Vendetta Records | Black Metal | United States (New York)

This NYC black metal outfit’s latest full-length Hope Attrition (2017) seemed to resonate well with listeners — luckily, the band has been working on new material as made evident with last Friday’s surprise release of the A Violent Dread EP. Tighter, leaner, meaner, and faster, Woe have stepped it up on all levels, and even though this is just a taste, it’s ultra-concentrated: riffs, drum passages, basslines, and vocals are all tightly interwoven here under the latest frameworks in modern black metal.

EnisumMoth’s Illusion | Avantgarde Music | Atmospheric Black Metal | Italy

Moth’s Illusion is Enisum’s sixth full-length (this Italian outfit started in 2006) and represents the latest iteration in their melodic, atmospheric, depressive sound. The year 2017’s Seasons of Desolation saw the band reaching for new emotional depths as well as beautiful moments of ascension and triumph. Moth’s Illusion continues that trend, deepening Enisum’s penchant for beautiful, softer passages augmenting the atmosphere-generating blasts.

Incandescensce Ascension | Return to Analog Records | Blackened Death Metal | Canada

This outfit features Philippe Boucher (Beyond Creation, Chthe’ilist) handling drums, guitar, and bass alongside Louis-Paul Gauvreau (The Unconscious Mind) on vocals. While Ascension definitely has the “side project” feel, its riffage is true and its screams are real. It nestles itself almost perfectly halfway between black and death metal, meaning fans of both subgenres should find much to love and discover within Incandescensce’s wide reach.

Upcoming Releases

GomorrahGomorrah | No Light Records | Death Metal | Canada

Immediate entrance onto my year-end list — Gomorrah’s self-titled combines everything I love about death metal, deathcore, and progressive tech-death while forgoing the filler content that plagues those subgenres. Mixed and mastered by Hannes Grossmann (who also wrote the drums), Gomorrah “sounds great” in addition to being, well, pretty fucking great songwriting-wise. In all its madness — its density, darkness, and disregard for convention — this album coheres quite nicely across its super-diverse tracks. Listen to one below now (it’s a banger), and tune in later this week for an exclusive full stream before Friday’s official release.

ImprecationDamnatio Ad Bestias | Dark Descent Records | Death Metal | United States (Texas)

Formed in 1991, Texan veterans Imprecation originally found success in the underground death metal scene of the early 1990s, but eventually disbanded in 1998. After a decade apart, the group then reunited in 2009 without losing an ounce of their brutal, ripping attitude. Built from the festering grime and sizzle of OSDM but with a surprisingly contemporary twist in both its production and compositional style, Damnatio Ad Bestias, the second full-length effort of Imprecation’s 21st century era, proves with its uncompromisingly thick riffs and punishing double-bass heavy percussion that the group is every bit as brawny and rancorous as when they first began. For those fostering a sweet tooth for slow, chunky, primordial death metal, this album is a veritable saccharine delight that never fails to satisfy.

— Thomas Hinds

ShabtiTrembling and Shorn | Blackened Progressive Death Metal | United States (Maine)

When a band can claim the high honor of having their material mastered by Colin Marston at Menegroth, The Thousand Caves, they enter into an exclusive circle of the most hyper-proficient and brilliantly creative musicians. The latest to receive Colin Marston’s seal of approval, underground extreme metallers Shabti of Portland, Maine have been independently pioneering their own starkly individual brand of progressive, blackened death metal since 2009. As the group’s second full length release, Trembling and Shorn sees the group presenting a fascinating, idiosyncratic brand of unadulterated primal black metal and polished tech-death precision. With dense, adroitly dexterous instrumentals topped off by cavernous and atmospherically obfuscated vocals, Shabti has crafted a work so potent and infectious that it may cause you to wonder why you’ve never heard of them before.

— Thomas Hinds

NusquamaHorizon Ontheemt | Eisenwald | Black Metal | Netherlands

No frills, no fuss, Horizon Ontheemt is a seriously impressive black metal debut. Its six tracks dance effortlessly throughout the vivid atmosphere they create, remaining always well-paced in their execution and lush in their depth. As the album’s caustic shrieks envelop you — they never over-dominate the soundstage, though — its emotive riffing compels you toward a bitter end. Nusquama display balance as well, undulating between ambiance and full-on assaults to widen Horizon Ontheemt‘s already grand scope.

Dreams of the DrownedDreams of the Drowned I | Drowned Anthems Records | Black Metal, “Grey Metal” | France

Highly esoteric, Dreams of the Drowned’s first full-length album is sure to please seekers of the avant-garde within black metal’s infinite realm. This one-man outfit released some demos in the late 2000s, but Dreams of the Drowned I is actually their debut full-length despite the time gap. And what a debut it is: across its bleakly dreamy landscapes, and carried on waves of eerie clean vocals, this “grey” metal both acknowledges and rejects the genre’s tenets.

AoratosGods Without Name | Debemur Morti Productions | Black Metal | United States (Colorado)

Evil shit from the creator of Nightbringer and Akhyls. This black metal is enveloping in its totality and devastating in its complexity: mastermind Naas Alcameth spins numerous layers of riffing and drumming so fast and so wicked, it forces you to wonder how exactly it was done and then to forget why you cared in the first place. Gods Without Name finds itself nearly indigestible, formed of quasar-dense elements packed together on the verge of a new singularity.

Ultra SilvamThe Spearwound Salvation | Helter Skelter Productions | Black Metal | Sweden

Ultra Silvam’s debut The Spearwound Salvation is a wild wide through churning, undulating, and hyper-fast black metal. With enough power behind this riffage to jumpstart a stalled star, the band lunges over lofty peaks and into trodden valleys in search of emotional catharsis through negative light. “Birth of a Mountain,” the single currently streaming before Friday’s official release, sums this album up nicely.

Truth CorrodedBloodlands | Unique Leader Records | Death Metal | Australia

Yet another blistering, maniacally precise bout of Australian death metal has arrived in the form of Bloodlands, the pulverizing sixth album from Adelaide death thrashers Truth Corroded. Hammering its way through harsh, percussive compositions at a breakneck pace, the group’s latest effort represents an acceleration of their sound, a clear sign of lasting vitality given their 23-year history. Rounded out by scalding vocals, face-melting solos, and tightly wound performances throughout, Bloodlands serves as yet another rock-solid entry in Truth Corroded‘s extensive catalog.

— Thomas Hinds

FrosthelmPyrrhic | Revenger Records | Black Metal | United States (North Dakota)

Frosthelm returns after their debut full-length in 2015 with Pyrrhic four years later — the band has definitely achieved new levels of maturity and thoroughness in their sprawling black metal formula. The band takes specific at the guitar riff and the role it plays in black metal; Frosthelm aren’t afraid to get technical, clear-cut, and winding with their guitarwork. That said, they do know how to layer/bury instruments into the mix for deep atmospheric affect, a dual approach that serves the band very well on this sophomore follow-up.

MyooraMoon Grotto | Progressive Rock, Metal | Australia

The debut release of newly formed Australian instrumental duo Myoora, Moon Grotto is a three-track journey through mathematically progressive harmonies, mind-boggling virtuosity, and lush, gorgeous timbres. Inspired by groups such as Plini, Monuments, and Polyphia, Myoora is the passion project of Daniel Nesci and Daniel Pinto, respectively aged 16 and 22, who collaborated with Jake Howsam Lowe (The Helix Nebula, Plini) to produce their first endeavor. Straddling the lines of math rock and progressive metal, Moon Grotto is an outstanding exercise in creativity that will surely win Myoora countless news fans in the weeks to come.

— Thomas Hinds

Support Invisible Oranges on Patreon.