Upcoming Metal Releases: 3/5/2023-3/11/2023
Here are the upcoming metal releases for the weeks of March 5th, 2023 to March 11th, 2023. 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.
New Releases
Tribe of Pazuzu — Blasphemous Prophecies | VIC Records | Blackened Death Metal | Canada + United States
Packing supergroup-tier musicians including Nick Sagias (Soulstorm), Randy Harris (Macifecation), and Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy), the debut Tribe of Pazuzu album focuses on gnarly, imposing death metal tinted a sinister shade of black.
–Ted Nubel
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As Light Dies — The Laniakea Architecture – Volume II | Darkwoods | Death + Black + Doom + Gothic Metal | Spain (Madrid)
From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “From the Scratch”:
Progressive in more than the technical sense of the word, Spanish extreme metal experimenters As Light Dies’ upcoming album The Laniakea Architecture – Volume II is a dazzling example of progressive metal that breaks out of predefined genre expectations, wielding avant-garde black metal and progressive heavy metal as tools to create a dramatic, cinematic album.
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Rezn — Solace | Independent | Psychedelic Doom + Stoner Metal | United States (Chicago)
With each album, REZN further cements their place at the forefront of Chicago’s psychedelic heavy offerings. Solace is somehow vaster and more expansive in scope than 2020’s Chaotic Divine, delivering a drone-doom-rock hybrid that floats through the mind and up into the stars.
–Ted Nubel
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Astriferous — Pulsations from the Black Orb | Me Saco un Ojo | Death Metal | Costa Rica
Look, I don’t know how it happened, but there’s two orb-related albums this week. You’ll have to find time to ponder both.
As the Massacre-inspired album art clues us into, Pulsations from the Black Orb is a boisterous slab of 1990s Florida-inspired death metal, full of ratty guitar tones, pinch harmonics, and a rhythm section that sounds like an infinitely deep storage closet full of brooms and mops being upended: a stupendous amount of clank and clatter.
–Ted Nubel
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Bastard Grave — Vortex of Disgust | Pulverised Records | Death Metal | Sweden
Particularly slow and menacing Swedeath: certainly capable of picking up the pace, but at their nastiest and most intimidating when they drop the tempo.
–Ted Nubel
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Dirge — Dirge | Independent | Sludge + Doom Metal | India
The stoner/doom band takes significant cues from post-metal on their upcoming self-titled, fusing surprisingly agile riffs with tidal swells of passion.
For more on this, come back on Friday – we’ll be running a track-by-track breakdown from the band.
–Ted Nubel
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Fange — Privation | Throatruiner Records | Industrial Sludge + Death Metal | France
Fange use their industrial-tinged sound like a wedge, forcing a gap in listeners’ mental defenses through unusual frequencies and anxious pacing. It’s the ideal headspace to absorb Privation‘s mix of death metal and sludge, delivered in bursts and jolts. There’s no place to hide, and certainly no time for comfort.
–Ted Nubel
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Fluisteraars — De Kronieken van het Verdwenen Kasteel – I – Harslo | Eisenwald | Post-Black Metal | Netherlands
A new Fluisteraars EP is worth taking note of. Even if there’s nothing streaming, yet. Soon…
–Ted Nubel
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God Disease — Apocalyptic Doom | Gruesome Records | Death + Doom Metal | Finland
From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “Built by Dead Hands”:
It’s a classic case of “does what it says on the tin”: for the most part, the record is melody-laced doom that’s miserable and focused on our inevitable downfall. Not interested in elaborate gothic textures or reveling in filth, God Disease stays true to their doom roots with remarkable clarity, which makes their death metal side especially vicious when it manifests.
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Håndgemeng — Ultraritual | Ripple Music | Stoner + Sludge Metal | Norway
From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “Temple of Toke”:
Ultraritual tackles topics of sword and sorcery adventuring with a searing clinch of aggression, but when delving into more mind-expanding fare, like “Temple of Toke,” the album seamlessly intertwines snappy riffs and and mighty roars with trance-worthy bass grooves and pure psychedelic hypnoticism.
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Gorod — The Orb | Independent | Progressive + Technical Death Metal | France
Our second orb-related release from the week comes from France, and this is certainly a fascinating one. This is progressive/technical death metal, but it opts for storytelling over showing off, and for unusual time signatures and unpredictable pacing over sheer blistering speed. It’s digestible and entertaining, perhaps partially due to the killer basslines and catchy songwriting, but the inventive guitar playing is noteworthy too.
–Ted Nubel
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Isole — Anesidora | Hammerheart Records | Epic Doom Metal | Sweden
Want to watch a bunch of dudes in robes play epic doom metal? Obviously, yes.
–Ted Nubel
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Prediction — The Unholy Flame | Doomentia Records | Black + Thrash Metal | Austria
Venture back to the days of loud-as-fuck, reverb-packed vocals and barraging black/thrash riffs: Prediction is a confident step back to a very specific point in extreme metal’s lineage. Multiple ‘OUGH’s await.
–Ted Nubel
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Qwälen — Syvä hiljaisuus | Time to Kill Records | Black Metal | Finland
Qwälen is a band that can set a goddamn mood. Just like 2021’s Unohdan Sinut, Syvä hiljaisuus starts with an impeccably crafted album cover and descends into the depths from there. The band revels in the punkier side of black metal, wielding swaths of noise and foreboding basslines with a mix of slower drumming and absolutely chaotic blast beats as a backdrop. There’s a rebellious vein of melody that pervades the whole album, tying together everything under their irresistibly impetuous banner.
–Ted Nubel
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Canyoneer — Kittfall | Independent | Post-Metal | United States (NYC)
A burly mix of instrumental progressive metal and post-metal that delivers earth-shifting riffs as well as soaring flights of instrumental wizardry, all in service of a persistent groove. This album is big on rhythms that you can feel right down to your core.
–Ted Nubel
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