Upcoming Metal Releases: 4/7/24 - 4/13/24
Here are all the new releases for April 7th through April 13th. 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 4/7-4/13
Whores. — War | The Ghost is Clear Records | Sludge Metal | United States (Atlanta, Georgia)
The latest Whores. album boasts production by Ryan Boesch, who’s worked alongside Melvins and Helmet. He imbues War with a dry and crunchy feel that illuminates Whores.’s strengths and paints them as an uglier band than their songwriting entails.
–Colin Dempsey
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Mòr — Hear the Hour Nearing! | Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions | Atmospheric Black Metal | France (Rouen)
One of Mòr’s guitarists, B., has been playing live with Trespasser as of late, and you can hear the similarities between the acts on Hear the Hour Nearing!. Mòr draw from a similar explosive black metal well as Trespasser but place greater emphasis on their wall of sound.
–Colin Dempsey
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Karst — Eclipsed Beneath the Umbral Divide | Independent | Death Metal | United States (Los Angeles, California)
Dedicated to “victims to depression, anxiety, addiction, accidental overdose, and all those who have ever had thoughts of suicide,” Eclipsed Beneath the Umbral Divide is pissed-off death metal with a purpose. It reacts to mental illness in a manner that most sufferers wish they could, not just attempting to capture how depression warps the mind but airing the frustration of wrestling with it on a daily basis and the desire to beat the hell out of it.
–Colin Dempsey
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Unborn Generation — …and Lest We All Forget | Inverse Records | Grindcore | Finland (Jyväskylä)
Crusty, Finnish grindcore lays on Unborn Generation’s seventh full-length, …and Lest We All Forget, a greyed-out experience that communicates through genre trademarks. It’s not the fastest grindcore out there, which works to Unborn Generation’s strengths as they have more time to sink their teeth in.
–Colin Dempsey
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Tårfödd — Mörker | Independent | Atmospheric Black Metal | Sweden
What strikes most immediately when listening to Tårfödd is their earnestness. Their atmospheric black metal is not a veil nor a metaphor for emotion but a genuine artifact, a drop of blood from their heart as much as it is a collection of tracks. There’s nothing obscuring them on their debut Mörker. It’s hard to pin down sincerity in a subgenre that heralds overblown emotion, but the pained vocals and modest track times condense every emotion into their most salient points.
–Colin Dempsey
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Heavy Temple — Garden of Heathens | Magnetic Eye Records | Doom Metal | United States (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
This new doom masterpiece is heavy, as the name implies, but also psychedelic and introspective. At a time when doom is having a quiet moment compared to some of its sister genres, Heavy Temple still manage to make things catchy enough to hook any listeners.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
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Necrot — Lifeless Birth | Tankcrimes | Death Metal | United States (Oakland, California)
The Oakland gore-obsessed pessimists return with their third and most engaging record. This time, their pessimism has (fully?) metastasized—e.g., “Human mind in regression,” “The future is shit.” Given all that’s happened since 2020’s Mortal, can ya blame them? Anyhow, Lifeless Birth finds the trio continuing with their less-is-more OSDM, featuring sneakily catchy riffage and satisfying soloing, natch. Indeed, some of these songs threaten to get stuck in your head. Ain’t broke ’n all that.
–Steve Lampiris
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Replicant — Infinite Mortality | Transcending Obscurity | Technical Death Metal | United States (New Brunswick, New Jersey)
The weirdo tech-death outfit from Jersey returns with their most deranged album to date. Their penchant for left-brained riffing creates a handful of the neatest guitar figures I’ve heard this year. The most arresting part of Infinite Mortality, though, is the unhinged vocals, a pure distillation of tortured, feral insanity. Makes ya wonder if they caught an exorcism on tape, and then wrote a record around it.
–Steve Lampiris
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Týr — Battle Ballads | Metal Blade Records | Viking Metal + Folk Metal | Faroe Islands
Viking metal is not everyone’s cup of tea and we know it, but if you are going to do it, there are a couple of ways to skin that cat. Týr manage to keep things somewhat contemporary and ripping instead of just relying on tired tropes. Even if you don’t normally go for this kind of thing, anyone who loves straightforward, classic metal should give this at least one spin.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
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Tarot — Glimpse of the Dawn | Cruz del Sur Music | Hard Rock | Australia
These Aussie hard-rockers crank up the time machine again on this belated follow-up to 2016 debut full-length Reflections, hightailing it back to a halcyon 70s stadium-land, a suede-fringed idyll where lighters remain perpetually held aloft in tandem to the sound of flamboyant Hammond-boosted riffage and gloriously indulgent 12-string acoustic guitar intros. With swirling, psychedelic melodies freighting fantastically-themed odes, Glimpse of the Dawn pops like prime Deep Purple or Uriah Heep. It’s all as if punk never happened.
–Spencer Grady
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Sarcasm — Morninghoul | Hammerheart Records | Blackened Death Metal | Sweden (Uppsala)
For all intents and purposes, Sarcasm play death metal. You can hear it in the knotty riffs and the pinched harmonics. Where the blackened bits enter is what elevates their death metal. The vocals are rasps that are too shrill to be death growls but too unpolished to be hollow, while the bridges are black metal constructs that clear the air for Sarcasm to return to their base. It’s all packaged with an old-school aesthetic that removes all the clutter and just delivers the damn music, which is a wise choice if you’re going to proclaim, like Sarcasm has, that your music is for “sophisticated Death Metal freaks!”
–Colin Dempsey
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Castle Rat — Into the Realm | King Volume Records | Doom + Heavy Metal | United States (New York City)
From Tom Campagna’s track premiere of “Fresh Fur”:
If you are a big fan of heavy, riffing doom with a penchant for costumed debauchery, you will find yourself right at home here.
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Friends of Hell — God Damned You to Hell | Rise Above Records | Doom Metal | International
From Tom Campagna’s track premiere of “Bringer of Evil”:
Out are vocalist Albert Witchfinder and guitarist Jondix, leaving drummer Tas Danazoglou and bassist Taneli Jarva to find new members. Luckily, replacing them are metal lifers Nifelheim frontman Hellbutcher, Mirror guitarist Sprits Moutafis, and Brazilian guitarist Beelzeebubth. […] These dudes know how to doom better than most.
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Mother of All — Global Parasitic Leviathan | Independent | Melodic Death Metal | Denmark
From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “Pillars”:
Mixing melodic death metal with progressive death and thrash metal, the Danish group takes sardonic aim at corporate greed and systemic oppression through a mix of metaphors and satirical venom. It feels like more of a focused concept than their debut offering Age of the Solipsist, but the musical foundations laid there have proved to be stable ground. Melodic hooks offer respite from snarling, incensed vocals while the band’s exceptionally tight rhythm section keeps everything together with ear-catching groove.
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Vulture — Sentinels | Metal Blade Records | Speed + Thrash Metal | Germany
The more deranged the speed/thrash is, the better, and Vulture is pushing 11 on the dial here. Luxurious tones across the board — everything from the bass to the drums just feels fun — and frantic songwriting with an ear for catchy choruses make Sentinels something to get hooked on.
–Ted Nubel
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