Upcoming Metal Releases

Upcoming Metal Releases: 5/17/20 -- 5/23/20

Upcoming Metal Releases

Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of May 17th to May 23rd, 2020. 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.

Surprise Releases + Things We Missed

LörEdge of Eternity | Progressive | United States (Pennsylvania)

Holy shit, I was beyond stoked when Edge of Eternity popped up in my Bandcamp feed — this band’s 2017 release In Forgotten Sleep relishes in some serious prog power (with all the right folky twinges). As “light” as this band sounds — meaning as airy and floaty as their music exists in your brain — Edge of Eternity is deep-down rock. Technicality, here, comes second only to kicking ass. That’s the way to do it.

— Andrew Rothmund

OmniarchOmniarch | Technical Death Metal + Metalcore | Canada

Omniarch’s self-titled album is totally bonkers, blending old-school metalcore with a tech-death freshness that breathes new life into otherwise worn ideas. I won’t say that Omniarch is perfect, but you can be damn sure I’m keeping my earballs on this band.

— Andrew Rothmund

ClairvoyanceDemo | Caligari Records | Death Metal | Poland

We’ll call Demo an EP and leave it at that: here, Clairvoyance lays out thick swaths of sickened death metal, complete with gutter vocals and huge hooks. It’s short, but that’s all the time the band needs to make a clear point.

— Andrew Rothmund

Upcoming Releases

Cosmic PutrefactionThe Horizons Towards Which Splendour Withers | I, Voidhanger Records | Death Metal | Italy

From Andrew Rothmund’s premiere of “The Glooming Murk of His Telluric Shrieks”:

We’ve got a lot of death metal swarming these lands, something I am always so pleased about, but it’s rare that one new project sticks with me this long. It’s hard to ignore Cosmic Putrefaction: on this new album, G.G. elevates his death metal savagery to another level altogether, this time taking on vocal duties himself instead of utilizing guest vocalists like on the debut. The result is something immensely personal but also completely devoid of life, almost as if death had the same radiance as life itself. And maybe it does: this is death metal, after all.

Cauldron Black RamSlaver | 20 Buck Spin | Black Metal + Death Metal | Australia

Pirate metal, but not like how you’d imagine it. This is some swashbuckling stuff — it’s violent, reckless, and sloppy in the perfect sort of “early death metal” way. Slaver, which features performances by Australia’s underground elite, is yet another pretty sweet addition to Cauldron Black Ram’s discography.

— Jon Rosenthal

EsoctrilihumEternity of Shaog | I, Voidhanger Records | Death Metal + Black Metal | France

Eternity of Shaog is an album that will reshape your mind, as long as you let it, and as long as you can withstand Esoctrilihum’s relentless onslaught of sonic pain and power. We’ll have deeper thoughts in an upcoming full review and early stream of this monster, the fifth release from this solo project in just a few years.

— Andrew Rothmund

Fires in the DistanceEchoes from Deep November | Prosthetic Records | Melodic Death Metal + Doom | United States (Connecticut)

From Ted Nubel’s premiere of “The Lock and the Key”:

While Europe certainly has a robust stable of melodic death-doom to offer, Fires in the Distance offers an unchained addition to the other side of the pond. As punishing as it may be, there’s still a reverence for the careful structure and elegance that bolsters the genre’s best, making Echoes from Deep November a study in well-applied bombast.

UnreqvitedEmpathica | Season of Mist | Blackgaze

Unreqvited releases a ton of music, especially as of late, but this anonymous solo project hasn’t diluted any of the quality that goes into the evocative brand of blackgaze they emit. I’ll be honest, I don’t listen to much blackgaze, but when I do, I want it to be good… and Unreqvited has been proving a point for a while now, that this style can be damn great. Empathica is beautiful and energized and, ultimately, a thing of beauty.

— Andrew Rothmund

MountaineerBloodletting | Lifeforce Records | Post-Metal + Doom | United States (California)

Bloodletting is an album for falling to your knees and hoisting two juicy invisible oranges. I won’t spoil too much, but Mountaineer have perfected a special blend of postmodern abstraction and downright suave doom. We’ll be coming at you later this week with an early full stream prior to Friday’s release.

— Andrew Rothmund

Black RainbowsCosmic Ritual Supertrip | Heavy Psych Sounds Records | Weed Music | Italy

I know, I know — the album title sounds like someone trying to craft an outlandish parody of stoner doom tropes. However, Italy’s Black Rainbows has been innovating and defining the psychedelic stoner metal genre for over a decade, with a truckload of killer releases under their belt — they’re likely one of the only bands that can throw down an album like this and have it live up to its name. The stoner jams contained within are certainly an accelerated voyage through some spacey, black-magic terrain, so I’d say Cosmic Ritual Supertrip checks out.

— Ted Nubel

Feral LightLife Vapor | Hypnotic Dirge Records | Black Metal | United States (Minnesota)

Effervescent but permanently dark black metal. Feral Light seeps into abstract realms with Life Vapor but keep their musical feet firmly planted. The result is an album that feels immediately familiar despite being as fresh as a cool spring morning. Stay tuned later this morning for an early full stream of this nifty little gem.

— Andrew Rothmund

Without LightAll the Kings Must Burn | Weed Cabinet Records | Doom Metal | United States (Illinois)

Singularly focused on rendering the end times through methodical, skull-crushing doom, Chicago’s industrious, eldritch Without Light returns with another full-length to succeed 2019’s The Dread Gospels. Featuring riveting dirges and copious bottom-end fuzz, this is doom that truly feels doomed — on a worldwide, apocalyptic scale.

— Ted Nubel

From the Grave: Reissues and Re-Releases

MayhemDe Mysteriis Dom Sathanas XXV | Deathlike Silence Productions | Black Metal | Norway

Ah yes, where it all began. Sort of. Lost in development hell since the Deathcrush sessions, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas was the album which almost wasn’t. Now, 25 years later, we revisit this landmark album of blackened might through an extended edition (five LPs) and booklet of interviews.

— Jon Rosenthal

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