Upcoming Metal Releases: 5/23/2021 - 5/29/2021

Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of May 23rd, 2021 to May 29th, 2021. 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.

Things We Missed

Yautja — The Lurch | Relapse Records | Grindcore + Sludge | United States (Nashville, TN)

Grimy currents of rage and anxiety weave around The Lurch‘s punchy riffs, interlocking abstract flights of shredding, noisy cacophony, and killer drumming into a weighty narrative that’s even heavier than the components of this (already very heavy) music. Whether it’s flying along at a 200 BPM blast beat pace or methodically hammering riffs through your eye sockets, it not only demands attention, it wrests it away from other, lesser distractions.

–Ted Nubel

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Eisenhand — Fires Within | Dying Victims Productions | Heavy Metal | Austria

Austrian defenders of the heavy metal flame Eisenhand burst onto the scene with their eternally catchy, heavy-metal-fuck-you vibes debut called Fires Within. Vocalist Iron Herv sounds like he fronts some band from 1983 that you just discovered from a $5 bin at the local flea market, a record you would soon come to love and never knew how you lived without it. “The Engine” is an appropriate start for this band as they set the table with various heavy metal tropes, all done extremely well, whether it be over-the-top soloing or the frantic pace of the drums leading the charge in conjunction with the ever-present guitars.
“Dizzying Heights” is the perfect end to an album that rules in excess—with 9 minutes of everything Eisenhand can throw at you, this should more than suffice for folks who need to dust off that denim and give those white high tops another go-round. This is a seriously fun album that should not be missed for the old guard and neophytes alike.

–Thomas Campagna

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Upcoming Releases

Cirith Ungol — Half Past Human | Metal Blade | Heavy + Doom Metal | United States

Rare as they are, we all love a good resurrection – some band that broke up before many of their fans were even born, but back again, as powerful as ever. Bands like Satan and Hell are even better regarded than they’d have been if they’d just remained broken up. As much as fans love a triumphant comeback, they also remain in the past, as is evidenced by the endless complaining when an old band plays a setlist even a little heavy on new bangers, despite how happy fans are to have good new songs on recordings.

Despite originally saying that they had no plans to revisit their oldest years, Cirith Ungol succumbed to fan badgering and this week are coming back with an EP of re-recorded ’70s demo tunes that never had a proper recording back in the day. It’s lucky that they did; as much as I sympathize with the band for preferring to focus on new compositions, these four tunes absolutely smoke and it’s a real treat to hear both old favorites from the Falcon re-recordings and ones that hadn’t surfaced earlier as proper studio tracks the Ungol way.

Check out our in-depth interview with drummer Rob Garven as well.

–Brandon Corsair

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Portal — Avow | Profound Lore Records | Experimental Death Metal | Australia

Avow shatters the famed ‘don’t show the monster’ horror rule by being even more terrifying as it steps further into light. The album’s production follows its predecessor ION’s suit by clarifying Portal’s nightmare-ridden artistry. Portal’s improved transparency maintains much of what makes their esoteric death metal enthralling. They’re still a cauldron of amorphous tones and demonic summonings pulled from uncomfortable unconscious recesses, except now it’s easier to understand their mortifying practice.

–Colin Dempsey

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The Flight of Sleipnir — Eventide | Eisenwald | Stoner + Doom + Folk Metal | United States

Colorado collective The Flight Of Sleipnir continue their winning album streak with Eventide, a vast vista of riffs, moods and atmosphere that truly transcends genre. Black metal howls abut ambient nature sounds and isolated acoustic guitars, while lush, epic, heavy doom cascades down from Scandinavian peaks to regale the listener with tales of Nordic kings and gods. The six tracks comprising Eventide are long but never too long, avoiding the proggy meandering pitfalls many of their peers find themselves in. The album is sure of itself, if nothing else; with the band members handling almost all of the production from recording to artwork, it sounds and feels like a complete vision. It’s nice to say “FFO Panopticon, Solstice and Agalloch” and know that superfans of any of those bands can appreciate this equally.

–Chris Rowella

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Bleeth — Harbinger | Seeing Red Records | Doom + Post-Metal | United States (Miami, FL)

Rusty post-doom that drips with corrosive vitriol, coating its lumbering riffs in an industrial ooze.

–Ted Nubel

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Burning Witches — The Witch of the North | Nuclear Blast | Heavy + Power Metal | Switzerland

I keep accidentally reading the name and thinking this band is Burning Witch and being subsequently disappointed upon looking closer, but in the realm of modern heavy/power metal, this is extremely solid stuff. Quality riffs and instrumentals aren’t overpowered by the vocals, and while the “nuclear blasted” production is a little too perfect in some ways, it doesn’t go overboard with unnecessary polish.

–Ted Nubel

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Alastor — Onwards and Downwards | RidingEasy Records | Psychedelic Doom Metal | Sweden

Nobody does slow, groovy doom quite like Alastor does, and especially not with their impeccable grasp of aesthetic and tone. They don’t bring any wild elements in or flip the genre on its head—they just do everything right.

–Ted Nubel

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Eclipser — Pages | Independent | Black Metal | Canada (Ottawa)

A primarily melodic combination of black and death metal, bombastic and cutting in its fierce, fast-paced songwriting.

–Ted Nubel

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Gwar — The Disc With No Name | Pit Records | GWAR Metal (hehe) | United States

This EP presents acoustic treatments of several GWAR songs, which actually works really well. I quite like the music video (embedded below) for “Fuck This Place” too.

–Ted Nubel

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Heavy Sentence — Bang to Rights | | Heavy Metal | United Kingdom

From Brandon Corsair’s Entering the Underground entry on Heavy Sentence:

Heavy Sentence are not only not doing anything new but are actively doing their best not to—but that’s not to say that there isn’t a robust identity and a hell of a lot of fun to be found on their first record Bang to Rights. Fiendishly catchy and ferociously regressive, Heavy Sentence are at heart an old band in a new world and each release shows that.

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High n’ Heavy — V | Electric Valley Records | Doom Metal | United States

Retro doom metal riffs meet the ear-shredding power of today’s doom metal amplification—what High n’ Heavy lack in naming creativity, they make up for in thick, hellish doom.

–Ted Nubel

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Mosara — Mosara | Transilvanian Tapes | Sludge + Doom Metal | United States (Phoenix, AZ)

Featuring both guitarists of Twingiant, Mosara is sonically a deep dive into doom metal’s past, in that it sounds like it was recorded in about… 1992, maybe? The way they write songs can’t be as easily linked back to history, though: these plodding riffs and woeful harmonies, as clearly doomed as they are, are ritualistically devastating in a novel way.

–Ted Nubel

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Svneatr — Chinook | Independent | Black Metal | Canada

The opening track’s intro here sure seems like a nod to “At War With Satan”‘s legendary intro, but regardless, Svneatr’s black/death metal heavily ties into classic first- and second-wave black metal to add a few more ounces of aggression to their varied sound. The super-beefy drums also make this resoundingly punchy and impactful, a welcome break from the norm.

–Ted Nubel

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Stormruler — Under the Burning Eclipse | Napalm Records | Black Metal | United States (St Louis, MO)

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You open up this album, you see almost 20 tracks, and you run. You run, cringing in terror, afraid of some slog of uninhibited self-indulgence.

Fear not—Under the Burning Eclipse is half (short) instrumental ambient tracks and half raging black metal, which has a classically vicious bite to go with its grand stylings and atmosphere. If you’re in the mood for some epic black metal and ready to fully transport yourself to another world, this’ll be your portal of choice.

–Ted Nubel

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Silver Talon — Decadence and Decay | M-Theory Audio | Heavy + Power Metal | United States (Portland, OR)

Heavy metal meets progressive metal—but specifically, early 2000s-style progressive metal, where over-the-top synth/guitar harmonies and intense drum grooves reigned. Overall, a very unusual sounding album and strongly recommended for fans of powerful heavy metal as well as what I’ll hesitantly label “retro” progressive metal. Also, one song features an Andy LaRocque solo, which you can check out at –Ted Nubel

Tyrann — Djävulens musik | Electric Assault Records | Heavy Metal | Sweden

For whatever reason there aren’t many bands satisfyingly recreating the old school Swedish sound embodied by bands like Heavy Load, Jonah Quizz, or Gotham City. Maybe it’s a little too simplistic for most bands to get right, or too obscure, or maybe everyone just thinks that Heavy Load already perfected the formula and there’s no reason to come back to it. Whatever it is, there’s a real scarcity of contemporary music that doesn’t suck in the style, and with Tyrann we have a new contender for a throne that admittedly doesn’t have a whole lot of competition to it. Fiercely catchy and unabashedly passionate, Tyrann make mockery of anyone without their fire and deep love for heavy metal, and for that deserve all the accolades in the world.

–Brandon Corsair

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Ghastly — Mercurial Passages | 20 Buck Spin | Death Metal | Finland

If Portal wasn’t enough surreal death metal madness for you, subject your flayed mind to Mercurial Passages, which takes a fairly straightforward strain of death metal to strange places via mind-bending atmosphere and ever-shifting pacing.

–Ted Nubel

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