Upcoming Metal Releases: 5/30/2021 - 6/5/2021

Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of May 30th, 2021 to June 5th, 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.

Upcoming Releases

Red Fang — Arrows | Relapse Records | Stoner Metal + Rock | United States (Portland, OR)

After helping to impart stoner rock to the masses with the kinda-viral success of the music video for “Prehistoric Dogs,” Red Fang has never quite hit it super big, probably because they’re dead-set on doing the strangest stuff possible. Arrows is still, at its core, the potent stoner rock that the band found its footing with, but much of the heavy metal that scaffolded their early records has been replaced with other, weirder influences. There’s still tons of clever and hard-edged riffing (see closing track “Funeral Coach”), but in many cases it’s no longer the star attraction of these songs.

–Ted Nubel

…

Hannes Grossmann — To Where the Light Retreats | Independent | Melodic + Technical Death Metal | Germany

Perhaps best known for drumming on the Necrophagist classic Epitaph, Hannes Grossmann has since performed in a ton of stuff, and very nearly all of it is worth listening to—turns out good drumming really helps out an album, I guess? Here, you’re in for melodic death metal with tight leads and straight up insane drumming. I believe (though promo materials don’t confirm or deny) that this record is all Grossmann, top to bottom, which is also mind-blowing.

–Ted Nubel

…

Seputus — Phantom Indigo | Willowtip Records | Black + Death Metal | United States

From Langdon Hickman’s track premiere of “The Learned Response”:

If the key insight of the fusion of screamo and post-hardcore into extreme metal was the sharp and stark injection of raw humanity and emotional intensity into already sonically intense music, then this what its apex looks like. These are musicians at the top of their game as shown across multiple releases in a variety of progressive and experimental death metal stylings; of course this is incredible.

…

Ancient Wisdom — A Celebration in Honor of Death | Avantgarde Music | Black Metal | Sweden

From Jon Rosenthal’s full album premiere:

In A Celebration In Honor Of Death‘s case, Ancient Wisdom’s first release in 17 years, Vargher’s inspirations come from a more modern place; the album features martial rhythms, hefty chord progressions, and evil atmospheres not unlike where the project left off in 2004, but starring a more practiced hand which also revealed itself on the latest (and also the product of a long wait) Naglfar record.

…

Boss Keloid — Family the Smiling Thrush | Ripple Music | Sludge Metal | United Kingdom

Is sludge metal supposed to make you feel good? Turns out it can, at least: Boss Keloid, a band which I should be infinitely more familiar with than I am, offers up a proggy twist on a genre that’s already seen its fair share of twists, imbuing skronky heaviness with an uplifting, thoughtful atmosphere and poignant vocals.

–Ted Nubel

…

Cloak of Altering — Sheathed Swords Drip with Poisonous Honey | Brucia Records | Experimental Black Metal | Netherlands

From Ted Nubel’s full album premiere:

Sheathed Swords Drip with Poisonous Honey takes [the band’s] experimental brand of black metal to a new level of fidelity, bringing a disturbing array of synthesizers and electronic elements into greater focus than ever. Rather than simply dropping these elements on top of black metal as additional textures, [the album] is completely transformed by its digital side, wholesale grafting elements onto a black metal skeleton like auditory cyberpunk or sometimes completely eschewing metal for drum-machine-driven industrial electronica. There is no point on the album that sounds all that much like anything else on it, or even the rest of the band’s discography, for that matter. It’s an ongoing test of how far black metal can be stretched, and one that succeeds: though it seems almost irreversibly disfigured, what Cloak of Altering creates here has a vileness no other genre can claim.

…

Typhonian — The Cosmic Pendulum of Time | Iron, Blood, and Death Corp | Death Metal | Germany

There are so many paths Typhonian venture on the title track of their new EP, from progressive interludes to old school death metal to introspective melodies to unrepentant pummeling climaxes, all with the emotional heft of The Hero’s Journey, all fleshed out and all running cohesively, that there’s no way the song is under seven minutes. If Typhonian accomplished all that in a single track, then imagine The Cosmic Pendulum of Time‘s full vision.

–Colin Dempsey

…

Biöcide — Inhibiting the Sludge Tomb | Independent | Death + Thrash Metal | Ireland

Maximally ear-rending death/thrash with beefy riffs and delightfully technical lead work, plus certifiably insane vocals drenched in reverb. The guitar and bass production is fairly modern, with tight low-end and razor-sharp articulation pushing the detail in every riff to the forefront. That’s a little unusual for the normally-regressive genre fusion, but the tight reins allow extra space for the vocals and drums to work in.

–Ted Nubel

…

Starlight Ritual — Sealed in Starlight | Temple of Mystery | Heavy Metal | Canada (Montreal)

All else aside, Starlight Ritual have their artwork game on point. Just look at the cover for Sealed in Starlight—that thing belongs on my wall. Well done, dudes. Aesthetic is half the battle in getting people to check out a new band, but music is the more important aspect, and it’s a crowded playing field these days doing heavy metal; fortunately, Temple of Mystery Records are reliable tastemakers with a solid history these last few years of championing only the finest of bands and Starlight Ritual is no exception. Rocking, epic, and gorgeous, Starlight Ritual explore a Dio-esque soundscape that most bands these days can’t pull off and do it well. Props for the aesthetic, props for the style, and props for the execution- this is just a really cool band all around and I’m excited to see their bright future unfold.

–Brandon Corsair

…

Desaster — Churches Without Saints | Metal Blade | Black Metal + Thrash Metal | Germany

Evil German black/thrashers Desaster are a mainstay of the genre, around nearly as long as the concept of mixing black metal and thrash has even existed. Their first record is an undisputed classic. Most bands that fall into that category sort of suck if they’re still around, but Desaster have never faltered and every single goddamn record is worth your money, so it’s not a huge surprise that their new one, Churches Without Saints, lives up to their proven legacy. Consistency is a weird animal, and some people get mad at bands that don’t change it up, but Desaster don’t give a fuck, and since the riffs are still there neither should you. Don’t miss it!

–Brandon Corsair

…

Flotsam and Jetsam — Blood in the Water | AFM Records | Thrash Metal | United States (Phoenix, AZ)

Blood in the Water continues on the long-standing thrash band’s comeback arc that started in 2016 with the much-less-terrible-than-it-should-have-been self-titled—while this is certainly not No Place for Disgrace stylistically, it’s well-crafted and engaging. Fans of vigorous power/thrash should take note.

–Ted Nubel

…

Lowen — Unceasing Lamentations | Independent | Doom Folk | United Kingdom

Lowen’s new EP hints at a pedestrian cosmos-conquering progressive outing with its space fantasy artwork. Yet they take seven minutes on “The Exalted One Who Walketh” to enter that realm, if only in spirit alone, and the EP was recorded live with the first two tracks entirely improvised. In fact, the prolonged opening of “The Exalted One Who Walketh” is sung in Sumerian and singer Nina Saeidi is accompanied by only an acoustic guitar. Unceasing Lamentations has the large stature of (as Lowen say) “crushing progressive doom steeped in the history of the ancient middle-east and the empty vistas of space,” but it’s closer to progressive Persian folk with doom’s ambitious scope.

–Colin Dempsey

…

Inhuman Condition — Rat°God | Listenable Insanity Records | Death + Thrash Metal | United States (Florida)

A trio of Florida death metal vets have joined forces here to create a truly old-school work, with retro art to match the knuckle-dragging riffs and evil intent inside.

–Ted Nubel

…

Circle of Sighs — Narci | Metal Assault Records | Psychedelic Doom | International

Relaxing and introspective progressive rock-inclined psychedelic doom — while in some cases “psychedelic doom” might mean a wah pedal in front of an amp stack, here it applies in force: Narci pivots from soft rock interludes and electronica strangeness into dense hallucinogenic forests of heavier metal, consistently unpredictable.

–Ted Nubel

…