Upcoming Metal Releases: 6/27/2021 - 7/3/2021
Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of June 27th, 2021 to July 3rd, 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.
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Upcoming Releases
At the Gates — The Nightmare of Being | Century Media | Melodic Death Metal | Sweden
The longstanding melodic death metal pioneers return with another full-length of their powerful style—they’re maybe not pioneering anything anymore, but they certainly know what they’re doing. We’ll have a full review of this one later in the week.
–Ted Nubel
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Year of No Light — Consolamentum | Pelagic Records | Sludge + Drone + Doom + Post-Rock | France
Powerful and immersive post-everything: trying to apply a single genre to Year of No Light is a futile effort, but Consolamentum connects almost immediately on a deeper level anyway. Strongly recommended for fans of immersive full-album experiences and soft/loud continuums.
–Ted Nubel
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Drawn and Quartered — Congregation Pestilence | Krucyator Productions | Death Metal | United States (Seattle, WA)
An unceasing outpouring of disease from one of Seattle’s most destructive death metal outfits. Stay tuned for our premiere of this one later this week.
–Ted Nubel
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Mourn the Light — Suffer, Then We’re Gone | Argonauta Records | Heavy + Doom Metal | United States (Connecticut)
In a way that precious few bands today can actually claim to succeed at, Mourn the Light recapture some of the early magic of doom metal, where the tempo could switch from a plod to a gallop without a hint of warning and writing good riffs was the foundation. Their full-length debut puts this retro sensibility to good use for their heartiest offering yet.
–Ted Nubel
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Olórin — Through Shadow and Flame | Rafchild Records | Doom Metal | United States (Illinois)
From Brandon Corsair’s full album premiere:
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the style of music they play and the fact that most of the songs on their album clock in longer than seven minutes, Olórin’s take on doom metal is not one of brevity or fast tempos. Most reminiscent of the most stringently punishing Circle of True Doom bands from the early ‘00s (which included acts like Reverend Bizarre, The Gates of Slumber, and Orodruin), Through Shadow and Flame is a devastating journey through the gates of Khazad-dûm and beyond.
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Dream Tröll — Realm of the Tormentör | Independent | Heavy + Power Metal | United Kingdom
Dream Tröll play a joyful form of heavy/power metal that feels much more rooted in the near-absurd positivity of power metal than heavy metal’s general dour countenance, but the riffs are there nonetheless to prove they draw from both sides. On Realm of the Tormentor, I feel like they’ve struck a balance that previous releases only hinted at, maintaining their cheesy exuberance and also really nailing the momentum necessary to sell a full album’s worth of it.
–Ted Nubel
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Concilium — Desecration | Sentient Ruin Laboratories | Black Metal | Portugal
Abstract and purposefully distant black metal, created not to draw you in but to keep you away: strain your eyes to see through the twisting fog that the reverberating guitars and not-quite-playing-the-same-song drums creates and some truly terrifying shapes start to take form.
–Ted Nubel
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Diabolizer — Khalkedonian Death | Everlasting Spew Records | Death Metal | Turkey
Death metal polished to a killing point, chock full of impaling riffs and encircling harmonies. No escaping this one.
–Ted Nubel
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Froglord — The Mystic Toad | The Swamp Records | Doom Metal + Sludge + Stoner Rock | United Kingdom
The doomy saga of the Froglord continues: when last we spoke to the Froglord, his work had chronicled the rise of the Froglord and overall amphibian ascendency. Now, aliens have come to challenge his reign — and if you weren’t expecting a story about frogs versus aliens to be some of the best doom you’ve heard this year, well, brace yourself.
–Ted Nubel
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Stress Angel — Bursting Church | Dying Victims Productions | Blackened Death Metal | United States (Brooklyn, NY)
Thrashy black/death rooted in evil: the whole affair seems to slant away from death metal’s straightforward cadence towards an barely-in-time groove that continuously feels one lumbering power chord away from total disaster.
–Ted Nubel
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Starspawn of Cthulhu — Tales from the Unknown | Independent | Doom Metal | Italy
Bizarre, stern doom with unusual melodies that aptly capture the eldritch tone of their massive Lovecraftian inspirations.
–Ted Nubel
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Kvasir — 4 | Glory or Death Records | Heavy Metal + Stoner Rock | United States (Portland, OR)
Excellent stoner rock with retro heavy metal’s influence worn clear on its sleeve — massive riffs, warm crunchy tones, and so on — but prog-rock-ish song structures and fascinating lyrical subjects deliver a multifaceted killer listen.
–Ted Nubel
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Bizarrekult — Vi Overlevde | Petrichor | Black Metal | Norway
Furious, yet introspective: not sure if I’d label this as “progressive” exactly, but it certainly avoids conventions while also not really slotting into an atmospheric space either.
–Ted Nubel
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Butcher in the Fog — Exonerate Me, Baby | Independent | Heavy Metal + Punk + Doom + Sludge | United Kingdom (London)
Butcher in the Fog sits at the intersection of heavy metal, punk, sludge, and doom, creating an aggressive, rock-driven form of metal that suits itself perfectly to the realm of B-movie horror.
–Ted Nubel
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Felled — The Intimate Earth | Transcending Obscurity Records | Black + Folk Metal | United States
Viola and violin are almost as important to this band’s folk-black metal strain as guitars, but it’s really the combination of the two, plus their ear for wistful melody, that makes Felled so special.
–Ted Nubel
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Mort Froide — Rider from the Abyss | Independent | Black Metal | Russia
Raw and riffy black metal that feels like it was recorded outside in a blizzard. Not a ton to say here, but it hits just right in that intentionally crappy, lo-fi way.
–Ted Nubel
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