Upcoming Metal Releases

Upcoming Metal Releases: 6/28/20 -- 7/4/20

Upcoming Metal Releases


Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of June 28th to July 4th, 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 to: [email protected]. Do not send us promo material via social media.


Surprise Releases + Things We Missed


Magick TouchHeads Have Got to Rock’n’Roll | Edged Circle Productions | Heavy Metal + Hard Rock | Norway

Channeling the classic heavy metal of the 1980s and the twin-guitar hard rock spirit of Thin Lizzy, Magick Touch puts everything you need to know up front: the album art has a particularly vintage feeling to it, the album-opening title track is powerful classic heavy metal, and they’ve spelled “magick” with a “k,” a sure sign of whimsy. Truth be told, there’s more depth here than you might initially think, and it’s a fun ride all the way down.

— Ted Nubel

DismalimerenceTome: I | Transcending Records | Melodic Black Metal | United States (Illinois)

Timeless-feeling melodic black metal: wintry, mysterious, and a little bit theatrical, with lots of interesting interludes and tempo switch-ups between the gales of blast beats that dive the music forward.

— Ted Nubel

GreyhawkKeepers of the Flame | Fighter Records | Power Metal | United States (Washington)

A self-referential album title, perhaps: Greyhawk are keeping the flame of American power metal burning bright. The hallmarks of the genre are there and executed skillfully: blazing speed, grand adventures, and a serrated edge of biting guitar and rumbling bass. It’s not some tired rehash of faded glory, either: every track on this album is rather memorable and feels fresh.

— Ted Nubel

Warrior PopeMellified Man | Ampstack Records | Doom Metal | United Kingdom

This is a doom metal concept album about turning the human body into a confectionary panacea by embalming it in honey. I’m not sure that anything else I can write about it can as succinctly explain why you should check it out, so I’ll leave it at that.

— Ted Nubel


Upcoming Releases


MyridianLight in the Abyss | Doom + Death Metal | Australia

Now here’s something worthy of the oft overused word “epic” (or is “epic” faded now and cool to use again?) — the point is that Light in the Abyss reaches for the loftiest heights and most harrowing lows, and so smoothly at that. It’s a long one, of course, but settle in for an emotional journey through the peaks and valleys of, well, life and death.

— Andrew Rothmund

BorisNO | Boris Metal | Japan

This completely DIY and independent album kind of came out of nowhere, which… is not that surprising from Boris, really. As always, there’s a mix of sounds at play here — thrash, punk, sludge, unnameable others — but it’s heavy, always, and a fun listen throughout.

— Ted Nubel

ConvocationAshes Coalesce | Everlasting Spew Records | Doom | Finland

From Ted Nubel’s premiere of “Maryrise”:

Despair, meet anxiety: crushing riffs smash their patterns into plodding drums, and every other element of the mix serves to heighten the tension. Jarring piano and string accompaniment find the perfect points to add deranged harmony, while growls spew out indecipherably: an amplified version of the tortured winds blowing past, much like the quieter gusts that open and close the song.

SleepsculpterSleepsculpter | Silent Pendulum Records | Blackened Hardcore | United States (Pennsylvania)

Pissed-off hardcore with a blackened edge that’ll juice your brain — Sleepsculpter digs into your head with fuck-yeah grooves and badass beatdowns that just… move.

— Andrew Rothmund

Bog WizardFrom the Mire | Doom Metal | United States (Michigan)

From the Mire has apparently been dredged up from some prehistoric marsh well-stocked with skulls and ancient curses. The band’s sludgy doom is banged out at a snail’s pace, leaving a trail of ichor in the wake of its relentless crawl. Whatever wizard conjured this has left behind some traces of waterlogged arcana: closing track/single “Swamp Golem” includes a synth-driven interlude to break up the hypnotic dirge.

— Ted Nubel

DDENTCouvre-sang | Chien Noir | Doom + Electronic + Industrial | France

From Sahar Alzilu’s premiere of “puissancerevee”:

DDENT are grounded predominantly in doom more than anything, but it’s the undercurrents of black and industrial metal that give Couvre-sang a signature edge. Listening to “puissancerevee,” as well as the rest of the album, a sense of wonder imparts itself, helped by the realization that DDENT is the work of just one musician this time (the rest of the band only joins him on stage). The towering waves of riffs and drumming Lambert summons here easily make it sound absolutely huge. Fans of bands that succeed at doing a lot with relatively little should especially stay tuned for this one.

JesuNever | Avalanche Records | Post-Metal/Shoegaze/Electronica | England

From Andrew Sacher’s writeup:

Justin Broadrick (of Godflesh and many other projects) is back with the first (non-collaborative) release by his much-loved Jesu project in seven years, Never. (His last was 2013’s Every Day I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came, which was followed by two albums with Sun Kil Moon.) Electronic music has always been part of Jesu’s sound, but it informs this 30-minute EP/mini-LP much more heavily than you might expect from Jesu. The post-metal and shoegazing elements are almost entirely absent, and in their place are blissful, ethereal synths, minimal drum machines, and Broadrick’s hummed vocal delivery. The result is cripplingly beautiful. These songs just gently swarm around you and gradually shake you to your core. It’s the Jesu you know and love, but presented in a new light, and it’s a stunning return.


Support Invisible Oranges on Patreon and check out our merch.