Upcoming Metal Releases

Upcoming Metal Releases: 9/5/2021 - 9/11/2021


Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of September 5th, 2021 to September 11th, 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

AbortedManiacult | Century Media | Death Metal + Grindcore | Belgium

Aborted’s brutal death-grind mix is a lot of fun on its own, but this music ‘visualizer’ is just great. Headlines in the mock newspaper displayed throughout include things like ‘Earth Proven To Not Be Flat, But A Donut’ (with subtitle: ‘And the atmosphere has been proven to be the frosting’) and ‘Pregnant Woman Gives Birth to Mutant Sea Turtles After Tinder Date With a Lobster’.

–Ted Nubel

InferiVile Genesis | The Artisan Era | Technical Death + Black Metal | United States (Nashville, TN)

Intoxicatingly melodic and relentlessly intricate, Inferi’s approach to technical death metal continues to be unparalleled.

–Ted Nubel

Chrome WavesThe Rain Will Cleanse | Disorder Recordings | Post-Black Metal | United States (Pittsburgh, PA)

Chrome Waves play into the shoegaze and post-rock of blackgaze moreso than they do the metal, but they explore the vaster soundscapes of those styles within relatively conventional song lengths. That means there’s plenty of layers and foggy vocals with a healthy measure of wanderlust. Oh, and you’ll hear the drums from ten miles away.

–Colin Dempsey

MastiffLeave Me the Ashes of the Earth | eOne | Sludge + Hardcore | United Kingdom

Crossbreeding sludge with hardcore often results in a vile dredge that you only throw on when you’ve given up on humanity. Mastiff aren’t that pessimistic, and that plays to their advantage, despite the fact that they are clearly not very pleased with the world. They play out of stubbornness to survive.

–Colin Dempsey

MehenetNg’ambu | Gilead Media | Black Metal | United States (New Orleans, LA)

From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “Dona Sete”:

Though the inclusion of ambient urban sound later in the album and traditional instrumentation helps tie Ng’ambu back to the city, the connection feels deeper than that. Hailing from a city that has managed to hold onto much of its history and culture despite fires and floods, Mehenet’s vivid and authentic take on ritualistic black metal claws back the concept from the throngs of tepid imitators, paying tribute to a slice of New Orleans’ spirituality at the same time.

Giant of the MountainMountain’s Blood | Careless Records | Black + Death Metal | United States (Dallas, TX)

Just listen to the introduction to this new EP — “Inundation” is mostly clean guitar with vocal choruses, and it serves as a spine-tingling, goosebumps-raising tone-setter that’s compelling on its own. As the album progresses into the melodic black/death/sludge mixture that Giant of the Mountain excels at, we see this same tone transformed into frosty riffs, harsh vocals, and punishing drumming, moving away from the warm and heartfelt sentiment into something bitter and remorseful. When the clean vocals come back to offer a new perspective layered on top, the combination is awe-striking.

–Ted Nubel

Coyote ManRelics | Independent | Progressive Rock + Metal | United States (Chicago, IL)

Coyote Man continue their inspiring brand of progressive rock/metal on this new EP — though instrumental, the narratives crafted with riffs and rhythm alone speak volumes. Speaking of riffs, although the band continues to not be listed on Metal-Archives due to, I dunno, cosmic injustice, these three songs pack some nasty stuff that bites hard.

–Ted Nubel

StarlessHope is Leaving You | Independent | Post-Metal + Rock | United States (Chicago, IL)

From Andrew Sacher [via BrooklynVegan]’s track premiere of “Pendulum”:

As heavy as it is atmospheric and melodic, the song exists somewhere at the crossroads between Neurosis and Hum, and if that sounds like your kind of crossroads, you should check this out. Or, as the band puts it, “‘Pendulum’ grips the listener with a consternation delivered from the dreadfulness of the heavens above.”

RedemptusBlackhearted | Gruesome Records | Post-Metal + Sludge + Hardcore | Portugal (Porto)

Redemptus are the hardcore band you wish you listened to in high school. They’re charred and brittle without stooping to shout-along choruses and mosh-pandering that so much of the genre uses to garner audience empathy.

–Colin Dempsey

Black MassFeast at the Forbidden Tree | Redefining Darkness Records | Black + Thrash + Speed Metal | United States (Boston, MA)

From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “They Speak in Tongues”:

This vein of throwback-heavy thrash metal is hard to perfect: it’s evil, but it’s also fun, which is a hard thing to describe and harder still to cultivate. That balance is achieved here, and not through calculation or pretense: simply the inevitable byproduct of a band devoted to playing sick riffs really fast. Mission accomplished, folks.

Trappist / ConnoisseurCross Faded | Tankcrimes | Grind + Crust + Hardcore + Sludge | United States (California (Oakland + Los Angeles))

When drugs, alcohol, and d-beats collide: two Californian bands present a split of nasty grind/crust/yelling thematically aligned with their vices of choice (Trappist being, y’know, beer, and Connoisseur being the green stuff). Suitably, Trappist’s half raises the aggression and suggests poor life choices with up-front nastiness and speed while Connoisseur prioritizes reverb, fuzz, and snarled vocals to create hazy, blissful chaos.

–Ted Nubel

LvcifyreThe Broken Seal | Dark Descent Records | Black + Death Metal | United Kingdom

POV: You just broke the seal and now an angry snake-god is going to rend your soul from your flesh. I love the album art on this!

The music, though, is no joking matter, sporting an ample assortment of killer riffs—of the completely annihilating, ritualistic black-death kind.

–Ted Nubel

MaladieSymptoms III | Apostasy Records | Avant-Garde Metal | Germany

On the whole, Maladie is German avant-garde metal, not of the insular, cryptic variety, but of the “yeah this song could use a swing-jazz section along with some French horn,” persuasion. If that sounds too tame for you, this upcoming release promises to be entirely acoustic, presenting an even looser grip on reality. Details are scarce, but not too much longer to wait now.

–Colin Dempsey

No public stream yet – keep an eye on Bandcamp.

ReplicantMalignant Reality | –Ted Nubel

TeethFinite | Translation Loss Records | Death + Doom Metal | United States (Los Angeles, CA)

Jarring, jangly death-doom meant to sap your sanity one seemingly-impossible riff at a time.

–Ted Nubel