Upcoming Metal Releases

(Previously) Upcoming Metal Releases: Halloween 2021 Recap


Here are the new metal releases for October 31st, 2021. Now, usually, we run this column on Mondays with the goal of covering everything from Sunday to the upcoming Saturday, but Halloween falling on Sunday this year made this odd—there were at least 60 releases yesterday, none of which are actually, technically, upcoming, but a good number of them warrant coverage anyway. To address this abnormality and to maintain our sanity, this edition of the column is just focused on Halloween. Tomorrow, we’ll cover the rest of the week, which has some highlights inbound as well.

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

UlverScary Muzak | House Of Mythology | Rock + Electronic + Ambient | Norway

This basically-surprise release from Ulver includes five covers of classic John Carpenter tracks, plus seven originals that move Ulver into the realm of horror soundtracks—honestly, not that surprising or disruptive of a move for the band at this point. It’s also instrumental and feels like an intentional one-off kind of venture, full of rich synth-y grooves and spooky vibes.

–Ted Nubel

Outre-TombeAbysse mortifère | Temple of Mystery | Death Metal | Canada (Quebec City, Quebec)

Noticeably old-school old-school death metal, if that makes sense. Outre-Tombe’s nasty take on the genre is less about trying to clone a guitar tone or write riffs that evoke a particular era, and more about just being a sepulchral expression of everything death metal was best at when it first mutated itself into existence—and that includes excelling at slow and gross (as well as fast and gross) mutilation.

–Ted Nubel

FrightfulSpectral Creator | Awakening Records | Death + Thrash Metal | Poland

Death/thrash can be a punishing, annihilating affair, but sometimes it can also be like this: mysterious and intricate, trapping listeners in a maze of ephemeral riffs and melody that warrants extensive investigation.

–Ted Nubel

JointhuggerSurrounded by Vultures | Majestic Mountain Records | Stoner + Doom Metal | Norway

From Ted Nubel’s feature yesterday:

Teeming with surreal warmth, the Norwegian stoner doom band’s second album creates an immersive soundscape full of fuzzy magic, crushing grooves, and startling technicality, doling out big riffs (a requirement for any metal band with a drug pun in their name, really) and psychedelic jams. And after all, what better holiday on which to hail the Devil’s Lettuce?

Dungeon CrawlRoll for Your Life | Independent | Thrash Metal | United States

Thrash wouldn’t normally be my first thought for a Dungeons and Dragons-inspired project, but clearly there’s something to the combination, as Dungeon Crawl’s debut full-length nails down the seat-of-your-pants action feeling that the game, despite often being painstakingly turn-based, conveys. Snarling vocals and throwback thrash riffs jam along to a gritty tale of dice-driven annihilation.

–Ted Nubel

AsenheimWohin das Herz uns führt | Narbentage Produktionen | Black Metal | Germany

Asenheim dabble in dungeon synth, posturing black metal dressed in hard rock drapery, and second-wave Norwegian black metal worship, making Wohin das Herz uns führt play like the style’s greatest hits compilation.

–Colin Dempsey

When The Deadbolt BreaksAs Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy | Electric Talon Records | Sludge Metal + Doom Metal | United States (Connecticut)

This is the intersection between enchanting, atmospheric rock and bone-grinding doom metal. When The Deadbolt Breaks try to play as slowly as possible, thickening the album’s overall defeatism.

–Colin Dempsey

DisgustibusDeath Tales of Gore | Independent | Brutal Death Metal | Italy

A brief and incredibly gory little slice of death metal—every ‘tale’ here revolves around some gruesome shit with brief, to-the-point runtimes, so accordingly the one-man-band’s riffs dissect their victims at a lightning pace.

–Ted Nubel

FaeriesFaeries | Independent | Sludge + Stoner Metal | United States (Savannah, GA)

Earth-shaking doom infected by a particularly deadly case of sludge: chunked-out vocals and massive drums add a rhythmic punctuation to the ever-twisting riffs. It’s a very compelling combination and feels kind of like a retro take on sludge… if we’re able to accept it’s now a genre old enough to allow that.

–Ted Nubel

HeksebladThe Fall of Cintra | Independent | Black Metal | United States

This release uses roomy, abrasive black metal with gentle touches of synths to capture the fantasy world of The Witcher, which seems pretty well-suited for a black metal rendition.

–Ted Nubel

TearstainThe Perception of Sorrow | Poisonous Sorcery | Black Metal | United States (Las Vegas, NV)

Piercing leads augment the brittle, icy black metal that rages throughout this record, which uses its sharp hostility to make the tragic side of its sound pierce even deeper.

–Ted Nubel

WitnessesThe Collapse | Independent | Melodic Doom Metal + Ambient | United States

All is not frights and scares within the realm of October 31st releases—Witnesses’ latest album is a morose slab of melodic doom with contemplative vocals and pacing at odds with, but augmented by, the mighty tones that craft its riffs.

–Ted Nubel