Upcoming Metal Releases 1/18/2015 – 1/24/2015

January 19, 2015

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Here are the new metal releases for the week of 1/18/2015 – 1/24/2015. Release dates are formatted according to proposed North American scheduling, if available. Expect to see the bulk of these records on shelves or distros on Tuesday unless otherwise noted. Blurbs and designations are based on available promotional material and perceived buzz.

See something we missed? Goofs? Let us know in the comments. Plus, as always, feel free to post your own shopping lists. Happy digging.

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Anticipated Releases:

Caïna – Setter of Unseen Snares | Broken Limbs Recordings / Church of Fuck / Skin & Bones Records | Black metal | United Kingdom
Bleak blasts are subtly transformed by the timbres of punk and post-rock. Find older material here.
Related to: Dormant

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Satan’s Host – Pre-Dating God, Parts 1 & 2 | Moribund Records | Power metal, heavy metal, black metal | United States
Longform power metal retaining the contours of the blackened death detour Satan’s Host took in the early ’00s.
Related to: Jag Panzer, Titan Force, Torrid Flesh

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Of Note:

Armageddon – Captivity & Devourment | Listenable Records | Melodeath | Sweden
Recently reformed by shredder Christopher Amott. Melodeath leaning more towards the genre’s suffix, but occasionally modified by power metal tangents.
Related to: Arch Enemy

Breathless – Return To Pangea | Xtreem Music | Thrash | Spain
Rethrash swaggering with a heavier Xtreem-ity.

Hellish Outcast – Stay of Execution | Listenable Records | Death/thrash | Norway
Modern metal respites sit between brutal bits.
Related to: Byfrost, Keep of Kalessin, Khonsu, Subliritum

Hideous Rebirth – Completely Devoured | Gore House Productions | Death metal | United States
Standard BDM chuggery giving way to spasms of circular riffs.
Related to: Euphoric Defilement, Dystrophic

Nachtreich / Spectral Lore – The Quivering Lights | Bindrune Recordings | Neoclassical, black metal / Black metal, ambient | Germany / Greece
Germany’s Nachtreich fuse modern classical with atmospheric black metal. Spectral Lore take a celestial approach to outsider black metal. Both outfits tweak their style to meet the other in the middle, creating a cohesive album rather than a straight split.
Related to: Nachtreich: Eudaimony. Spectral Lore: Divine Element.

The Slow Death – Ark | Chaos Records | Death/doom | Australia
This doomy trudge cycles through different strides (funeral doom, gothic, etc.).
Related to: Backyard Mortuary, Stone Wings, Crone, Murkrat, Pestilential Shadows, Temple Nightside

Stormwitch – Season Of The Witch | Massacre Records | Power metal, heavy metal | Germany
Here’s your ’80s Heavy Metallers Still Doin’ It report. Stormwitch bang out their first album in 11 years. Germany’s sci-fi-loving Scanner – who contributed a couple albums dressed in great album art to the Noise Records catalog – are also back with The Judgement, their first in 13 years. And Belgium’s Ostrogoth, whose videos are YouTube metal archeologist gold, are releasing Last Tribe Standing, the final recording featuring guitarist Rudy “Whiteshark” Vercruysse who passed away earlier this month.

Trial – Vessel | High Roller Records | Heavy metal | Sweden
Powerful trad that calls upon the blackened vibe of Bathory. Out on Wednesday (January 21).
Related to: Ensnared

Uhriristi – Haudankylmä | Mortis Humanae Productions | Black metal | Finland
Racing black metal supported by atmospheric synths. Out on Friday (January 23).

Vardan – Verses From Ancient Times | Moribund Records | Black metal | Italy
Vardan stays busy with his eighth LP since 2012. Raw, second-wave black metal.
Related to: Anwech, Leaden

Vivus Humare – Einkehr | Eisenwald Tonschmiede | Black metal | Germany
Airy, patient, and ultimately trance-like atmospheric black metal. Out on Friday (January 23).
Related to: Alchemyst, Mosaic

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