Upcoming Metal Releases: 4/6/2014 – 4/12/2014

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Bummed you won’t be at Roadburn this weekend? Sigh. No, they’re not playing, but everyone else in Mikael Åkerfeldt’s Rolodex is making an appearance. That said, perhaps four days in a faraway land wouldn’t be a grand time, a cherished memory to rekindle while you flicker away on your death bed. Maybe you aren’t missing much. Heck, you’ve got things to do…you think. Why, you could…go to work…or something.

Sigh.

You know what? Cheer up. Eff it, throw your own fest. Yeah, we said it. The location? Your living room. Present your library card for entry and push the coffee table to the wall because there will be no stubbed toes in this pit. And really, aside from optional libations, what else would one need to metal away a Saturday? Oh, right, a set-list.

Lucky you, it’s curated here. Welcome to The Upcoming Thrumming 2014, the best fest for the agoraphobic. Pros? Yo, there are no Great Wall-long lines stretching from porta-potties smelling worse than Sea World’s crematorium. Water is as cheap as your utility bill. The omnipresent sun can be shielded behind venetian blinds. Your clothes will be protected from the stank triumvirate of skunk weed, onion-soup armpits, and spilled stale beer. Unless you’re doing this in a dorm, then, hey, that’s your norm.

Anyway, the real reason to join us from the comfort of your den is the lineup. Stacked? Uh, higher than a rig existing in an alternate universe of infinite Sunns, roadied by an army of Robert Stack and Jerry Stackhouse clones made of pancakes. On the mainstage, three kvlt collectives showcase their different takes on the ol’ molo. Cormorant aren’t melo chicks any longer, spreading their wings and soaring to folk-infused fist-raisers. Then, Skogen is a fine terra firma contrast, finding themselves more at home in the Bergtattian thicket. Finally, closer Vredehammer is the fitting finisher, pounding your head with a single swing of their death-sledge.

Still, one suggests you arrive to the virtual grounds early to catch the bevy of supporting bangers. The Of Note Stage Sponsored By Windows Notepad is ripe with raging rippers of every variety, from the suds-thirsty thrash (Delirium Tremens), the gore splashed (Endless), the compositionally brash (Terra Tenebrosa), plus many other playlist pushers holding the good stash.

Of course, if you’re early, you might as well stay late. After the fest is the afterfest, held at Ye Olde Missed It Scrolloon.

Wow. Would you look at that? Roadburn got…burned. (Stop booing.) You just scheduled a weekend worthy of dueling with The Dutch. Until your feed is insta-overwhelmed by a deluge of enviable grams, that is. Sigh, Maryland can’t come soon enough.

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New metal releases for the week of 4/6/2014 – 4/12/2014. 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.

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Anticipated Releases:

Cormorant – Earth Diver | Self-released | Black metal, prog, folk metal
The ambitious NorCal birds of prey are jack of all trades, diving from prog-death heights while gliding on bone-chilling gusts. (See Greg Majewski’s review from April 4)

Skogen – I Döden | Nordvis Produktion | Black metal
Manned by mates from Entrails, Poltergeist, and Birdflesh, these Swedes navigate the dark woods, employing a fiery torch of classic viciousness to light the way.

Vredehammer – Vinteroffer | Indie Recordings | Black metal
Allfader fellows red-line straight-up black metal, maneuvering with death metal’s drive and dexterity. Do you regularly eschew the blizzard for the brutal? Worth a test drive on the 11th.

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Of Note:

Achren – The White Death | Ceol Dorchas Productions | Blackened death metal
A raspy Scottish quartet stealthily picking off the progressions of rousing trad.

Веда – Под навесом боевых знамён | Sound Age Productions | Folk metal, pagan
Russia’s Sound Age Productions chips in two on the slate, though final release dates are tough to pin down. Веда and Руян’s Лебедь Белая, the other entry, aim for bouncy folk punctuated by aggressive blarghs.

Collision / The Rotted – Collision / The Rotted | Hammerheart Records | Death/grind, crossover thrash
Split 7-inch pitting the thrash-blast-boasting Collision against the formally gory, punked-up death of The Rotted.

Decapitated Christ – Arcane Impurity Ceremonies | F.D.A. Rekotz | Death metal
A Spanish OSDM belch courtesy of a filling meal of fried Bolt Thrower.

Delirium Tremens – Read My Fist | Iron Shield Records | Thrash
Rowdy thrashaholics vigorously shake in the manner of Razor.

Eismalsott – Weißblendung | Self-released | Black metal
A German sextet resurfacing after a 10-year break. Melodic second-waving with its share of tonal quirks.

Endless – Prophetic Seals of Apocalypse | Spectral Blasphemy | Death metal
A Disharmonic duo dress up old Decrepit Birth excretions in symphonic padding.

Horse Latitudes / Atomic Cries – Horse Latitudes / Atomic Cries | Doomentia Records | Doom, drone
A treat for Roadburners. Horse Latitudes‘ kilowum taser is paired with the stunningly confounding doom oddity Atomic Cries.

Invertia – Another Scheme of the Wicked | Ohm Resistance | Black metal
Unrelenting, winding weirdness recalling a low-tech Aborym. Includes a remix from J.K. Broadrick.

Liber Necris – Negative Creator | Venn Records | Blackened death metal
Charred UK tumult occasionally outfitted with a core roar.

Medieval Steel – Dark Castle | Empire Records | Power metal, heavy metal
A longtime crate-digger obsession finally smiths their debut LP 30 years after their diamond-in-the-rough extended play.

Neige Morte – Bicephaale | ConSouling Sounds | Black metal, post-metal
Out-there experimental clatter recommended to Abruptum adherents and those sporting an avant-callous. Has bloodlines to Overmars. Stream here.

Pentothal Sodium – Upon a Pile of Bones | Horror Pain Gore Death Productions | Death metal
Debut EP of Rack-stretched OSDM courtesy of this Italian quintet.

Possession – Anneliese | Iron Bonehead Productions | Black metal, thrash
A scuzzy Hellhammering hailing from Belgium.

Reek – Necrogenesis | Self-released | Thrash
Skilled Spanish thrash vibrating to the pitch of Evil Chuck’s echo.

Serpent Warning – Serpent Warning | I Hate | Doom
Finnish epic doom slithering with a Tom G. Warrior sensibility.

Slave’s Mask – Soak Kaos | Osasto-A Records | Industrial, black metal
Prog encoded machinery controlled by Horna vocalist Spellgoth. Those interested in newer Manes are encouraged to beta test.

Terra Tenebrosa – V.I.T.R.I.O.L. – Purging The Tunnels | Apocaplexy Records | Experimental, black metal
Ex-members of Breach explode expectations and reform the debris into their own twisted vision of post-everything. This vault emptying EP collects cutting room floor fallers from the previous two full-lengths.

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Things We Missed:

Ahamkara watched the blackened skies for streaks of symphonic elegance.

Árstíðir lífsins dramatically retold Enslaved’s old tales from an Icelandic perspective while accompanied by a choir.

Axe Battler used dueling leads to sharpen a dull trad blade.

Azathoth Circle charted the other dimensions with a post chug thud.

Carried Off By Wolves ground one down thanks to their pack attack modifier.

Expose Your Hate flashed their gnashers with the nusto gusto of Barney Greenway and company.

From Hell, the collaboration between vets of Death Angel, Nevermore, and Slayer, screened a cinematic B-flick groover.

IDYLLS converged upon a core car wreck.

Medo ensorcelled the hooded hordes via outsider eccentricity.

Peculate put prog, death, and tech through the Uncle Meat sausage maker.

Posthumous Blasphemer invited Necrophagist out for an all they could mange tech buffet.

Prometheon created fire from early ’90s prog death.

Septuagint tremed with a slightly askew dissonance.

White Suns entranced the feedback-addicted thanks to squalls of solar-hot eardrum obliteration.

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