Upcoming Metal Releases

Upcoming Metal Releases: 5/1/2022-5/7/2022


Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of May 1st, 2022 to May 7th, 2022. 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.

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Upcoming Releases

UfomammutFenice | Neurot Recordings | Psychedelic Sludge + Stoner + Doom Metal | Italy

38 minutes of heavy cosmic bliss. We’ve got a full review of this one coming later today!

–Ted Nubel

Cosmic PutrefactionCrepuscular Dirge for the Blessed Ones | Profound Lore Records | Death Metal | Italy

I’m not positive on what a crepuscular dirge is, exactly, but Cosmic Putrefaction sure seems to be dirging crepuscularly here. Punishing riffs swirl in a sinister vortex, enriched by synths and put together in an insanely detailed fashion.

–Ted Nubel

HaunterDiscarnate Ails | Profound Lore Records | Black + Death Metal | United States (San Antonio, TX)

From Colin Dempsey’s track premiere of “Chained at the Helm of Eschaton”:

Discarnate Ails marks a major shift for Haunter towards immediate gratification. They retain the technically-demanding passages and free-form structures from Sacramental Death Qualia, but step out of the shadows and aim straight for the chin. There’s more meat to chew on, a higher riff density, and a heightened focus on tangible reflections rather than obscure sacraments.

Malthusian + Suffering HourTime’s Withering Shadow | Invictus Productions | Black + Death Metal | Ireland + United States

From Ted Nubel’s full album premiere:

Putting Suffering Hour and Malthusian together in a split format just makes sense: both bands play black and death metal, and they both twist these genres into strange and wondrous new shapes that are as striking as they are abnormal. The similarities largely end there, though, which means that their [new] split Time’s Withering Shadow provides two captivating angles on black/death metal to easily digest in a single sitting.

Tableau MorteVisio in Somniis | Cult of Parthenope | Black Metal | United Kingdom (England)

A decadent black metal album with swirling melodies. It never teeters into being over-the-top, which some people may prefer, but there are some performative elements on Visio in Somniis that distinguish it from other mid-tempo black metal releases.

–Colin Dempsey

Molten ChainsOrisons of Vengeance | Independent | Heavy Metal | Austria

Molten Chains have a chewy sound. There’s body to their guitars that pushes them to the front of the mix and gives them weight. More impressive is how they toy with their song structures, using them to suit Orisons of Vengeance‘s operatic story. It plays more like a dramatic tragedy than a call to arms despite the abundance of arms-calling riifs.

–Colin Dempsey

Rise to the SkyEvery Day, A Funeral | Meuse Music Records | Doom Metal + Death Metal | Chile

Rise to the Sky is as far from sanguine as you can get. The one-man project isn’t punishing so much as it is omnipresent. Every Day, A Funeral blots out the sky, closes the curtains, and speaks only in long, patient waves.

–Colin Dempsey

WachenfeldtFaustian Reawakening | Threeman Recordings | Death Metal + Black Metal | Sweden

Blackened death – when it’s at its peak – is so burly that it sounds like an anvil is dropping onto your head. Wachenfeldt keep that tradition alive with their mammoth production. They also employ subtle symphonic touches that beef up the rest of the mix by comparison.

–Colin Dempsey

CleaverNo More Must Crawl | Klonosphere | Metalcore | France

Cleaver revive 90s metalcore’s ghost and drape it with a new set of clothes. There are dashes of the hyper-stylized vocals from the mid-aughts and the chaos of earlier mathcore acts. No More Must Crawl would be a celebratory record if it wasn’t so outwardly violent, and that’s a good thing.

–Colin Dempsey

DjevelkultDrep Alle Guder | Soulseller Records | Black Metal | Norway

From Jon Rosenthal’s track premiere of “I Kuldens Vold”:

This is black metal, written in a gothic font with the caps lock on. It’s melodic and majestic, but it’s also fierce and cold, like looking at one of Norway’s many snow-capped mountains.

The DamnnationWay of Perdition | Soulseller Records | Thrash + Death Metal | Brazil

From Brandon Nurick’s track premiere of “Way of Perdition”:

Renata Petralli’s beastly roar is somewhere between Max Cavalera and Angela Gossow–guttural with a Portuguese flair–and it easily tears through the band’s thrashing racket, which recalls old-school Sepultura’s in groove, and Sarcófago in atmosphere.

Wo FatThe Singularity | Ripple Music | Psychedelic Doom Metal + Stoner Rock | United States (Dallas, Texas)

From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “The Snows of Banquo IV”:

Despite long song runtimes and esoteric subject matter, the Dallas rockers have a knack for writing headbang-worthy and energetic riffs that flow effortlessly into each other to transport listeners to fantastic vistas. In fact, I don’t think they’re capable of writing anything clunky—for further evidence, Wo Fat’s upcoming seventh full-length The Singularity is a densely-packed odyssey that illustrates its sci-fi settings with endlessly compelling songwriting and far-out atmosphere.