klabautamann-smaragd

Upcoming Metal Releases 6/4/2017-6/10/2017

klabautamann-smaragd

Here are the new metal releases for the week of June 4, 2017 – June 10, 2017. 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 Friday unless otherwise noted or if labels and artists get impatient. Blurbs and designations are based on whether or not I have a lot to say about it.

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

As a little bit of a challenge, include your own opinion about anything you want to add. Make me want to listen to it!

Please note: this is a review column and is not speculative. Any announced albums without preview material will not be covered. Additionally, any surprise releases which are uploaded or released after this column is published will be excluded.

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ANTICIPATED RELEASES

Klabautamann – Smaragd | Zeitgeister Music | Progressive Folk/Black Metal | Germany
From my premiere of “Into Depression”:

“With the extensive, folk-tinged progressive rock sections which alternate between emotive, melodic bursts of what is unmistakably black metal, this duo’s twinkling expanse is a genre as far on the brink as possible while still retaining important markers: aggression, structured composition, and fury, but through the catalyst of two of modern extreme music’s most talented, creative minds.”

Necrot – Blood Offerings | Tankcrimes/Sentient Ruin Laboratories | Death Metal | United States
From Joseph’s premiere of “The Blade”:

“[This album portrays] a band lovingly recreating first generation death metal both American and European, the kind that still had audible traces of NWOBHM and thrash in it.”

Foscor – Les irreals visions | Season of Mist | Dark Progressive Metal | Spain
From Andrew’s premiere of “Ciutat Tràgica”:

“Clean-sung vocals dominate “Ciutat Tràgica”, offering trance-like feels, followed by balladic guitar passages and build-up drum licks. There’s a patient yet determined energy to it all. The track also offers a blastbeat denouement, but doesn’t stop there, opting for a gentle piano outro. A defining question remains: will the rest of the album be heavier, more jammable? Or will we see more of the soft, misty headspace created by this track? Either way, this will be a promising release.”

Suffocation – …Of The Dark Light | Nuclear Blast | Technical Brutal Death Metal | United States
Suffocation doesn’t fall exactly into the kind of music I generally cover, but let me tell you one thing: I love Suffocation. Something about the most ridiculous, over the top brutal death metal (see: Putridity, Defeated Sanity) truly resonates with me. A point can be made regarding the eventual aging of Suffocation, especially after the recent departure of longtime guitarist Guy Marchais, but the classic, bludgeoning machine duo of Frank Mullen and Terrance Hobbs proves to be timeless.

blaze of sorrow astri

OF NOTE

Blaze of Sorrow – Astri | Eisenwald Tonschmiede | Atmospheric Folk/Black Metal | Italy
Gorgeous, autumnal black metal with an air of sweltering, Mediterranean heat.

SunSpell/SaudadeFrom the Mist…We are but Dust | Iron Bonehead Productions | Depressive Black Metal / Black/Death Metal | United States/Canada
In a strange, complementary pairing, the long-form, fuzzy depressive black metal of SunSpell (who I am fairly certain owns WitchCult Records) which recalls Wigrid and Nyktalgia pits against Saudade’s minimal, harsh stomp.

Exist – So True, So Bound | Prosthetic Records | Progressive Death Metal/Jazz Fusion | United States
The part of me who occasionally listens to Cynic’s Focus and the Wayd discography really appreciates this smooth sound.

Descent Into Despair – Synaptic Veil | Loud Rage Music | Funeral Doom Metal | Romania
It certainly is funeral doom. I own their first album (a double album, at that), but I guess the sunny weather weakens my desire to listen to such music.

Merrimack – Omegaphilia | Season of Mist | Black Metal | France
French orthodox black metal, this time with melodies. In all seriousness, Merrimack has always been one of the better examples of “spooky, occult” black metal, drawing upon that perfect density and crisp excitement.

Anthesis – The Age of Self | Hibernation Release/Ancient Temple Recordings | Experimental Grindcore | Canada
From Clayton’s premiere of “False Content”:

“There’s nary a moment of respite as the band gnashes their way through an exquisitely unpleasant set of tracks like the grindingly intense “Pension Teeth,” the more muscular hardcore of “Abscent,” and the abrasive crawl of “Shattered Into a Sea of Light.” Even in their comparatively more melodic moments, like the technical death metal-leaning break in “Empty Vessels,” that infusion of melody sounds so alien that it increases the overall tension of the track instead of offering any kind of release.”

Schammasch – The Maldoror Chants: Hermaphorodite | Prosthetic Records | Avant-Garde Black Metal | Switzerland
Following last year’s monstrous Triangle triple album, Schammasch appears to be “bridging the gap” between full-length efforts with experimental dischord. With the band concentrating their efforts on texture and atmosphere instead of the long-form songwriting which characterized their last full-length, Schammasch follows the classic “EPs are for doing something different” approach. Maybe not their finest hour, but certainly not awful.

FOR THE ADVENTUROUS

The Holy Circle – The Holy Circle | Annihilvs Power Electronix | Darkwave | United States
Please don’t call this synthwave. Terence Hannum (Locrian) and Erika Burgner-Hannum craft some infectious, dark pop music for the impending, sweltering nights for those of us without air conditioners.

Adrift for Days – A Sleepless Grey | Art As Catharsis | Post-Metal | Australia
Dopesick post-metal which resembles mid-period Neurosis fronted by Acid Bath’s Dax Riggs. I have to admit, I didn’t expect much from Adrift for Days, so this was a nice surprise.

Anathema – The Optimist | kScope Music | Progressive/Alternative Rock | England
I sincerely hope the lot of you are at the very least familiar with Anathema. As always, the Cavanagh brothers craft their misery with sunlit explosions and dulcet tones. Yet another chapter in their stellar discography.

Maggot Heart – City Girls | Teatology Sound and Vision | Rock/Metal | Sweden
From Joseph’s premiere of the EP:

“As a singer, Olsson delivers her lyrics in a despondant monotone. She sounds envenomed and jaded in equal measure, not as expressive as her guitar is but the singing absolutely suits her songwriting. Hints of snarling Detroit rock like The Stooges and The MC5 inform the wild guitar slashing that opens the title track. Later, on “No Light in You”, hints of classic metal chugging project through the reverb-heavy murk, thanks in no small part to Gottfrid Åhman and Uno Brunuisson, both veterans of occult traditional metal act In Solitude.”

FROM THE GRAVE

Wigrid – Discography Box Part I | Narbentage Produktionen | Depressive Black Metal | Germany
If you don’t know Wigrid, familiarize yourself now (especially Hoffnungstod – whoa). My search for these demos spans more than a decade, and now they are mine.

Qrixkuor – Incantations from the Abyss | Invictus Productions | Death Metal | England
Murky, obscure death metal is tired and overdone, but I still revisit Three Devils Dance – it’s always pleasant to hear textural music with the technical proficiency to make it interesting. The predecessor to last year’s EP, Incantations from the Abyss is a band still discovering their sound, but still “pleasant” in a relative “horrific, slinking death metal” sort oif way.

OTHER RELEASES

Solbrud – Vemod | Indisciplinarian | Black Metal | Denmark
Solbrud keep their black metal on the more pastoral side; nice and majestic, with a strong “folk” presence. I’m sure this would have gotten a lot more traction back when this style was in vogue (has it already been a decade?).

Logic of Denial – Aftermath | Comatose Music | Brutal Death Metal | Italy
Here we go, and I thought there wouldn’t be more brutal death metal which slammed this year. Get ready to frown really super hard and bob your head in approval.

Space Witch – Arcanum | HeviSike Records | Stoner/Doom Metal | England
One of the many examples of a band name fully exposing their sound without even hearing five seconds of their material. Yes, it certainly is retro/throwback psychedelic rock, but people insist on calling it doom metal. Oh well!

Terminal Nation – Absolute Control | Deep Six Records | Powerviolence/Hardcore | United States
Summer is coming. Listen to the most ignorantly brutal powerviolence you can get your hands on. You deserve it.

A Flourishing Scourge – A Flourishing Scourge | Begotten Records | Progressive Black/Death Metal | United States
This is the kind of “progressive” stuff I can get behind. A Flourishing Scourge doesn’t lean on the weird, technical self-ingratiation pioneered by bands like Dream Theater, instead using their talents to create intriguing, atypical songs. However, they are significantly lacking in the vocal department.

Svartsyn – In Death | Agonia Records | Black Metal | Sweden
Middle of the road black metal from a band who calls themselves “grim.” Not great, but not bad, especially if you like a good blast beat.

Atavisma – Of the Ruins of a Fallen Empire | Blood Harvest Records | Death/Doom Metal | France
Would you prefer Autopsy to be less lumbering and more…horrific? You’re in luck.

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