Upcoming Metal Releases 8/21-8/27/2016

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Go forth and listen to things.

Here are the new metal releases for the week of August 21, 2016 – August 27, 2016. 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 any given release.

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

Inquisition – Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith | Season of Mist | Black Metal | United States
Inquisition is like Voltron made of black metal riffs: a seemingly infinite array of parts interlocked and working in perfect — albeit horrific — harmony. Dagon’s endless bank of catchy, melodic guitar riffs has yet to disappoint, which is quite a feat after nearly thirty years of grim, Satanic devotion.

Ärid – Harvesting The Toil Of Flesh Beyond The Entombment Of The Extinction That It Bore | Eerie Silence | Raw Black Metal | United States
The Eerie Silence catalog has been a constant source of intrigue following my initial discovery of Wounds a little over a year ago. Though I’d spun Wounds’s strange III regularly, it took me a little longer to figure out Ärid. This band is…harsh, almost impenetrably, but repeated listens show the music flowering. This solo artist — lost somewhere in the Appalachian hills — creates eerie, cinematic music with some absolutely unhinged drumming. I regularly make mental connections between Ärid and fellow hermit Striborg, both are detached, a little on the “outsider” side, and oddly frightening in their own unique ways. Pay extra attention to the drums, which sometimes get lost in the haze – this guy has some serious chops.

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OF NOTE

SubRosa – For This We Fought The Battle Of Ages | Profound Lore Records | Sludge/Stoner/Doom Metal | United States
I should, in theory, like SubRosa. An ethereal, glorious mixture of melodic, fuzzy doom and traditional folk ballads? Awesome! The big issue I take with the band is there is little to no variation, which doesn’t warrant such lengthy songs. The band might come together and write a mammoth, intricately orchestrated riff or chord progression and proceed to repeat it to an uninteresting death. At least they’re talented, right?

Asubha – Le Jésuve | Abysmal Sounds/Graceless Recordings | Black Metal | United States
Some solid, meat and potatoes melodic black metal. Asubha rather effectively echoes the odd mix of majesty and putridity which made Vlad Tepes so memorable, but this time with the vocal talents of Mastery’s Domignostika.

Imperium Dekadenz – Dis Manibvs | Season of Mist | Black Metal | Germany
Imperium Dekadenz have yet to really convince me. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with their brand of goth rock-inspired atmospheric black metal, I just find it more on the “forgettable” end of the spectrum. However, there are those few, fleeting moments where this duo breaks out a Katatonia-inspired lead which definitely keep my attention.

Running Wild – Rapid Foray | Steamhammer SPV | Heavy/Power/Speed Metal | Germany
I prefer “pirates in space”-era Running Wild, but that doesn’t mean they have lost any steam.

Lesbian – Hallucinogenesis | Translation Loss Records | Progressive Blackened Stoner/Doom Metal | United States
Lesbian is a bad band name, but their chaotic mixture of black metal, psychedelic rock, stoner metal and bottomed-out doom is pretty neat. Maybe a little on the schizophrenic end of the spectrum, but certainly not bad.

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FOR THE ADVENTUROUS

The Album Leaf – Between Waves | Relapse Records | Ambient Post-Rock/Electronica | United States
The Album Leaf’s semi-recent signing to Relapse Records is really weird. I spent a lot of time with 2004’s In A Safe Place when I was a teenager, so the whole “that post-rock band is going to come back in style” element is throwing me for a loop. I hadn’t really enjoyed anything else solo musician Jimmy LaValle had made since, but Between Waves is a refocusing. I always associated The Album Leaf with more gentle themes and delicate pop sensibilities which have been happily re-established this time around. Fans of Sigur Ros, Boards of Canada, and Massive Attack will find something to enjoy here.

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OTHER RELEASES

Throes of Dawn – Our Voices Shall Remain | Argonauta Records | “Progressive Dark Metal” (Progressive Gothic Metal) | Finland
I keep forgetting Throes of Dawn doesn’t sound like their first two albums anymore – weird how they went from mystical-sounding “melodic dark metal” (read as: black metal sans Satan) to this strange, goofy sort of gothic metal.

Sodom – Decision Day | Steamhammer SPV | Thrash Metal | Germany
New Sodom? Not so much, but this served as a great reminder to revisit Agent Orange.

Kuolemanlaakso – M. Laakso – Vol. 1: The Gothic Tapes | Svart Records | Gothic/Doom Metal | Finland
I liked Kuolemanlaakso’s death/doom albums, but the gothic approach on this one breaks through the “is this corny enough?” barrier.

Graveolence – Malformation | Graceless Recordings | Death Metal/Grindcore/Noise | Canada
Gross, grinding chaos.

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WHAT WE MISSED

Ēōs – Third Demo | Independent/Digital | Funeral Doom Metal | United States
I swear, you wouldn’t guess this is over twenty minutes long. There needs to be more funeral doom like this.

Uškumgallu – Rotten Limbs in Dreams of Blood | Vrasubatlat | Black Metal | United States
Vrasubatlat’s tenth release is their most frightening yet – I hadn’t really dug into Uškumgallu before this but enjoy the hollow, ghastly atmospheres found here.

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