Upcoming Metal Releases 8/26/2018-9/1/2018

Thou Magus

Here are the new metal releases for the weeks of August 26 – September 1, 2018. 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 the coming Fridays 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

Thou – Magus | Sacred Bones | Sludge/Doom Metal | United States
As someone who is hot and cold on Thou, this is the first time in a decade where a full-length of theirs has me violently thrashing around my apartment and exclaiming my joy. All I ever want from a Thou record is 1) riffs, 2) atmosphere, and 3) heaviness, which Magus delivers in spades. A devastating album all its own, the seventy minutes of Magus feature a honed Thou, one which rediscovered its center after years of experimenting and adventuring. For those who missed the Peasant sound (how old is that album now?), Magus is the album I truly wanted to follow it all those years ago.

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OF NOTE

Tyrannic – Ethereal Sepulchre | Seance Records | Thrash/Doom Metal | Australia
Pure filth, cut from the 1980s cloth which gave birth to black and death metal to begin with. Making a Celtic Frost comparison almost seems too easy, yet Tyrannic’s undeniably “old school” approach presents itself as an apt tribute.

Iskald – Innhøstinga | Indie Recordings | Melodic Black/Thrash Metal | Norway
Albeit mildly thrashing at times, Iskald concentrates on immensity over speed and sharpness. A modern wedge somewhere between the classics, Iskald follows in large, ancient footsteps.

FOR THE ADVENTUROUS

Mamaleek – Out of Time | The Flenser | Avant-Garde | United States
From my premiere of “The Recompense Is Real”:

Out of Time itself is an impossibility, somehow sounding akin to Mamaleek’s prior works, but still a completely separate style. It comes from another musical universe entirely, a pastiche of jazz, world music, dub, and completely inhuman sounds. Much like the brothers said back in 2010, this sounds compulsive, but with black metal’s textured veil completely lifted. It skips gleefully through the strange, broken fields of its own pulverized glitter. There is no apology for the freedom from their glass prison of musical logic, simply a jarring sprint through post-modernity and prismatic projection. Much like the artwork which graces this new album, Mamaleek’s implied face is broken, and random, unstructured thoughts run free. Welcome to the new Mamaleek.

OTHER RELEASES

Cast the Stone – Empyrean Atrophy | Agonia Records | Death Metal | United States
I’ll give Cast the Stone this: they are heavy. These riffs are incredibly chunky and eviscerating that I find myself frowning and bobbing my head from time to time. However, at the same time, Empyrean Atrophy is woefully soulless.

Omnium Gatherum – The Burning Cold | Century Media | Melodic Death Metal | Finland
I used to really like Omnium Gatherum when I was a teenager, and I even think their old albums are still pretty good… but for some odd reason all these bands find the need to use electronics and odd pseudo-modernisms over time. None of them really work. I just want catchy riffs!

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