Upcoming Metal Releases: 8/31/2014 – 9/6/2014

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Metal sure is working hard for your money this week: The Black Twilight Circle collective filled out a two disc collection with their best and bleakest; Earth took their Ennio Morridrone in an epic direction; Sólstafir coolly struck down heatwaves while acting as road trip saviors; and YOB remained heavier than the heaviest thing one can imagine. Alright metal, you win, here’s our PIN number.

That said, holy crap, check out Of Note. As we barrel towards October, where giant releases walk the land, we’re starting to see an uptick in the number of quality releases across the board, including those not blessed with a strong PR arm. India’s Dhwesha, Puerto Rico’s DoomLord, and China’s Barbarous might not be buzzing around the blog hivemind yet, but with some luck fans will find them. And that’s the whole point of this exercise, right? If not, some of the guiltier bigs still made the list for your perusal pleasure. Hey, it’s safe. It’s not like we’re tracking your clicks. . . Stephan in Flagstaff. . . and Joe in Kalamazoo. Nah, we’d never do that.

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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New metal releases for the week of 8/31/2014 – 9/6/2014. 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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Black Twilight Circle – Tliltic Tlapoyauak | The Anja Offensive | Black metal, death metal
Some of Southern California’s kvltest and craziest are collected on this compilation.

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Dark Fortress – Venereal Dawn | Century Media Records | Black metal
Seventh album from these German black metallers with a melodic streak. Related to Noneuclid and Triptykon.

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Earth – Primitive and Deadly | Southern Lord | Doom, stoner rock, drone
Dylan Carlson and company return with another slow-moving exploration of rich tones and all-encompassing heaviosity. Surprise: not wholly instrumental. Surprise squared: whole lot of surprises.

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The Haunted – Exit Wounds | Century Media Records | Thrash, melodeath
The melo-stars bring in some past members and go another round. Marco Aro and Adrian Erlandsson are back in the band. Related to At the Gates, Paradise Lost, Vallenfyre, and Witchery, to name a few.

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Krieg – Transient | Candlelight Records | Black metal
Long-running USBMers churn out their seventh album of black metal with oodles of atmosphere.

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Sólstafir – Ótta | Season of Mist | Rock, post-metal
Iceland’s frozen cowboys get even more panoramic, fusing expansive rock with Fields of the Nephilim. Stream a track here.

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YOB – Clearing the Path To Ascend | Neurot Recordings | Doom
Soaring metal, crushing doom, and transcendental breathers all make appearances as YOB perfects their meditations.

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Of Note:

Avenger – The Slaughter Never Stops | Rocksector Records | NWOBHM
Though it’s their first album in nearly 20 years, Avenger keep things close to their old, speedy sound. Related to Blitzkrieg, Satan, and Atomkraft. You can hear demos here.

Barbarous – Massacre in A-Minor | Dying Art Productions | Death/thrash
A Chinese trio that filters their thrash through death metal timbres.

Blood Of Kingu – Dark Star On The Right Horn of the Crescent Moon | Season of Mist | Black metal
Members of Drudkh spin tales of Sumerian mythology.

Dhwesha – Sthoopa | Dunkelheit Produktionen | Death metal
The sound is OSDM, but the band still experiments with form.

Disgracer – Cursed Since Birth | Self-released | Death/thrash
Spanish rippers that play with a preciseness and heaviness.

DoomLord – Black Testament | Emanes Metal Records | Doom
Puerto Rican epic doom flavored by hard rock vocals.

Emblazoned – Eucharistiae Sacramentum | Deepsend Records | Blackened death metal
Bass-heavy blasters that sit closer to the death side of the genre hybrid.

Hammerfall – (r)Evolution | Nuclear Blast | Power metal, heavy metal
Ninth album of powered up hooks for these Swedes.

The King Is Blind – The Deficiencies Of Man | Mordgrimm | Death/doom
Groovy death with a gritty tone. Linked to Extreme Noise Terror.

Lauxnos – My Dead Ocean | Metallic Media | Black metal
Russian solo project that experiments with post-black metal forays while delivering a DSBM mood.

Miseo – Lunatic Confessions | Blacksmith Records | Death metal
Simplified death metal (think Jungle Rot) hardened by a smidgen of core.

Ophis – Abhorrence In Opulence | Cyclone Empire | Death/doom
Longform downer death metal that crawls at doom tempos.

Pig Heart Transplant – For Mass Consumption | 20 Buck Spin | Industrial, power electronics
Iron Lung members get noisy with throbbing tumults of distortion.

Põhjast – Matused | StormSpell Records | Black metal, doom, heavy metal
Undeniably bleak, though these Estonians and Germans have a certain tradness to them.

The Sabbathian – Ritual Rites | Svart Records | Doom
Chad Davis (Hour of 13) plays all of the instruments, creating quite the doomy spine for singer Anette Gulbrandsen.

Sadistic Intent – Reawakening Horrid Thoughts | Iron Pegasus Records | Death metal
Around since ’87, this EP is the Cortez brother’s first new material in over a decade. Check out classic cuts here.

Set and Setting – A Vivid Memory | Prosthetic Records | Post-metal, post rock
Storms of metal roll across these dynamic, instrumental epics.

Shards of Humanity – Fractured Frequencies | Unspeakable Axe Records | Death/thrash
A Death-esque technical thrasher landing on the impressively curated Unspeakable Axe.

Sorxe – Surrounded By Shadows | Metal Blade Records | Sludge, post-metal
Absurdly heavy grooves from these Arizonians that have a connection to Graves at Sea.

Vermin Womb – Permanence | Self-released | Grind, blackened death metal
Ruthless grind swinging with death metal’s heavy-fisted violence. For fans of Watchmaker. Connected to Primitive Man and Withered.

Witch Charmer – The Great Depression | Argonauta Records | Doom, stoner metal
An interesting mix of Crowbar and occult doom.

Wolf – Devil Seed | Century Media | Heavy metal
The Swedish tradsters let the fun flow.

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Things We Missed:

• Black Metal

There is Chaos – Devourer Of Sins (GER, black metal, punk)

• Death Metal

Coprolith – Death March (FIN, death metal, black metal)

Earth Rot – Follow The Black Smoke (AUS, blackened death metal, death/grind)

Ordo Inferus – Invictus et Aeternus (SWE/USA, death metal)

• Doom/Sludge/Stoner

Marasme – De llums i ombres (ESP, sludge, post-metal)

The Order of Israfel – Wisdom (SWE, doom)

The Sleer – The Sleer (USA, doom, sludge)

Sunwølf – Beholden To Nothing And No One (GBR, drone, stoner metal, ambient)

• Grind

Disact – Statecrusher (RUS, death/grind)

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