Upcoming metal releases: September 2011

September 6, 2011

Amebix – Sonic Mass

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September is usually the last significant month for metal releases, as labels try to push them out in time for magazines’ year-end lists. (Willowtip and Hells Headbangers will bring lots of heat this fall, though.) This month offers two likely year-end list contenders, Amebix and Opeth. It also brings a clutch of quirky, cool releases. Let’s dig into some.

— Cosmo Lee

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For the “full” (i.e., compiled to the best of our limited ability) calendar of releases, see here.
Use the Agenda view on the top right, and click on entries to expand and collapse them.

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SHOULD RULE HARD

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Heritage is the record I’ve long wanted Opeth to make – yet it’s a surprise. The fulfilled expectation is “more prog, less metal”; for a while, Opeth’s prog side has far outshined its metal side. The surprise comes in the live, analogue feel. These guys can really play, and they finally have a recording that brings the listener up close to experience that.

Amebix have built a towering monument worthy of their album artwork. On one hand, the extremely modern production is unexpected. On the other hand, it highlights how relevant the band’s return is. Amebix and Killing Joke are today’s foremost flagbearers of end-time messages.

When frontman Rob “The Baron Miller” emailed me about sending me the album, we had the following exchange:

Great, Baron! Is it possible to get a lyric sheet also? That is very important with Amebix.

Hi Cosmo, I hear what you are saying. However, I decided not to include lyrics with this release, as I believe that it engages the listener more if they can work out for themselves what the words are.

Mr. Baron – Interesting! Not what I would choose in this age of information competition, but a valid choice nonetheless. I will struggle along accordingly.

Cosmo, we are not competing 😉 People need to start to make time in their lives for the things that matter rather than shallow-grazing on an overabundant feast of “products”. I am probably making a meaningless gesture, but I remember with real depth the albums I grew up with and the investment of my time and passion in that music. We didn’t have a skip button. I couldn’t imagine cutting Dark Side of the Moon up into a playlist. Some things demand our personal commitment. If we make no investment in art, then our experience is equally hollow, in my opinion – The Baron.

There you have it. The Baron gives you no lyrics because he wants you to sit down and figure them out. Are you willing to do that?

Amebix – Sonic Mass [9/23] [purchase]
Glorior Belli – The Great Southern Darkness [9/27] [purchase]
Mournful Congregation – The Unspoken Hymns [9/20] [purchase]
Opeth – Heritage [9/20] [purchase]
Rwake – Rest [9/27] [purchase]

. . .

Amebix- “God of the Grain”
[audio: AMEBIX_GOD.mp3]

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MIGHT RULE HARD

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Shamaatae is one productive fellow; I haven’t even heard his Arckanum record from last year, and already a new one is upon us. The one audio clip out there (see below) lacks the heavy metal oomph I loved about ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ – but we’ll see. I love how Brutal Truth get grittier as time goes on. The Atlas Moth, Falloch, and Old Silver Key all are “post-“, which nowadays doesn’t interest me much. But Falloch’s mellow, Opeth-esque prog is easy on the ears, Old Silver Key is intriguing simply as a collaboration between Drudkh and Neige of Alcest, and The Atlas Moth have…well, if you’re into female nudity, you’ll love their CD booklet! Landmine Marathon’s start of their album with a whammy bar’ed solo is a joking suggestion I made that they took seriously. What little I’ve heard of the new Nightbringer record (see below) sounds monstrous. Omega Massif are picking up where old Pelican and old Isis left off – good stuff. Finally, after releasing a zillion hardcore records, Southern Lord takes us back a few years with black metal-oriented releases by Craft and Wolves in the Throne Room. The former sound surprisingly hi-fi; the latter seek to re-awaken listeners after the soporific Black Cascade.

Arckanum – Helvítismyrkr [9/27] [purchase]
The Atlas Moth – An Ache for the Distance [9/20] [purchase]
Brutal Truth – End Time [9/27] [song stream, purchase]
Craft – Void [9/13] [purchase]
Falloch – Where Distant Spirits Remain [9/27] [purchase]
Landmine Marathon – Gallows [9/27] [purchase]
Nightbringer – Hierophany of the Open Grave [9/13] [purchase]
Old Silver Key – Tales of Wanderings [9/27] [purchase]
Omega Massif – Karpatia [9/20] [stream, purchase]
Wolves in the Throne Room – Celestial Lineage [9/13] [purchase]