First full week of October is upon us and, in case you missed it, there’s a hurricane that has ripped a swath of destruction everywhere it has touched. Our hearts and thoughts are with everyone that has been affected by this. But thankfully it’s moving on, so GOOD RIDDANCE to Matthew. Now, onto Initial Descent. Which means new metal by the truckload. Actually this week isn’t quite as stacked as previous weeks but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. We’ve got Meshuggah‘s The Violent Sleep Of Reason which has a more organic sound to it but nonetheless as alienesque as they’ve ever been, Gatecreeper have released their debut Sonoran Depravation which is arguably the catchiest death metal of 2016, Endalok is terrifyingly atmospheric on their black metal album Englaryk, Ortega gives us a fantastic doom album in Sacred States and Swampcult dedicates the entirety of their latest dark doom album The Festival to the H.P. Lovecraft short story of the same name (it translates very well in case you were wondering). Those and many more await after the jump.

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Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep of Reason (Nuclear Blast) – progressive metal

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Gatecreeper – Sonoran Depravation (Relapse Records) – death metal [full review]

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Endalok – Englaryk (Signal Rex) – black metal [full review]

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Ortega – Sacred States (Tartarus Records) – doom metal, sludge

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Swampcult – The Festival (Transcending Obscurity) – doom metal, black metal

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Also on tap:

Candiria – While They Were Sleeping (Metal Blade Records) – experimental metal

Construct of Lethe – The Grand Machination (Independent) – death metal

Decomposed – Wither (Chaos Records) – death metal

Eschatos – The Grand Noire (Starwolf Records) – death metal, black metal

Hanging Garden – Hereafter (Lifeforce Records) – death metal, melodic, doom

Hex Volt – The Best Hex Volt EP Ever (Independent) – sludge metal, punk

Illyrian – Round 2: Fight (Independent) – thrash metal

Inflikted – Sineater (wormholedeath) – death metal

John Wesley – A Way You’ll Never Be (Inside Out) – guitar driven singer, songwriter

Kremlin – Kremlin (Svart Records) – heavy metal, psychedelic, progressive 

Mercyless – Pathetic Divinity (Kaotoxin Records) – death metal

Metal Witch – Tales From the Underground (Iron Shield Records) – heavy metal

Monsternaut – Monsternaut (Heavy Psych Sounds) – fuzz rock

Mouth of Madness – Mouth of Madness (Iron Bonehead) – black metal

Mouth of the Architect – Path of Eight (Translation Loss) – metal, post

Narthraal – Chainsaw Killing Spree (Inverse Records) – death metal, old school

Riti Occulti – Tetragrammation (Triton’s Orbit) – doom metal, black metal

Sarcofago – Die Hard, Re-Issue (Greyhaze Records) – black metal

Saxon – Let Me Feel Your Power, Live (UDR) – heavy metal

Skogen – Svitjod, Re-Issue (Nordvis Produktion) – black metal

Solar Mass – Pseudomorphosis, TAPE/CD/12″” MLP” (Iron Bonehead) – kvlt

Sonata Arctica – The Ninth Hour (Nuclear Blast) – power metal

Starchitect – Shift (Independent) – progessive metal

Take Over And Destroy – Take Over and Destroy (Prosthetic Records) – death n roll

Underwater Sleeping Society – Instrumental Healthcare (Svart Records) – progressive metal

Vanhelga – Ode & Elegy (Talheim Records) – black metal, depressive

Vultur’s Vengeance – Where the Time Dwelt In, EP (Gates of Hell Records) – heavy metal

Watchtower – Concepts of Math: Book One (Prosthetic Records) – progressive metal

– Josh