It’s Tuesday! BUT…it’s so early in the year that we haven’t come across any new releases we’d like to discuss. So instead, let’s focus this post on some upcoming albums we’ve got our eyes on in 2015. And by “we,” I mean “I.” I mean, I’m sure there’s some overlap with Corey here, but…I’m the one writing the post, so…

Anyway, I’m specifically going to highlight upcoming albums from the first three months of 2015. I suppose I could have gone for the gusto and done an “all-year” glance, but…a lot of the bands I’m most excited for haven’t even set release dates for their stuff yet. Look past March, and it’s all vague promises of stuff being worked on and…that’s it. So let’s stick with the stuff we know for sure about. For me, that would be…

Blind Guardian – Beyond the Red Mirror (Nuclear Blast)

Yes, I’m starting out with a power metal album and yes, you’re just gonna have to sit there and deal with it. I always get super amped for Blind Guardian albums because A. they’re fantastic, and probably the only reason I even acknowledge the power metal subgenre any more and B. they seem to have a thing for releasing albums every four-ish years or so, which always ends up feeling like a goddamn eternity. Anyway, Beyond the Red Mirror is apparently a sequel to 1995’s Imaginations from the Other Side, with a story that revolves around “an otherworldly dimension that includes tyrants, gods, and the Holy Grail.” So while there may not be any songs about Peter Pan or Middle Earth, there still should be plenty of cheesy awesomeness to go around. Album number ten for Hansi & Co. drops on February 3–in the meantime, here’s the lyric video for its lead single, “Twilight of the Gods.”

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Enslaved – In Times (Nuclear Blast)

Ah, Enslaved. Just mentioning their name gives me all the feels. From their harsh, frostbitten (#punz) early days through their later, more genre-bending fare, they’ve always been one of the most endlessly re-listenable bands out there for me. And 2012’s RIITIIR has been no exception; it was a total revelation and one of my favorite albums of the year in any genre, and it’s stayed in pretty steady rotation ever since. So are my expectations are elevated for the band’s just-announced follow-up, In Times? Yeah, a bit. But with six songs and nearly an hour’s worth of new music to behold here (hooray epics!), I’m pretty optimistic. The album drops on March 6. The band hasn’t previewed anything off it yet, so instead, here’s RIITIIR‘s “Death in the Eyes of Dawn” as an appetite-whetter. It’s basically the best.

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Napalm Death – Apex Predator – Easy Meat (Century Media)

Is Mitch Harris…alive? Dead? In Napalm Death? Out of Napalm Death? Who knows at this point? Mercifully, the band’s upcoming album Apex Predator – Easy Meat will finally give us a reason to cut the speculation and focus on, you know…the music, for a change. This time out, the band found its muse in the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, and have focused their songwriting attack on slave labor and the system that allows it to persist in contemporary society. And judging by their form on new track “Cesspits,” (see below) that attack should be as aggressive and merciless as ever. Apex Predator – Easy Meat drops on January 27.

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Periphery – Juggernaut (Sumerian)

You know…in general, I still don’t really know how I feel about Periphery. On the one hand, the band’s musicianship is pretty damn respectable across the board. On the other…those vocals. At times, listening to Spencer Sotelo is like listening to Claudio Sanchez painting with a heavier pallet—it’s not bad, but…Claudio took me a while to come around to, back in the day, so I guess it only makes sense that Spencer is, too. Either way, the band’s 2014 EP, Clear, certainly had its moments, so a year (almost to the day) later, we’ll see if they can keep it going on the new double album, Juggernaut. Ambitious? You bet. Intriguing? Absolutely. Juggernaut Alpha and Omega are out on January 27, but in the meantime, here’s out a new track called “Graveless,” from the latter:

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Other Q1 Albums of Note:

• The Crown – Death is Not Dead (January 13)
• Lord Dying – Poisoned Altars (January 27)
• Venom – From the Very Depths (January 27)
• Leviathan – Scar Sighted (February 17)
• Pelican – The Cliff (February 24)
• Torche – Restarter (February 24)
• Melechesh – Enki (March 10)
• The Midnight Ghost Train – Cold Was The Ground (March 10)

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Anything we missed? Let us know. Otherwise, check back later on for Quickies!

-Dan

Live. Love. Plow. Horns Up.