I won’t bore you to death with whatever sentiment I had on my mind because this is a week of new releases that deserves your full attention. Much. Good. Stuff. Leading things off are two legendary bands that combined, not counting a few bumps in the road, have 56 years of experience between them. The first of which, Amorphis, return with their melodically inclined heavy metal on Queen of Time and in my hours upon hours of listening to it since yesterday I firmly believe this is some of their best work. Yea, tall order I know, just give it a spin. Second up is At the Gates on To Drink From the Night Itself which took a little more time to really get into but the second half of this thing is a full on blast of epic proportions and “In Death They Shall Burn” is one of the best songs they’ve done in ages. Two great albums from two great legends BUT there’s more — The King Is Blind dropped an out of nowhere demo on us, The Ides of March, and their brand of grind/death/doom just gets better and more extreme as they age. (Guys, put a purchase option on the bandcamp page, PLEASE). Last up in the top slots is Seattle’s The Dark Red Seed with their debut full length Becomes Awake, dark folk hits me square in the right spot and this album has done that in spades. Killer opening with these four but there’s many more that are just as good waiting below. Enjoy and we’ll see you on the flip-side.
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Amorphis – Queen of Time (Nuclear Blast) – melodic heavy metal
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At The Gates – To Drink From The Night Itself (Century Media Records) – death metal [full review]
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The King Is Blind – The Ides of March Demo 2018 (Independent) extreme metal
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The Dark Red Seed – Becomes Awake (Prophecy Productions) – dark folk / psych [full review]
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Also on tap:
20 Watt Tombstone – Death Blues vs The Dirty Spliff, Deluxe EP (Independent) – stoner rock [feature]
Airborn – Lizard Secrets (Fighter Records) – heavy metal
Apocrophex – AEternalis (Independent) – tech death
Aurora Borealis – Apokalupsis (Casus Belli / Beverina) – black / death
Barst – The Endeavor (Consouling Sounds) – doom
Big Kizz – Music is Magic (Tee Pee Records) – rock
BornBroken – The Years of Harsh Truths and Little Lies… (Independent) – metalcore
Chanid – Lucifer (Casus Belli / Beverina) – black metal
Coltsblood – Ascending Into Shimmering Darkness, Vinyl Edition (Black Bow) – doom
Duel – Live At the Electric Church (Heavy Psych Sounds) – doom rock
Dunnock – Little Stories Told By Ghosts (Acephale Winter) – black metal
Fallen Legion – Downfall, EP (Independent) – modern metal
Flame Acausal – Contra Mundum in Aeternum (Blood Harvest) – black / death
Forest of Grey – Crypsis (Beverina / Casus Belli Musica) – black metal
Gateway – Boundless Torture (Pulverised Records) – doom
Grayceon – IV (Translation Loss Records) – progressive metal [full review]
Hekate – Totentanz (Prophecy Productions) – neofolk
High Preistess – S/T (Ripple Music) – doom
Inverser – Demo (Caligari) – black / death
Kenos – Pest (My Kingdom Music) – brutal death metal
Khasm – Trinity (Sliptrick) – thrash / death
Morag Tong – Last Knell of Om (Independent) – psychedelic doom
Mos Generator – Shadowlands (Listenable Records) – heavy rock
Necros Christos – Domedon Doxomedon (Sepulchral Voice Records) – death metal
Nequient – Wolves At The Door (Nefarious Industries) – metal/hardcore
Nihil Eyes – Black Path (Ultraje) – death metal
Nocturnal Graves – Titan (Season of Mist) – death metal
Oksennus – Kolme Toista (Nuclear War Now!) – experimental metal
Rat Scabies – P.H.D. (Prison, Hospital, Debt) (Cleopatra Records) – rock / punk
Rose Tattoo – Blood Brothers, Reissue (Golden Robot Records) – rock
Rotterdam Ska Jazz Foundation – Big Horns, EP (WTF) – avantgarde
Sect Pig – Crooked Backs (Nuclear War Now! Productions) – avantgarde
Sergeant Thunderhoof – Terra Solus (Independent) – heavy rock
Slaughterday / Phantom Corporation – Severed Funeral / Belligerent Powers, Split (Bastardized Recordings) – crusty death metal
Spiral Skies – Blues For A Dying Planet (AOP) – psych rock
Suzisuzi – Microphone’s Counter Attack (Pure Evil Records) – punk / metal
The Exploding Boy – Alarms! (Drakkar Entertainment) – post-punk
The Shiva Hypothesis – Ouroboros Stirs (WormHoleDeath) – black / death
The Slyde – Awakening (Independent) – progressive metal
toRyse – Erased (Boersma Records) – metalcore
Valyria – Into the Dying of Time, EP (Independent) – power / progressive metal
Verberis – Vorant Gnosis (Pulverised Records) – black / death [feature review]
Vitamin X – Age of Paranoia (Southern Lord) – hardcore punk [full review]
VOR – Depravador (Third I Rex) – sludge
Wilt – Ruin (Vendetta) – black metal
Xael – The Last Arbiter (Test Your Metal Records) – symphonic metal
– Josh
Nine Circles 