Nine Circles

This is one of those weeks that could’ve easily seen double digit albums in the top slots. It’s. That. Good. This year just keeps on giving so let’s cut the chit-chat and get to it…

Following up on the STELLAR EP, Don’t Waste Your Time, is Idle Hands with their full length debut Mana and honestly you just don’t know how much this brand of goth metal is needed until you know so get acquainted with it, this is a freaking masterpiece of soaring anthems drowned in mellow sadness. Next up is the godfathers of death metal, Possessed, with their loooooong awaited third full length Revelations of Oblivion and if initial impressions hold true, this will be one for the ages and one that furthers the intimate brand that Seven Churches laid bare. And then, Spirit Adrift completely seal the deal of trad metal meets majestic doom on third full length Divided By Darkness and it’s a sweet ass album full of old soul metal energy. Last up top but certainly not least is Wisconsin’s melodic black metallers Uhtcearu with their third full length Madness & Creation which finds the band in a forward thinking, progressive frame of mind. Now, don’t get your panties in a bunch as this slight addition works EXTREMELY well so if you were a fan of the last two, this one will blow your mind but if you’re a newb then this is a great jump off point.

What are you waiting for? Get in there….

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Idle Hands – Mana (Eisenwald) – metal / goth

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Possessed – Revelations of Oblivion (Nuclear Blast) – death metal

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Spirit Adrift – Divided By Darkness (20 Buck Spin) – heavy / doom

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Uhtcearu – Madness & Creation (Independent) – melodic black metal

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Also on tap:

Abnormality – Sociopathic Constructs (Metal Blade) – tech death

Ancient Torment – Satan’s Legacy Come Flesh, EP (Eternal Death) – black metal

Arch / Matheos – Winter Ethereal (Metal Blade) – progressive metal

At Home In Hell – Self Identified Deity (Independent) – metal

Bewitcher – Under the Witching Cross (Shadow Kingdom) – speed metal

Big | Brave – A Gaze Among Them (Southern Lord) – experimental rock

Black Thunder – All My Scars (Club Inferno Entertainment) – heavy metal

Bright Curse – Time of the Healer (Ripple Music) – psych rock

Calamity – Kairos (Independent) – thrash

Call of the Void – Buried In Light (Translation Loss) – black / sludge

Cultic – High Command (Eleventh Key) – doom / death

Dreadnought – Emergence (Profound Lore) – doom

Entrapment – Imminent Violent Death (Dawnbreed) – death metal

Eridu – Lugalbanda (Independent) – extreme

Extrema – Headbanging Forever (Rockshots) – thrash

Fixation – Into the Pain (WAR) – hardcore

Handful of Hate – Adversus (code666) – black metal [premiere]

Inanimate Existence – Clockwork (The Artisan Era) – technical death metal

Lice – Woe Betide You (Season of Mist) – metal

Mental Cruelty – Inferis (Unique Leader) – deathcore

Monasterium – Church of Bones (Nine) – metal

Nibiru – Salbrox (Ritual Productions) – psych metal

Pulver Kings – Under the Sand (Gates of Hell) – heavy metal

Rebel Collective – Rebelism (Sliptrick) – groove metal

Schultz – Shot of Pain (BLC Productions) – industrial

Stinger – Colourblind (Boersma) – hard rock

Sünhopfer – Hic Regnant Borbonii Manes (Debemur Morti Productions) – melodic black metal

Suspiral – Chasm (Sentient Ruin) – black / death

Swamp Witch – Dead Rituals (Transylvanian Tapes) – sludge

Temple of the Stars – Nightspirit (Inverse) – prog rock

TIR – Metal Shock (Gates of Hell) – heavy metal

Vultures Vengeance – The Knightlore (Gates of Hell) – heavy metal

War Curse – Eradication (Svart) – thrash

Warforged – I: Voice (The Artisan Era) – progressive black / death

Your 33 Black Angels – Eternities 1 (N/A) – noisepop

Zaum – Divination (Listenable) – doom

Zig Zags – They’ll Never Take Us Alive (RidingEasy) – thrash / punk / metal

– Josh