No chit-chat this week, we’ve got a stacked list to get to so let’s do it… The death metal benders and shapers, Blood Incantation, are back with an effort that finds them, yet again, pushing the boundaries of the genre far beyond its capacity – alienesque indeed. Newcomers Astralborne explode off the starting gate with an incendiary melodic death metal debut that rips, tears, shreds, and progs; in other words, an immensely satisfying maiden voyage. Obsequiae flood the moats again with their third full length of intriguing and well thought out castle metal but more than that, this is their best yet so jump on it. And, closing out the top slots is the always avantgarde and always exceptional Chaos Echœs with a double disc that features a once in a lifetime live performance, outtakes, alternate song versions, and yes, more live recordings spanning four years. All that said, in the span of four top slot albums we’ve got four must own albums. That’s some damn good odds. And, we’re far from done here so head below to unload the rest of that paycheck you got Friday.

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Blood Incantation – Hidden History of the Human Race (Dark Descent / Century Media EU) – death metal

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Astralborne – Eternity’s End (Independent) – melodic death metal

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Obsequiae – The Palms of Sorrowed Kings (20 Buck Spin) – castle metal

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Chaos Echœs – Remains (Utech) – avantgarde / experimental 

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Also on tap:

A Horse Called War – Good For Glue and Nothing Else (APF) – sludge

Aggressive Perfector – Havoc at the Midnight Hour (Dying Victims Productions) – heavy metal

Battlesword – And Death Cometh Upon Us (Black Sunset / MDD) – melodic death metal

Benjamin Tod – A Heart of Gold Is Hard to Find (Anti-Corporate Music) – dark country / americana

blackQueen – The Destructive Cycle (Independent) – punk / metal

Brume – Rabbits (Magnetic Eye) – atmospheric metal

Buildings – Negative Sound (Gilead Media) – noise rock

Canyons of the Skull – Sins of the Past (Independent) – black / doom 

Child Bite – Blow off the Omens (Housecore) – punk / metal

Cryptic Brood – Outcome of Obnoxious Science (War Anthem) – death metal

Crystal Viper – Tales of Fire and Ice (AFM) – heavy metal

Den – Iron Desert (Corpse Flower) – noise / doom

Dizastra – Elder Sun (Independent) – thrash / black

Dvm Spiro – MMXIX-In Frigidvm Lectvm (My Kingdom Music) – doom

Eleine – All Shall Burn (Black Lodge) – symphonic metal

Fjords – Onirica (Independent) – prog metal

Ghostwriter – Burial Grounds (Tridroid) – dungeon synth

Hazemaze – Hymns of the Damned (Ripple Music / Cursed Tongue) – stoner metal

Her Despair – Exorcisms of Eroticism (Independent) – goth

Hexekration Rites – Desekration Manifesto (Atavism) – black / death

Hypno5e – A Distant (Dark) Source (Pelagic) – post-metal

JC Autobody – Turbo (Seeing Red) – rock

King Satan – I Want You To Worship Satan (Inverse) – industrial

Lapsarian – Ruminant (Independent) – post-metal

Lord Mantis – Universal Death Church (Profound Lore) – metal

Magic Kingdom – MetAlmighty (AFM) – speed metal

Marras – Where Light Comes To Die (Spread Evil) – black metal

Metal De Facto – Imperium Romanum (Rockshots) – power metal

Noisepoetnobody – Concrete Vitalist (Independent) – ambient

Quella – Donor Fatigue (Independent) – prog metal

Salvation – Year of the Fly (Forge Again) – noise rock 

Skull Above the Cannon – Dagos (Milky Bomb) – alt-metal

Skyblood – S/T (Napalm) – metal

Somehow Jo – Tusk (Inverse) – prog rock

Sonus Corona – Time Is Not On Your Side (Inverse) – prog metal

SPK – Zamia Lehmanni, Reissue (Cold Spring) – industrial 

Still – Reprieve, EP (Trepanation Recordings) – post-metal

The Sound That Ends Creation – Music Designed to Give You Ideas…In Case You Run Out of Ideas (Independent) – mathgrind

Third Chamber – Harvesting Our Decay, EP (Independent) – death metal

Tragedy in Hope – Smile at Death (Independent) – black metal

Treasonist / Y-Incision – Mechanical Perdition (Horror Pain Gore Death) – grind / hardcore / punk

Tygers of Pan Tang – Ritual (Mighty Music) – rock

Unfathomable Ruination – Enraged and Unbound (Willowtip) – death metal

Vesperith – S/T (Svart) – experimental black metal

– Josh