Life is sparking again, live shows are popping off left and right, and every week of new metal releases has many something’s for everyone. Things are looking up in those regards, so rejoice…or hail Satan. Or whatever you do these days. This week in new metal uncovers the newest ritual from Amenra, a return to holistically bleak beginnings from Withered, a slappin’ slab of death metal from The Absence, wicked ugly death metal from Cerebral Rot, and the next black/doom/punk chapter from Darkthrone. Oh, you noticed? Yes, there’s five up top and could’ve easily been more but in the context of getting you to the rest of what lies below, I chopped it at cinco. Plenty here for everyone, so go and fire up these band’s bank accounts, pronto. Support what you love with ferocity and sing its praises loud even if no one cares. You do, and that’s all that matters.
—
Amenra – De Doorn (Relapse Records) – post-metal/doom/hardcore
—
Withered – Verloren (Season of Mist Underground Activities) – black/death
—
The Absence – Coffinized (M-Theory Audio) – death metal
—
Cerebral Rot – Excretion of Morality (20 Buck Spin) – death metal
—
Darkthrone – Eternal Hails…… (Peaceville) – black/doom/punk
—
Also on tap:
10,000 Years – II (Interstellar Smoke) – doom / sludge
Anders Buaas – Tarot (Apollon) – prog
Artach – Sworn to Avenge (Depressive Illusions) – black metal
Beleth – Silent Genesis (Narcoleptica Productions / Scorched Earth) – death metal
Belle Morte – Crime of Passion (WormHoleDeath) – metal
Beyond Man – S/T (The Sinister Flame) – black metal
Bleached Cross / Shamewave – Split (No Funeral) – shoegaze / coldwave
Bong-Ra – Antediluvian (Tartarus) – doom
Catharsis – Human Failures (Mad Lion) – death metal
Cathexis – Untethered Abyss (Willowtip) – death metal
Chotza – Plump u Primitiv (Folter) – black metal
Crosson – Live at the Orpheum (Galaxy) – glam
CRS – Live In Isolation (Concreto) – death metal
De Arma – Strayed in Shadow (Trollmusic/SPKR) – gothic metal
Devin Townsend – Devolution Series #2 (InsideOut) – prog
Dying Whale – Problem With Immortality, EP (Nefarious Industries) – metal
Electric Haze – Get In Line (Idle North) – rock [profile]
Empire of Disease – With All My Hate (WormHoleDeath) – metal
Endless Chain – Forthcoming Past (Rockshots) – melodic death metal
Enslaved – Below The Lights/Chronicles of the Northbound/The Rise of Ymir/Utgard, Cinematic Tour 2020 (Nuclear Blast) – black metal
Existential Dread – Full Moon Bliss (Moonlight Cypress Archetypes) – drone / doom
Fractal Universe – The Impassable Horizon (Metal Blade) – prog metal
Gentle Giant – Free Hand (Alucard Music / Soulfood) – prog
Hellish Form – Remains (Translation Loss) – funeral doom
Institution D.O.L. – The Thelema Tales (Edged Circle) – electronic/industrial
Irae – Dangerovz Magick Zpells from the Mesziah of Death (Signal Rex) – black metal
Ison – Aurora (Avantgarde Music) – post-rock
La Merde – La Vie en Noir (Signal Rex) – industrial
Light the Torch – You Will Be the Death of Me (Nuclear Blast) – metal
Lord Mortvm – Diabolical Omen of Hell (Helter Skelter / Regain) – doom
Kilter – Sys (Alter-Native) – jazzy metal
Kollapse – Sult (Fysisk Format) – post-metal
Konkhra – Sexual Affective Disorder, Re-Release (Hammerheart) – death metal
Lacuna Coil – Live From the Apocalypse (Century Media) – metal
Loch Vostok – Opus Ferox – The Great Escape (Vicisolum Productions) – prog metal
Lustmord & Karin Park – Alter (Pelagic) – ambient / electronic
Maitreya – Hyper Reels (Independent) – metal
Mental Cavity – Mass Rebel Infest (Creator-Destructor Records) – hardcore
Motörhead – No Sleep ’til Hammersmith, Box Set (BMG) – metal
North of South – The Tides In Our Veins (Independent) – metal
Odd Circus – Arch Nova, EP (Good Idea Music) – avant-rock
Perlaxe Occlusion – Raytraces of Death (Debemur Morti) – death metal
Pestilence – Exitivm (Agonia) – death metal
Prayers of Sanity – Doctrine of Misanthropy (Rastilho) – thrash
RMBLR – MF, EP (Independent) – punk
Seance Of… – The Colour of Magick (Signal Rex) – black metal
Siderean – Lost On Void’s Horizon (Edged Circle) – death metal
Stench Collector – Effluvatorium Du Jour (Redefining Darkness) – death metal
STÖNER – Stoners Rule (Heavy Psych Sounds) – desert rock
Suffer Yourself – Rip Tide (Aesthetic Death) – funeral doom
Suidakra – Wolfbite (MDD) – celtic death metal
Swami Lateplate – Doom Jazz, Reissue (Subsound) – doom jazz
Switchblade Jesus – Death Hymns (Hybrid Records) – death doom
Sxuperion – Auscultating Astral Moments (Bloody Mountain) – metal
Thy Catafalque – Vadak (Season of Mist) – avant-garde
Tommy Concrete – Hexenzirkel (Trepanation Recordings) – doom / prog
Various Artists – Black Waves of Adrenochrome – The Sisters of Mercy Tribute (Metalville) – gothic rock
VHF – Very High Frequency (Golden Robot) – rock
Vulture Lord – Desecration Rite (Odium) – black metal
Warmoon Lord – Battlespells (Werewolf) – black metal
White Ward – Debemur Morti (Debemur Morti) – black metal
Wildstreet – III (Golden Robot) – rock
–Josh
Nine Circles 