[assumes Jim Nantz voice] Hello, friends. It’s time, again, for a tradition unlike any other. The time of year when our beloved Arch Demon takes a well-earned vacation and the guy who only covers outdated-sounding pop music and bad album covers decides to actually pull some weight for once. [resumes normal Dan voice] You fuckers have me on these Initial Descent posts for the next couple of weeks, so brace yourselves, cause it’s gonna be… uh… something.

But enough about that. Let’s jump into the music, which — oh hey! — we actually have quite a bit of this week. We start off with the return of the mighty GODFLESH, back after almost six years with the new full-length, Purge. And hey! What’s that? A new album from… Scar Symmetry? Holy hell. A full nine years — this here blog’s entire lifespan — after releasing the first part of their multi-album saga, The Singularity, the Swedes are finally back with a follow-up, Phase II: Xenotaph. If you’re digging into a proggier vein, there’s also Fates Warning frontman Ray Alder, who’s dropping his second solo album, simply titled II. And finally — for this intro blurb, anyway — we’ve got Torture Rack! The Portland-based death crew are back with album number three, Primeval Onslaught, and friends… if you happen to look at yourself this week and think “you know, I’m not nearly filthy enough,” this thing’ll help you get there. There’s a whole bunch more coming out this week, though, so hop on in, take a look, and see if anything catches your eye!

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Godflesh — Purge (Avalanche Recordings) — industrial metal

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Scar Symmetry — The Singularity [Phase II: Xenotaph] (Nuclear Blast) — melodic death metal

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Ray Alder — II (InsideOut Music) — progressive metal

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Torture Rack — Primeval Onslaught (20 Buck Spin) — death metal

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Also on tap:

A Day In Venice – IV (Independent) — avantgarde / prog

A Light Within — Count With Your Eyes (Independent) — post-metal

Aodon — Portraits (Willowtip Records) — atmospheric black metal

Art Nation — Inception (Frontiers Music s.r.l.) — hard rock / heavy metal

Artifact — Insurrection EP (Independent) — metalcore

As We Suffer — The Fallen Pillars (WormHoleDeath) – groove / metalcore

Avarice — Avarice (UPRISING! Records) — death metal

Black Rainbows — Superskull (Heavy Psych Sounds) — psych / fuzz

Brahmashiras — Brahmashiras EP (Caligari) — hardcore / death metal

Burial Hordes — Ruins (Transcending Obscurity) — black / death

Cancer Christ — Satan Is A Bitch (Seeing Red) — hardcore punk

Carry the Torch — Delusion (Black Lion) — death / thrash

Come, Sweet Death — Imperishable (Hammerheart Records) — death metal

Crossfade — Innocent Days (Fenix Music) — post-grunge

Dead Quiet — IV (Artoffact) — doom / stoner

Demsfightinwords — Vexation (Total Deathcore) — deathcore

Ekrom — Uten Nadigst Formildelse (Edged Circle) — black metal

Exnun — Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death (Time To Kill) — blackened death

False Memories — Hybrid Ego System (Frontiers Music s.r.l.) — heavy metal

F/E/A — Anti (Sliptrick) — post-rock

Grant the Sun — Voyage (Mas-Kina Recordings) — prog / post-rock

Gridfailure & Interstitia — Sunyata Ontology (Pax Aeternum) — noise / avant

Hammok — Now I Know (Renoir Records) — noise rock

Human Growth — Lube Factory (Independent) — punk / alternative

I, Destroyer — Cold, Dead Hands (Eternal Death) — thrash / speed metal

Imperishable — Come, Sweet Death (Hammerheart) — swedeath

Jesus Chrüsler Supercar — Rising EP (Majestic Mountain) — death ‘n’ roll

Judith Parts — Meadowsweet (Independent) — experimental

Kaksonen — Universumin kuningas (Inverse) — death / thrash

King Howl — Homecoming (Electric Valley) — heavy blues

Legion of the Damned — The Poison Chalice (Napalm) — thrash

Max Enix — Far From Home (WormHoleDeath) — post-rock

Nicol Eltzeroth Rozendorf — Internal Return (Negative Capability Editiona) — drone / ambient

No Lights — Dream Eraser (The Ghost Is Clear Records) — metalcore

Pyrexia — System of the Animal 25 (Gravitas Entertainment) — death metal

Rainbows Are Free — Heavy Petal Music (Ripple Music) — psych / doom metal

Snake Healer — Oblatio EP (Wormholedeath Records) — sludge / doom

Split//Bite — 404 ends (Loyal Blood Records) — metallic hardcore

Stellar Circuits — Sight To Sound (Nuclear Blast) — prog

Swanwriter — There Is A Darkness (Independent) — dark prog

Tenhi — Valkama (Prophecy) — dark folk

The 69 Eyes — Blessed Be [Remastered] (Svart) — goth rock

The Biscuit Merchant — Phobia (Independent) — prog / thrash

The Bleeding — Monokrator (Redefining Darkness) — death metal

The Defiants — Drive (Frontiers Music s.r.l.) — hard rock

The Soiled Doves — Revenant Spirits (Harlot) — progressive / hardcore

Voidhaven — Lithic (Ardua Music) — death / doom

Vortex — The Future Remains in Oblivion (Independent) — death / black

Keep it heavy,
—Dan