How ’bout that Kerry King joint that just dropped!? Say what you will about the man but that album is quite possibly the best representation of straightforward “metal” I’ve heard all year. And that’s how it goes here on Initial Descent: tons of possibilities yet sometimes it’s the ones you don’t expect that hit you in the mouth the hardest. Now for this week’s treats… Huntsmen return with their unique and damn infectious brand of Americana infused doom and man, what an album. Next up is Severe Torture who just keep the death metal chuggin’, then we’ve got a 9C fave from post-metallers Hippotraktor—and from Pelagic to boot, then some more death metal from Amen Corner, and bringing up the rear are the rest in the list that follows. Go find that unexpected treat, we’ll be seeing you here throughout the week.

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Huntsmen – The Dry Land (Prosthetic Records) – americana / doom

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Severe Torture – Torn From the Jaws of Death (Season of Mist) – death metal

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Hippotraktor – Stasis (Pelagic Records) – post-metal

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Amen Corner – Written By The Devil (Hammerheart) – death metal

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Also on tap:

Ad Patres – Unbreathable (Non Serviam Records) – death metal

Ætheria Conscientia – The Blossoming (Frozen) – progressive black metal

Alberto Rigoni – Unexpected Lullabies (Sliptrick Records) – prog rock / metal

Anael – Mare (Paragon) – dark black metal

Ascalapha – Somber Vampyric Night (ATMF / A Sad Sadness Song) – dark metal

Ashes Reborn – In Captivity (Firecum) – metal

Astral Witch – Confession (Self) – stoner doom

AxamentA – Spires, EP (Self) – cinematic metal

Aythis – Celestial Exile / Lost Lighthouse (Self) – ambient doom

Between The Killings – Omnipotence (Comatose Music) – death metal

Black Totem – III: Sacrifice Tonite (Svart Records) – doom blues punk

Blynd – Unbeliever (Pitch Black Records) – death/thrash

Brazen Tongue – Of Crackling Embers & Sorrows Drowned (Self) – death thrash

Chrome Waves – Lost Horizon, Live 1.5.2024 (Disorder) – post-black metal

Deathwish – The Fourth Horseman (Beer City Records) – thrash punk

Devil Moon Risen – Fissures of Men (Self) – desert stoner doom

Di’Aul – Ep II (MooDDoom Records) – doom

Dislimn – Esmee (Octopus Rising) – prog heavy doom

Everygrey – Theories of Emptiness (Napalm Records) – progressive metal

Fractal Generator – Convergence (Everlasting Spew Records) – dark death metal

Gom Jabbar – Obsidian Black Carrion (Dawn of Murk (Darkwoods)) – abrasive death doom

Grand Demise of Civilization – The Blaze of Abaddon (Ordovician Records) – black / death

GURT – Satan Etc (For The Lost…?) – party doom

Holycide – Towards Idiocracy (Xtreem Music) – thrash

Insect Ark – Raw Blood Singing (Debemur Morti) – avantgarde

Iravu & Mumuksu – Sudra, Split (Vita Detestabilis & Fiadh Productions) – progressive black metal

Kurt Frohlich – 1977 (Golden Robot Records) – gritty punk

Malum – Hellstain Productions (In Nauseam) – black metal

Missing Link – Watch Me Bleed (Triple B Records) – metallic hardcore

Mythraeum – Oblivion Aeternam (M-Theory Audio) – black metal

Necrocene – Detrimental Paratomy (Personal Records) – death metal

Noroth – Sacrificial Solace (Carbonized Records) – death metal

Nox – Entity (Neuropa Records) – electronic metal

Octohawk – Determinist (Crime) – sludge

Odio Deus – Spiritual Syphilis (Wormholedeath Records) – black metal

Okular – Regenerate (Regenerative Productions) – death metal

Ordalie – Indifferent Universe (Paragon Records) – black metal

P/O Massacre – S/T (Utech Records) – death metal

Poobah – Burning In The Rain: An Anthology (Ripple Music) – proto-metal

Rarity – Lower Feeling (New Damage) – post-hardcore

Relicon – Consequences of Disbelief, EP (WormHoleDeath) – metal

Sotory – Unspoken (UPhobia) – gothic metal

Swelling Repulsion – Fatally Misguided (Transcending Obscurity Records) – death metal

Thanatotherion – Alienation Manifesto (I, Voidhanger) – black / thrash

The Crooked Fiddle Band – The Free Wild Wind & the Songs of Birds (Art As Catharsis) – folk

Void Commander – Alien Queen (Majestic Mountain Records) – stoner metal

Void Moon – Dreams Inside the Sun (Personal Records) – doom

Web – Burden of Destiny (Firecum Records) – prog thrash / doom

Widertod – Anemoia (Vendetta) – black metal

Withering Surface – Exit Plan (Mighty Music) – melodic death metal

World Times Three – In Hearts and Stone (Half Empty Records) – post rock

WyndRider – Revival (Electric Valley) – stoner doom

— Josh