We had an enormous gathering of my kid’s friends over the weekend for an ‘end of school year’ celebration and I have to say that they’ve restored my faith in the future. They were some of the nicest most well mannered and well meaning kids I’ve ever had the pleasure to be around. And folks, sometimes it’s the little things that stir something within that needs to be stirred and I needed that. Moving on to this week’s new releases: we’ve got some stellar picks starting with one of my personal faves The Haunted for an album I’ve been waiting forever on, next up we’ve got the punky, thrashy, most excellent Zig Zags, then Obsidian Tongue stir the black metal pot, and death metal vets Vader round out the top slots. But, we’ve got much more in the list that follows so get to it and we’ll see you here throughout the week. Oh and don’t forget: if you know a soldier or someone who served, hug them and thank them on this Memorial Day.

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The Haunted – Songs Of Last Resort (Century Media Records) – death / thrash

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Zig Zags – Deadbeat At Dawn (RidingEasy Records) – thrash / punk

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Obsidian Tongue – Eclipsing Worlds of Scorn (Profound Lore) – black metal

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Vader – Humanihility, EP (Nuclear Blast Records) – death metal

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Also on tap:

Acrolysis – Intoxicator (Self) – heavy metal

Body Minus Head – An Exercise In Self-Sufficiency (No Funeral Records) – hardcore

ButcherBird – Drought/Deluge (Drowning Sea God Records) – metalcore

Coltsblood – Obscured Into Nebulous Dusk (Translation Loss Records) – extreme

Death Kommander – Never To Grow Old (FDA Records) – death metal

Death Rattle – The Moral Chokehold (M-Theory Audio) – groove metal

Divni San – Dreamlike Tales (WormHoleDeath) – metal

Enterré Vivant – Akuzaï (Antiq) – metal

Eschaton – Techtalitarian (Transcending Obscurity Records) – tech death

Façade – Radiant (Self) – post-doom metal

Furnace – Eternally Enthroned (Obelisk Polaris) – melodic death metal

Golem Of Gore – Ultimo Mondo Cane (Everlasting Spew Records) – death metal

Grin – Acid Gods (The Lasting Dose Records) – sludge/doom

Horrenda – Díoltas (Fiadh Productions) – atmospheric black/death

Imipolex – Acts of Vulgar Piety (Fiadh Productions) – psychedelic black metal

Kusanagi – Paramnesia (Ripcord Records) – instrumental post-rock

La Cerva – S/T (Masked Dead Records) – melodic doom metal

La Suspendida – Live (Excursus Production / Silent Pendulum Records) – jazz metal

Low Before The Breeze – A Hole Beneath The Home We Shared (Terminus Hate City) – screamo / black metal / noise

Near Death Experience – Brief Is The Light (WormHoleDeath) – metal

Necrólisis – Templo de Fraude (Witches Brew) – thrash

Needless – Premonition (Inertial Music) – progressive death metal

Nithe – Funeral Death (Caligari Records) – black metal

Obstruktion – The End Takes Form (Suicide Records) – death metal

Ols – Poświaty (Pagan Records) – dark folk

Onirik – Curling Serpents Under Stone (I, Voidhanger Records) – black metal

Penitent – Melancholia Redux (The Circle Music) – darkwave

Puteraeon – Mountains of Madness (Emanzipation Productions) – death metal

Quadvium – Tetradōm (Agonia Records) – prog metal

Redikin – The Crux (WormHoleDeath) – metal

Reject The Sickness – Signs of the End (Self) – death metal

Rivers of Nihil – S/T (Metal Blade Records) – metal

Satin White – Born (Self) – rock

Shed The Skin – The Carnage Cast Shadows (Hells Headbangers) – metal

Sith’ari – Before The Dawn (Ethanol Studio) – melodic black metal

Stealth – Metal Force (Witches Brew) – speed metal

Stone From The Sky – Bakeneko (Argonauta Records) – post-metal

Svart Vinter – Isvind (Non Serviam Records) – atmospheric black metal

Swans – Birthing (Young Gods Records / Mute) – swans

Tassi – Idamon Novasah-Liva (Dusktone) – blackgaze

The Speaker Wars – S/T (Frontiers Music s.r.l.) – rock

Trivax – The Great Satan (Osmose Productions) – black metal

Vaneno – Chaos, Hostility, Murder (Raging Planet Records) – sludge

Vargouille – Oathbreaker / Dark Gods (Fiadh Productions) – metal / punk

Variety Jones – Shell Shocked (Apollon Records) – rock

Veljessurma – Haltioissaan (Naturmacht Productions) – black metal

Vildhjarta – där skogen sjunger under evighetens granar (Century Media Records) – progressive metal

Vile Haint – Abound With Malice, EP (Moonlight Cypress  Archetypes) – black metal

Wald Krypta – Disenchantment (Eternal Death) – black metal

Walg – V (Self) – melodic black metal

Weeping Sores – The Convalescence Agonies (I, Voidhanger Records) – death / doom

— Josh