This week's new heavy metal releases include that one jamband I always write about, throw back metal from some OG's, throwback metal from some younglings, and more! To the metals…
Blood Command – Praise Armageddonism
Genre: Punk/hardcore
Origin: Bergen, Norway
Label: Hassle Records
With this album cover and this band name I fully expected this to be a throwback thrash or death metal band, but boy was I wrong. Praise Armageddonism is a sonic flurry. It mixed high energy hardcore with higher energy pop punk. Blood Command are an incredibly unique band that will make you want to dance and fight someone.
Conjurer – Pathos
Genre: Sludge/experimental
Origin: Rugby, England
Label: Nuclear Blast
Here we have another unique outfit in Conjurer. Pathos blends old Mastodon-esque riffs, with crushing post metal, and some mathcore dissonance. Max has a full review right here.
Haunt – Windows Of Your Heart
Genre: Heavy metal
Origin: Fresno, California
Label: Iron Grip/Church
With Windows Of Your Heart Haunt continue their reign as one of the finest in the new breed of old school style metal. The riffs are ripping, the melodies are super catchy, and the production is raw on purpose. They also remain one of the most – if not THE most – prolific in that group as these guys have more albums under their belt than they have years as a band.
Massacre – Mythos
Genre: Death metal
Origin: Tampa, Florida
Label: Nuclear Blast
Unlike Blood Command, you'd be 100% on the money guessing what this sounds like by the name or cover or name. The brief follow-up to last year's Resurgence is four tracks of heavy fucking death metal. There's even a guest spot from Anders Odden of Cadaver, so you're getting a little more death metal with your death metal.
Municipal Waste – Electrified Brain
Genre: Crossover/thrash
Origin: Richmond, Virginia
Label: Nuclear Blast
It's been half a decade since these fellas unleashed heck, but now it's time to thrash. The songs are brief and they are fast as you'd expect from these guys. There is said to be a bigger focus on dynamics in the sound, and I will leave it to long time fans to judge how they did. Chad has a full review here.
Greg Puciato – Mirrorcell
Genre: Experimental
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Label: Federal Prisoner
Greg's first album Child Soldier: Creator of God felt like a career greatest hits album but was all new material. It had every aspect of his discography with songs that sounded like Dillinger Escape Plan, Black Queen, and even Killer Be Killed, usually with each sound confined to it's own song. Mirrorcell is a more mature record that feels like the logical follow-up to the first. This time the variety of sounds more intertwined. Jeff wrote a whole dang review here. Also, yes, I know Greg semi-surprise released this last week on Bandcamp, but this is the wide release on streaming, but some physical stuff is still later… Man, between the supply chain and artists being contrarian, this weekly round up thing is getting harder and harder.
Umphrey's McGee – Asking For A Friend
Genre: Progressive rock
Origin: South Bend, Indiana
Label: Hanging Brains Music/Nothing Too Fancy Music
A little under a year ago, UM dropped their album You Walked Up Shaking In Your Boots But You Stood Tall And Left A Raging Bull which was expanded versions of songs they typically used as intros when they got on stage. It felt like one for the completists. Asking For A Friend feels like a proper follow-up to their It's Not Us/It's You double album. It's catchy, melodic, proggy, and like all their albums will serve as prep for when they play these tracks live and expand them into fifteen minute jams.
Also dropping today…
- Amenra, Cave In, And Marissa Nadler – Songs Of Townes Van Zandt Vol. III (Neurot Recordings) – Folk
- The Bearer – Chained To A Tree (Silent Pendulum Records) – Hardcore
- Between The Killings – The Killing Quartet Vol. 1 – Reflection Of Murder (Comatose Music) – Brutal death metal
- Boss Keloid – Family The Smiling Thrush: Live At Foel Studio (Ripple) – Sludge
- The Dear Hunter – Antimai (Cave & Canary) – Progressive rock
- Downfall – Behind The Curtain (DAZE / Triple B Records) – Hardcore
- Existence Dysphoria – Minus Negative (Sludgelord Records) – Sludge
- Furis Ignis – Turm (Iron Bonehead Productions) – Black/death metal
- Goatriders – Traveler (Majestic Mountain Records) – Stoner/space rock
- Randy Holden – Population III (RidingEasy Records) – Heavy metal
- Horizon Ignited – Towards The Dying Lands (Nuclear Blast) – Melodic death metal/metalcore
- Hulder – The Eternal Fanfare EP (20 Buck Spin) – Black metal – Review
- Kings Never Die – The Good Times And The Bad (Fast Break! Entertainment) – Hardcore
- Mexicoma – Kalpa (Majestic Mountain Records) – Sludge/stoner
- Orthodox – Proceed (Alone Records) – Avant-garde doom/drone
- Saint Asonia – Introvert EP (Spinefarm) – Hard rock
- Klaus Schulze – Deus Arrakis (SPV Recordings) – Experimental/electronic
- Derek Sherinian – Vortex (InsideOut) – Progressive
- Shinedown – Planet Zero (Atlantic Records) – Rock
- Swim or Drown – Torment (WTF Records) – Hardcore
- Thirteen Goats – Servants of the Outer Dark (Self-released) – Death metal
- THŪN – II (Eat Lead And Die Music) – Doom/death metal
- Tragos – Radix Mendosus (Self-released) – Death metal
- Tuscoma – Gu-cci (Landmine Records) – Post-black metal/hardcore
