This week’s new heavy metal releases include a double dose of Will Putney, a nerd leaning into the power of rock, and more! To the metals…
Better Lovers – Highly Irresponsible
Genre: Metalcore/hardcore
Origin: Buffalo, New York
Label: SharpTone
Buy now on Amazon
Last year saw this supergroup debut with a fantastic chaotic and melodic EP, and they’ve basically been on the road since. Somehow they found the time to write and record an equally fantastic full-length. They remain the sum of their parts, so you’re getting part Every Time I Die, part Dillinger Escape Plan, and part Will Putney madness. Review here.
Enforced – A Leap Into The Dark
Genre: Thrash/hardcore
Origin: Richmond, Virginia
Label: Century Media
Buy now on Bandcamp
A Leap Into The Dark is half new recordingss and half b-sides. The new tracks feel like the logical next step after their last record War Remains with well-defined thrashy hardcore. The other tracks include a cover of Obituary, a cover of English Dogs, and a new remaster of their track “Casket.”
Entheos – An End To Everything
Genre: Technical/progressive death metal
Origin: Santa Cruz, California
Label: Metal Blade
Buy now on Bandcamp
The always in motion Entheos have already returned after last year’s full-length album Time Will Take Us All. The five tracks on this EP are traditional Entheos with break-neck shifts in tone and rhythm, melodic moments, in between their heavy groove foundation. This duo doesn’t stop, and they don’t stop hitting just right.
Fit For An Autopsy – The Nothing That Is
Genre: Deathcore/progressive metal
Origin: Jersey City, New Jersey
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Bandcamp
Speaking of Will Putney, when does this dude sleep? Here he is in his usual melodic, heavy realm. The Nothing That Is has lots of breakdowns, grooves, and catchy moments. It feels both dark and weirdly cathartic.
Gaerea – Coma
Genre: Black metal
Origin: Porto, Portugal
Label: Season Of Mist
Buy now on Bandcamp
On Coma, the once fully blackened band have shifted their sound a bit more. This record still has darkness, swift musicianship, and atmospheric elements, but it would pair nicely with the Fit For An Autopsy record above as well as a band like Deafheaven. This is a wonderful balance of extreme and beauty and mystique.
Devin Townsend – PowerNerd
Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: Vancouver, British Columbia
Label: InsideOut
Buy now on Bandcamp
My love for Heavy Devy has well-documented on here over the years, and I’m always along for whatever ride he wants to take me on. With PowerNerd is doing his version of a straight-up rock record. Because it’s Devin Townsend the production still sounds massive and the songs themselves are to the point, uplifting numbers. If you dug previous DTP tracks like “Liberation,” “Lucky Animals,” and “Save Our Now,” you’ll like this. Review here.
Also dropping this week…
- Acres – What It’s Like To Feel Worthless (Solid State Records) – Post-hardcore
- Amyl And The Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness (Virgin) – Punk/pub rock
- Athena XIX – Everflow Part 1: Frames Of Humanity (Reigning Phoenix) – Progressive metal
- Behemoth – XXX Years Ov Blasphemy (Nuclear Blast) – Live blackened death metal
- Black Curse – Burning In Celestial Poison (Sepulchral Voice) – Death/black metal
- Buñuel – Mansuetude (SKiN GRAFT Records/Overdrive Records) – Avant-garde/experimental metal
- Cane Hill – a piece of me i never let you find. (Out Of Line Music) – Nu metal/metalcore
- Casandra’s Crossing – Garden Of Earthly Delights (Frontiers) – Hard/glam rock
- Chained To The Dead – Only Hunger Remains (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) – Grindcore/death metal
- Chokecherry – Messy Star (Fearless) – Alternative/grunge
- Deadform – Entrenched In Hell (Tankcrimes) – Sludge/crust
- Embrace By Dark – Extrasensory (Wormholedeath Records) – Avant-garde metal
- Ghosts Of Glaciers – Eternal (Translation Loss) – Post-metal/black metal
- Gigan – Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus (Willowtip) – Progressive/technical death metal
- Gore. – A Bud That Never Blooms (Spinefarm) – Metalcore/modern metal
- Haliphron – Anatomy Of Darkness (Listenable Records) – Symphonic black/death metal
- Hatchet – Leave No Soul (M-Theory Audio) – Thrash
- Hate Angel – Extinction Ritual (Wormholedeath) – Blackened thrash
- Hild – Thrash på Svenska (Black Lion Records) – Blackened thrash
- Iotunn – Kinship (Metal Blade) – Progressive metal
- Kings Never Die – The Life & Times (Metalville) – Hardcore/hard rock
- Kings Of Mercia – Battle Scars (Metal Blade) – Progressive metal
- League Of Distortion – Galvanize (Napalm) – Modern metal
- Living Gate – Suffer As One (Relapse) – Death metal
- Loudblast – Altering Fates And Destinies (Listenable Records) – Death metal/thrash
- Low Flying Hawks – Makebelieve (Sympatry Records) – SLudge
- Methadone Skies – Spectres at Dawn (Haywire Records) – Post-rock
- Mindless Sinner – Metal Merchants (High Roller) – Heavy metal
- Mother – II (Consouling Sounds) – Post-metal
- Nuclear – Violent DNA (Black Lodge Records) – Thrash
- One Morning Left – Neon Inferno (Arising Empire) – Hard rock
- The Pale Horses – Enchantress (Black Throne Productions) – Gothic rock
- dUg Pinnick – Thingamajigger (Rat Pak) – Rock
- Pixies – The Night The Zombies Came (BMG) – Rock
- Pounder – Thunderforged (Shadow Kingdom) – heavy metal
- Punitive Damage – Hate Training (Convulse Records) – Hardcore
- Pøltergeist – Nachtmusik (Bad Omen Records/Metal Blade) – Deathrock
- Recidivist – Madness Malformed (Creator-Destructor Records) – Death metal
- Schammasch – The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean (Prosthetic) – Avant-garde metal
- Seething Akira – Cancel Estate (Independent/Earache Digital Distribution) – Electronic hard rock
- Self Deception – Destroy The Art (Self-released) – Metalcore/hard rock
- Sentient Horror – In Service Of The Dead (Redefining Darkness Records) – Death metal
- The Silverback – Serenades Of Hate (darkTunes Music Group) – Industrial
- Smoke / Doomsday Profit – Split (Olde Magick Records) – Stoner/doom
- The Spirit – Songs Against Humanity (AOP Records) – Black/death metal
- Taking The Head Of Goliath – Futility Of The Flesh (Rottweiler Records) – Brutal death metal
- Thaw – Falling Backwards (Agonia Records) – Black metal/ambient
- Tigerwine – Toil & Spin (Tooth & Nail) – Post-hardcore
- Turkey Vulture – On The List (Self-released) – Punk/hard rock
- Turmion Katilot – Reset (Nuclear Blast) – Industrial
- Waste – In Decay (Seek And Strike) – Deathcore
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