This week's new heavy metal releases include an Ayreon-like guest-filld album by one of music's biggest legends, some really heavy stuff, some prog, and more! To the metals…
Earthside – Let The Truth Speak
Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: New Haven, Connecticut
Label: Music Theories
Buy now on Bandcamp
It's been eight years since one of prog's best kept secrets released an album, and they're finally back with another record of diverse and epic metal. Like their first record, this one is full of guests. This time you're getting folks from Aarlon, Fire From The Gods, Tesseract, Leprous, and more.
Maul – Desecration And Enchantment
Genre: Death metal
Origin: Fargo, North Dakota
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Buy now on Bandcamp
This is a brief but sick EP. This is nasty death metal with a lil black metal essence peppered in. It's a shame it's only two tracks, but if you're a cassette collector, that version has a third track.
Dolly Parton – Rockstar
Genre: Rock
Origin: Pittman Center, Tennessee
Label: Butterfly Records, Big Machine
Buy now on Amazon
In 2022 Dolly Parton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and vowed to make a rock record so she'd be worthy of the Rock and Roll title. Here is that record. it's largely a cover record where she takes on a song with the original artist in tow. So she is covering The Beatles with Paul and Ringo, Journey with Steve Perry, and more. One of the original songs features Rob Halford and John 5, so there's some metal connection if you need any. I mostly included it this week because it's fun and kind of weird. Live a little.
Ritual Clearing – Penitence
Genre: Black metal
Origin: Connecticut
Label: Eternal Death
Buy now on Bandcamp
Ok, right. Metal. Here you go. Some evil, raw sounding black metal for your Friday. The band's debut is an homage to the earliest grim stuff and will appeal to fans of Bathory and the likes. This is a frosty one so regardless of your weather conditions, bundle up.
Sadus – The Shadow Inside
Genre: Technical death metal/thrash
Origin: Antioch, California
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Bandcamp
On their first record since their reunion, Sadus are out for blood. Good golly, this is a ferocious metal record that just exudes classic thrash energy. Jon and Darren are still big mad after almost twenty years.
Temic – Terror Management Theory
Genre: Progressive metal
Origin: Norway
Label: Season Of Mist
Buy now on Bandcamp
Ending this week with another rad prog album. This one features current and former members of Haken, The Neal Morse Band, Maraton, and Shining. There is a through line of electronic influence and a lot of energy. While every musician is stellar, keyboardist Diego Tejeida steals focus a lot here.
Also dropping this week…
- Aeternus – Philosopher (Agonia) – Death metal
- Altars Of The Moon – The Colossus And The Widow (Disorder) – Black metal/doomgaze
- Bassoon – Succumbent (Nefarious) – Avant-garde/progressive
- Bloodphemy – Dawn Of Malevolence (Non Serviam Records) – Death metal
- Bull Elephant – The Long War (Eat Lead And Die) – Progressive death metal/doom
- Cabrakaän – Aztlan (Self-released) – Folk/death metal
- Care Of Night – Reconnected (Frontiers) – Melodic rock
- Celeste – Epilogue(s) (Nuclear Blast) – Black metal/sludge
- Condemned – Daemonium (Unique Leader) – Brutal death metal
- Cruel Fate – Destin Cruel (Personal) – Death metal
- DGM – Life (Frontiers) – Progressive metal
- Death's-Head And The Space Allusion – LUC-II-FARUL (Inverse Records) – Progressive metal/hard rock
- The Dialectic – Crawl To The Throne (Seek & Strike) – Deathcore
- Dogma – Dogma (MNRK Heavy) – Hard rock/melodic metal
- DownShift – One in the Chamber (Self-released) – Hard rock
- Draconicon – Pestilence (Inner Wound Recordings) – Power metal
- Dyssebeia – Garden Of Stillborn Idols (Transcending Obscurity Records) – Progressive/blackened death metal
- Eldritch – Innervoid (Scarlet Records) – Progressive/power metal
- Elitist – A Merge Of Grandeur (Indisciplinarian) – Death metal/sludge
- Fellahin Fall – Urbana (Self-released) – Alternative/gothic metal
- Foetal Juice – Grotesque (Gore House Productions) – Death metal
- Gridfailure – Shards In The Wire (Self-released) – Experimental/hardcore
- Harmagedon – Dystopian Dreams (Svart Records) -Stoner/hardcore
- The Holy Nothing – Vol 1: A Profound and Nameless Fear (Self-released) – Grunge/stoner
- Hyperia – The Serpent's Cycle (Self-released) – Death metal/melodic thrash
- Kilter – The Suspended Woman (Alter-Nativ) – Progressive/post-metal
- The Manikins – Swedish Woods (Lövely Records) – Garage rock
- MMTH – Infinite Heights (Crazysane Records) – Post-rock/progressive
- Mormânt De Snagov – Invocation Through Revocation (Wormholedeath) – Black metal
- The Monarch – A Moment To Lose Your Breath (Self-released) – Melodic metal
- Nail Within – Sound Of Demise (Massacre) – Death metal/thrash
- Neurectomy – Overwrought (Self-released) – Technical death metal
- Nonpoint – Heartless (361 Degrees Records LLC) – Nu metal
- Plaguemace – Reptilian Warlords (Napalm) – Death metal
- Post Profit – Self Defeater EP (SharpTone) – Post-hardcore/alternative
- Psychic Trash – Psychic Trash (RidingEasy Records) – Noise rock
- Rank And Vile – Worship (Modern Grievance) – Grindcore/death metal
- The Refreshments – A Stiff One (Sound Pollution/Wild Kingdom) – Rock n roll
- Robots Of The Ancient World – 3737 (Small Stone) – Doom/stoner rock
- Soledriver – Return Me To Light (Frontiers) – Melodic rock
- Suffocate Faster – This Is The Way Vol. 2 (Smartpunk Records)
- Terromania – Nyctophobic (Ripple Music) – Groove metal
- Texas In July – Without Reason (Equal Vision) – Metalcore
- Unwell – Trial & Error (Self-released) – Rock
- Vansind – Mørket (Mighty Music) – Folk metal
- Various Artists – Learn To Relax! A Tribute To Jehu (Noise Real Records) – Jehu covers
- Venus – Obscured Until Observed (Xtreem) – Death metal/thrash
- Wind Walkers – What If I Break? (Self-released) – Metalcore
