December 2022 Release Tracker

It's year-end list season! December is typically the leanest month for new music, but the search for fresh tracks still continues.

I'm currently compiling metal and metal-adjacent music for Territory's Edge, my monthly recap column on New Fury Media.  After the last Friday of the month, I will select 5-8 albums or songs to discuss in detail.  My favorites of the month are marked with 🐅. 

December Release Tracker

 

Singles

Katatonia - "Austerity" (Dec 1, progressive metal)

Wake - "Vast and Infinite" (Dec 1, doom death metal/deathgrind)

Zulu - "Fakin Tha Funk" (Dec 1, hardcore/powerviolence)

Distant - "Orphan of Blight" (Dec 2, symphonic deathcore)

Falsifier - "Drown in Misery" (Dec 2, deathcore)

Gideon - "Too Much is Never Enough" (Dec 2, nu metal/metalcore)

PhaseOne/Erra - "World Unknown" (Dec 2, EDM-core/progressive metalcore) 

Jesus Piece - "An Offering to the Night" (Dec 5, hardcore)

Casey - "Great Grief" (Dec 5, post-hardcore)

Ne Obliviscaris - "Equus" (Dec 6, progressive metal)

Silent Civilian - "My Addiction" (Dec 6, metalcore)

Zeal and Ardor - "Firewake/Cinq" (Dec 7, black metal/blues rock)

Suicide Silence - "Alter of Self" (Dec 9, deathcore)

Time the Valuator - "Binary Pulse" (Dec 9, progressive metal)

Afterdusk - "Plastic Memories" (Dec 9, metalcore)

The Acacia Strain - "Untended Graves" (Dec 14, deathcore)

Albums/EPs

Indepth - Ancient Architects (Dec 1, technical death metal) 

In Search of Solace - The Endless Ache (Dec 2, hardcore/metalcore) 🐅

Dead/Awake - Vile (Dec 2, hardcore) 🐅

Despite Exile - Wound (Dec 2, technical death metal/deathcore)

Dystopia A.D. - Doomsday Psalm (Dec 2, melodic death metal/thrash)

Lost Baron - Dark Messiah (Dec 2, blackened death metal) 

Obvurt - Triumph Beyond Adversity (Dec 2, technical death metal)

Synestia - Maleficium (Dec 2, deathcore)

Colonial Wound - Easy Laugh (Dec 9, sludge/hardcore)

Thousand Below - Hell Finds You Everywhere (Dec 9, post-hardcore)

Harakiri for the Sky - Aokigahara MMXXII (Redux) (Dec 9, post-black metal)

Harakiri for the Sky - Harakiri for the Sky MMXXII (Redux) (Dec 9, post-black metal)

Filth - Murder Inc (Dec 9, deathcore)

Territory's Edge - October 2022

 

October tends to be a strong month for new metal releases, and this year was no exception.  To start the recap, Fit For a King returned with their new album The Hell We Create.  The Texas metalcore band remains reliable in the scene, continuing their trajectory of including a variety of styles within ten tracks, ranging from deathcore to accessible alternative metal.  On the heavier side, grindcore trio Cloud Rat continue to impress in the underground.  While the band borrows their name from a cute rainforest animal, their new album Threshold is ferocious and nasty, as grindcore should be.  The similarly brutal death metal of Ripped to Shreds has also received a lot of attention with their latest, 劇變 (Jubian).

However, if you're after something more accessible, Katatonia returned with the melodic "Atrium", their first new music since 2020. Fire From the Gods present a modern take on the reggae-tinged rap rock sound (a style exemplified by bands like Skindred and P.O.D. during the early 00s nu metal era) on Soul Revolution. "8 Billion Rats" in particular is not to be overlooked.  As always, the releases explored below range from brand new or underground artists to some of the headliners who continue to represent and carry heavy music forward.

 

 

Freedom of Fear - Carpathia

 

Beautiful cover art is a great way for a band to make a first impression.  A striking painting featuring a pair of wolves traversing the snowy landscape of Carpathia foreshadows the harsh grandeur of this record.  Formed in 2015, Australia’s Freedom of Fear are a younger name on this list, led by frontwoman Jade Monserrat. The band’s second full-length is primarily melodic death metal, with notable influences from progressive, black and symphonic metal. The sound remains diverse and interesting throughout. For example, the opener “Zenith” is technical death metal in the vein of Obscura or Necrophagist. The title track after that centers the gothic and black metal elements, including choral vocals in the background and blast beat drumming. The album is brimming with technical skill and melodic solos from the band’s two guitarists.

Throughout its 40-minute length, Carpathia varies the pacing and incorporating different instrumental elements throughout to keep things interesting. The music is layered and complex without ever becoming claustrophobic. Softer instrumental sections are interspersed throughout, notable in the songs “Nebula” and “Entities” as well as the two interlude tracks. Overall, Freedom of Fear have crafted a very engaging death metal record, as enjoyable as it is technically impressive.

 

Love is Noise - Euphoria (where were you?)

 

Love is Noise, a new band featured previously on here, dropped their fantastic six-song debut EP at the end of the month.  Cameron Humphrey, ex-drummer of Lotus Eater, initiated the project after the dissolution of his previous band.  Love is Noise is signed to Jason Aalon Butler's (Pressure Cracks, Fever 333, ex-letlive.) label 333 Wreckords.  Single “Movement” also features his vocals.

The first two songs "Nothing" and "Wonderland" are driving, Deftones-style alternative metal, with occasional screams for emphasis.  "For You" and the moody title track have prominent shoegaze influences and are slower and more atmospheric.  The most experimental track is "thegreatestlove" with elements of noise rock.  A hybrid of shoegaze, post-punk and metal, Love is Noise is an absolute must-listen for fans of bands like Loathe and Deftones.

 

Counterparts - A Eulogy for Those Still Here

 

This hardcore/metalcore band from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada is known for a consistently strong discography. For several albums, they've worked with well-respected producer Will Putney (who is also a member of vocalist Brendan Murphy's other band END). Counterparts' seventh full-length, A Eulogy For Those Still Here, is hard-hitting and cathartic.

Overall, there's a bit more variation compared with its 2019 predecessor Nothing Left to Love.  "Skin Beneath a Scar", "Soil II", "A Mass Grave of Saints", and the title track represent the band's melodic, emotive side.  Early single "Unwavering Vow" is the fastest and heaviest track, while the slowest is "Soil II" and the most melodic is the title track.  "Whispers of Your Death" is a tribute to Brendan Murphy's cat Kuma, who is the sole focus of the music video.  With a chorus reminiscent of Will Putney's main band Fit for an Autopsy, "A Mass Grave of Saints" closes the album on a memorable note.  Counterparts have added another winner to their catalog.

 

Lorna Shore - Pain Remains

 

It's clear that Lorna Shore is the biggest name in deathcore at the moment.  Led by charismatic frontman Will Ramos, the New Jersey band is close to reaching one million monthly listeners on Spotify.  They just started a sold-out headlining tour and their album debuted at #150 on the Billboard Top 200, an impressive feat for a band this heavy (and relatively new on the scene). While Ramos isn't the band's original vocalist (Tom Barber fronted Lorna Shore for the first nine years) he's certainly helped catapult the deathcore group to their most successful and well-known era yet.   Following the runaway success of "To the Hellfire" in 2021, Lorna Shore shows no signs of slowing their momentum.

Early single "Sun/Eater" is a good indicator of the sound throughout Pain Remains.   The standout track, which initially premiered in May, starts with a dramatic symphonic and choral buildup, leading to the furious drumming and brutal breakdowns.  Lorna Shore concludes their album with the titular "Pain Remains" trilogy, a seamless composition spanning twenty minutes over three tracks.  The first part "Pain Remains I: Dancing Like Flames" delves into melodic death metal and is one of Lorna Shore's most interesting moments.  Ambitious, intense and densely layered, Pain Remains continues the band's massive trajectory upwards.

 

Polyphia/Chino Moreno - "Bloodbath"

 

Polyphia has explored a variety of music genres through their technical, mostly instrumental guitar-driven sound.  On Remember That You Will Die, the Texas-based band collaborated with eight different artists, ranging from hip hop producer Killstation to guitarist Steve Vai.  Fittingly named "Chimera", after the fearsome hybrid creature of Greek mythology, one track seamlessly incorporates trap, metal, and Latin sounds.  One particular standout is "Bloodbath", featuring Deftones vocalist Chino Moreno.   The dynamic djent track is driven by chugging eight string guitar riffs.  While it starts off with a deceptively calm beginning, "Bloodbath" ranks among Polyphia's heaviest songs to date.  In addition to his performance on the song, the Deftones frontman also wrote the lyrics.

 

Lamb of God - Omens

 

Lamb of God, who saw their start in 1994 at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, have been one of metal's big names for a while.  This month, the groove metal band released their ninth full-length album - actually their eleventh if you count their covers project and 1999 debut under their initial name Burn the Priest.  The band's core has remained largely unchanged through their long career.  The departure of drummer Chris Adler remains their only significant lineup difference.  Lamb of God may be a few decades removed from their early underground years, but their hardcore punk roots and ethos remain strong.

Frontman Randy Blythe recently funded a rainforest preserve project in Ecuador and filmed a documentary about the environmental destruction and changing climate in the region, giving real context to the apocalyptic lyrics of tracks like "Denial Mechanism".  His incisive writing paired with Mark Morton's driving guitar riffs propel Omens, especially standouts like "Nevermore" and "Gomorrah".  Closer "September Song", featuring strings and a memorable guitar solo, saves the best for last.   While Omens doesn't tread new ground, the band remains a reliable force to be reckoned with.  Next they're getting on a boat...

 

Chrome Ghost - House of Falling Ash

 

Finally, we have a hard-to-classify post metal/doom/shoegaze hybrid from Sacramento, California.  Chrome Ghost's influence from the Seattle grunge scene is also prominent, and not just because they did a three-song Nirvana covers EP earlier.  The sprawling 14-minute opener "Rose in Bloom" starts off sounding like a Nirvana or Alice in Chains ballad, before a heavy sludge riff enters at the 2:20 mark.  The song continues to build and reaches its peak with a growl at the 11-minute mark.

Subsequent tracks continue to build on the foundation set in the opener.  "Where Black Dogs Dream" has some Mastodon-style guitar picking and a little Americana influence.  The closing title track is the heaviest of the bunch, with more growls than the rest.  Consisting of 4 songs ranging from 8 and a half to 14 minutes and two short interludes, House of Falling Ash is a slow-burning, rewarding listen.  Each composition is unique, while remaining part of a cohesive whole.  Ambient and ethereal at times, while sludgy and foreboding at others, listening to this album is an immersive experience.  Chrome Ghost is not a name to overlook.

November 2022 Release Tracker

 You can read my New Fury Media metal column for October here.  Bands featured include Freeedom of Fear, Love is Noise, Lorna Shore, Lamb of God, Counterparts, Chino Moreno, Polyphia, and Chrome Ghost.

I'm currently compiling metal and metal-adjacent music for Territory's Edge, my monthly recap column on New Fury Media.  After the last Friday of the month, I will select 5-8 albums or songs to discuss in detail.  My favorites of the month are marked with 🐅. 

November Release Tracker

 

Singles

Vended - "Overall" (Nov 2, nu metal)

August Burns Red/Jesse Leach - "Ancestry" (Nov 3, metalcore) 

Insomnium - "Lilian" (Nov 4, melodic death metal)

Wolves at the Gate - "Dark Cold Night" (Nov 4, symphonic metal/metalcore) 🐅

In Flames - "Foregone Pt 2" (Nov 7, melodic death metal/alternative metal)

Invent Animate - "Elysium" (Nov 8, progressive metalcore) 🐅

Brand of Sacrifice - "Exodus" (Nov 9, brutal deathcore) 🐅

Thousand Below - "Sabotage" (Nov 9, post-hardcore)

Obituary - "The Wrong Time" (Nov 10, death metal)

All Else Fails - "Devour the Sun" (Nov 15, melodic death metal)

Graphic Nature - "Killing Floor" (Nov 18, nu metal/hardcore) 🐅

Enslaved - "Congelia" (Nov 18, black metal/progressive metal)

Currents - "Vengeance" (Nov 25, metalcore/hardcore)

Metallica - "Lux Æterna” (Nov 28, heavy metal)

The Amity Affliction - "Show Me Your God" (Nov 29, metalcore) 🐅

Entheos - "In Purgatory" (Nov 30, progressive death metal)

 

Albums

Avoid - Cult Mentality (Nov 3, metalcore/hardcore punk) 🐅

Dayseeker - Dark Sun (Nov 3, post-hardcore/alt-pop)

Devin Townsend - Lightwork (Nov 3, progressive rock)

Fleshwater - We’re Not Here To Be Loved (Nov 3, hardcore)

Ingested - Ashes Lie Still (Nov 3, death metal)

Ueldes - Foreverer (Nov 4, blackgaze/atmospheric black metal)

Chelsea Grin - Suffer in Hell (Nov 11, deathcore/death metal)

Dream Unending - Song of Salvation (Nov 11, death/doom metal)

He is Legend - Endless Hallway (Nov 11, alternative metal/southern metal)

Lamentations - Passion of Depression (Nov 11, progressive death metal) 

LS Dunes - Past Lives (Nov 11, post-hardcore/post-punk)

Candlemass - Sweet Evil Sun (Nov 18, doom metal)

Disturbed - Divisive (Nov 18, alternative metal)

Gatherers - "(mutilator.)" (Nov 18, melodic hardcore) 🐅

Gaupa - Myriad (Nov 18, stoner rock/progressive metal)

Tallah - The Generation of Danger (Nov 18, nu metal)

Wolves at the Gate - Lowborn (Nov 18, post-hardcore/metalcore) 

Circles - The Stories We Are Afraid of Vol. 1 (Nov 25, progressive rock/alternative metal)

Elder - Innate Passage (Nov 25, psychedelic rock/progressive metal) 🐅

Karg - Resignation (Nov 25, post-black metal)

Spiritworld - Deathwestern (Nov 25, death metal)

The Last Ten Seconds of Life - Disquisition on an Execution (Nov 25, deathcore)

Byzantine - Black Sea Codex (Nov 28, groove metal)

 

October 2022 Release Tracker

 You can read my New Fury Media metal column for September here.  Bands featured include Holy Fawn, Fallujah, The Devil Wears Prada, A Hope For Home, I Am, Love is Noise, and Aeternam.

I'm currently compiling metal and metal-adjacent music for Territory's Edge, my monthly recap column on New Fury Media.  After the last Friday of the month (October 28), I will select 5-8 albums or songs to discuss in detail.  My favorites of the month are marked with 🐅. 

 

October Release Tracker

 

Singles

Lionheart/Ice-T - "Live by the Gun" (Oct 4, rap metal/hardcore)

Gaupa - "Moloken" (Oct 5, doom/stoner metal)

Bury Tomorrow - "Abandon Us" (Oct 6, melodic death metal/metalcore)

Convictions/Dakota Alvarez - "Stigmata" (Oct 7, metalcore) 🐅

Make Them Suffer - "Doomswitch" (Oct 13, deathcore)

Gojira - "Our Time is Now" (Oct 14, progressive metal/alternative metal)

Avoid - "Can't Take This Away" (Oct 14, punk/post-hardcore)

Foreign Hands - "Tearing Down Your Reality" (Oct 19, metalcore)

Chelsea Grin/Trevor Strnad - "Forever Bloom" (Oct 21, death metal)

For the Fallen Dreams - "No Heaven" (Oct 21, alternative metal/post-hardcore)

Oceans - "I Sing Alone" (Oct 21, nu metal/progressive metal)

The Plot In You - "Divide" (Oct 25, post-hardcore)

Nita Strauss/Alissa White-Gluz - "The Wolf You Feed" (Oct 25, melodic death metal)

Quicksand - "Feliz" (Oct 25, alternative metal/post-hardcore)

Katatonia - "Atrium" (Oct 26, gothic doom/progressive metal) 🐅

Vulvodynia - "Artificial Divinity" (Oct 27, brutal death metal/slam)

Avatar - "Dance Devil Dance" (Oct 28, groove metal/melodic death metal) 

Crosses - "Vivien" (Oct 28, darkwave)

In Search of Solace - "No Turning Back" (Oct 28, hardcore) 🐅

The Wise Man's Fear - "Mazerunner" (Oct 28, metalcore)

Albums/EPs

Grief Circle - Weightless (Oct 6, doom metal)

Armed for Apocalypse - Ritual Violence (Oct 7, sludge metal/death metal)

Cloud Rat - Threshold (Oct 7, hardcore punk)

Counterparts - A Eulogy for Those Still Here (Oct 7, metalcore) 🐅

Faceless Burial - At the Foothills of Deliration (Oct 7, death metal)

Get the Shot - Merciless Destruction (Oct 7, crossover hardcore)

Goatwhore - Angels Hung from the Arches of Heaven (Oct 7, blackened death metal)

Lamb of God - Omens (Oct 7, groove metal) 🐅

Queensryche - Digital Noise Alliance (Oct 7, heavy metal)

Suspyria - The Valley of Despair (Oct 7, alternative metal/metalcore)

Wednesday 13 - Horrifier (Oct 7, industrial metal/horror punk)

Alter Bridge - Pawns and Kings (Oct 14, heavy metal/alternative metal)

Birds in Row - Gris Klein (Oct 14)

Boundaries - Burying Brightness (Oct 14, deathcore)

Exist Immortal - Exist Immortal (Oct 14)

Firtan - Marter (Oct 14, progressive black metal)

Girih - Ikigai (Oct 14, instrumental post metal)

Glassblower - Generation Loss (Oct 14, grindcore/hardcore punk)

Lacuna Coil - Comalies XX (redux) (Oct 14)

Lorna Shore - Pain Remains (Oct 14, symphonic deathcore/blackened deathcore) 🐅

Outline in Color - Coast is Clear (Oct 14) 

Ripped to Shreds - 劇變 (Jubian) (Oct 14, death metal)

We Came As Romans - Darkbloom (Oct 14, metalcore)

At the Graves - Fear is God (Oct 20, sludge/doom)

A Wake in Providence - Eternity (Oct 21, symphonic deathcore/death metal)

Architects - The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Heart (Oct 21, alternative metal)

Battalions - King of a Dead World (Oct 21, sludge metal) 

Black Royal - Earthbound (Oct 21, stoner/death metal)

Cabal - Magneto Interitus (Oct 21, deathcore/blackened hardcore)

Crooked Royals - Quarter Life Daydream (Oct 21, progressive metalcore/post-hardcore)

End Archaic - Infected Nature (Oct 21, hardcore) 🐅

Freedom of Fear - Carpathia (Oct 21, blackened death metal/progressive death metal) 🐅

Full of Hell - Aurora Leaking from an Unopened Wound (Oct 21, hardcore)

Inclination - Unaltered Perspective (Oct 21, straight edge hardcore)

Invictus (Canada) - Unstoppable (Oct 21, groove metal/melodic death metal)

Serj Tankian - Perplex Cities (Oct 21)

Vatic - Mercer 217 (Oct 21, nu metal/metalcore) 

Chrome Ghost - House of Falling Ash (Oct 28, doom metal/post metal) 🐅

Dead Cross - Dead Cross II (Oct 28, hardcore punk/thrash)

Demon Hunter - Exile (Oct 28, alternative metal)

Despised Icon - Déterré (Oct 28, deathcore/death metal)

Devenial Verdict - Ash Blind (Oct 28, doom/death metal) 🐅

Fire from the Gods - Soul Revolution (Oct 28, nu metal/reggae metal) 🐅

Fit for a King - The Hell We Create (Oct 28, metalcore)

The Gloom in the Corner - Trinity (Oct 28, metalcore) 

Grieve - Empty, Like Me (Oct 28, nu metal)

Love is Noise - Euphoria, Where Were You? (Oct 28, shoegaze/alternative metal) 🐅

Obsidious - Iconic (Oct 28, progressive metal)

Polyphia - Remember That You Will Die (Oct 28, instrumental progressive metal/trap/djent) 🐅

Psychonaut - Violate Consensus Reality (Oct 28, psychedelic rock/post metal)

Worm - Bluenothing (Oct 28, doom metal)

 

September 2022 Release Tracker

You can read my New Fury Media metal column for August 2022 here.  The metal bands featured in my article are Oceano, Machine Head, Foreign Hands, Soulfly, Aronious, Auriferous Flame, and Becoming the Archetype. 

I'm currently compiling metal and metal-adjacent music for Territory's Edge, my monthly recap column on New Fury Media.  After the last Friday of the month (September 30), I will select 5-8 albums or songs to discuss in detail.  My favorites of September are marked with 🐅. 

 

 

September Release Tracker

 

Singles

Demon Hunter - "MASTER" (Sep 2, alternative metal)

Counterparts - "Bound to the Burn" (Sep 7, hardcore/metalcore) 🐅

Cabal - "Exit Wound" (Sep 7, deathcore)

For the Fallen Dreams - "Re-Animate" (Sep 7, metalcore)

Nickelback - "San Quentin" (Sep 7, hard rock/heavy metal)

We Came as Romans - "Golden" (Sep 7, metalcore)

Borders/Cane Hill - "Godless" (Sep 8, hardcore/nu metal)

Fit for a King - "Falling Through the Sky" (Sep 8, metalcore) 

Lamb of God - "Grayscale" (Sep 8, groove metal)

Psychonaut - "Violate Consensus Reality" (Sep 8, post metal)

Chelsea Grin - "The Isnis" (Sep 9, deathcore)

Nonpoint - "Paper Tigers" (Sep 9, alternative metal/groove metal)

The Gloom In The Corner - "New Order" (Sep 12, metalcore)

Unleash the Archers - "Falsewave" (Sep 13, power metal) 

10 Years - "The Optimist" (Sep 14, alternative metal) 

Lorna Shore - "Pain Remains I: Dancing Like Flames" (Sep 14, deathcore)

Yellow Eyes - "Dagger in the Warm Straw" (Sep 14, black metal)

Get the Shot - "Season of the Damned II" (Sep 15, hardcore)

In Flames - "Foregone Pt. 1" (Sep 15, melodic death metal)

Lacuna Coil - "Swamped XX" (Sep 15, gothic metal)

Archetypes Collide - "My Own Device" (Sep 16, alternative metal)

As Hell Retreats - "Dissent" (Sep 16, deathcore/death metal)

Cloud Rat - "Corset" (Sep 16, grindcore)

Graphic Nature - "White Noise" (Sep 16, nu metal/hardcore) 

Thrice - "Open Your Eyes and Dream" (Sep 20, post-hardcore)

Earth Caller - “Alone” (Sep 21, metalcore)

Termina - "Take Flight" (Sep 21, djent)

Thousand Below - "Face to Face" (Sep 21, post-hardcore) 

Dayseeker - "Dreamstate" (Sep 23, post-hardcore)

In Search of Solace - "Oathbreaker" (Sep 23, metalcore)

Love is Noise - "Euphoria (Where Were You?)" (Sep 23, shoegaze, alternative metal)

Fire from the Gods - “World So Cold” (Sep 30, alternative metal)

Albums/EPs

Oceans Ate Alaska - Disparity (Sep 1, metalcore)

156/Silence - Narrative (Sep 2, metalcore/hardcore punk) 

A Hope For Home - Years of Silicon (Sep 2, post metal) 🐅

Aeternam - Heir of the Rising Sun (Sep 2, symphonic folk metal/melodic death metal) 🐅

Aetherwave - Malevolence (Sep 2, nu-metalcore) 

Blind Guardian - The God Machine (Sep 2, power metal)

The Butterfly Effect - IV (Sep 2, alternative metal/progressive rock)

The Callous Daoboys - Celebrity Therapist (Sep 2, mathcore) 

Fawn Limbs - Oleum (Sep 2, grindcore/mathcore)

Feather Mountain - To Exit a Maelstrom (Sep 2, progressive metal)

The Hu - Rumble of Thunder (Sep 2, folk metal)

King's X - Three Sides of One (Sep 2, progressive rock)

Miss May I - Curse of Existence (Sep 2, metalcore)

Sobriquet - Apotheosis (Sep 2, post-hardcore)

Vermin Womb - Retaliation (Sep 2, grindcore/brutal death metal)

Xenobiotic - Hate Monolith (Sep 2, technical death metal)

An Abstract Illusion - Woe (Sep 9, progressive death metal)

Bloodbath - Survival of the Sickest (Sep 9, death metal)

Crippled Black Phoenix - Banefyre (Sep 9, post rock/dark rock)

Electric Callboy - Tekkno (Sep 9, electronic metalcore)

END/Cult Leader split - Gather and Mourn (Sep 9, hardcore)

Fallujah - Empyrean (Sep 9, progressive death metal/technical death metal) 🐅

Holy Fawn - Dimensional Bleed (Sep 9, blackgaze/post metal/shoegaze) 🐅

Highly Suspect - The Midnight Demon Club (Sep 9, hard rock)

I AM - Eternal Steel (Sep 9, death metal/deathcore) 🐅

Inhuman Depravity - The Experimendead (Sep 9, brutal death metal)

KMFDM - Hyena (Sep 9, industrial)

Ozzy Osbourne - Patient #9 (Sep 9, traditional heavy metal)

Parkway Drive - Darker Still (Sep 9, alternative metal)

Revocation - Netherheaven (Sep 9, thrash/technical death metal)

Stray from the Path - Euthanasia (Sep 9, hardcore punk) 

Tallah - The Generation of Danger (Sep 9, nu metal)

Until I Wake - Inside My Head (Sep 9, hardcore)

Warforged - Sundial (Sep 9, blackened death metal)

Floating - The Waves Have Teeth (Sep 13, death metal)

Aviana - Corporation (Sep 16, metalcore/alternative metal)

Behemoth - Opvs Contra Natvram (Sep 16, blackened death metal)

Confessions of a Traitor - Punishing Myself Before God Does (Sep 16, groove metal/metalcore) 

Clutch - Sunrise on Slaughter Beach (Sep 16, stoner rock/sludge)

Destrage - SO MUCH. Too much. (Sep 16, mathcore) 

The Devil Wears Prada - Color Decay (Sep 16, melodic metalcore) 🐅

Earth Crisis - Vegan for the Animals (Sep 16, straight edge hardcore)

Fault Lines - Quiet Sickness (Sep 16, nu metal/metalcore) 

Hamadryas - Grima (Sep 16, djent)

Harmed - The Everchanging Gap Between Life and Loss (Sep 16, deathcore)

Irist - Gloria (Sep 16, sludge metal)

Lybica - Lybica (Sep 16, post metal)

The Mars Volta - The Mars Volta (Sep 16, progressive rock)

Phobophilic - Enveloping Absurdity (Sep 16, death metal)

Reliqa - I Don't Know What I Am (Sep 16, alternative metal)

Weeping Wound - idon'tbelonghere. (Sep 16, nu metal/metalcore)

Wolfheart - King of the North (Sep 16, melodic death metal)

Dark Divinity- Unholy Rapture (Sep 21, melodic death metal)

Forest Summoner (various artists) - Autumn Equinox Compilation (Sep 22, black metal/doom metal)

Frayle - Skin & Sorrow (Sep 23, doom metal/alternative) 

Gaerea - Mirage (Sep 23, black metal)

KEN Mode - Null (Sep 23, noise rock/sludge metal)

Venom Inc. - There's Only Black (Sep 23, heavy metal/black metal)

City of Caterpillar - Mystic Sisters (Sep 30, hardcore punk)

Escuela Grind - Memory Theater (Sep 30, grindcore)

Slipknot - The End, So Far (Sep 30, nu metal)

 

 

August 2022 Metal Release Tracker

 

 

I'm currently compiling metal and metal-adjacent music for Territory's Edge, my monthly recap column on New Fury Media.  After the last Friday of the month (August 26), I will select 5-8 albums or songs to discuss in detail.  My favorites as the month progresses are marked with 🐅 symbols.

August Release Tracker

Singles

In Flames - "The Great Deceiver" (Aug 1, melodic death metal)

Alter Bridge - "Silver Tongue" (Aug 2, alternative metal)

City of Caterpillar - "Decider" (Aug 2, hardcore)

Stray From the Path/Jesse Barnett - "Bread and Roses" (Aug 2, punk/hardcore)

Borders - "Suffer" (Aug 4, deathcore)

Fallujah - "Soulbreaker" (Aug 4, progressive metalcore/technical death metal) 🐅

I AM - "Surrender to the Blade" (Aug 4, death metal)

Xenobiotic - "Autophagia" (Aug 4, technical death metal) 🐅

Dragoncorpse - "Terror Eternal" (Aug 5, power metal/death metal)

For the Fallen Dreams - "Sulfate" (Aug 5, metalcore)

The Comfort - "Supernova" (Aug 5, post-hardcore/alt rock)

Outline in Color/Loveless - "Do Your Worst" (Aug 5, alternative rock/post-hardcore)

Slipknot - "Yen" (Aug 5, nu metal) 🐅

Time, the Valuator - "Ivy" (Aug 5, progressive rock/alternative metal)

What Lies Below - "Vitiate" (Aug 5, progressive metalcore)

Boundaries - "Heaven's Broken Heart" (Aug 11, metalcore)

Revocation/Trevor Strnad/Corpsegrinder - "Re-Crucified" (Aug 9, technical death metal)

Slaughter to Prevail - "1984" (Aug 9, deathcore)

Sylosis - "Heavy is the Crown" (Aug 9, melodic death metal)

Aviana/Marcus Vik - "Paradox" (Aug 10, metalcore/alternative metal)

Exmortus - "Oathbreaker" (Aug 10, death/thrash)

Miss May I - "Free Fall" (Aug 10, metalcore)

Weeping Wound - "fourthh.love" (Aug 10, atmospheric metalcore)

A Wake in Providence - "The Horror Ov the Old Gods" (Aug 11, deathcore)

Bloodbath - "Carved" (Aug 11, death metal)

Fit for a King - "End (The Other Side)" (Aug 11, metalcore)

156/Silence - "Say the Phrase" (Aug 12, metalcore) 

Bit Back - "Quantum of Solace" (Aug 12, hardcore)

Chelsea Grin - "Origin of Sin" (Aug 12, deathcore)

Phobophilic - "Survive in Obscurity" (Aug 12, death metal)

An Abstract Illusion - "In the Heavens Above, You Will Become a Monster" (Aug 15, death metal)

Oceano - "Mass Produced" (Aug 16, deathcore) 🐅

Irist - "Heal" (Aug 16, progressive metal)

Gaupa - "Diametrical Enchantress" (Aug 17, psychedelic rock/stoner doom)

Vermin Womb - "Denvoid" (Aug 17, grindcore/death metal)

Holy Fawn - "Void of Light" (Aug 18, blackgaze/post metal) 🐅

UnityTX - "Burnout" (Aug 18, rapcore)

AVOID - "Whatever" (Aug 19, punk/post-hardcore) 🐅

Oceans Ate Alaska - "Nova" (Aug 19, metalcore)

Starset/Breaking Benjamin - "Waiting on the Sky to Change" (Aug 19, alternative metal)

Vatic - "No Sleep" (Aug 19, metalcore)

Foreign Hands - "Chlorine Tears" (Aug 23, melodic metalcore) 🐅

Orbit Culture - "Vultures of North" (Aug 25, progressive death metal)

Dayseeker - "Without Me" (Aug 26, post-hardcore)

Within Destruction/Lil Lotus - "Dying World" (Aug 26, deathcore)

Glassing - "Dire/Sulk" (Aug 26, sludge metal) 🐅

A Hope For Home - "Years of Silicon" (Aug 29, post metal) 🐅

Currents - "The Death We Seek" (Aug 31, metalcore)

Fit for an Autopsy - "Walk With Me in Hell" (Aug 31, Lamb of God cover)

Love is Noise/Jason Aalon Butler - "Movement" (Aug 31, alternative metal/post-hardcore) 🐅

Albums

Ether Coven - The Relationship Between the Hammer and the Nail (Aug 5, sludge metal)

In Hearts Wake - Green is the New Black (Aug 5, metalcore)

Psycroptic - Divine Council (Aug 5, technical death metal) 🐅

Soulfly - Totem (Aug 5, groove/thrash metal) 🐅

Dispar - Hopeless (demo) (Aug 6, blackgaze)

Fugitive - Maniac (Aug 8, hardcore/thrash)

Arch Enemy - Deceivers (Aug 12, melodic death metal) 🐅

Aronious - Irkalla (Aug 12, technical death metal) 🐅

Ascent of Autumn - Awakened (Aug 12, deathcore)

Contrition - Constancy (Aug 12, hardcore/metalcore)

In Disarray - Trauma (Aug 12, hardcore/metalcore)

Norma Jean - Deathrattle Sing For Me (Aug 12, metalcore/alternative metal) 

Of Virtue - Sinner (Aug 12, metalcore/alternative metal)

Seventh Storm - Maledictus (Aug 12, power metal)

Seyr - Flux (Aug 12, progressive metal)

The Halo Effect - Days of the Lost (Aug 12, melodic death metal)

The Omnific - Escapades (Deluxe Edition) (Aug 12, instrumental metal)

Unprocessed - Gold (Aug 12, progressive rock)

Revaira - Journey (Aug 18, progressive metalcore)

Abest - Molten Husk (Aug 19, sludge metal/hardcore)

Alpha Wolf and Holding Absence - The Lost & The Longing (Aug 19, metalcore)

Dawnwalker - House of Sand (Aug 19, progressive metal) 

I Prevail - True Power (Aug 19, alternative metal/nu metal) 

Orthodox - Learning To Dissolve (Aug 19, hardcore)

Russian Circles - Gnosis (Aug 19, instrumental progressive metal) 

Soilwork - Övergivenheten (Aug 19, melodic death metal)

Spirit Adrift - 20 Years Gone (Aug 19, doom/traditional heavy metal)

Spite - Dedication to Flesh (Aug 19, deathcore)

Auriferous Flame - The Great Mist Within (Aug 26, atmospheric black metal) 🐅

Becoming the Archetype - Children of the Great Extinction (Aug 26, melodic death metal/metalcore) 🐅

Blackbraid - Blackbraid I (Aug 26, black metal)

Cyborg Octopus - Between the Light and Air (Aug 26, progressive metal)

Dreadnought - The Endless (Aug 26, progressive metal/black metal) 

Eaten By Sharks - Eradication (Aug 26, technical death metal)

fallfiftyfeet - Lonely If You Go (Aug 26, mathcore)

Ghost in the Ruins - Return to Ash (Aug 26, metalcore) 

God of Nothing - Terrible Things (Aug 26, deathcore)

KRIMH - The Eternal Return (Aug 26, progressive death metal)

Machine Head - Of Kingdom and Crown (Aug 26, groove metal/thrash) 🐅

Obsidian Mind - Obsidian Mind (Aug 26, metalcore) 

Sigh - Shiki (Aug 26, experimental black metal)

thoughtcrimes - Altered Pasts (Aug 26, mathcore)

Westhand - Cyanide Culture (Aug 26, rapcore/metalcore)

Illuminate Me - Dying on a Hill That Nobody Remembers (Aug 28, metalcore)

 

 

Territory's Edge - July 2022

Metallica made plenty of headlines this summer.  The surging popularity of their 1986 hit "Master of Puppets" - due to its inclusion in the show Stranger Things - marked a rare crossover moment, potentially introducing a vast array of listeners to heavy metal.  Another familiar name returning to the spotlight is Rage Against the Machine.  The rap rock legends, whose last album Renegades released in December 2000, embarked on their first tour in eleven years, which has proven to be a massive success. However, we had no shortage of metal and metal-adjacent bands releasing and announcing brand new music either.  Slipknot returned with a new single "The Dying Song (Time to Sing)" and a September album announcement. Lorna Shore continue to be huge in the deathcore scene, and also have a new song out and an album on the way. Holy Fawn, Erra, and Silent Planet similarly remain consistently top-tier bands with their new singles. Oceans Ate Alaska dropped a new song at the beginning of the month and confirmed a new album at the end. Highlights among the smaller bands we had to talk about this month include Hated delving into the evils of abuse on "Dr4gged",  Philippine technical death metal Emperium hailing the horned ones on "Majestic Goat", and modern deathcore band The Archaic Epidemic from Fairfax, Virginia making a strong showing with "Lords of Misery".  South Florida band Leveled live up to their name on their EP One World Comes Back Around, and Atlanta's In Somni are a promising new band with two explosive songs.

 

 

Silent Planet - ":Signal:"

 

Ten years after their first EP Come Wind, Come Weather, Silent Planet now maintains a dedicated, supportive fan community and substantive respect within progressive metalcore circles. From the beginning, frontman Garrett Russell has shown why he is a top-tier lyricist and songwriter. His lyrics have discussed many topics including the generational and historical trauma experienced by Native Americans ("Native Blood"),  the horrors of war and impact of PTSD on combat veterans ("Panic Room") and his own battle with mental illness ("Terminal"). However, the band's new single, ":Signal:", continues to keep listeners guessing. This song ventures into mathcore territory, with an eerie, mysterious visual to match. Above all, ":Signal:" is crushingly heavy, displaying an unpredictable chaos akin to Loathe at their heaviest. Buster Odeholm of Humanity's Last Breath mixed this track, contributing to its dark and heavy atmosphere. Distant clean vocals in the waning seconds finish the song on an enticing note. Silent Planet's music has a profound depth, spirituality and sincerity, and this new song provides the first taste of something massive.  

Wake - Thought Form Descent

 

While this band from Calgary, Alberta started out playing grindcore, their sound has gradually shifted with each album. Now on their sixth full-length, Wake's current blackened death metal style is characterized by densely layered, highly technical compositions. Thought Form Descent is full of intriguing, melodic guitar riffs that will hook just about any fan of extreme metal. The profiency of the band's two guitarists, Arjun Gill and Rob LaChance, keep each track engaging throughout. The melodic death metal riffage on single "Swallow the Light" is a prime example of the guitar work carrying the song. Additionally, the two instrumental tracks "Pareidolia" and "The Translation of Deaths" add a valuable diversity. Both of these short breaks balance out the intensity of the other six songs. "Observer to Master" makes good use of blast beats and a guitar solo from Kevin Hufnagel of Gorguts. "Bleeding Eyes of the Watcher" incorporates a Mastodon-sounding guitar line and a seamless atmospheric transition into the closer "The Translation of Deaths". Thought Form Descent is themed around a science fiction story contained to the album. According to vocalist Kyle Ball, the narrative follows a character who enters a paranormal realm during a near death experience, then tries to recreate that plane of existence again through means of altered states, meditation, and lucid dreams. Musically, Wake cite inspiration from classic metal bands like Slayer, Iron Maiden, and Celtic Frost, as well as genres like post punk, doom, and black metal. However, the band makes it a point to not let any particular influence overtake the others. The eight-minute sonic cacophony of "Venerate (The Undoing of All)" encapsulates this mindset perfectly, a track as nuanced as it is chaotic. Wake have created a masterful extreme metal record here.  

Scarcity - Aveilut

 

At first glance, classical sensibilities within an experimental black/drone metal record may seem unusual. Scarcity, a two-person project from Brooklyn, New York, proves that this influence can translate well even without the use of traditional classical instrumentation. Instrumentalist Brendon Randall-Myers is both a guitarist and composer who has written for classical music performers and symphonies. He is joined by vocalist Doug Moore from the New York technical death metal band Pyrrhon, who in addition to his unearthly low growls is a skilled writer and former monthly metal columnist. Aveilut, titled after a Hebrew term for mourning, centers around processing loss and the inevitability of death. It is a challenging yet cathartic listen. Randall-Myers specifically wrote the album about the deaths of two people close to him, and the bleak tone of the music conjures up images of staring into the void. Reflecting both a personal and universal meaning, Aveilut is a harrowing, yet spacious, drone/dark ambient 45 minute album.  Split into 5 tracks numbered I-V, it is meant to be listened to as one composition.  

Krisiun - Mortem Solis

 

The success of Sepultura in the '90s helped open up the door for more Brazilian metal bands to break through to a worldwide audience. One of those bands was Krisiun.  Their brutal third album, Conquerors of Armageddon, was unleashed in March 2000, marking their first major release on Century Media. Krisiun is composed of three brothers, and they're still going strong eleven albums into their career. Therefore, it's fitting that on August 7, they're playing alongside the Cavalera brothers Max and Igor, on the tour celebrating 25 years of Sepultura's Roots. Krisiun has maintained an old-school death metal ethos throughout their career, occasionally embracing a progressive edge as on 2012's The Great Execution. Krisiun's latest album provides a good introduction to any newcomers to the long-running trio. Bridging the gap between early and modern death metal, the band stays true to their sound without coming across as stale or out of ideas. Mortem Solis is characterized by thrashy tempos and death metal vocals, but they switch it up enough to keep the whole album engaging. Track 4, "Necronomics" slows to a measured groove metal pace. The instrumental "Dawn Sun Carnage" which leads into the cavernous "Temple of Abattoir" is another highlight.  

Conjurer - Páthos

 

While this young British death/doom metal act gained some previous attention from the underground scene with the EP I, their sludgy debut full-length, Mire, earned them a strong following among some well-known metal musicians, particularly Trivium's Matt Heafy. On Mire, Conjurer mixed in some post-metal dynamics with tracks like "Hollow" and "Thankless", and their second album develops in this direction further. The highlight of Páthos is "All You Can Remember", a somber, dynamic post-metal track written in memoriam of guitarist Dan Nightingale's grandmother. Similar to "Constance" by Spiritbox, the lyrics explore the the grief of having a loved one battle dementia. A guest female vocalist, Alice Zawadski, provides a spoken word section before the cathartic climax. The sludgy "Basilisk" is the most stylistically similar to Mire and provides a contrast between the band's past and present. Frontman Brady Deeprose's low roar is comparable to Aaron Turner of the bands Isis and Sumac. Similarly, the music is reminiscent of a heavier Oceanic with undercurrents of death and sludge metal swirling through the tides. Let Páthos pull you in to its murky depths.

Oceans of Slumber - Starlight and Ash

 

Oceans of Slumber are unafraid of change. The band's initial gothic metal/progressive doom metal sound drew comparisons to Opeth with a female lead vocalist, while maintaining a sound of their own. Heavy yet soulful tracks like "The Adorned Fathomless Creation" displayed a similar sense of duality. Given how Opeth has dramatically reinvented their sound while still finding success, the description is even more apt today. Yes, Oceans of Slumber took a left turn, softening their sound - to their advantage. The group fully captures the southern gothic sound by honing in on a sultry, humid atmosphere. In fact, the only minor flaw here is some imbalance in the production, as the guitars are buried in the mix compared to the drums during the heavier moments. Frontwoman Cammie Gilbert's vocals are the undisputed focus of the album, and her commanding presence is the reason the stylistic shift succeeds. "Salvation" displays her gospel influences both sonically and lyrically. While Starlight and Ash is more of a rock album than a metal one, there's still some elements of metal present. "Red Forest Roads" is a good example, building from a somber ballad to a fast climax with furious drumming. "Just a Day" starts off similar to an Evanescence piano ballad but finishes out on heavy, with the final minute of fuzzed out distorted guitar.