Here are all the new releases for April 28th through May 5th. Releases reflect proposed North American scheduling, if available. Expect to see most of these albums on shelves or distros on Fridays.
See something we missed or have any thoughts? Let us know in the comments. Plus, as always, feel free to post your own shopping lists. Happy digging.
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New Releases 4/28-5/4
Crawl — Altar of Disgust | Transcending Obscurity Records | Death Metal | Sweden
From the logo and art to the music and vibes, this is grimy Swedish death metal at its finest. It’s heavy, old-school, crusty, and everything we were hoping for from this release, and we can’t get enough.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
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Aquilus — Bellum II | Northern Silence Productions | Atmospheric Black Metal | Australia (Melbourne)
Aquilus shoot for the stars with the second half of the Bellum album, continuing to refine their nigh-evangelical take on atmospheric black metal. Seriously, this is as beautiful as it is ambitious, the latter made evident by the large roster of instruments included on the album’s Bandcamp page (Aquilus list “pianos, violins, mandolas, mandolins, balalaika, banjo, gusli, bow psaltery, and fipple flutes,” then include a cheeky mention that there are others that didn’t receive mention). The classical and folk influences occasionally overtake the black metal to create an atmosphere that evolves rather than just setting a mood.
–Colin Dempsey
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Urzah — The Scorching Gaze | APF Records | Sludge Metal | United Kingdom (Bristol, England)
On their debut record, Urzah package sludge metal into conventional structures. They focus their energy into hedonistic riffs that aren’t too far from groove metal. As such, The Scorching Gaze comes off as meat-and-potatoes-heavy. It may not feature a ton of garnishes, but it’s still a filling meal.
–Colin Dempsey
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Dååth — The Deceivers | Metal Blade Records | Progressive Death Metal | United States (Atlanta, Georgia)
Progressive death metal isn’t always my thing, but it is when it includes plenty of melody and groove and heaviness, and Daath definitely do so on this record, going above and beyond to bring us something listenable as well as technically strong. Regardless of which subgenre of metal is your favorite, definitely check this out.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
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Demande à la Poussière — Kintsugi | My Kingdom Music | Black Metal + Post-Metal + Doom Metal | France (Paris)
Unfortunately, there’s only one single currently available for Demande à la Poussière’s third album Kintsugi, but it brandishes their chameleon-like charm. They dart between tempos at the drop of a hat with clear distinctions between the subgenres they draw from. They shouldn’t be able to fit it all within the three-minute “Kintsugi,” but they do so as if it’s the simplest task in the world.
–Colin Dempsey
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Unearthly Rites — Ecdysis | Prosthetic Records | Death Metal | Finland
The fuzzy debut album from Unearthly Rites is as dead as roadkill. It’s rough around the edges in that nothing sounds refined, but it works in the group’s favor. The riffs are grotesque; the vocals oscillate between frightening and Neanderthal-like, and the showmanship in the guitar solos is ecstatic. This is what hooked the kids back in the ’80s.
–Colin Dempsey
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Necropanther — Oblivion Jones: A Tale Of False Consciousness | Independent | Thrash Metal + Death Metal | United States (Denver, Colorado)
The final EP in Necropanther’s EP cycle, in which each member oversees the writing and production of their own release, is deceptively ambitious. Guitarist Joe Johnson assumed lead duties here and took Necropanther down a path encompassing thrash metal, doom metal, death metal, among others, and collaborating with saxophonist Rico Jones. Yes, he has a solo on every track, as he should. At times, Oblivion Jones: A Tale Of False Consciousness sounds like thrash metal played by mutants while elsewhere it’d fit right into the progressive metal scene of the 1980s. There’s no single takeaway besides the fact that it should’ve been longer if only to contain all its kookiness.
–Colin Dempsey
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Thy Heart, Thine Kingdom — In the Garden of Somer I & II | Obscurant Visions | Raw Black Metal | Canada + United States
Pulling together a duo of demo EPs, this raw-as-blue-ribeye set draws heavily on the dewy-eyed romanticism of Këkht Aräkh and gothic pantomime antics of Old Nick, punctuating its tenebrous melodic whirr with tormented lycanthropic yowls, stargazing chants and sentimental digressions into chimerical dungeon-synth ambience.
–Spencer Grady
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Black Pyramid — The Paths of Time are Vast | Totem Cat Records | Doom Metal + Stoner Rock | United States (Massachussetts)
Black Pyramid’s debut self-titled was probably the most influential album I ever listened to in terms of how it impacted what I’d get into musically from then on and the music I play myself. I had that in my car for damn near a decade on constant rotation. It’s awesome to see them back in action, and although their new record is a bit different, it still comes with a hefty punch of erratic stoner-doom wrapped in occult mystery. This time around, the songs are longer and more exploratory, but there’s more than enough death-dealing riffing to go around.
–Ted Nubel
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Hässlig — Apex Predator | Sentient Ruin | Raw Black Metal + Punk | Spain
From Ted Nubel’s track premiere of “Apex Predator”:
Taken with their raw, noise-packed mixture of black metal and surly punk, Hässlig create a sense of ferocity that’s unmistakably authentic: though they might not be the first entrants to stitch together d-beats and blast beats, they’re certainly not looking to stagnate. They are, as their debut album title suggests, on the hunt and not to be bested.
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