Here are all the new releases for April 14th through April 20th. 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 4/14-4/20
Haust — Negative Music | Fysisk Format | Black Metal + Punk | Norway
What an accurate name for Haust’s return album. Negative Music is devoid of any good feelings, instead creeping along the floorboards like a rodent and spewing filthy punk rock for those who only examine reality through worst-case scenarios.
–Colin Dempsey
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Lord Spikeheart — The Adept | Haekalu Records | Industrial + Electronic + Grind | Uganda
One-half of the highly-rated Kenyan electro-grindcore duo Duma launches his Haekalu imprint with this apocalyptic debut solo full-length, a hypnagogic chaos swarm gushing noise, nightmares and post-dancehall dread. Accompanying the always-foreboding ministrations of Lord Spikeheart (Martin Kanja) on this African-futurist hellscape is an impressive coterie of equally radical outriders, among them militant rapper Backxwash and Senyawa chief shaman Rully Shabara, their fiendish invocations feeding the fear throughout The Adept’s frenetic bricolage of mangled cyber-terror synths, corrosive screams and armour-piercing beats.
–Spencer Grady
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Hekseblad — Kaer Mohren | Hypnotic Dirge Records | Black Metal | United States
I dove into The Witcher book series over the past few months and, before long, began searching for the metal that’d best suit their tone. Luckily, Hekseblad have delivered just that with their debut album. They draw from melodic and symphonic black metal to match the sweeping yet emotionally fragile work. Kaer Mohren is epic yet grim without overstepping its boundaries in either direction.
–Colin Dempsey
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Antichrist Siege Machine — Vengeance of Eternal Fire | Profound Lore Records | Black Metal + Death Metal | United States (Richmond, Virginia)
On their third full-length, Antichrist Siege Machine engage in a single-minded pursuit of fury and flames. There’s no sense of taste or subtlety, only war metal. That being said, the duo weaponizes pacing by increasing the tempo over the course of tracks like “Sisera.” The song is less than two-minutes long, but the structure becomes an instrument of destruction in its own right.
–Colin Dempsey
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Nuclear Tomb — Terror Labyrinthian | Everlasting Spew Records | Thrash Metal + Death Metal + Progressive Metal + Noise Rock | United States (Baltimore, Maryland)
An assortment of genres suggests there’s plenty going on that doesn’t mesh on paper, but it certainly does through a speaker. The main motor is death metal of the old-school variety but with a library card that spends all its free time jotting down notes.
–Colin Dempsey
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Engulfed — Unearthly Litanies of Despair | Dark Descent Records | Death Metal | Turkiye (Kadıköy)
The relentless, down-tuned riffs Engulfed drops are a sound for sore ears that have been spending too much time in the spring sun. This is the sort of death metal that makes you want to stay inside and brood with the cookie monster vocals and cartoonishly demonic vibe. Is it a tad overindulgent? Sure, but playing it cool would remove most of the fun.
–Colin Dempsey
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Melvins — Tarantula Heart | Ipecac Recordings | Sludge Metal | United States (Washington)
Always the most prolific band on the planet, Melvins are still at it, and this time, they decided to make sounds first and then turn them into songs. In short, this record was constructed the way an EDM producer writes music. There are moments when it works, and moments when it doesn’t, but overall, it’s a lot of fun to listen to, so give it a spin.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
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My Dying Bride — A Mortal Binding | Nuclear Blast | Gothic Metal + Doom Metal | United Kingdom
This album proves that the band still have something to say, and with their refreshed lineup, you can tell they have a renewed energy on this one. Melancholic and melodic all the way through, this is a My Dying Bride album for the ages.
–Addison Herron-Wheeler
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Ixion — Extinction | Finisterian Dead End | Atmospheric Doom Metal | France
From Ted Nubel’s full album premiere:
On Extinction, the melancholic chords and dismal growls of death/doom metal are not a constant, but instead a gut-punching eventuality that lurks within sweeping instrumental textures. The combination draws up an especially potent atmosphere where quiet, musing exploration often meets stark, uncomfortable truth in dramatic form. Alongside excellent pacing, Extinction outstrips much of its peers by daring to apply unusual, drastic vocal harmonies in combination with emphatic riffs.
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Bongripper — Empty | The Great Barrier Records | Doom Metal | United States (Chicago, IL)
Slow, loud, incredibly long, and the song titles run together into a gloomy phrase — yes, Bongripper is back, and just in time for 4/20 (obviously). It’s been six years since their last full-length, but Empty spews forth like it’s barely been a day, picking up where the band left off in delivering some of the mightiest riffs ever put to tape.
–Ted Nubel
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Dvne — Voidkind | Metal Blade Records | Progressive Sludge + Post-Metal | United Kingdom
Highly agile, Dvne switches between melodic fragility and metallic killing edge with stunning grace on this new album. The Dune-inspired progressive sludge group strikes out at the bleeding edge of the genre, but with a surprising amount of retro charm balancing out their progressive technicality.
–Ted Nubel
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High on Fire — Cometh the Storm | MNRK Heavy | Stoner + Sludge + Doom Metal | United States (Oakland, CA)
It’s the High on Fire you know and love — ripping heavy metal that feels like someone ran it through seventy-five fattener pedals. While not exploring all that new sonic territory, Cometh the Storm has done its homework in terms of figuring out how to beat your ass.
–Ted Nubel
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Red Mesa — Partial Distortions | Desert Records | Stoner Rock + Doom Metal | United States (New Mexico)
Don’t let the title fool you – I would label this as ‘full distortions,’ personally. More seriously, Red Mesa keeps things hazy and sun-bleached on their new record, weaving melodic threads that run between glacial, plodding riffs and hefty stomps. They’re not a band afraid to get a bit weird while keeping it heavy.
–Ted Nubel
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