rolling 2024 heavy metal and boutique blast beat thread

these don't belong in the same post, I know, but:

New Austere!
https://austere-official.bandcamp.com/album/beneath-the-threshold-deluxe-edition

New The Vision Bleak!
https://the-vision-bleak.bandcamp.com/album/weird-tales

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWwAR77hDMo

I like the idea of more new Austere already but, uh, hoping there's a cheaper CD option than that $32 deluxe version!

there doesn't seem to be - https://en.prophecy.de/en/Artists/Austere/Austere-Beneath-The-Threshold.html

(just in case you were wondering: VVK on there means Vorverkauf = preorder in German)

Ugh, thanks, oh well.

saw Tomb Mold on Saturday and they were incredible. Played all of Manor of Infinite Forms which sounded even better live. then they came out and played 2 from the most recent album. was really a great time, highly recommend.

ah, had tix for the NY gig but couldn’t make it for life reasons. did afterbirth open on sat too? how were they if so?

Afterbirth's whole set is on YouTube. Sound quality's not great but people seem into it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY6FiOYlBkk

oh nice. I'll check that out, thanks!

hyped for this friday - Napalm Death / Primitive Man / Pig Destroyer / Wormrot about 20 mins walk from my house.

excited but also worried for my wallet at those merch tables. do I need a third Napalm shirt?

You need a sixth

saw Hulder last night, seeing Vader tonight.

idk if there are any Hulder fans in here, but I loved her first album, and the live album. the new one is also good, doesn't quite hit the highs of the previous but it's close enough. for anybody wanting a listen, they're (she's) medieval black metal, the kind that doesn't get made much anymore (think like Summoning, or early Satyricon, with the folksy elements and there are subtle keys).

anyway, the show was incredible, the atmosphere was awesome, and the show was ...empty. sad. definitely gonna keep spinning the new one

oh, that’s surprising. vaguely got the sense she’s gotten pretty hyped. see shirts at shows here, the quick 20 buck spin pickup, etc.

anyway, haven’t listened but “summoning” is the magic word to get my ears perked up…

I will say she's not THAT good (yet) but it's a good start.

I honestly was surprised. Saturday night, and when normally there are people standing about fifteen feet from the bar...even on a moderate day.

There were only people in half the venue. My guess is this isn't like this at every stop, but it was at the venue most metalheads don't like because the layout is ass, and the parking nonexistent.

Listening to Hymns For The Lesser Gods, the debut album by one-man tech-death act Fathomless Ritual, which I pre-ordered a long time ago but was just released on Friday:

https://fathomlessritual.bandcamp.com/album/hymns-for-the-lesser-gods

It's pretty good. Alternately chunky and squiggly, with really nice drum programming, broken-toilet vocals and loads of bass. And the cover art is a gouache painting, which is unexpected.

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0556850626_10.jpg

Glen Benton and Steve Asheim of Deicide are at this show

I said hello to Glen.

He looked at me like I was a huge dork.

Accurate

I'm looking forward to the new Deicide album.

Vader was incredible last night btw. no idea why they have Origin with them, they stick out like a sore thumb.

Great timing to have an album coming out now, DVNE (a.k.a. Songs Of Arrakis)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjmXEJXInag

that album : Voidkind (out April 19, 2024)

Thanks, I loved the last DVNE record!

Oh, wow, the new Neptune Power Federation album! It’s like a glorious Meatloaf record, but more classic-metal, and Meatloaf shuts up and lets the other voices imagine an acid-rock ABBA.

I am 100% against the idea of "guilty pleasures" — like what you like — but DragonForce really seem like they want me to be ashamed of liking them. I'm listening to their new album right now and this is some of the corniest, uncoolest shit ever. And yet, it's exactly what I want to hear.

New Pallbearer song! Mind Burns Alive comes out in May.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFPSYuLd7WE

Digging that. Lots of good new announcements this week, also excited for new Ufomammut.

This Slimelord record on 20 Buck Spin is great.

https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/chytridiomycosis-relinquished

As is the Brad Moore art:

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2422072240_10.jpg

things I liked from last few weeks

latest Necrophobic
latest Aborted

the Aborted is a continuation of what they've been gradually gravitating towards for the last decade or so, basically brutal death with large brushes of cinematic horror. Necrophobic is basically what they're known for (blackened melodic death), in some areas it's more resolute than usual.

digging the slimelord

another DVNE track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJzgTQyvjw

Listening to the new Deicide now (out 4/26). I don't think they get enough credit for improvement. I don't like their early albums at all, but starting with The Stench of Redemption they got really good.

Mongolian folk metal band The Hu (never heard of them before today) will be opening Iron Maiden's fall US tour, and they're pretty good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYD8isM7RH4

Man, the second Chapel Of Disease sank like a rock into the ocean, didn't it? Out in early February and already forgotten, it seems. I'm listening to it again this morning and it's fucking glorious. Reminds me of Ghost, Tribulation, and/or Tanith in its shaggy 70s-ness. Holding a year-end list spot for it.

A gimmicky trad heavy/speed metal concept album about the last day of Dale Earnhardt's life shouldn't be as catchy and legit as this, but I've been enjoying it a bit these last couple of days:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eprtpa5VDcU
https://iamtheintimidator.bandcamp.com/album/i-am-the-intimidator

also been digging this album from Noor, a Canadian 80s style heavy/power metal band, that has a rather inexplicable cover and title, but is riffy and epic as heck:
https://noorband.bandcamp.com/album/mothers-guilty-pleasure-part-one

So The Pit, the metal news aggregator and website that was operated by Elektra/Roadrunner are calling it a day.

Not sure who here cares but I liked the emails, sometimes I got useful news and they put together lists and dug up old things that were entertaining.

Also, my guess is those writing for it are out of work which is never fun.

Debatable as to just how much "metal" they are, but a new album coming out in June from Sumac (Aaron Turner, Brian Cook, Nick Yacyshyn), The Healer.

Also, if you want the CD version, hurry - less than 10 copies left according to Thrill Jockey.

https://thrilljockey.com/products/the-healer

Chapel of Disease is the kind of thing that should make me very happy. Idk, that album doesn't seem to hit for me the way Tribulation or Morbus Chron do.

Got that Chapel of Disease on my "to play" pile, just haven't had a chance yet.

Is Metal Archives purposely trying to make the site look more like Wikipedia, or is broken code or their idea of an April Fools prank?

def an April Fool's prank, they do one every year

Kinda figured since I know they've done them in the past, but this one is kinda lame. Like, haha we made our site ugly?

definitely feels like an 'out of ideas' thing

Going to this on Saturday

https://www.monochromebristol.co.uk

This week's BA newsletter is a Q1 Metal Roundup with my thoughts on Judas Priest, Iron Curtain, Chapel of Disease, Vitriol, and Mean Mistreater. I thought about also including the new albums by Coffins and The Absence, which are both great, too.

NEW CRYPT SERMON SONG

https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-stygian-rose

Stoked, already smashed the pre-order on that one.

xp- enjoyed that roundup, i need to check out that Iron Curtain record

That song rules.

so happy for Crypt Sermon putting another out. I was just talking about them the other day. they killed at Decibel Metal and Beer Fest back in 2021

xp- enjoyed that roundup, i need to check out that Iron Curtain record

I thought for sure that one or the Mean Mistreater would be the ones my wife would go for, but her favorite turned out to be Vitriol, which I really did not see coming. She also said the vocalist for Chapel of Disease was a total mismatch for the music, which I kinda get.