Maaan, that last The Crown album was not very good. The single they released was fairly solid, but the rest of it fell flat on its face. I actually really liked Doomsday King. The re-recorded tracks were expertly done, too. The production was a little too blown-out for my tastes, tho.

New Riot in March!
The last two were flawless, the last one much better than I expected. My hopes are up!
http://www.areyoureadytoriot.com/the-band/

Rivers of Nihil’s third album will be released March 16th. I missed the title reveal as it was on a podcast but the small song snippet they played sounded good. Looking forward to this album as Monarchy was light years beyond their debut

http://www.metalinjection.net/podcasts/ ... vecast-445
after 1 hour and 15 minutes roughly, a lot of nonsense before and after but good teaser, looking forward to it.

I actually happened to enjoy the last Crown album, even though it was pretty boilerplate. I guess it grew on me once I got to know the songs a little better. This new single sounds fun as hell.

New Riot should be good, I actually didn't hear the last one but it was excellent according to all the reviews I read. Immortal Soul was fucking amazing, though.

edit: the new drudkh single sounds great

I must have been a good boy because christmas came early: new Meads of Asphodel album coming up.



Sounds mega-great to me. The tracks on the Tjolgtjar split were also a return to the more straightforward style of their early work but with all the tricks they've picked up on the way (not to mention the studio musicians and their inputs) and it is some of their best material yet. It eliminated the dour grimness which dragged down Sonderkommando and the painfully cringe inducing narration from the last two albums. Editing has always been a major problem with this band, but hopefully they keep up the pace as the split was their most tightly presented work to date: all great, zero filler.

Loosening up the narrative of the album and having a bit more variety will also allow them to have more fun with this record and hopefully see an improvement in attitude.

"I'm Running Out of Time Doing Nothing" would be a cool title for the album.

w00t

^
Fuck yes, was really hoping for new Meads this year.

Personally I think Sonderkommando is their best album yet, with The Murder Of Jesus... in a close second. I don't find the narration that cringey, seems to fit right in with a band as over-the-top theatrical as Meads. Those last two are easily their most well-rounded albums from beginning to end without the filler that bogs the earlier material .As John_Sunlight pointed out, that seems to be the trend they've been working towards. Can't wait.

20 Buck Spin just posted that they have officially entered the studio and are shooting for a June/July release. The band said this one is going to be heavier with more harsh vocals so that will be interesting. Hunted is probably my most listened to album of the past 5 years.

1 hour 31 minutes to be a bit more precise. Also, I spent an inordinate amount of time listening to episode 446 instead of 445 and wondering "Where the hell is Rivers of Nihil?!"

Apparently there are horns (maybe saxophone) involved, as well as clean singing. Though they might be messing with us. The audio snippet sounds pretty good, follows on from the sound of Monarchy, and it's called "Where Owls Know My Name"

Black Crown Initiate is also indeed releasing a new album this year.

New Mournful Congregation song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Mu6mhCXA8

I preordered their new album already.

Damn, I am liking the sound of that. I would say the cleans were used heavily in the majority for Hunted, but when the growls were used they were always stellar and brought the doom to the doomiest of places

Would not be opposed to a little more aggression as well...

Have to agree with you on Sonderkommando, I love everything by Meads but that album takes the cake, it reaches Sigh-level ambition in it's allovertheplaceness while still delivering the goods. The new one can't come out soon enough.

Memoriam - The Silent Vigil (March 23)



Coming 364 days after For the Fallen, I hope this isn't a rushed job. I quite liked the debut, despite the mixed opinion I've been seeing, so I'm cautiously optimistic about this one.

I thought For the Fallen was pretty sick, I'm interested to see what they do with this one.

For the Fallen was a decent album but Karl sounded pretty rough on it. Hopefully he’s got more power in his voice this time around. I wouldn’t mind some of those groovy death metal riffs from Those Once Loyal either.

At the Gates just announced a new album today, hopefully it’s better than their last which wasn’t bad but was bloated with too many generic riffs. Likewise looking forward to the new Ancst, and crossing my fingers that Absu will finally get their new one out this year.

The new Ataraxy is coming Feb 16 via Dark Descent and Me Saco Un Ojo. Their debut was outstanding, not quite at the level of the Domains/Dead Congregation/Disma unholy triumvirate of "new classic death metal" but certainly at the silver medal podium. That in itself is a feat considering how much of this kind of doomy death metal has been oozing up through the tectonic plates this past decade.

Anyway I remember not being totally blown away by the advance single so I'm waiting to hear the album in its entirety. That said, a second track has been released:
http://www.toiletovhell.com/premiere-ge ... certainty/

https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com ... hope-fades

Artwork's cool:


Gotta spin Revelations of the Ethereal tonight to get braced for imminent impact.

Cool artwork, but that perspective kind of confuses my brain. Fucking finally though!

Sentient Horror is releasing an EP in March and the artwork is total tits, the debut was really really good so I'm hoping to see what comes from this new piece of work.

One of the biggest problems with Death Is Not Dead was the drumming which was done by Marko Tervonen himself. Marko has pretty much admitted that the drumming sucked compared to the other albums and judging from the single Henrik Axelsson does a great job behind the kit.

While I don't think this will be as good as Deathrace King or the older albums I am looking forward to Cobra Speed Venom (that title is dope). Doomsday King was alright but Tomas Lindberg was a much better fit for the band than Jonas Stålhammar.

Anyone check out the Necrophobic track released entitled “Mark of the Necrogram”? Sounds like the sequel to The Third Antichrist which is very welcome to me. Vocals slay and I feel like this album is a return to form for me. Can’t wait to see them in a couple weeks!

I will anxiously be waiting the new album from The Atlas Moth "Coma Noir"

The single is good. Much more aggressive than anything I've heard from them. The album cover looks lame as hell, but their last two albums were fantastic so I am expecting another great one.


Album cover:

The Atlas Moth was always a band I was really intrigued by but they never really put anything out that clicked with me. This new song sounds good but, and maybe it's been too long since I've heard their old shit, Stavros sounds kinda shitty on the mic. Has he always been like this?

Apparently we're getting W.A.I.L. this year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmenSRd-XD8

There's an excerpt from another track there on that YT channel. Sounds good.

Primordial more than anything

Gatekeeper, epic heavy metal from Canada, announce their new album East of Sun for April. Facebook post

We are pleased to announce that Italy's Cruz Del Sur Music has signed us for the release of our debut album, "East of Sun". It will be released in late April, just in time for everyone's favourite festival. This has been a long time coming and it has been extremely exciting to see this come together over the past couple months.

More fun announcements to follow. Thank you for sticking with us.

Taken from Cruz Del Sur's announcement:

"Cruz Del Sur Music is proud to announce the signing of Canadian epic metal force Gatekeeper!

The band’s first full-length, “East Of Sun”, will be released this April worldwide on compact disc (including 2 bonus songs), vinyl and digital.

Originally formed in 2009 as a solo project by guitarist Geoff Blackwell, GATEKEEPER has assembled an impressive array of EPs and splits, including an appearance on Metal Blade Records “Metal Massacre XIV” where they contributed the song “Bell Of Tarantia”. Their signing to Cruz Del Sur will mark a new, exciting era for the band.

Comments Blackwell: “Cruz Del Sur has been a bastion for great heavy metal for a long time and it's a pleasure to be included alongside a host of bands that have been influences on our music and bands that we consider our contemporaries. Above all, Enrico [Leccese] has been extremely fair and willing to work with us so that we can present the album the way we've envisioned.”

Recorded over the span of six months at SAE Institute Vancouver in Vancouver, Canada, “East Of Sun” was produced by Mike Rogerson Music, whose previous credits include Annihilator, Aggression, 88 Mile Trip and Loverboy, with additional production assistance provided by Angelo Boose, who, according to Black “stayed up through many all-night recording sessions with us.”

The “East Of Sun” title is a shortened version of a book of Scandinavian folk tales that parallels the content on the record where each song stands on its own. The album’s cover art was created by Duncan Storr, who has previously worked with SKYCLAD, Rage and Cruz Del Sur’s own Dark Forest (UK).

“East Of Sun” boasts a mixture of older, unreleased material written by Blackwell which are complemented by live staples that have recently been updated. “It's pure heavy metal with a sword and sorcery flourish,” says Blackwell. “We wear our influences on our sleeves, but we don't want to be a pale imitation of them. We try to capture the spirit of what we love without copying anyone’s' notes. This album has our fastest song and it's got our biggest, most epic slow-burner and many songs in between. It has melodic electric guitar playing coupled with fierce riffs, thunderous rhythms, mystical acoustic passages and, of course, a unique and varied performance from our singer, Jean-Pierre. And these things are just the start.”

GATEKEEPER’s immediate plans include assembling live dates near their Vancouver home base and on the west coast of Canada. Currently, they are scheduled to play the Northwest Metalfest 2018 in Seattle this March alongside Q5, Coven 13, Glacier, WILD DOGS, Skelator, Substratum and RIOT CITY. Aside from that, Blackwell says GATEKEEPER has its sights set on even bigger territories, namely Europe:
“With Cruz Del Sur on our side, I think it's just a matter of time before we cross into European soil, so beware!”

Line up:

Jean-Pierre Abboud - Lead Vocals, Chorus
Geoff Blackwell, Rhythm/Lead Guitar, chorus
Kenny Kroecher - Lead/Rhythm Guitar
David Messier, Bass guitar, chorus
Tommy Tro - Battery"

"Lychgate “The Contagion in Nine Steps” [2018]

Excited for this. Hope we get to hear some new Esoteric soon as well.

Just speculation, but I really, really hope it's time for a new Falconer album in 2018. Four years since the last one.

17 november 2017 · Mjölby ·
"Into the lair of creation at last! The slumber is over for this time. Work has begun to make the falcon spread its wings yet once more."

Man a new falconer album would be sick, but it would be hard to surpass the last one. I love Falconer, but Black Moon Risings was probably their best album.

New death metal from Cosmic Atrophy, featuring the vocalist/guitarist of Chthe'ilist:

https://cosmicatrophy.bandcamp.com/releases

Damn straight! This one will shred minds into dust when it is released. Cosmic Atrophy is eternal.

Unleash the Fire is excellent. Top notch traditional metal album.

The new Riot album is now on my list of albums to buy in 2018 when it drops.

Sounding really good, man. If anything, it’s almost over too quick! Any ETA on when that’ll be?

Hey, every song can't be 8+ minute epics. No ETA yet, just make sure you join the mailing list by downloading that song or hitting "Follow" on the bandcamp page so you can get updates straight from me.

Leechfeast released a new track from their upcoming album available for streaming on cvltnation. Sludgey doom in the vein of Cough, but more putrid rather than stoner. Long painful screams, slow tempos, crashing cymbals, and drawn out power chords.

http://www.cvltnation.com/unreal-sludge ... easts-tar/

doesn't the old drummer post on here? either way, looking forward to this.

From The Artisan Era's Facebook page:


Can't believe it's been 9 years since Fragmentary Evidence, I have high hopes for this album.

I've got the artwork in the spoiler link below, sorry for the huge image!

Definitely excited about some brand new Augury! I hope it's killer.

I just found out a new Barren Earth album, "A Complex Of Cages", is coming out on March 30. I really liked their previous one. Will be looking forward to hearing what Jón Aldará, who proved to be a good fit, will bring on this time.



Tracklist:
1. The Living Fortress
2. The Ruby
3. Further Down
4. Zeal
5. Scatterprey
6. Solitude Pith
7. Dysphoria
8. Spire
9. Withdrawal

well, well, only a year after the fantastic Emën Etan, Ende are back with a new album Goétie Funeste on March 10th. Top black metal from France.

Interview in Greek with Battleroar about their new album, due in May or June: http://www.rockhard.gr/greece-attacks/battleroar-studio-report. Interesting fact, the new album has some black metal influences (Immortal was name dropped).

New Demonical track dropped today



Sounds promising so far!