Forthcoming extreme metal albums!
New edition of Imminent Carnage! Ten upcoming extreme metal albums set to be released in the next 45 days, or so. Time to mark your calendars!
BLOODGATE
Solace In Mourning
US
Release date: March 25, 2022
Blackened thrash metal
Studio album #3
From performing at underground basements shows to opening for the likes of AVENGED SEVENFOLD and VOLBEAT, BLOODGATE’s career is already jampacked with no signs of slowing. Experimenting with genre mixing, and following a number of line-up changes, the new album, Solace In Mourning, marks the next reincarnation of the hard-hitting heavy outfit.
"We at BLOODGATE are pleased to announce the release of our newest record, Solace in Mourning. With a revamped lineup, it is our reintroduction to the world as we usher in a new era of cryptic mysticism."
BLOODGATE’s music is heavily inspired by mysticism, warfare, and fantasy elements. With their members stemming from such varied backgrounds pop-punk to grindcore and everything in-between, the quartet’s sound is permeated with an array of style influences. BLOODGATE delivers short, sharp explosive tracks; Solace In Mourning is a feverish collection of high-impact energy, infused with groove riffs, demonic harsh vocals. “2020” brings a fury of vehemence in heavy instrumental form, before thrusting into the aggressive noise “Mirror Of Flesh”. Throwing their all into every track, BLOODGATE finds a new perspective to offer with each song. “Death On The Horizon” brings lightning speed while “Tome of Blood” opens the door to the depths below.
Dive straight into the dark abyss with Solace In Mourning. The extreme intensity is a thrill for the senses with pounding heaviness and an abrasive edge creating a sheer display of power.
DESOLATE SHRINE
Fires Of The Dying World
Finland
Release date: March 25, 2022
Death metal
Studio album #5
At long last, the successor to 2017’s Deliverance from the Godless Void has been unconfined from the clandestine vaults of Dark Descent Records. Aptly titled Fires of the Dying World, Finland’s DESOLATE SHRINE delivers 46 minutes of their unique death metal possession. The masterful craftsmanship on DESOLATE SHRINE’s fifth album is unmistakable; a true portrait of a band at their absolute peak.
Yet be forewarned before indulging from the poison chalice of Fires of the Dying World for it ensnares its victims in an inescapable maelstrom of death and futility. Absolute surrender is the recommended response, as you descend into a claustrophobic trance that erases the world around and reaches into your very soul. When you awaken… nothing will be quite the same again… Let the fires burn.
NIGHTWRAITH
Offering
US
Release date: March 25, 2022
Melodic death/black/doom metal
Sophomore album
Denver, Colorado-based melodic death metal collective NIGHTWRAITH will release their latest full-length, Offering, on March 25th through Reaping Scythe Records.
NIGHTWRAITH explores the death metal genre with an eclectic and intuitive approach. Their music encompasses poignant themes: seeking the sublime in nature, being genuine in a deceptive world, and living with the idea of death—concepts that unite us all as people. Using haunting melodies and triumphant anthems, NIGHTWRAITH offers listeners a sonic pilgrimage into the heart of being human.
A sonic experience that is both aggressive and textural, the songwriting on Offering is deliberate, concise, and thoughtful while remaining heavy enough to please the death metal audience for which it was intended. Pulling inspiration from a wide array of bands and genres, NIGHTWRAITH has been refined into something truly unique. "It's like we took all the heavy parts from bands like Carcass and Enslaved and combined it with the warmth of classic bands like Thin Lizzy and Blue Oyster Cult," explains founding member Benjamin Pitts. "It has been really fun inserting rock guitar and organ tones into a genre that typically avoids these types of sounds."
“This is probably the most ambitious album I have ever worked on and we had full control of the production,” he continues. “We took a very DIY approach and tried a lot of things that we wouldn’t have considered in the past. For example, we turned the gain way down on all of the rhythm guitars and added additional gain on the organ to compensate. Our mastering engineer Pete deBoer also made the final product sound great by mastering it to 1/2” tape, something I’ve always wanted to do. This is the album that we’ve always wanted to make. From start to finish it was about 3 years of work, I am so excited for people to finally hear these songs!”
“This album was a keyboard and sound design dream,” adds keyboardist Caleb José. “I’ve always wanted to combine a heavy project with Vangelis synths and Lonnie Smith organs, and ‘Offering’ was an opportunity to do just that.”
Offering was tracked at The Shadow Temple, engineered, mixed, and produced by Jacob St. Amand and mastered by Pete deBoer at World Famous Studios. The record comes cloaked in the cover art of Jerianne Fulton and includes guest vocals by Grant Netzorg of In The Company Of Serpents on the track, "The Snake And The Rope."
NIGHTWRAITH was formed in 2016 without any preconceived notion of genre, allowing them to develop their sound organically. "Gone are the days of trying to be the fastest or heaviest band," says Pitts. "We've already done bands like that and now we just want to write music that is fun to play and meaningful to us."
The members of NIGHTWRAITH have been musical companions for over a decade in the Denver scene, but this lineup achieves its own unique approach to aggressive music, inspired by but not limited to the past. After releasing a self-titled album in 2019, NIGHTWRAITH gained notoriety and played shows with heavy hitters like Khemmis and Green Druid, but they were still developing their sound and being called to a new musical frontier.
During 2020, a year filled with anxiety and isolation, the band would finally have the time and freedom to create the next chapter of their story. As NIGHTWRAITH continues to evolve, it’s clear that their ambitions are soon to pay off. Offering is expressive, inventive, joyful, sorrowful, and will certainly inspire its listeners.
PURGATORY
Apotheosis Of Anti Light
Germany
Release date: April 1, 2022
(Brutal) death metal
Studio album #9
War Anthem Records proudly presents Apotheosis Of Anti Light, the 9th full-length assault of German Death Metal veterans PURGATORY!
As on their excellent previous album Omega Void Tribunal (2016), PURGATORY (who are now killing as a five-piece!) offers ultra-brutal Death fucking Metal from the underground for the underground. Murderous riffs and growls for real lunatics. The sinister result ranges from total blasting chaos and nihility to majestic morbid hymns.
Apotheosis Of Anti Light was recorded in December 2021 at Musical Massacre´s Studio by Lukas Haidinger & PURGATORY, mastered by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony, and features artwork by Bahrull Marta.
BLOOD TORRENT
Void Universe
Germany
Release date: April 8, 2022
Blackened heavy metal
Sophomore album
BLOOD TORRENT was founded in 2005. Despite several lineup changes, frontman H.A.V.O.C and guitarist Erebos were consistent members of the band, so during the years there was always active songwriting and performances with genre greats such as Dark Fortress, Eisregen, Possessed, or 1349. As fans of the first wave of Black Metal and Heavy Metal / Hard Rock of the 70s and 80s, the band members developed their own individual style: Black Metal with progressive elements and influences of classic Hard Rock and Punk.
The name is derived from the idea that Blood is the secret and origin of life and death. Blood means birth and transformation. Sacrifice and death. As long as blood flows, existence is in flux. Lyrically, the songs contain elements and themes from various artists and authors such as Leonardo Da Vinci or George Orwell and address existential theory, misanthropy, subversion, social and system critical content and also deal with topics such as mental illnesses or the relationship between humanity and nature.
After several self releases, BlOODTORRENT now presents their new album via Trollzorn Records; with a natural-sounding recording especially considering the drums and guitars. Void Universe is not a concept album itself. However, there is a recurring theme within its lyrics: it is about the argument of self-extinction within the Fermi paradox. It raises the question of what would happen if society could start again. And according to the argument of self-extinction, every high culture will always self-destruct from a certain point on. No matter how often it could start over. It is a pre-programmed collapse of civilizations and appears to be an irrefutable law of nature. This principle is particularly important to mankind. And in any case, it shows that the whole cosmos is changing. Transformation is also a big lyrical topic, like in "The Cosmic Breakdown" or "Decay and Transformation".
SKUMSTRIKE
Deadly Intrusions
Canada
Release date: April 8, 2022
Black/thrash metal
Debut album
Selfmadegod Records confirms the April release of Deadly Intrusions, the debut full-length release from Quebec-based black/thrash metal duo SKUMSTRIKE.
Formed in the icy depths of Montreal in the Winter of 2017, SKUMSTRIKE seeks an unholy union between the raging punk of that city and the glowing-red aggression of ancient thrash and first-wave black metal. With LA (Profane Order) on strings and ZS (Serpent Corpse, Xanadoo) on vocals/ceaseless battery, the band issued their Demo 2017 in their first year, followed by 2018’s nascent Pure Coercion EP, which first showcased the cadre's hideous melding of pounding hardcore with the primal madness of early Voivod and ‘80s Germanic steel. Spilling early blood on the stage with acts like Outre Tombe, Occult Burial, Devil Master, Profane Order, Saccage, Enforced, High Command, and Napalm Raid, the group took a leap forward in 2020 with their Caligari Records debut, the Execution Void EP, while ramping up live shows around Eastern Canada.
Hailed as "a seamless hybrid of D-beat and black metal" by Metal Injection, that release paved the way for an East Coast tour of the US, with dates alongside fellow Quebec filth-merchants Sedimentum, only to be denied by the arrival of the pandemic and the slamming shut of the northern frontier. Regrouping the following Summer, LA and ZS poured all their spite and love for blackened speed punk into SKUMSTRIKE's most acidic material yet. Having previously shared the stage with Canadian black metal horde Spectral Wound, the group chose to record their debut full-length, Deadly Intrusions, with Spectral Wound guitarist Pat McDowell in August 2021. What issued forth is a venomous tale of mental degradation.
Deadly Intrusions combines rapid-fire thrash with the heft of early Celtic Frost and the moon-worshiping abandon of Darkthrone. A crackling vein of high-voltage hardcore punk runs through the record, perfectly portrayed with a reckless cover of Poison Idea's “Nothing is Final,” while the wild spirit of Japanese acts ranging from Sabbat to GISM animate the unhinged vocals.
Recorded and Mixed July-August 2021 in Montreal by Pat McDowall and mastered by Enormous Door, Deadly Intrusions is completed with cover artwork by renowned Indonesian artist Ibay Arifin.
With “Blood Red Vision,” the lead single from the new album, the band offers “A crude blast of primeval thrash metal meets Neanderthal hardcore, 'Blood Red Vision' is track number two from SKUMSTRIKE's debut album, Deadly Intrusions. This cut kicks off with a simple riff that quickly morphs into a wild ride of pounding drums, sinister laughter, and rapid-fire aggression.”
VERMÖRD
Nostalgic Predictions
US
Release date: April 8, 2022
Technical black/death metal
Debut album
Baltimore, Maryland-based dissonant black/death metal outfit VERMÖRD has completed work on their debut full-length album, Nostalgic Predictions, confirming the album for release in April.
Formed in 2014, VERMÖRD recorded their first EP, Dawn Of The Black Harvest, in 2015 with Grimoire Records, the record surrounded by two demos. The EP was met with solid critical acclaim by a wide array of metal outlets, and the band had already coalesced into the local metal scene, playing regularly around the Baltimore area. After winning a local battle of the bands' contest for an opening slot for the Summer Slaughter Tour of 2016, their fanbase grew exponentially as a result. The band went through a hiatus from 2017 to 2020, where there were lineup changes, and no new recording or live activity took place, however, new music was still being written. In 2021, the revamped lineup began recording all the songs they had crafted in this period, which became their first full-length, Nostalgic Predictions.
Continuing to strive to craft intense, epic, ominous, music, VERMÖRD’s aggressive approach is more realized than ever on Nostalgic Predictions. With rapid drumming and tremolo-picked riffs backed with occasional chugging chords, the band infuses components of sinister death metal into a wholly blackened aura, with technical and progressive tendencies and melodic elements instilled throughout.
Nostalgic Predictions is a beast, delivering thirteen tracks in just under an hour of playing time. The record was recorded by the band, then mixed and mastered by Noel Gardner at Grimoire Records, and completed with cover artwork by Matt Lawrence. Fans of Necrophagist, Emperor, Decapitated, and Dark Funeral should undoubtedly hear VERMÖRD’s incinerating output.
BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS
Abomination Of The Flames
Australia
Release date: April 15, 2022
(Putrid) death metal
Sophomore album
Long and winding are the roads of creation. It’s been a 13-year long wait between the debut album From Hell and the upcoming second album by Australia’s BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS. We can now loudly proclaim, the second album Abomination of the Flames has arrived to unveil one of the best-kept secrets of the not-only Australian, death metal scene. The band did not get stale over the course of time, not at all, it is bound to explode and destroy at the forefront of what is present and future of this style.
Seven are the songs on Abomination of the Flames, seven are the obscure realms of ascending devastation through which BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS navigate flawlessly. It’s a grand tour of, at times, cinematic proportions. The complete output is as bestial and brutal as elaborate and intelligent ... and everything in between. The eagerness to explore, destroy and conquer in order to create has prevailed and strengthened in BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS. The composition has a prominent spot on the album and ensues the devastation hits on the most profound levels.
Inside their music, BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS genuinely interweave thick, lava-like production, mammoth riffs, sinister grooves, galloping bestial black/death elements, atmospheric synths, and solos. In fact, we can witness three decades of top-tier influences, musical experience packed and put under revitalizing perspectives. It’s extremely difficult, or say rare, to process and create something of this size. The guitar solos are another important aspect of the band’s essence, always have been. They are a transcending element with depth, not a plain show-off. The presence of synths in the music can not be omitted either as it adds on some truly elevating vibes forming another crucial layer in the band’s music in order to guide the listener into those otherworldly spheres beyond the mortal dreams. There’s beauty in things dark, did you know? Abomination of the Flames is a complete, senses-saturating, imaginative experience. A set of really powerful, majestic hymns of desolation have been created.
And so there it stands, a genuine, forty minutes long record forged from the finest ingredients translated into one exquisite, massive slab of death metal that resides in its own sphere. One can’t reinvent the wheel but can use the wheel and have an incredible ride that can appear familiar but when it’s over it just feels like no other trail before. Death metal has not been this incredibly heavy, articulate, and savage as well as atmospheric in a long time. The album you have in your hands is not a stylization of the current heyday, it is a result, of an authentic effort that took many years to grow and mature into what we can hear now.
Fans of death metal, new and old, light up the fires, the time to meditate in flames has come.
DEAD HEAD
Slave Driver
Netherlands
Release date: April 29, 2022
Thrash/death metal
Studio album #7
Hammerheart Records proudly presents the seventh full-length of DEAD HEAD! Slave Driver pushes the boundaries of Thrash Metal once again, intense and aggressive in its purest form available!
DEAD HEAD, hailing from the Netherlands, has been around since the late 80s which was a golden and extremely fertile period for Thrash Metal, and it shows. Their style is just about as aggressive as Thrash can logically get before having to refer to them as death metal whilst thankfully managing to retain a slight 80s vibe. Everything about Slave Driver just oozes unadulterated seething hatred and aural violence.
The raging, savage, heavy yet scything hyperfast guitar riffs are so crammed with a maliciousness that you instantly realize that Slayer has in all reality been effectively dead for years. The vocals which easily rival any Thrash band in history for delivering snarling savage hatred should show Kreator what they have been incapable of producing since Pleasure to Kill. The fast cannon-like drumming is unrepentant and forms a perfect malevolent percussive backing for this brutal aural bashing. The mix is just as professional as you could want from a Thrash album, the guitar tone is crunchy and vocals are just right: spitting hatred and virtue in the same breath. If the band’s previous albums haven’t cemented them into the annals of Thrashistory just yet, Slave Driver will seal the deal. It’s an impressive statement from an overlooked band.
DEAD HEAD has remained very consistent with their releasing of very high-quality thrash/death music for over thirty years. Hail the best thrash band around today - they have been criminally overlooked for far too long.
DEMIRICOUS
III: Chaotic Lethal
US
Release date: May 1, 2022
Thrash/death metal
Studio album #3
Rising from the depths of the abyss, DEMIRICOUS are preparing to unleash their most monstrous record yet III: Chaotic Lethal. The death/thrash quartet from Indianapolis, Indiana, initially formed in 2005 and released two successful full-lengths gaining international regard. Following an extended hiatus, the outfit is making an impactful return.
“It’s been 15 years since we’ve released a record. We are so unbelievably proud of this one, and this is the DEMIRICOUS record we’ve always wanted to make. Prepare yourselves. It’s a fucking monster.”
DEMIRICOUS delve into heavier instrumentation and sinister moods, releasing a plethora of hard-hitting sounds across the tracks. Immersing eerily into a desolate landscape, “Unconditional Hate” smothers the senses. As guitars begin to screech and grapple through the murkiness, it’s not long before the sheer speed and power of DEMIRICOUS breaks through. Demonic low tones dominate the instrumentation and aggressive vocals. From the high fuelled groove rhythms of and blast beats of “Smoke Chaser”, to the unearthly doom and gloom of “Chaotic Lethal”, DEMIRICOUS venture across realms of dynamic metal influences creating a thrilling and hauntingly theatrical experience. The album operates in a cyclical nature seeing the final track, “Faith Crime” withdraw to the void from which III: Chaotic Lethal emerged.
III: Chaotic Lethal marks a monumental milestone. It is an epic collection of tracks exploring a dark narrative of the barbaric and grotesque. DEMIRICOUS’s sound is revived and restored, as the band has evolved into their next chapter.
Special thanks to:
Sure Shot Worx, ClawHammer PR, Earsplit PR, Dewar PR & Infecting Cells PR.
© 2022 by Emil Chiru
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