New Releases From DARK FUNERAL, WITHOUT WAVES & More Out Today 3/18

This week’s new heavy metal releases include 100% less children’s music because some of you have no humor in your dead hearts, as well as black metal, grooves, riffs, and more! To the metals…

Agathodaimon – The Seven

Genre: Symphonic/black metal
Origin: Mainz, Germany
Label: Napalm

Buy now on Bandcamp

Starting this week with some epic, evil shit. This album is the band’s seventh album and first in nine years after Sathonys and Ashtrael regrouped with some new pals in 2020. You’re getting grand orchestras, blast beats, and all the best parts of the whole symphonic black metal scene.

Children of the Sun – Roots

Genre: Psychedelic rock/hard rock
Origin: Arvika, Sweden
Label: The Sign

Buy now on Bandcamp

On the less heavy side of things we have Children of the Sun. These folks toe the line between folksy rock and straight up Royal Thunder-esque riffage. They’re catchy as hell and can scratch the itch of those that want some 70’s throwback vibes. This band screams bell-bottoms at a renaissance faire, and they rule.

Dark Funeral We Are The Apocalypse

Genre: Black metal
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden
Label: Century Media

It’s been eight long years, but it’s finally time to throw on some corpse paint and get that neck back to windmill shape with the latest from Dark Funeral. These black metal OGs came back swinging too. Jeff has a deep dive here wherein among other things, he calls it their best album.

Extinction AD – Culture Of Violence

Genre: Thrash/groove metal
Origin: Long Island, New York
Label: Unique Leader Records

Jesus Christ this hits hard. The production makes this feel especially heavy too. The grooves will get your head moving while the thrash is bound to get a circle pit going anywhere this plays. Go on and play some at a bank and watch the tellers lose their shit.

Friends Of Hell – Friends of Hell

Genre: Doom
Origin: Cyprus/Finland
Label: Rise Above

Buy now from Rise Above

Let’s slow things down for a bit. Friends of Hell is the kind of band I think of when someone says “doom.” Rhythms are slow, riffs are low-tuned, and the vocals howl. None of this should surprised me after learning that this features that Tas from Satan’s Wrath and Sami from Reverend Bizarre.

The LIFE Project Big Four EP

Genre: Thrash covers
Origin: Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines, Iowa
Label: Blood Blast

With Stone Sour not up to much, Josh Rand has kept active with The LIFE Project. On this EP he and Cassandra Carson from Paralandra take on a song from each of the Big Four of Thrash. You’re getting “South of Heaven,” “Caught In A Mosh,” “Symphony of Destruction,” and “One.” Honestly, a solid batch of songs that are all well done.

Slægt – Goddess

Genre: Heavy/black metal
Origin: Copenhagen, Denmark
Label: Century Media

On Goddess you’re getting a nice mix of blackened metal and throwback hard rock. The chords are minor, the vocals are gravely, but the beats are oddly jaunty. It’s like evil Iron Maiden and it’s a lot of fun.

Trench Encased in Chrome EP

Genre: Deathcore/Nu metal
Origin: Calgary, Alberta
Label: New Damage

Stream/download/etc here

If you’re in the mood for some low, low guitars over some driving grooves, then get on the new Trench. Lots of angst and rage woven into this. It’s like if Soulfly did their version of Code Orange. Or maybe vice versa?

Without Waves – Comedian

Genre: Experimental metal
Origin: Chicago, Illinois
Label: Prosthetic

Wrapping his week with a wild and wildly underrated band. Every song is a different experience with this band. One moment you’re getting anthemic prog, which jumps to a moment of Dillinger Escape Plan madness, then to emotive rock, and on to deathcore, then in even more directions after that. That’s literally just in the song featured below too. Prog dorks need Without waves in their lives, and a lot of you less dorky folks will appreciate them too.

Also dropping this week…

• Aeviterne – The Ailing Facade (Profound Lore) – Experimental death metal
• Audio Karate – ¡OTRA! (Iodine Recordings) – Punk
• Berthold City – When Words Are Not Enough (WAR Records) – Punk
• Breathe Atlantis – Overdrive (Arising Empire) – Metalcore
• Chip Z’Nuff – Perfectly Imperfect (Frontiers) – Glam rock
• Cypress Hill – Back In Black (MNRK) – Hip hop
• Dawn Of Ashes – Scars Of The Broken (Artoffact Records) – Industrial/black metal
• Feeder – Torpedo (Big Teeth Music) – Rock
• Final Cry – The Ever-Rest (MDD) – Melodic death metal
• Firpo Chompeavy – Smoking 45 (Wormholedeath) – Stoner/experimental
• FM – Thirteen (Frontiers) – Melodic rock
• Gauntlet Rule – The Plague Court (From The Vaults) – Heavy metal
• Grave Next Door – Sanctified Heathen (Black Doomba Records) – Stoner metal
• Hellbore – Panopticon (Self-released) – Technical death metal
• Hellfrost And Fire – Fire, Frost And Hell (Transcending Obscurity) – Death metal
• Hell In The Club – Kamikaze – 10 Years In The Slumps EP (Frontiers) – Hard rock
• Hell Militia – Hollow Void (Season Of Mist) – Black metal – Full review
• Hot Water Music – Feel The Void (Equal Vision) – Hardcore
• Hyperia – Silhouettes of Horror (Self-released) – Death metal/thrash
• Moonlight Haze – Animus (Scarlet) – Symphonic/power metal
• Moral Panic – White Knuckles (Robellion Records) – Punk
• Ritual Earth – MMXX (Idoine Recordings) – Psychedelic metal
• Saqarruna – Under The Light Of Mountains (Super Sargasso) – Atmospheric black metal
• Savage Necromancy – Feathers Fall To Flames (20 Buck Spin) – Death metal
• Shewolf – Shewolf (Frontiers) – Power metal
• Shining Black – Postcards From The End Of The World (Frontiers) – Hard rock
• Space Of Variations – Imago (Napalm) – Metalcore
• Stabbing Westward – Chasing Ghosts (COP International) – Industrial
• TombSnakes – No Graves (Blank City Records) – Stoner/punk
• Joshua Travis – No Rest (SharpTone Records) – Deathcore
• Tyr – A Night At The Nordic House DVD/CD (Metal Blade) – Folk metal – Full review
• Eric Wagner – In The Lonely Light Of Morning (Cruz Del Sur) – Doom
• Wrack – Repulsive Gravity (King Of Sticks Records) – Death metal
• Wretched Tonges – Ulter Praefinitum (Vicious Instinct Records) – Deathcore