Sh*t That Comes Out Today: August 7, 2020

New release day! After a slow week last week, there are a lot of new metal albums today, including multiple end-of-year list contenders — and also Avatar. There’s another Bandcamp fee-free day going on as well, so keep an eye on that for some surprise drops — including six discs worth of Boris archival releases and the new Krallice.

Avatar
Hunter Gatherer (eOne)

I guess I’m not one of the cool kids, but I’ve never gotten the appeal of Avatar. Circa-2005 melodeath crossed with smooth industrial and fronted by Alice Cooper but without the charisma? Sure, I guess. For whatever reason, though, they’re super popular. Maybe it’s one of those things where you need to see them live. Their latest album doesn’t do much to convince me I’m wrong, but if you’re a fan, it definitely comes out today.

Black Crown Initiate
Violent Portraits Of Doomed Escape (Century Media)

If you’re looking for some technical ecstasy, Black Crown Initiate got you covered. Their style of progressive death metal has all the crazy musical twists and turns we’ve come to expect from the genre, but they combine it with an emotional core that makes them more than just another harvester of time signatures. Little bits of Gojira, Meshuggah, and Opeth poke through, but these nine songs paint quite the vivid picture of their own.

Burn Ritual
The Void (Kozmik Artifactz/Forbidden Place)

Apparently Burn Ritual was one guy (Jake Lewis) and then became a band and now it’s just Lewis again, so kind of a Haunt thing going on here. This Texan doomsayer is less prolific, but has the same high standards for quality. Full-length number two pays fealty to Uncle Acid and Electric Wizard and Hammer’s House of Horror. In other words: catchy doomy goodness that spreads its spooky miasma for miles around. Experience this color out of space.

Howling Giant/Sergeant Thunderhoof
Turned to Stone Vol. 2: Masamune & Muramasa (Ripple)

Two of the best heavy rock acts out there combine forces for two side-long songs with a conceptual link. Sounds pretty good to me! Howling Giant have kind of a Baroness/Torche swampy vibe, but they make it their own by bringing in their 70s prog rock vinyl collection. Sergeant Thunderhoof embrace the hypnotic aspects of the fuzz more. Still, it feels like more of a cohesive piece than an arbitrary split. These two master swordsmiths create quality work apart, but together they’ve forged their masterpiece.

Steve Von Till
No Wilderness Deep Enough (Neurot)

Not really metal (even Von Till admits these are basically ambient tracks with his battered voice over them), but anything from any member of Neurosis gets a free pass here. And it’s not like the ambience is New Age bullshit or anything — the songs are very downbeat, as one might expect considering the pedigree. No guitars, just Von Till’s vulnerable croon over piano and other classical instruments, and it works beautifully. It’s very easy to get lost in this particular wilderness.

Terminal Nation
Holocene Extinction (20 Buck Spin)

Do you like metal that hits you with the power of an atomic blast? Serious Power Trip/Nails vibes here — Terminal Nation do their own thing, but the way they elevate thrash/death/hardcore tropes through sheer passion feels very reminiscent of those other exemplary acts. They lean more towards the OSDM-combined-with-hardcore side of the spectrum — they’re not deathcore, though. The pieces they take from those genres are the most primal, visceral parts, and they aren’t afraid to nuke the listener’s ears with them.

OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY

Blue Oyster Cult – 45th Anniversary – Live In London (Frontiers) Listen
Black Rose Maze – Black Rose Maze (Frontiers) Listen
Curses – Chapter II: Bloom (SharpTone) Listen
Deep Purple – Whoosh! (earMusic) Listen
Dukes Of The Orient – Freakshow (Frontiers) Listen
In Hearts Wake – Kaliyuga (UNFD) Listen
Jaye Jayle – Prisyn (Sargent House) Listen
Lionville – Magic Is Alive (Frontiers) Listen
Lord Of The Lost – Swan Songs III (Napalm) Listen
Misery Signals – Ultraviolet (Self) Listen
Onslaught – Generation Antichrist (AFM) Listen
Orbit Culture – Nija (Seek and Strike) Listen
Selbst – Relatos De Angustia (Debemur Morti) Listen
Temple Nightside – Pillars Of Damnation (Iron Bonehead) Listen
Year of the Knife – Internal Incarceration (Pure Noise) Listen

SHIT THAT COMES OUT AGAIN TODAY

Moonspell – The Butterfly Effect (Napalm)