Greetings, Decibel readers!
It’s a week for giants here in metal world. When you’ve got new material from Lamb of God, Goatwhore and Incantation all on the same day, it’s time to take notice and listen up. But don’t sleep on Blodhemn and Faceless Burial either. It’s a week for reliably good metal that you can count on, from black metal, metalcore, death metal, and so much more in between.
Enjoy!
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Blodhemn – Sverger Hemn
Norwegian black metal for those who like the shimmering, ferocious darkness emitted by bands like Tsjuder, 1349 and similar acts. In Blodhemn‘s case, there’s a lot to love here if you want this darkness delivered through the prism of modern thrash.
Stream: Apple Music
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Faceless Burial – At the Foothills of Deliration
Wait, is “deliration” a word? Ah, I suppose it is. Well, I guess eventually you have to dig deep for cool-sounding “-ion” words. Anyway, this is the trademark Dark Descent sound delivered with hints of slam and brutal death metal, as evidenced by the crushing guitar sound and glorious snare tone. Like if Defeated Sanity decided to pull a wild card and make their next album with Incantation and Immolation influences.
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Goatwhore – Angels Hung from the Arches of Heaven
Goatwhore is back. And not just because they’ve put out another album under the name, but because this is their first release in many years to capture the energy of their triumphant early albums. Don’t get me wrong, Goatwhore put out a lot of rad music since, but there’s no denying the sheer blasphemous terror captured on The Eclipse of Ages Into Black, Funeral Dirge for the Rotting Sun, and A Haunting Curse. It’s from the latter that this album spiritually picks up and never lets the listener down.
Stream: Apple Music
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Incantation – Tricennial of Blasphemy
Sure, it’s a compilation, but it’s Incantation, so who cares? There’s lots of goodies from different eras from the band’s career, including the original Entrantment of Evil EP in its entirety. But there’s also some brutal tracks from their 1996 demo, alternate versions of many of their best songs, and pieces previously available only on other compilations. Oh, and there’s also “Degeneration,” from their contribution to the Decibel flexi-disc series. So if you didn’t get that issue, here’s your chance to have that banger in your hands.
Stream: Apple Music
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Lamb of God – Omens
At this point, all anyone should demand from Lamb of God is a good Lamb of God album, complete with impressive drumming, chunky and memorable riffs, and Randy’s one-of-a-kind growl. And that’s what the boys deliver on Omens, an album that instantly recalls the spirit of the mid-2000s but sits squarely in our own time. Topically speaking, the band is always ready to lash out against ignorance, hypocrisy, manipulation and mindless knee-jerk judgements. As Randy has said, however, he is no ideological foot-soldier in anyone’s political army. He takes a long, reflective view on things, and the band’s lyrics take this approach as well, incisive, but never preachy or obnoxious. Also, I look forward to jumping in the pit for “Ditch.”
Stream: Apple Music
