A Light Week That Still Hits Hard
Thin week on paper, but don’t let the lack of household names fool you. Quality over quantity is the theme, and the top two picks carry the whole thing while the underground does the rest of the heavy lifting.
#1 — Warning — Rituals of Shame (Relapse Records) | Doom Metal
Twenty years. That’s how long doom fans waited for a follow-up to 2006’s Watching from a Distance, and Patrick Walker finally delivered it. Classic doom metal for that long drive at night, or for grinding away at your favorite MMORPG. This one sounds great. Gotta love it.
#2 — Loneshore — Nothing Left to Deconstruct (Willowtip Records) | Progressive Melodic Death/Doom
Holy Opeth Batman. This Brazilian project made a real contender for one of the best progressive melodic death metal releases of the year. It’s brutal, with weaving waves of beauty running all the way through. If you like Opeth, you’ll love this. Don’t let the no-name status fool you.
#3 — Endseeker — Coffin Born (Metal Blade Records) | Death Metal
That album cover is BRUTAL, and it comes from an underrated titan of the death metal genre. Five songs of straight-up death metal with a Bloodbath-esque vibe. No filler, no tricks.
#4 — Avarice — Perpetual Ruin (Mighty Music) | Melodic Death/Thrash
Danish melodic death-thrash with the riffs cranked and the hooks sharpened. If Darkane and The Arcane Order live in your rotation, this slots right in.
#5 — The Conflux Collective — In the Wake of Saturn (Self-Released) | Technical Death Metal
Self-released Canadian tech-death with no label and no safety net, for the Beyond Creation and Martyr heads. The kind of pick that’s the entire reason this list exists.
Five records, one Friday, and the underground doing the heavy lifting. Go listen.