Editor’s Note: Do you think we “missed” an album this week? Click here.
Each month, we always seem to come to the same conclusion when it comes to our Editors’ Picks column: Friday release days open the floodgates and unleash a seemingly endless stream of quality new music. But while some of our Editors and Contributors sit down gleefully each week to dive into this newly stocked treasure trove, others find themselves drawing a blank at the end of the month due to the breakneck pace needed to keep up to date with what’s been released. Which brings us to this Heavy Blog PSA: a weekly roundup of new albums which pares down the week’s releases to only our highest recommendations. Here you’ll find full album/single streams, pre-order links and, most importantly, a collection of albums that could very well earn a spot on your year-end list. Enjoy!
Top Picks
Absent in Body – Plague God (atmospheric sludge metal, post-metal)
Absent in Body is a new atmospheric sludge/post-metal fan’s wet dream of a supergroup. What started as just a two-man collaboration between Amenra‘s Mathieu Vandekerckhove and Neurosis‘s Scott Kelly grew to four, as they recruited fellow Amenra vocalist Colin H. van Eeckhout to front the group, as well as the legendary Igor Cavalera (formerly of Sepultura) on drums. What results is a harrowing journey through dark, textural atmospheres and Amenra’s ominous, soul-harvesting terror. Industrial touches bridge the gap between the organic and mechanical, lending to a sci-fi meets horror soundtrack feel.
See Also: Yarotz – Erinyes (blackened hardcore, metallic hardcore)
–Trent Bos
Kvaen – The Great Below (thrashy black metal)
Kvaen’s debut, The Funeral Pyre, was one of the standout releases of 2020, and this fast follow-up proves there’s still plenty the one-man black metal project has to offer. There are flashes of melodeath, viking, and even progressive metal littered throughout The Great Below, which often recalls 2007-era Naglfar and Dimmu Borgir, but it’s the heavy helping of ravenous thrash that has it standing triumphant above all the other, much higher-profile black/thrash releases out this week.
–Josh Bulleid