Bleeding Through – Nine (symphonic/blackened metalcore, melodeath)
It's been a long time coming but Bleeding Through are finally back (back, back) again, with their ninth studio album, appropriately titled Nine. You probably know whether you like this band or not by now, but why wouldn't you? Moreover, even for a band who have been enthusiastically flirting with more extreme metal for well over two decades now, this thing goes hard!
Nine is as tough as the nails protruding from (ex-Motionless in White drummer) Brandon Richter's spiky wristband, with he and longtime guitarist Brian Leppke bringing a noticeably blackened edge to proceedings that is far more successful than the band's previous attempt on their 2010 self-titled record. That this is undeniably the heaviest Bleeding Through record is no small feat, given a discography that includes albums like The Great Fire (2012) and Portrait of the Goddess (2002), and that they manage to marry this added aggression with the refined and memorable songwriting that was already on full display on 2018's original comeback record Love Will Kill All only adds to the conviction that it more than worth the wait.
Savage Lands – Army Of Trees (blackened prog-death)
On a more serious note, Savage Lands is a benefit project, led by French "musician-turned-activist" Sylvain Demercastel (ex-Artsonic), alongside current Megadeth and ex-Soilwork drummer Dirk Verbeuren, and Poun and Étienne from French metal band Black Bomb A, with all proceeds from the album—which also features guest spots from members of Sepultua, Arch Enemy, Obituary, Heilung, Lord of the Lost and others—going towards supporting forest preservation projects in Costa Rica and other countries, which seems pretty admirable. It's also surprisingly good, blending an initial burst of blackened prog-metal with bluesy tones reminiscent of hard rock heavyweights like Guns n' Roses, Whitesnake, and mid-period Metallica (Rob Trujillo's wife and multi-faceted artist Chloe Trujillo also shows up on a couple of songs). The opening star-studded prog-metal offerings are noticeably stronger than the latter material, although that is also shockingly solid for a cause like this, and well worth shelling out for.
You can read more about the Savage Lands organisation and their cause, over on their official website.
Release Roundup
Ameonna - The Birth of Death (deathcore)
Apocalypse Orchestra – A Plague Upon Thee (folk doom)
Arankai - A Portrait of Red (death/badiecore)
blindwolf - Noble Death (metal/deathcore)
Church Tongue - You'll Know It Was Me (sludgy metalccore)
Cantu Ignis – The Fathomless Dominion (melodeath)
Carcolh – Twilight Of The Mortals (doom)
Carmeria – Trinity: Volume I (acoustic goth rock)
Crazy Lixx – Thrill Of The Bite (hair metal)
Dawn Of Solace – Affliction Vortex (progressive mellowdeath/doom)
Dead American – Attention Deficit (alt/post-harcore)
Decline Of The I – Wilhelm (post-black metal)
Designing Creation - Origin (metalcore)
Delirant – Thoughteater (black metal)
Ditch – The Traveler (stoner rock)
Dynazty – Game Of Faces (melodic/Euro metal)
Ephemera – For Those Afraid To Die (post hardcore, sludge)
Everest - Disaster Within Me (alt rock, baddiecore)
Invaded By A Dark Spirit – (shitty
Ginger Evil – The Way It Burns (hardish rock)
Hands Like Houses – Atmospherics (alt/pop rock)
Hangman’s Chair – Saddiction (goth rock, mellowdoom)
Kosuke Hashida – Outrage (grindcore)
Lacerated – Lacerated (panic-chord core)
Lacuna Coil – Sleepless Empire (symphonic/alt metal)
Lama Keeper – Always Possible (psych/garage rock)
Leadfeather – Roll The Dice (hard/blues rock)
Loanshark – No Sins To Confess (speed metal, thrash)
Love Is Noise – To Live In A Different Way (alt/goth rock)
Mantar – Post Apocalyptic Depression (blackened sludge)
Mantric Momentum – Alienized (melodic/power metal)
Mastord – Lemmon Lintu (prog rock)
Moon Fever – Forever Sleep (butt rock)
Mouth – Global Warning (doom metal)
Neil Young – Oceanside Countryside (old folk)
The Nightmares – Fire in Heaven (electro pop, indie-goth)
Novarupta – Astral Sands (proressive post rock/metal)
Obscure Violence – Refuting the Flesh (brutal blackened-death metal)
Pattern-Seeking Animals – Friend Of All Creatures (prog rock)
Volatile Ways - Perfect Dark (deathcore)
Pothamus – Abur (blackened post metal)
Prehistoria – Cryptic Halo (power thrash)
Raven – Can’t Take Away The Fire (heavy metal, thrash)
Ray Of Light – Salute (melodic rock/metal)
Rectal Smegma – To Serve And Protect (gross grind)
Rescue Cat – Flesh & Weapon (hardcore, metalcore)
Rioghan – Kept (gothy prog-metal)
Scorpion Child – I Saw The End As It Passed Right Through Me (hardish rock)
Serpents Of Pakhangba – Air And Fire (psychedelic post-rock)
Sublind – Metalmorphosis (thrash metal)
Thin – The Overlapping Nature of Things (weird/dissonant mathgrind, screamo)
Throne – Ossarium (blackened death metal)
Thomas Erak & The Ouroboros – (AU) (alt/indie rock)
Twiztid - Welcome to Your Funeral (nu metal)