Release Day Roundup: 3/21/25

Top Picks

Aversed – Erasure Of Color (progressive metal, melo/death?)

Aversed have come a long way since we premiered a track off their appropriately titled 2021 debut album Impermanent. Not only have they swapped singers, but they've completely revamped their sound. Whereas their debut showcased some sweeping, though otherwise fairly straightforward power-tinged melodeath (in line with the likes of Arch Enemy or Nightmare), its follow-up is a much more adventurous affair.

Erasure of Color's overall sound is extremely tough to pin down: too extreme and abrasive to pigeonhole as standard prog metal; too varied and melodic to categorise as conventional prog-death or even melodic death metal. "To Cover Up the Sky" starts off in fairly conventional tech-death fashion, but before the song is over it will have taken you through a world of blackened departures, melodic cleans, hardcore shouts; "Cross to Bear" starts off sounding like Gojira, but builds to a crooning, meloblackened climax; "Lucid Decapitation" blends early djent rhythms with a more metalcore delivery, alongside bouts of Decaptiated-style groove and dissonance; "Burn" is an almost nu metal number, that somehow sounds like a combination of Drowning Pool and Lacuna Coil, but that still finds space to drop a jazzy bass solo in the middle; the title track is a symphonic epic, that draws comparisons to the last Sepultura album; and the aptly titled "Departures" leaves the album on an almost post-blackened/hardcore note while also throwing back to the band's heavy metal roots. Even on a more regular progressive melodeath track like "Inexorable" the band still manage to keep things computationally complex, while allowing guitarists Sungwoo Jeong and Alden Marchand to really let rip, and the rhythmic interplay between bassist Martin Epstein and Allegaeon drummer Jeff Saltzman is always a thing to behold, as of course are Sarah Hartman's innumerable vocal variations.

What is perhaps most stunning about this album, however, is that for all its unconventional variation, Erasure of Color feels entirely natural, with each of its seemingly disparate sections transitioning organically into the next. The closest direct comparison I can come up with is that it maybe sounds like something Venom Prison might have come up with if they continue(d) down the path of 2022's Erebus, but is much more organic and experimental than suggests. If you like what you hear, the Diatheke album that's also out this week has a similar vibe, though they don't manage to string it together anywhere near as cohesively and compellingly. Erasure of Color is a really unique album, and a very special one at that.

Imperial Triumphant – Goldstar (dissonant jazz-death)

As with many others, I expect, Imperial Triumphant have always inspired more respect than enjoyment. Actually, that's not true, I rather like Imperial Triumphant, but the sheer eccentricity of their sound makes visits to impressive pastures like Alphaville (2020) and Vile Luxury (2018) once-a-year excursions at most, while Spirit of Ecstasy (2022) is often actively hostile in its lunatic flights of fancy. With Goldstar, however, Imperial Triumphant have (relatively) stripped back much of their jazzier experimentation, making for an (objectively) much shorter, (relatively) more straightforward and surprisingly accessible offering. Relatively.

What Goldstar gains in (relative) immediacy, it does somewhat lose in originality. Its sound is still bonkers, but it's also less distinctively theirs. As with many avant-garde death metal bands, there's a lot here that can be quickly compared to Gorguts' mid-period output (see specifically: "Gomorrah Nouveaux" and "Rot Moderne". Indeed, the Labyrinthine Heirs album that's also out today perhaps has more of that traditional, blackened, off-the wall Imperial Triumphant sound. Where Imperial Triumphant continue to distinguish themselves, however, is both in the quality and atmosphere of their output. Along with the band's usual, sinister 1920s invocations, Goldstar boasts an ominous, brooding ambience that feels somehow thicker than their previous, more sonically dense forays.

While Goldstar might not be the best or most adventurous of Imperial Triumphant albums, over the past few months (since they sent us the promo at the end of last year) I've probably listened to it as many times as the rest of their records combined. As I said about the the new Avantasia album, sometimes a more accessible rendition of an often impenetrable sound is appreciated. ...and with that unlikely comparison, I'll leave you to explore the rest of this week's fruits on your own.