O lowest Bowl, Master of the Order of Ordure, protect us as we plunge to depths unknown! This week we’ve got æ smættering of æ-ened mætal, hungry trees, and Mariah Carey’s evil cousin-core. Today marks the first voyage of the S.S. Eenzy, our stinky submersible that allows us to complete these deep toilet dives in record time. Thanks, friend!

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Æolian – Echoes of the Future (Black Lion Records) [Blackened Melodeath]

Like a climate in turmoil, Æolian’s melodeath is prone to storms of extremity; tracks like “Her Grief” mesh knotted tech death riffs with the anthemic style of ’90s classics like In Flames‘ The Jester Race or early Insomnium. A jagged rime of black metal coats much of Echoes of the Future, casting a somber shadow over the album that keeps the bombastic elements in check. This balance—of blastbeats, BLEGHHs, and beauty—is the key to memorable melo-, and to top it off, the band incorporates a guest pianist and a brass section for even more set piece moments. Echoes of the Future marks the closing of a trilogy telling the story of mankind’s impact on our planet, and I have to say, it’s refreshing to see a conclusion that contains a flicker of hope, rather than bog-standard, smug nihilism. -Roldy

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A Hill to Die Upon – The Black Nativity (Rottweiler Records) [Blackened Death]

Æternum Sacro – Cielos prometidos, cielos clandestinos (Independent) [Blackened Folk Metal]

Absque Cor – Na zawsze cieniem​.​.​. (Godz ov War Productions) [Black]

AbyssTod – Torment and Death (Independent) [Blackened Death]

Almost Honest – The Hex of Penn’s Woods (Electric Talon Records) [Stoner Metal / Rock]

Alta Reign – Upon the Horizon (Rat Pak Records) [Prog Metal / Rock]

Archdruid/High Priest/Ice Howl/Mourn the Light – Split (Independent) [Doom / Heavy Metal]

Autopsia Prematura/Befouled Innards/In Dark Places/Necrogore/Oppression Denied – Digging Up The Graves (Guts and Blood Records) [Death]

Beyond Grace – Welcome to the New Dark Ages, Part 1 (Independent) [Death]

Black Pyre – Fall of the Northern Kingdom (Independent) [Black]

Burden of Grief – Destination Dystopia (Massacre Records) [Melodeath]

Buziraco – Nightgazer (Austenitized Records) [Heavy Metal]

Carnivorous Forest – Dogs and Devils (Blackened Death Records) [Death / Folk Metal / Rock]

Celtibeerian – Nertos (Independent) [Folk Metal]

Convocation – No Dawn for the Caliginous Night (Everlasting Spew Records) [Death / Funeral Doom]

Coven Japan – Earthlings (No Remorse Records) [Heavy Metal]

Crimson Moonlight – Abaddon (Endtime Productions) [Melodic Blackened Death]

Cultum Interitum – Sacrum Funeral (Godz ov War Productions) [Blackened Death]

Demogorgon – A Hate for All That Grows (Sliptrick Records) [Black]

Destructor – Blood, Bone, and Fire (Shadow Kingdom Records) [Thrash /Heavy /Power Metal]

Dreamwalkers Inc – The First Tragedy of Klahera (Layered Reality Productions) [Symphonic Prog Metal]

Emerald Rage – Valkyrie (Stormspell Records) [Heavy / Power Metal]

Emperor of Myself – Vita Post Mortem (Hellenic Metal World) [Atmospheric Black / Gothic Metal]

Everson Poe – The Tower (Trepanation Recordings) [Post-Black /Doom / Sludge / Ambient]

Farsoth – Morbid Symphonies (Black Lion Records) [Death]

Fionn Legacy – Rise of the Windlord (Independent) [Symphonic Power]

Fire from Heaven – A Very Metal Christmas (Independent) [Symphonic Prog Metalcore]

Fraught – Transfixed on Dying Light (Argonauta Records) [Blackened Death]

From North – Raven Banner (At Dawn Records) [Folk / Viking Metal]

Gnaw Their Tongues – The Cessation of Suffering (Consouling Sounds) [Black / Noise /Experimental]

Goaten – Midnight Conjuring (Cianeto Discos) [Heavy Metal]

High Spirits – Safe on the Other Side (High Roller Records) [Hard Rock/Heavy Metal]

Hilde – Misère (Frozen Woods Records) [Meloblack]

Hitten – While Passion Lasts (High Roller Records) [Heavy Metal]

I Helvete – Yksi yhteinen yhteiskunta (Inverse Records) [Melodic Blackened Death]

Impending Doom – Last Days (Independent) [Deathcore]

Infected Chaos – Vanity Is Dawning (WormHoleDeath) [Death]

Infernal Angels – Shrine of Black Fire (Immortal Frost Productions) [Meloblack]

Jose Rubio – Black Rose (Demons Records) [Neoclassical Heavy Metal / Shred]

Kallomäki – Huunpurema (Independent) [Folk Metal]

Kvelgeyst – Blut, Milch und Thränen (Eisenwald) [Black]

Lilyum – We Are Disobedience (Broken Bones Promotion) [Black]

Maladie – For We Are the Plague (Apostasy Records) [Prog Black]

Malediction – The Soil Throne (Cosmic Key Creations) [Deathgrind]

Master’s Call – A Journey for the Damned (Fireflash Records) [Blackened Death]

Midnight Odyssey – Biolume Part 3 – A Fullmoon Madness (I, Voidhanger Records) [Ambient Black Metal]

Misanthrophi – Principles of Cosmicism and Decimation (Independent) [Melodeath]

Morbid Sacrifice – Ceremonial Blood Worship (Godz ov War Productions) [Blackened Death]

Morver – P E S T E (Independent) [Prog Metal / Rock]

Narbo Dacal – Elysium Now (Piranha Music) [Sludge]

One Master – The Names of Power (Eternal Death) [Black]

Ophanim – T​ä​mpelskl​ä​ng (Eisenwald) [Atmoblack]

Perdition’s Light – Sequenzen des Niedergangs (Talheim Records Germany) [Prog Black]

Rottenness/Seeping Protoplasm – Rotting Plasmatic Domain (Obliteration Records) [Brutal Death / Grindcore]

SLM – Kreislauf (Independent) [Post-Black]

Sadism – Obscurans (Hammerheart Records) [Death]

Sammale – Finno​-​Ugric (Naturmacht Productions) [Atmoblack]

Serpents Oath – Revelation (Odium Records) [Black Metal]

Silent Angel – Unyielding, Unrelenting (Rockshots Records) [Power Metal/Melodic Rock]

Silverbones – Brethren of the Coast (Stormspell Records) [Heavy Metal]

Slôdder – A Mind Designed to Destroy Beautiful Things (Independent) [Sludge / Doom Metal]

Sort Sind – I skyggen af livet (Nuclear Winter Records) [Blackened Death]

Sovengar – Drinks and Dragons (Demons Records) [Folk Metal]

Strange New Dawn – New Nights of Euphoria (Svart Records) [Prog Doom / Rock]

Strike – Break the Chains (Evil Spell Records) [Black/Speed Metal/Punk]

Swords of Dis – Melencolia (I, Voidhanger Records) [Blackened Doom]

Temple of Scorn – Funeral Altar Epiphanies (Transcending Obscurity Records) [Death]

Tenebro – Ultime grida dalla giungla (Xtreem Music) [Death]

The Breathing Process – Todeskrone (Unique Leader Records) [Symphonic Deathcore]

The Uncrowned – Stopover -Dedicated to Shal- (Walküre Records) [Power]

Thronehammer – Kingslayer (Supreme Chaos Records) [Death/Doom]

Thunderwarrior – Thunderwarrior (Black-listed Productions) [Heavy Metal]

TodoMal – A Greater Good (Ardua Music) [Doom]

Underdark – Managed Decline (Church Road Records) [Post-Black]

Valdrin – Throne of the Lunar Soul (Blood Harvest) [Meloblack]

Void Below – World Undone (Independent) [Death Metal]

Weeping Silence – Isles of Lore (ViciSolum Productions) [Gothic Metal / Death/Doom]

Wicked Maraya – Chapters (Massacre Records) [Prog/Power]