O Seat ov Support, O Haven ov Hemmorhoids, cup our cans in your alabaster arms. This week we’ve got swamps galore, potion preparation, and a FFX summon. The tide is low this time around, but for those willing to wade through the shallow pools, hidden gems lie just beneath the surface. Let us know what we missed in the comments!

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Perchta – D’Muata (Prophecy Productions) [Blackened Folk Metal]

Tyroleans sure know a lot about ice—from Ötzi‘s ancient remains to the peaks of the Alps, it’s difficult to top the region’s ravishing grimness. While Perchta’s tremolo riffing and shrill vocals are decidedly blackened, the band’s folk metal heart pumps warmth to D’Muata‘s extremities. Hammered dulcimer and bladder fiddle (what an auspisscious sign!) lend a rustic air to these tracks, verdant growth in a hostile environment. The album’s themes of motherhood and femininity may draw ire from basement dwelling types, but even they present an important part of this ritual; where else are we going to get all the virgin blood? -Roldy

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Aldorfrea – The Wretched Congregation (Independent) [Black]

Angel Sword – World Fighter (Dying Victims Productions) [Speed / Heavy Metal]

AntiFlesh – Hosanna (Theogonia Records) [Doom / Black]

Apes – Penitence (Secret Swarm Records) [Death / Sludge]

Axel Rudi Pell – Risen Symbol (Steamhammer) [Heavy Metal / Hard Rock]

Blight Reaper – The Blackened Throne (Independent) [Death]

Bogmonster – Servants of the Necrosect (Independent) [Death/Doom]

Cadaverous Condition – Never Arrive, Never Return (The Circle Music) [Blackened Death]

Crypt Sermon – The Stygian Rose (Dark Descent Records) [Doom]

Dagoba – Different Breed (Verycords) [Groove Metal]

Darkend – Viaticum (Time to Kill Records) [Black]

Darkened – Defilers of the Light (Edged Circle Productions) [Blackened Death]

Dendera – Mask of Lies (Independent) [Groove Metal]

Deprived Existence – Diabolical Dissonance (Independent) [Blackened Death / Grindcore]

Downfall of Mankind – Purgatory (Seek & Strike) [Symphonic Deathcore]

Dreamslain – Forge of Rebellion (Independent) [Prog Metal]

Embryonic Autopsy – Origins of the Deformed (Massacre Records) [Death]

Ensomhet – The Fall of Yggdrasill (Independent) [Black]

Favna Abisal – La casa de los siete espejos (Sun Empire Productions) [Post-Black]

Fellwarden – Legend: Forged in Defiance (Eisenwald) [Atmoblack]

Golgotha – Spreading the Wings of Hope (Ardua Music) [Doom / Heavy Metal]

Hate Them All – III (Old Temple) [Blackened Death]

Hizaki – The Zodiac Sign (Avalon) [Neoclassical Power]

Human Zoo – Echoes Beyond (Fastball Music) [Heavy Metal / Hard Rock]

Hybreed Chaos – Subliminal Abyssal Carnage (Independent) [Brutal Death]

Impact Approved – Way of the Warrior (WormHoleDeath) [Melodeath]

Ira Tenax – Dark Awakening (MDD Records) [Melodeath]

Ixion – Restriction (Independent) [Doom]

Legionary – Prison Realm (Independent) [Deathrash]

Lucifer’s Hammer – Be and Exist (Dying Victims Productions) [Heavy Metal]

Malignancy – Discontinued (Willowtip Records) [Tech Death]

Mana Diagram – Light of the Destiny (Independent) [Power]

Miasmic Serum – Infected Seed (Chaos Records) [Death]

Millennial Reign – World on Fire (Ulterium Records) [Symphonic Heavy Metal]

Miško Boba – Gedulas ir viltis (Independent) [Black]

Mythologik – Blood in the Sky (Independent) [Thrash / Melodeath]

New Horizon – Conquerors (Frontiers Records) [Symphonic Heavy Metal]

Paradise in Flames – Blindness (Xaninho Discos) [Black]

Paraplexia – Disgorging the Faith (Infinitive Putrefaction Productions) [Brutal Death / Slam]

Pipe Dreamer – The Past Is Just a Memory (Independent) [Doom / Post-Metal]

Rezn – Burden (Sargent House) [Psych Doom]

Royal Rage – Evolve (Sliptrick Records) [Thrash]

Shamash – Done with Misery (Nos Pergamos in Domine Saluteum) (Rottweiler Records) [Melodeath]

Sibiir – Undergang (Fysisk Format) [Post-Hardcore]

Siculicidium – A halál tengely (Sun & Moon Records) [Black]

Siculicidium – Az elidegenedés melankóliája (Sun & Moon Records) [Dungeon Synth]

SuicidalGrind – Paranormal Mind (Endogenic Noise Records) [Death]

Sunburst – Manifesto (Inner Wound Recordings) [Prog/Power / Groove Metal]

Tortharry – Paměť kamenů (Independent) [Death]

Ulcerate – Cutting the Throat of God (Debemur Morti Productions) [Tech Death]

Uvkir – The Dark Fortress (Independent) [Melodeath / Folk Metal]

Vendel – Out in the Fields (Dying Victims Productions) [Heavy Metal]

Void of Nothingness – Hür Wurdin II (Independent) [Experimental Black Metal]

Wurgilnõ – Krijtland (Fetzner Death Records) [Black]