It seems like it’s been awhile since we’ve had a week of new releases that’s overall very good, but that changes today. It seems like there was way more stuff that caught my ear this time than the last couple months, and I actually had a hard time trying to choose which band to talk about because there were too many options. This is a good-ass week, so get in here and jam some new tunes.

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Ereb Altor – Jartecken (Hammerheart Records) [Doom]
Listen to “With Fire In My Heart”

Bathory hasn’t been around for a while, and somebody needed to fill in. Ereb Altor are that someone, and they’ve been doing the late-era Bathory viking metal thing for so long they’ve practically established their own sound, despite still being spot on Quorthon-loving music-thing-stuff. Järtecken doesn’t seek to change much, though “Prepare for War” might be the most pissed off and thrashy song the band’s ever put out. But each of the singles kicks butt, so check ’em out. 9/20/19 (Karhu)

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The Agonist – Orphans (Napalm Records) [Melodeath]
Listen to “In Vertigo,” “As One We Survive”

Just to preface, I’ve never been particularly keen on The Agonist, at least until this point. I don’t know what happened between this album and the last, but the songwriting has improved so much that it’s hard to believe this is the same band. There’s a distinct Nevermore flavor to a lot of the riffs (the verses in “In Vertigo” scream Loomis), and their sense of melody is much better than on prior offerings. Singer Vicky Psarakis goes all-out on this one, showing off a range of styles and strengths that just wasn’t there on the last album. There’s still a little bit of cheese (see “Mr. Cold”), but it’s done in the same tongue-in-cheek sort of way that makes bands like Arsis and Jinjer so endearing. If this is the version of The Agonist we have to look forward to, then count me as a fan. 9/20/19 (Spear)

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Ancient Moon – Benedictus Diabolica, Gloria Patri (Iron Bonehead) [Black Metal]
Listen to Pt. 1

And Hell Followed With – Chimerical Reality (Hollowed Records) [Tech/Deathcore]
Listen

Ánima Barroca – Inri (Independent) [Power Metal]
Preview

Antigone’s Fate – Zum Horizont​.​.​. (Northern Silence) [DSBM]
Stream

Belenos – Argoat (Northern Silence) [Black Metal]
Listen

Bones – Diseased (Transcending Obscurity) [Death Metal]
Listen

Chemicide – Inequality (PRC Music) [Thrash]
Listen

Coffins – Beyond the Circular Demise (Relapse Records) [Death/Doom]
Listen

Cult of Luna – A Dawn to Fear (Metal Blade) [Atmospheric Sludge/Doom]
Listen

Cult of Sorrow – Invocation of the Lucifer (Black Doomba Records) [Metal of the Doom]
Listen to “Burn”

Dawnbreaker – Total Depravity (Vision of God Records) [Black Metal]
Listen

Dead Kosmonaut – Rekviem (High Roller Records) [Heavy Metal]

Detraktor – Grinder (Violent Creek Records) [Thrash]
Listen to “Grinder”

Doom’s Day – Baphomet (PRC Music) [Punky Doom?]
Listen

Embryocide/Dredge Hammer/Mortal Ashes – Split (Independent) [Death Metal]

Engulf – Transcend (Everlasting Spew) [Death Metal]
Listen

Exhorder – Mourn the Southern Skies (Nuclear Blast) [Thrash]
Listen to “My Time”

Garden of Eyes – Arcane Haze (AHPN Records) [Really Quiet Death Metal]
Listen to “Celestial Larvae”

Graveyard – Hold Back the Dawn (War Anthem Records) [Death Metal]
Listen

Holy Dragons – Unholy and Saints (Pitch Black Records) [Heavy Metal]
Listen to “Schweigespirale”

Incardine – Seeds of Doom (Bone Records) [Death Metal]

Indecency – Path of Desecration (Ungodly Ruins Productions) [Brutal Death Metal]
Listen to “Slow Ritual Death”

Irgalom – Meditate Volume 2 (Vision of God Records) [Black Metal]
Listen

Klone – Le grand voyage (Kscope) [Prog/Post-Metal]
Listen to “Hidden Passenger”

Knight Area – D-Day (Independent) [Prog Metal]
lol

Kobra and the Lotus – Evolution (Napalm Records) [Heavy Metal]
Listen to “You Don’t Know,” “Burn!”

Kosmos – L’envol (Independent) [Black Metal]
Listen

Kurgan – Yggdrasil Burns (Massacre Records) [Melodeath]
Listen to “Send Me A Raven”

Michael Schenker Fest – Revelation (Nuclear Blast) [Rock]
Listen to “Rock Steady”

Mindfield – Mindfield (Independent) [Hardcore/Thrash]
Listen

Monolord – No Comfort (Relapse Records) [Stoner Doom]
Listen

Morast – Il nostro silenzio (Van Records) [Death/Doom]
Listen to “Cut”

Murder Made God – Endless Return (Unique Leader) [Tech/Deathcore]
Listen to “Alive,” “World Defect”

Mystery Blue – 8RED (Massacre Records) [lolbuttz]
Listen to “Hatred”

Nascentum/The Proprietor – A Pact of Initiation (split- Independent) [Black Metal]
Stream

No One Knows What The Dead Think – s/t (Willowtip) [Weird Grind]
Stream

The Number Twelve Looks Like You – Wild Gods (Overlord Music) [Weird Shit]
Listen to “Ruin the Smile”

Ossomancer – Artes Magickae (Pacific Threnodies) [Black Metal]
Listen

Saccage – Khaos Mortem (PRC Music) [Blackened Death Metal]
Listen

Skar Ritual – Desolation Chronicles Part One: As Darkness Descends upon Paradise (Independent) [Death Metal]
Preview

Soulers – Seas That Swallowed the Night (Independent) [Death/Doom]
Stream

Soul of Steel – Rebirth (Revalve Records) [Power Metal]
Listen to “Sailing to my Fate”

Spellbine – Old Dark (Independent) [Dungeon Synth]
Stream

Spider Kickers – Ektroma (Sleaszy Rider) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Ektroma”

Torpor – Rhetoric of the Image (Truthseeker Music) [Sludge/Doom]
Listen to “Benign Circle”

Unfurl – The Waking Void (Independent) [Sludge/Death Metal]
Listen

Urn – Iron Will of Power (Season of Mist) [Black Thrash]
Listen to “Hunted,” “Malignant Strange Vision”

Vae Victis – Deadhead Hurricane (Independent) [Black Thrash]
Stream

Valkiria – No Darkness No Light (Independent) [Gothic/Doom]
Listen

Vanity Alive – Samsara (Independent) [Djent]
Stream

White Ward – Love Exchange Failure (Debemur Morti Productions) [Noir Metal]
Listen

Did we forget a new release? Is there a way we could improve this list? Let us know in the comments!