NEW MUSIC FROM UNEXPECT, AMON AMARTH, PRIMORDIAL, THE AMENTA, COLLOSSEUM, YOUNG WIDOWS AND THE FAMINE!
It must be that time of year, because new metal is seemingly streaming from every orifice of the Internet. So much music, in fact, that it’s increasingly difficult to keep up with it all (first world problems, we know)… so I’ve decided to pool ’em all together in one handy-dandy post.
Québécois avant-garde metallers Unexpect have a freakishly fervent cult following; within minutes of new song “Orange Vigilantes” going live on Unexpect’s website earlier this week we had a swarm of emails from excited readers. It’s been nearly five years since Unexpect’s last album In a Flesh Aquarium dropped on The End Records, so I can understand why folks are so excited. And then there’s that other thing: this band is awesome. They’re kind of like extreme metal’s answer to Mr. Bungle, but nerdier, or as reader Chris Dávila calls them, “crazy circus metal.” Look for a release date for Unexpect’s new still-untitled album to be announced soon.
The March 29th release of Surtur Rising draws ever closer, but you don’t have to wait any longer to hear another new song by Swedish viking cock-metallers Amon Amarth.
“For Victory or Death” is streaming at Metal Hammer’s German site. It’s a great taste of what Surtur Rising has in store for you; it’s epic, it’s fast, it’s heavy, it’s triumphant, it makes you wanna rape and pillage some poor unsuspecting Barbarian tribe, or at the very least pump your fist in the air. But you already knew that… it’s Amon Amarth.
Primordial are one of those bands that defy categorization; black metal doesn’t quite cover it, and folk metal definitely doesn’t cover it (although they’re sometimes lumped into the latter because of their appearance on one of the Paganfest tours). Whatever it is is consistently dark, dark, dark. Their brand new track “Bloodied Yet Unbowed” has been posted at Soundcloud, and while I’m certainly no expert on Primordial’s long history and I’m no big-time fan I have to say it’s some of my favorite material I’ve ever heard from them. In a certain way it kind of reminds me of modern-day Nachtmystium in tone and texture. I loooove Alan Averill’s voice… oh man, so good, strikes to the center of my soul. Possibly the heaviest clean singer in all of metal. Redemption at the Puritans’ Hand comes out on April 26th via Metal Blade.
Australian extreme industrial metallers The Amenta, whose praises both Gary Suarez and I sang after seeing them live in November of 2009, have released an entirely free EP with seemingly no run-up or marketing plan of any kind… just “hey, here’s our new EP V01D. kthxbai!” As the band describes it on their official website, “V01D is an entirely web based, free, internet only release with downloadable audio and video content.” The audio portion contains what looks like 12 new tracks and 4 remixes, while the video portion consists of 4 songs from a live show filmed in Sydney, Australia last year. Both portions are available for stream or download by simply registering for the site, and the interface is incredibly smooth and easy to use. Bravo, Amenta!
Finnish doom legends Colosseum were taken to their knees when frontman/guitarist Juhani Palomaki passed away in May 2010, but the surviving members have made good on their promise of releasing the band’s final album, Chapter 3: Parasomnia, which Palomaki finished right before he passed. The soul-shakingly haunting title track is available for streaming here. Colosseum’s bone-chilling doom is plenty haunting on its own, but knowing that you’re hearing a dead man makes it even more so.
A new Young Widows track has been released by the band for free download accompanied by quite possibly the best press release we’ve ever received. In its entirety:
Here is a Young Widows leak track (album coming next month). It’s great and i’ll keep it at that. No one has time right now to read a bunch of yammering. Listen/post/etc.
Perfect! Publicists take note, mmkay? Brevity is key! The track is called “Rose Window;” download it here.
And lastly, death metallers The Famine have made “The New Hell,” the opening track of their awesome new album The Architects of Guilt (released in February), available for free download. Headbang here.
Phew. Now get to listenin’.
-VN
