Sh*t That Comes Out This Week: July 10, 2020

Yeah, I know the Static-X abomination comes out this week, but that’s the clickbait section’s territory, not mine. Check out the Inter Arma covers album instead — I wrote about it for Decibel and it rules. Here’s some other stuff that also rules.

Ensiferum
Thalassic (Metal Blade)

Ensiferum have always played Viking metal with a capital Viking but I think doing too many PaganFest-type tours broke them. Now these guys are kinda like serious Alestorm. There’s literally a song called “Rum, Women, Victory” on here — which is fun, but also very, very dumb. Do you really need more songs about Vikings in your life? If you do, these are definitely songs about Vikings.

Kingnomad
Sagan Om Rymden (Ripple)

Aw yeah, spacey heavy prog psych krautrock! Besides basically being the embodiment of my favorite Bandcamp tags, Kingnomad do it all very, very well. This sci-fi tale comes courtesy of four Swedes well-versed in the esoteric history of rock who draw from a record collection as impressive as Mikael Akerfeldt’s but come to different conclusions. Space is deep and so is this.

Lantern
Dimensions (Dark Descent)

In the mood for some filthy metal of death? Lantern will light your way back to a time when Entombed ruled the Earth. These Finns have been practicing their craft for an unlucky 13 years now, and while their previous releases definitely dismembered some grotesque carcasses, Dimension takes their OSDM rumble to a new level. There’s even a showstopping 14-minute song. Blood Incantation have a lot to answer for.

Rebel Wizard
Magickal Mystical Indifference (Prosthetic)

I also wrote about this for Decibel, but what the hell — not enough of you know about this band, and that’s a damn shame. Well, it’s not so much a band as it is one dude, Bob Nekrasov, but he makes enough noise for a Slipknot-sized assault unit. His volatile mixture of black metal insanity, NWOBHM riffage, and industrial noise bombardment makes for a thoroughly unique (and thoroughly headbanging) experience.

Skeleton
Skeleton (20 Buck Spin)

Fellow metal writer Andy O’Connor loves these guys so much he would probably marry them if polygamy wasn’t illegal in Texas. If you’re into some good ol’ Lone Star State ass-kicking, From Dusk ’til Dawn-style, then you’ve come to the right blackened thrash commandos. I can imagine the visceral impact being much stronger live (the production feels a little thin on their debut outing), but they sure don’t lack for riffs.

OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT THIS WEEK

Bloody Heels – Ignite The Sky (Frontiers) Listen
Enuff Z’Nuff – Brainwashed Generation (Frontiers) Listen
Executioner’s Mask – Despair Anthems (Profound Lore) Listen
Haken – Virus (InsideOut) Listen
Inter Arma – Garbers Days Revisited (Relapse) Listen
Michael Grant & The Assassins – Always The Villain (Frontiers) Listen
Shining Black – Shining Black (Frontiers) Listen
Spirtworld – Pagan Rhythms (self-released) Listen
Static-X – Project Regeneration Volume 1 (Otsego) Listen
Tokyo Motor Fist – Lions (Frontiers) Listen
Voivod – The End Of Dormancy EP (Century Media) Listen