It’s Friday, which means two things: giving this week the finger, and new music! Tune in every Friday for The Pit’s round-up of new releases, from singalong hard rock to pus-drenched underground death metal. Keep those ears bleeding!
Unleash The Archer, Abyss (Napalm)
For fans of: Battle Beast, Dragonforce, Ensiferum
Standout track: “Soulbound”
“We race around the melted char of what was once a neutron star…” Jesus Christ, this ain’t your typical street kid metal, is it? Abyss is part two of Unleash The Archers’ massive space opera concept, the follow-up to 2017’s Apex. And you can hear it — this is an epic culmination, a power-metal crater-leaver that’ll have unironic fans losing their shit with arms slung over each other’s shoulders. Admit it, you love this stuff.
Incantation, Sect of Vile Divinities (Relapse)
For fans of: Morbid Angel, Gatecreeper, Nile
Standout track: “Ignis Fatuus”
A new Incantation album is always a beautiful thing, because it means that you’re about to experience the musical equivalent of your brain having an orgy with eighteen squids at once. The band’s newest record is no different, an all-barbs-out whirlwind of eldritch darkness and wily-ass guitars. There are still moments of lumbering heaviness, without a doubt, but they only add a sense of menace to this otherwise intimidating death metal crusher. Not for the casual listener.
Hydra, From Light to the Abyss (Piranha Music)
For fans of: Pallbearer, Iron Tongue, Volbeat
Standout track: “No One Loves Like Satan”
Let’s be honest, when you’re looking for swaggering, nasty stoner doom, you rarely think, “Better check out the scene in Poland.” But Pieszew quartet Hydra definitely bring the heavy and then some on their new record From Light to the Abyss. With soaring vocals and solidly galloping riffs, the band provide an approachable take on the genre without going too saccharine or easy to swallow. There’s plenty of weed and Satan here, even if you can crank it in the car with your mom in the passenger seat.
Kill The Lights, The Sinner (Fearless Records)
For fans of: Trivium, Striker, Ice Nine Kills
Standout track: “Watch You Fall”
Sure, if you’re a diehard black metal kvltist, Kill The Lights may not be your thing, but it’s good to know a band like this exists. Ripping and roaring, sweating their sleeveless tees off, these dudes play the kind of metal you occasionally need at a big, crazy festival with a cold beer in a plastic cup. As fun for a rage vent as it is for a Friday night out, The Sinner is the kind of record that keeps metal alive. Dime would be proud.
LA Witch, Play With Fire (Suicide Squeeze Records)
For fans of: GRLwood, Bambara, Queens of the Stone Age
Standout track: “Gen-Z”
Wanna pile a bunch of your girlfriends into a car, drive out to the desert, and drink whiskey from the bottle while burning that box of letters in your closet? Let LA Witch take you there with their new album Play With Fire. Though not exactly metal, the record is still chock full of badass desert rock, with a solid dose of stoner atmosphere and some riot grrrl sneer to boot. Just because it’s more Tarantino than Anselmo doesn’t mean you won’t find yourself loving on this jangly collection of ripped-jeans anthems.
Other crushers:
- Brimstone Coven, The Woes of a Mortal Earth (Ripple Music)
- Blue Pills, Holy Moly! (Nuclear Blast)
- Precambrian, Tectonics (Primitive Reaction Records)
- Voracious Scourge, In Death (Massacre Records)
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Words by Chris Krovatin
