It’s Friday, which means two things: giving the week the finger and new music! Tune in every Friday for The Pit’s round-up of new metal releases, from singalong hard rock to pus-drenched underground death metal. Keep those ears bleeding!
Bullet For My Valentine, Bullet for my Valentine (Spinefarm)
For fans of: Bad Wolves, He Is Legend, Trivium
Standout track: “Bastards”
Oh man, remember Bullet For My Valentine? Matt Tuck, that guy? Well, the band are back, and are definitely going in a more modern-metal direction this time around. Sure, the band’s self-titled album has plenty of screams and semi-melodeath riffs, but it’s the music’s shimmer and melancholy introspection that stands at the forefront of this release. Basically, this is exactly what you’d expect, and you’ll either get way the fuck down on it, or you’ll turn it off.
portrayal of guilt, Christfucker (Run for Cover Records)
For fans of: Primitive Man, Portal, Aosoth
Standout track: “Fall From Grace”
Releasing one of the year’s most intense albums is a triumph; releasing two of them is fucking madness. But portrayal of guilt have done just that, bookending 2021 with January’s We Are Always Alone and now Christfucker. The album only continues the utterly scathing tone of Always Alone, but takes a somewhat starker and more black-metal tone this time around, deeply enjoying its total lack of light and fucks given. This one’ll peel the skin off your fingertips and make your nose fall off from frostbite.
Heads for the Dead, Slash n’ Roll EP (Transcending Obscurity)
For fans of: Revolting, Frightmare, LIK
Standout track: “Maniac”
Halloween may have come and gone, but for Heads for the Dead, the horror never stops. The international death metal crew bring a solid dose of gore, darkness, and desperation on this killer EP, much to the chagrin of blood junkies like this writer. This one never reinvents the wheel, for sure, but it offers a guitar tone like a knife through brain matter, and will please sick fucks the world over. Plus, how can you argue with a death metal cover of The Misfits’ “Skulls?”
Bone Tower, We Will All Die One Day (No Funeral Records)
For fans of: Anaal Nathrakh, Teeth, Pig Destroyer
Standout track: “Under A Veil”
Whaaat the FUUUUCK, man! Bone Tower are as brutal, filthy, and noisy as they come, and We Will All Die One Day sees them reaching the full potential of their sonic ugliness. This album could be called ‘death metal,’ but that doesn’t really give enough credit to the total chaos and hostility of these songs. It’s more like destruction metal, like the metallic equivalent to busting down a wall with a sledgehammer. It’s fucking awesome, is what it is — and Jesus Christ, it’s fucking Canadian.
Other crushers:
- SpiritWorld, Pagan Rhythms (Century Media)
- Omnium Gatherum, Origin (Century Media)
- Scarecrow, Raise the Death’s Head EP (Relapse)
- Gaahl’s Wyrd, The Humming Mountain EP (Season of Mist)
Want to check out other great new metal releases we’ve spotlighted recently? Good. Here you go.
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Words by Chris Krovatin
