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!
Infected Rain, Ecdysis (Napalm Records)
For fans of: Poppy, Living Dead Girl, In This Moment
Standout track: “Goodbye”
The new Infected Rain is part of a boom in industrially-tinged, female-led groove metal acts, and Ecdysis – the process of shedding one’s skin or shell, for the record – definitely is part of this movement. That said, the Moldovan band definitely go a little more interesting and textured than some of their peers. There are moments of epic fantasy metal sprinkled in among the thousand-ton drops and agro accents that are intriguing, and make one wonder where the band is going next. Definitely worth a listen, if only to know these guys before you undoubtedly see them on tour.
Nocturnal Graves, An Outlaw’s Stand (Season of Mist)
For fans of: Angelcorpse, Marduk, Nifelheim
Standout track: “Law of the Blade”
Oh man, we love shit like this. Nocturnal Graves aren’t here to make you like them on An Outlaw’s Stand; they don’t even put in a bunch of tasty gallops and Slayer worship to make the music feel party-friendly. Instead, this is blasting blackened death-thrash that exists solely to grind your flesh into a fine paste. The record’s fast moments are all wily and labyrinthine; its slow sections never stomp or march but roll forward mercilessly. For your casual Metallica fan, this is bleach for the ears, for the right kind of underground metalhead, it’s the album of the year.
APES, Lullabies for Eternal Sleep EP (Translation Loss)
For fans of: Weeping, Fuming Mouth, Wake
Standout track: “Devour”
Wow, don’t fuck with Quebec City, apparently! The new EP from Canadian tongue-rippers APES makes one reconsider their definition of wall of death. Like, forget a bunch of Lamb of God fans twirling a finger in the air – you know those lava levels in old scrolling video games? Those levels where the left side of the screen was literally trying to eat your character, so you had to run like hell? That’s what this music is. It’s like a literal plane of pure destruction closing in on you. And it’s fucking incredible.
VoidCeremony, At The Periphery of Human Realms EP (20 Buck Spin)
For fans of: Old-school Morbid Angel, later Death, Horrendous.
Standout track: “Tenebrous Lucidity”
It speaks to VoidCeremony’s strength as a band that even though this EP is surprise-released, it’s already being talked about throughout the underground. At The Periphery of Human Realms is old-school in its bass-heavy progginess, but the riffs still come with serrated edges, and the overall vibe is a gooey, tangible cosmic one. Though only two songs (and an interlude), it shows as much promise as any 2022 release so far. Stop the world and melt with this one.
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
