The Weekly Injection: New Releases From DEAFHEAVEN, ARCH ENEMY & More Out This Week 3/28

This week’s new heavy metal releases include dynamic records from metalcore mainstays, a twist on a return to form, and more! To the metals…

Alien Weaponry – Te Rā

Genre: Groove metal/thrash
Origin: Waipu, New Zealand
Label: Napalm

Buy now on Bandcamp

Album number three from this trio is another collection of groovy thrash metal with lyrics largely in Māori. They’re discussing the modern world, cultural traditions, the conflicts between the two, and more. One of the tracks features Randy from Lamb of God, which is pretty rad since the band cites LoG as an influence on them.

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Arch Enemy – Blood Dynasty

Genre: Halmstad, Sweden
Origin: Melodic death metal
Label: Century Media

Buy now on Bandcamp

As is tradition, album number twelve from Arch Enemy features epic melodic death metal as only they can do it. This is their first with Armageddon‘s Joey Concepcionon on guitar and perhaps that explains some of the more powerful guitar flourishes over Amott’s work. There a cover of Blaspheme‘s “Vivre Libre” here as a standard track, so they must be particularly proud of it.

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Lauren Babic – Too Much and Never Enough

Genre: Metalcore/hard rock
Origin: Toronto, Ontario
Label: Self-released

Buy now from Lauren

Lauren Babic is a name I know because she’ll release vocal covers (and usually heavier versions) of well known songs. On this EP, you’re getting four original songs that hit hard while retaining some pop flairs. Little deathcore here, little djent there, and always with undeniably great vocal performance.

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Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power

Genre: Blackgaze/post-black metal
Origin: San Francisco, California
Label: Roadrunner

Buy now on Bandcamp

In 2021 Infinite Granite dropped and it while pretty well recieved, it confused some long-time Deafheaven fans since it shifted away from the band’s blackened sound almost entirely. Lonely People With Power reintroduces their earlier sound while refusing to ditch the post-rock and experimental nature of the last record. In the end this winds up being a presentation of everything this band has done, can do, and perhaps will do next.

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Memphis May Fire – Shapeshifter

Genre: Metalcore/alternative metal
Origin: Denton, Texas
Label: Rise

Buy now from Rise

With a runtime of just over a half hour the latest from Memphis May Fire is a lean and efficient showcase of their metalcore abilities. Rhythms hit hard and the catchy choruses will live in your brain forever. The songwriting is impressively diverse, and perhaps that explains the album title.

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Ministry – The Squirrely Years Revisited

Genre: Industrial/new wave
Origin: Chicago, Illinois
Label: Cleopatra

Buy now from Ministry

Al Jourgensen is taking a dozen tracks from the earliest Ministry era that he apparently hates and is giving them another chance. Previously these songs were danceable and new wave adjacent, but now Al is giving them some modern grit. This feels like a successful and much needed pitstop before Ministry’s supposedly final album next year.

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Underoath – The Place After This One

Genre: Metalcore/screamo
Origin: Tampa, Florida –
Label: MNRK Heavy

Buy now on Bandcamp

Like Memphis May Fire‘s new record, Underoath‘s tenth record is a super dynamic exploration of sound. It starts off so angry, and then shifts to traditional metalcore, then on to glitchy hard rock, and then beyond. I wrote these guys off when I was younger, but this makes me think I was wrong. Plus, Troy from Mastodon is on a song, and that’s more incentive to give this a fair shot.

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Also dropping this week…

• Alliance – Before Our Eyes (Frontiers) – Melodic hard rock
• Don Airey – Pushed To The Edge (earMusic) – Rock
• Amenra – De Toorn (Relapse) – Sludge/doom
• Amenra – With Fang And Claw (Relapse) – Sludge/doom
• Brkn Love – The Program (Spinefarm) – Hard rock
• Capitalist – In the Days of Crimson Sun (Self-released) Black metal/crust
• Chamber Mage – By Light Of Emerald Gods (Nameless Grave Records) – Heavy metal
• Chiaroscuro – Chiaroscuro (Unholy Anarchy Records) – Melodic death metal
• Cruzeiro – Hic Sunt Dracones (La Rubia Producciones) – Doom/occult rock
• The Darkness – Dreams On Toast (Cooking Vinyl) – Glam rock
• Decrepisy – Deific Mourning (Carbonized Records) – Death metal
• Derev – Troubled Mind (Self-released) – Progressive metal
• Desert Smoke – Desert Smoke (Raging Planet) – Psychedelic/stoner
• Doomsday – Never Known Peace (Creator-Destructor Records) – Hardcore/thrash
• Fleshspoil – The Beginning of the End (Self-released) – Blackened death metal
• Galgeberg – Cerberus (Our Ancient Future) – Death metal/punk
• Gallower – Vengeance & Wrath (Dying Victims Productions) – Black metal/thrash
• Ginevra – Beyond Tomorrow (Frontiers) – Hard rock
• Grey Aura – Zwart vierkant: Slotstuk (Avantgarde Music) – Avant-garde black metal
• Hexecutor – Where Spirit Withers in Its Flesh Constraint (Dying Victims Productions) – Blackened thrash
• Industrial Puke – Alive To No Avail (Suicide Records) – Crust/death metal
• Jivebomb – Ethereal (Flatspot Records) – Hardcore
• Lives Lost – Home (Self-released) – Alternative metal
• Lucifer’s Child – The Illuminant (Agonia Records) – Black metal
• Mercy Ties – Reflections And Criticisms (The Ghost Is Clear Records) – Hardcore
• Nervous – Acquiescence (Wormholedeath) – Black/progressive metal
• New Model Army – Live SO36 (earMUSIC) – Post-punk
• Nospūn – Ozai (Giant Spoon Records) – Progressive metal
• On My Command – Conquer (Self-released) – Power metal/thrash
• Paths to Deliverance – Ten (Malpermesita Records) – Black metal
• Phil X & The Drills – Pow! Right In The Kisser (Frontiers) – Punk/hard rock
• Savage Master – Dark & Dangerous (Shadow Kingdom Records) – Heavy metal
• Severed Angel – When Eternity Ends (No Life ‘Til Metal Records) – Symphonic metal
• Sick Puppies – Wave The Bull (oneRPM) – Alternative rock
• Sicksense – Cross Me Twice (Earache Records) – Alternative/nu metal
• Silent Planet/Invent Animate – Bloom In Heaven (UNFD) – Metalcore
• Smoke Mountain – The Rider (Argonauta Records) – Stoner/doom
• The Snake – Always Bites Back (Svart) – “Serpent rock”
• Teitanblood – From the Visceral Abyss (Norma Evangelium Diaboli) – Death/black metal
• Telepathy – Transmissions (Pelagic Records) – Avant-garde/post-metal
• Tyrmfar – Symbiosis (Wormholedeath) – Melodic black metal
• Urn – Demon Steel (Osmose Productions) – Black metal/thrash
• Vigilhunter – Vigilhunter (High Roller) – heavy metal
• Vulvarine – Fast Lane (Napalm) – Hard rock/heavy metal
• W.E.T. – Apex (Frontiers) – Melodic rock
• The Warriors – Burn Yourself Alive (Pure Noise Records) – Metallica hardcore
• Wretched Path – Sea of Death (Inverse Records) – Death metal