The Weekly Injection: New Releases From GHOST, MACHINE HEAD & More Out This Week 4/25

This week’s new heavy metal releases include this Ø thing, different takes on metalcore, spoken word sludge, and more! To the metals…

Caliban – Back From Hell

Genre: Metalcore
Origin: Essen, Germany
Label: Century Media

Buy now on Bandcamp

Starting a stacked week with some metalcore mastery. This cameo-filled journey has all the catchy and epic tropes of the genre done well. Guests include folks from Mental Cruelty, The Browning, Fit For An Autopsy, and Joe Bad.

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Employed To Serve – Fallen Star

Genre: Metalcore
Origin: Woking, England
Label: Spinefarm

Buy now on Bandcamp

Just keeping the metalcore party going for a little longer. The most diverse and intense album from Employed To Serve has landed in Fallen Star. Again, melodic, grand, but with more of a modern edge than Caliban. This is also full of guests though. They’ve got Will Ramos (Lorna Shore), Serena Cherry (Svlabard), and Jesse Leach (Killswitch Engage) with them.

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Eluveitie – Ànv

Genre: Folk metal
Origin: Winterthur, Zürich, Switzerland
Label: Nuclear Blast

Buy now here

It’s been six long years since this horde got folksy. Since their last record they’ve employed Lea-Sophie Fisher as their violin and (here comes a Weekly Injection classic) hurdy gurdy (!!!) player who was in Russkaja. She’s joining the usual sonic collision of melodic death metal infused with bagpipes, whistles, Gaita, harp, and more.

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Ghost – Skeleta

Genre: Heavy metal/rock rock
Origin: Linköping, Sweden
Label: Loma Vista

Buy now on Bandcamp

Tobias Forge is back with another fun Ghost record that sounds like the combination of Mercyful Fate and The Bee Gees. Fight about it somewhere else.

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Billy Idol – Dream Into It

Genre: Punk/rock
Origin: Stanmore, England
Label: Dark Horse, BMG

Buy now here

Including this might be more controversial than Ghost. Anyway, your aunt’s favorite snarling bleach blonde kinda-punk rocker has returned with his first album in nine years just in time for his Rock Hall nomination. He is joined on a few songs by Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Avril Lavigne, and soon-to-be tour mate Joan Jett. He’s still got it if you ask me. “Still Dancing” would fit in perfectly next to “White Wedding.”

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Kardashev – Alunea

Genre: Progressive/atmospheric deathcore
Origin: Tempe, Arizona
Label: Metal Blade

Buy now on Bandcamp

I’ve been up front when an inclusion is one that I’m particularly stoked about, and this week it’s this one. In 2022, Kardashev dropped what became my album of the year in Liminal Rite. I was very happy to hear that Alunea continues that success streak with a combination of Rivers of Nihil or Fallujah‘s frantic melodic deathcore with the grandeur of Ne Obliviscaris. They have a sound that could be easy to simply rehash and get away with it, but they tweak it just enough to keep it fresh.

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Machine Head – Unatøned

Genre: Groove metal/thrash
Origin: Oakland, California
Label: Nuclear Blast

Buy now here

Unatøned is Machine Head’s secønd in the unøfficial Ø = O series øf albums and like Øf Kingdøm and Crøwn, this recørd søunds like a mix øf all the the band’s 00’s søunds. Tøns of catchy chøruses, guitar harmønies, chrushing grøøves, and, øf cøurse, that øne guitar harmonic thing they løve (and frankly, I løve tøø). Røbb and the gang are jøined by new guitarist Reece Scruggs (Mønølith, ex-Havøk) whø is a perfect melødic shredder før the gig.

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Sumac + Moor Mother – The Film

Genre: Atmospheric sludge/spoken word
Origin: Various, USA
Label: Thrill Jockey

Buy now on Bandcamp

Concluding this week with an intense and different one. Sumac are no stranger to a collaboration. This one with Moor Mother may be the most atypical so far. Moor Mother is the project of Camae Ayew who is a spoken word poet, activist, and experimental artist. So Sumac are largely providing a bed for her hard hitting words. Heavy as fuck across the board.

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Also dropping this week…

• Ahamkara – The Harrow Of The Lost (Bindrune Recordings) – Dark ambient
• Ancst – Dominion (Self-released) – Melodic black metal/crust
• Another Damn Disappointment – Bedlam (Disappointed) – Punk
• Aortes – Carrion (Self-released) – Post-metal/doom
• Art Nation – The Ascendance (Frontiers) – Melodic hard rock
• Avenger Of Blood – Revenge Is My Name (M-Theory) – Death metal/thrash
• Bark – The Time Has Come (Listenable Records) – Groove metal/death n roll
• Behölder – In The Temple Of The Tyrant (Black Lion Records) – D&D inspired-doom
• Big|Brave – Ost (Thrill Jockey) – Experimental metal
• Blax – Certesia (Wormholedeath). – Gothic rock
• Blister Brigade – A Rioting New Breed (Inverse Records) – Melodic metal
• Brick By Brick – Collapse (Upstate Records) – Hardcore/beatdown
• Cadaver – Hymns Of Misanthropy (Listenable) – Death metal
• Cancer – Inverted World (Peaceville) – Death metal/thrash
• Caustic Wound – Grinding Mechanism Of Torment (Profound Lore) – Death metal/grindcore
• Changeling – Changeling (Season Of Mist) – Progressive death metal
• Cirith Ungol – Live At The Roxy (Metal Blade) – Heavy metal/doom
• Coffin Feeder – Big Trouble (Lisentable Records) – Deathcore
• Conan – Violence Dimension (Heavy Psych Sounds) – Stoner/doom
• Conflict – This Much Remains (Mortarhate/Cadiz Music)
• David Eugene Edwards and Al Cisneros – Pillar of Fire/Capernaum (Drag City Records) – Experimental
• Deserted Fear – Veins Of Fire (Testimony) – Death metal
• Disfuneral – In Horror, Reborn (Redefining Darkness Records) – Death metal
• Dissentor – Flagella (Self-released) – Death/black metal
• André Drage – Wolves (Drage Records) – Progressive rock
• Echoes of the Extinct – Era of Darkness (Inverse Records) – Progressive/melodic death metal
• Eyes – Spinner (Prosthetic Records) – Hardcore/noise metal
• Felgrave – Otherlike Darknesses (Transcending Obscurity Records) – Death metal/doom
• Game Over – Face The End (Scarlet Records) – Thrash
• GhostSeeker – Divergence (Rock Of Angels) – Modern metal/metalcore
• The Great Sea – Noble Art Of Desolation (AOP Records) – Atmospheric black metal
• Harem Scarem – Chasing Euphoria (Frontiers) – Hard rock
• H.E.A.T. – Welcome To The Future (earMusic) – Hard rock
• Matthew Kiichi Heafy – True Believers (Original Score) (FiXT Entertainment) – Comic book score/synthwave
• Heavy Heavy Low Low – Pain Olympics (Self-released) – Mathcore
• Higher Walls – No End (Self-released) – Mathcore/hardcore
• I Am Your God – Δ (Trinity) (Out Of Line Music) – Modern metal
• Imminent Sonic Destruction – Floodgate (FC Records) – Progressive metal
• Insineratehymn – Irreverence Of The Divine (Self-released) – Death metal
• Kanonenfieber – Live In Oberhausen (Century Media) – Melodic black/death metal
• Liv Kristine – Amor Vincit Omnia (Metalville) – Gothic metal
• Landmvrks – The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been (Arising Empire) – Metalcore/djent
• Like Heaven – Hope In Hell (War Records) – Emotional hardcore
• Malforce – Force du Mal (Witches Brew) – Death metal/thrash
• MalumMortem – Volume I (Black Mass Prayers) – Black metal
• Martoriator – Bloodpainted Visions Of Perpetual Conflict (Edged Circle) – Black/death metal
• Monk – Dark Side Of The Mind (Dine Alone Records) – Hardcore
• Northvoid – Ember Remains (Inverse Records) – Groove metal
• Opia – Welcome Thee, Eternal Sleep (Napalm Records) – Gothic metal/doom
• Pagan Altar – Never Quite Dead (Dying Victims Productions) – NWOBHM
• Phantom – Tyrants Of Wrath (High Roller) – Speed metal/thrash
• PLQ MRX – Cumgitsum (Reptilian Records) – Experimental/avant-garde metal
• Point Mort – Le point de non-retour (Almost Famous) – Mathcore
• Profanatica – Wreathed In Dead Angels EP (Hells Headbangers) – Black/death metal
• The Riven – Visions Of Tomorrow (Dying Victims Productions) – Hard rock
• Sacred Steel – Ritual Supremacy (Rock Of Angels) – Power/speed metal
• Saetia – Tendrils (Self-released) – Screamo
• Samiarus – Reign Destroyer (Sentient Ruin) – Black/death metal
• Sijjin – Helljjin Combat (Sepulchral Productions) – Death metal/thrash
• Structure – Heritage (Ardua Music) – Atmospheric death metal/doom
• Sunflower Bean – Mortal Primetime (Lucky Number) – Psychedelic rock
• Teaser Sweet – Night Stalker (High Roller) – Heavy metal
• Trick Or Treat – Ghosted (Scarlet Records) – Power metal
• Vape Warlök – …And His Skull Shall Make My Bong (Pillars Of Creation) – Doom/sludge
• Viagra Boys – Viagr Aboys (Shrimptech Enterprises) – Punk
• Void King – The Hidden Hymnal – Chapter II (Argonauta Records) – Doom/stoner
• Wednesday 13 – Mid Death Crisis (Napalm) – Horror punk/hard rock
• The Yagas – Midnight Minuet (Self-released) – Alternative rock