MORE 2011 SICKNESS (PART 3)

We’re jumping the gun on this post, since the month doesn’t end until tomorrow. Why? Uh, because this post is ready to go and we don’t have anything else finished for today yet. Work and other shit interfered with our grand plans for a Sunday post.  We might still get another one up later today, but for now, feast your eyes on the barrage of metal headed our direction.

What we do with these installments of METAL IN THE FORGE is collect news blurbs and press releases we’ve seen over the last 30 days (or in this case, the last 27 days) about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like (including updates about releases we’ve included in previous installments of this series), or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know them yet. And in this post, we cut and paste the announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.

This isn’t a cumulative list, so be sure to check the Category link called “Forthcoming New Albums” on the right side of this page to see forecasted releases we reported in previous installments. This month’s list begins right after the jump. Look for your favorite bands, or get intrigued about some new ones. There’s some awesome shit on the way.

ANAAL NATHRAKH: “Candlelight is again proud to have performers at the upcoming Scion Rock Fest. . . . England’s ANAAL NATHRAKH were just confirmed as an additional performer, marking only the second time the band will perform on US soil. No word yet if the band will perform selections from their forthcoming album Passion, now confirmed for North American release on May 17th.”

ARTILLERY: “Danish thrash metal veterans ARTILLERY have completed work on their sixth album, My Blood, at Medley Studios in Copenhagen for a March 21 European release via Metal Mind Productions (April 5 in the U.S. through MVD and March 9 in Japan via King Records).”

AZARATH: “AZARATH, the Polish extreme metal band featuring BEHEMOTH drummer Zbigniew Robert “Inferno” Prominski, will release its as-yet-untitled fifth album on June 6 via Witching Hour Productions. The CD was recorded in January and February at Hertz Studio (VADER, BEHEMOTH, LOST SOUL) with the Wieslawscy Bros. handling the production, mixing and mastering.”

BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE: Atlanta, Georgia-based metallers BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE will release their fourth album, Celestial Completion, on March 29 via Solid State Records. The CD was produced by Matt Goldman (UNDEROATH, THE CHARIOT, COPELAND) and contains 11 tracks. The cover artwork has been created by Dan Seagraves.

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME: “Celebrated progressive rock / cutting-edge metal band BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME (also BTBAM) has inked a worldwide recording deal with Metal Blade Records. The award-winning North Carolina quintet will kick off the partnership with the April release of its new album The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues.”

BLOODIEST: “Chicago, Illinois’ BLOODIEST will release its debut full-length, Descent, on March 29 in North America (April 4 internationally) via Relapse Records. The CD was recorded with engineer Sanford Parker at Steve Albini‘s Electrical Audio studios in Chicago.”

BLUT AUS NORD: “France’s BLUT AUS NORD will release their new album, 777 – Sect(s), on April 19 (one day earlier internationally) via Debemur Morti Productions. Originating in 1994 from the ashes of VLAD (who released two demos), BLUT AUS NORD are undisputable French black metal pioneers, always managing to progress and move forward, evolving in perpetual mutation, developing their own vision of black metal.”

BORN OF OSIRIS: “Chicago-based progressive metal hybrid BORN OF OSIRIS will release its third full-length album, The Discovery, on March 22 via Sumerian Records. The CD was recorded at BOTA Studio in Lake In The Hills, Illinois and was mixed by Jason Suecof (ALL THAT REMAINS, TRIVIUM, DEVILDRIVER).”

CHRIST AGONY: “Polish black metal legends CHRIST AGONY will enter Studio X in Olsztyn, Poland on March 21 with engineer Szymon Czech to begin recording their ninth album, NocturN, for a fall release via Mystic Production. The cover artwork and the graphic design for the follow-up to 2008’s Condemnation will be handled by BlackTeamMedia. Session drums on the effort will be performed by Zbigniew Robert “Inferno” Prominski (BEHEMOTH, AZARATH).”

COMMUNIC: “Norwegian metallers COMMUNIC have issued the following update: ‘We have completed the work in studio, the new album is ready, and the result is simply amazing. Dan Swanö [EDGE OF SANITY, BLOODBATH, NIGHTINGALE] is currently putting the final touch on the mastering [at Unisound studios in Örebro, Sweden] and we are one step closer to get this album out there. Happy times.’ COMMUNIC‘s follow-up to 2008’s Payment Of Existence is tentatively due in June via Nuclear Blast Records.”

CRIMFALL: “Finnish folk metalers CRIMFALL will release their sophomore album,The Writ Of Sword, on March 23 via Spinefarm Records. The CD was recorded at Adamantium Studios and was produced and mixed by Hit Happens. It features guest appearances by Tapio Wilska (SURVIORS ZERO), Ville Sorvali (MOONSORROW), Mathias “Vreth” Lillmåns (FINNTROLL, CHTHONIAN, DECOMPOSTER), Mathias Nygård (TURISAS), Olli Vänskä (TURISAS) and Trollhorn (FINNTROLL,MOONSORROW). The album was mastered by Jens Bogren [OPETH,SOILWORK, KATATONIA, PARADISE LOST, BLOODBATH] at Fascination Street in Örebro, Sweden.”

DEATH: “Producer/engineer Jim Morris from Morrisound Recording Studios (TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, ICED EARTH, CANNIBAL CORPSE) in Tampa, Florida has just finished remixing the legendary 1991 album from DEATH called Human. Human will be reissued in 2011 internationally in a partnership between Relapse Records and Perseverance Holdings Ltd. The reissue will mark the 20th anniversary of the original release of Human on Relativity/Sony and will include loads of extras, including DEATH‘s cover of “God Of Thunder” by KISS.”

DECAPITATED: “Polish technical death metallers DECAPITATED have entered Radio Gdansk Studio in Poland to begin recording the follow-up to 2006’s Organic Hallucinosis. The follow-up is being produced by Wacek Kieltyka and sound engineered by Malta Arkadiusz Malczewski.”

DEMONICAL: “DEMONICAL, the Swedish death metal band featuring past and present members from CENTINEX, GRAVE, REGURGITATE, INTERMENT, AMARAN, WORLD BELOW and DELLAMORTE, will release its third album, Death Infernal, on April 15 via Germany’s Cyclone Empire Records.”

DYNABYTE: “DYNABYTE, the Italian industrial metal band featuring former OPERA IX vocalist Cadaveria and NECRODEATH bassist John (a.k.a Killer Bob), has inked a deal with Wormholedeath/Dreamcell11 for the CD release of its new album, 2KX. The effort, which was produced, arranged, engineered and mastered entirely by DYNABYTE, was previously released in October 2010 exclusively on a USB stick, with extra content (previously unreleased pictures, wallpapers and exclusive multimedia content) as a way to thank fans for their support. The CD version of 2KX will be made available on February 25.”

EMPEROR: “TAAKE, HELHEIM, TROLL and HORNA are among the bands who will appear on the forthcoming tribute album to the majestic Norwegian black metal band EMPEROR. Entitled In Honour Of Icon E, the collection will be released later this year via Metal Swamp and Tryzna Production.”

EYEHATEGOD: “New Orleans sludge miscreants EYEHATEGOD will release an official live DVD on March 22 via MVD. Simply titled Live, the 88-minute production features multi-camera footage from 2009 (Baltimore, Maryland) and 2010 (Cleveland, Ohio), with bonus clips from the last show of their 2010 European tour and videos never before released on DVD.”

FORMLOFF: “FORMLOFF has completed work on Spyhorelandet, a nine-song, 54-minute collection of ‘rural black metal, thematically embracing the tragedy of everyday life.’ The effort is described in a press release as ‘a journey through an atmospheric-yet-progressive and at times jazzy black metal landscape with a raw sounding production.'”

GRAVEYARD: “Psychedelic doom rock band GRAVEYARD from Gothenburg, Sweden have unveiled the artwork for their second full-length studio release, Hisingen Blues. The album was produced, recorded, and mixed in 100 percent analog by Don Alsterberg (JOSÉ GONZALES, JUNIP, SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES, THE INTERNATIONAL NOISE CONSPIRACY) at Don Pierre Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden. It will be out in Europe on March 25 and in North America on April 19 via Nuclear Blast Records.”

ICED EARTH: “U.S. power metallers ICED EARTH are hard at work on their tenth studio album, due later this year via Century Media Records. Unlike 2008’s The Crucible Of Man and 2007’s Framing Armageddon, the new CD won’t be a conceptual effort. Instead, band leader Jon Schaffer promises a return to the raw-and-heavy sound of ICED EARTH‘s classic fan-favorite albums.”

ILLDISPOSED: “Danish extreme metallers ILLDISPOSED will release their new album, There Is Light (But It’s Not For Me), one week later than previously announced — on April 1 via Massacre Records. The band recorded the CD at Antfarm Studio in Århus, Denmark with producer Tue Madsen (MOONSPELL, DARK TRANQUILLITY, GOREFEST, SICK OF IT ALL).

INDIAN: ““No Grace”, a brand new song from Chicago, Illionois’ INDIAN, can be streamed here. The track comes off the band’s new album, Guiltless, which will be released on April 12 (April 25 internationally) via Relapse Records on CD, 12-inch vinyl, and digitally. The CD was recorded at Semaphore Recordings in October with engineer Sanford Parker (UNEARTHLY TRANCE, PELICAN, MINSK, BLOODIEST). The album art, as designed by Scott Fricke, can also be viewed [via the same link].”

INSENSE: “Norwegian metallers INSENSE will release their fourth album, Burn In Beautiful Fire, on April 8 via Indie Recordings. IN FLAMES frontman Anders Fridén, who manages INSENSE, stated about the latter act, ‘The first time I heard them, I wanted more. They have this amazing ability to sound extreme yet poised, dark yet beautiful, hardcore yet soft, technical yet simplistic, all without falling into the ‘pathetic’ trap. They are an extreme metal band that’s comfortable to listen to. They’re difficult to categorize that way.'”

JOB FOR A COWBOY: “Glendale, Arizona extreme metallers JOB FOR A COWBOY have entered Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida with producer Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM, CHIMAIRA, DEVILDRIVER) to begin recording an EP of all-new material. The as-yet-untitled effort will feature the first new music from the band since 2009’s Ruination LP, which landed at position No. 42 on The Billboard 200 chart. A spring release via Metal Blade Records is expected.”

KAMPFAR: “Norwegian old-school black metallers KAMPFAR will release their new album, Mare, in Europe on March 25 and in the U.S. on April 5 via Napalm Records. The follow-up to 2008’s Heimgang album was recorded at Abyss studios in Pärlby, outside Ludvika, Sweden with producer Peter Tägtgren (HYPOCRISY, PAIN).”

LAST CHANCE TO REASON: “LAST CHANCE TO REASON have announced April 12, as the North American release date for their PROSTHETIC RECORDS’ debut, Level 2. The Augusta, Maine based, experimental prog-metal sextet will hit the road in February for their first Canadian run of dates and will then meet up with the legendary Atheist. The band will also be appearing at this year’s New England Metal and Hardcore Festival in Worcester, MA on April 16^th.”

LEPROUS: “Norwegian progressive metal upstarts LEPROUS are recording their new album at legendary EMPEROR frontman Ihsahn‘s Ivory Shoulder Studio (formerly Symphonique Studio). Commented Ihsahn: ‘We are happy to have the guys in LEPROUSworking in our studio these days. So far the recording has been going great, and new material is absolutely fantastic! In lack of a crystal ball, we would still definitely predict this to be one of the best progressive albums coming out in 2011.’ LEPROUS has served as Ihsahn‘s backing band for his recent live appearances.”

LOWER THAN ATLANTIS: “British four-piece indie/post-hardcore act LOWER THAN ATLANTIS has inked a North American deal with Sumerian Records. The band’s new album, World Record, will be combined with the group’s debut, Far Q, and made available as a double-disc release on April 19.”

MASTODON: “Atlanta progressive metallers MASTODON will release a new live DVD/CD, Live At The Aragon, on March 15 via Reprise. The set was filmed/recorded during the band’s October 17, 2009 concert at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois and it features a performance of the Crack The Skye album, along with other tracks from MASTODON‘s back catalog, plus a MELVINS cover.”

MERCENARY: “Danish melodic death metallers MERCENARY will release their sixth album, Metamorphosis, in North America on March 29 via Prosthetic Records. The North American version of the CD will feature the exclusive bonus track, “Incorporate Your Demons”.”

MOONSORROW: “Epic heathen metallers MOONSORROW — a five-strong outfit formed in Helsinki in 1995 — will release their new album on February 23 in Finland and March 21 in the U.K. through Spinefarm Records. Titled Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa (English translation: “As Shadows We Wander In The Land Of The Dead”), this 60-minute-plus opus sees the band taking an approach to its craft that borders on the cinematic, carving out truly monumental swathes of sound best enjoyed with a flagon of mead in one hand and a sharpened weapon of war in the other.”

NOMAD: “NOMAD, the Polish death metal band featuring BEHEMOTH guitarist Patryk Dominik “Seth” Sztyber, will release its new album, Transmigration Of Consciouness, on March 21 via Witching Hour. The CD was recorded with Arek “Malta” Malczewski at Hendrix Studio in Lublin, Poland and is now being mastered at Hertz Studio. Eight songs of ‘ultra-heavy and sophisticated death metal’ were laid down during the sessions, ‘with intro and outro encapsulating the album into one massive apocalyptic composition.'”

PAIN: “Swedish metallers PAIN, who are led by HYPOCRISY mainman Peter Tägtgren, are working on the follow-up to 2008’s Cynic Paradise. NIGHTWISH singer Anette Olzon, who also happens to be the girlfriend of PAIN bassist Johan Husgafvel, writes on her official blog that Tägtgren is putting the finishing touches on the new CD this week. ‘The album will be out approximately in June,’ she says.”

PENTAGRAM: “PENTAGRAM, the band that has been churning out widely admired hard rock/doom metal for over four decades, has just revealed the track listing and artwork to its highly anticipated new album, Last Rites. Due on April 12 via Metal Blade Records, the CD contains 11 new tracks of behemoth tunes that fans have been clamoring for since the last Liebling/Griffin masterpiece was released in 1994 (Be Forewarned).”

PRIMORDIAL: “Irish dark metal masters PRIMORDIAL have finished recording their seventh studio album, Redemption At The Puritan’s Hand, with producer Chris Fielding (NAPALM DEATH, ELECTRIC WIZARD) for an April 26 release (three days earlier in Europe) via Metal Blade Records.”

RIBSPREADER: “RIBSPREADER, the Swedish “old-school death metal” band featuring guitarist/vocalist/bassist Rogga Johansson (PAGANIZER, DEMIURG, BONEGNAWER), will release its fourth full-length album, The Van Murders, on April 25 via Vic Records. According to a press release, the CD “sounds like the classic RIBSPREADER debut album Bolted to The Cross. Less groovy than Opus Ribcage, WAY more raw, harsh and old school (band leader Rogga expressed it as: ‘dirty, simple old-school death metal, no frills and lots of chills’).”

RUDRA: “Singaporean metallers RUDRA will release their new album, Brahmavidya – Immortal I, the long-anticipated final chapter of the Brahmavidya trilogy, on March 3 via Sonic Blast Media. . . . With 19 years of history under RUDRA‘s belt, this new album is a monumental release for RUDRA as it is not only the final chapter to the Brahmavidya trilogy but also the start to a new chapter with Sonic Blast Media; and we look forward to many more releases by RUDRA.”

SARKE: “SARKE, the Norwegian band featuring Sarke (real name: Thomas Bergli; KHOLD, TULUS, OLD MAN’S CHILD, SENSA ANIMA) and Nocturno Culto (DARKTHRONE), will release its sophomore album, Oldarhian, on April 15 via Indie Recordings.”

STATE:CHAOS: “STATE:CHAOS, the Dutch metal band featuring former members of CALLENISH CIRCLE and DESENSITISED, will release its debut album, Chaos | Pain | Despair, March 7 via the British label Casket Music. The CD was recorded by Hans Reinders at PIT studios and was mixed and mastered by Jochem Jacobs (TEXTURES).”

STREAM OF PASSION: “Dutch/Mexican gothic/progressive metal band STREAM OF PASSION has entered Sandlane Recording Facilities in Rijen, Holland to begin recording its third album for a 2011 release. . . . STREAM OF PASSION‘s sophomore album, The Flame Within, entered the official chart in Holland at position No. 57.”

SUIDAKRA: ““Dowth 2059”, the new video from German melodic folk/death metallers SUIDAKRA, can be viewed here (courtesy of Metal Injection). The clip marks the band’s first collaboration with director/producer David Thelen. “Dowth 2059” comes off SUIDAKRA‘s tenth album, Book Of Dowth, which will be released on March 25 via AFM Records.”

SYLOSIS: “A promotional video for Edge Of The Earth, the sophomore album from U.K. modern thrashers SYLOSIS, [has been released]. Due on March 11 via Nuclear Blast Records, the CD was produced by Scott Atkins, who previously worked with the band on 2008’s Conclusion Of An Age.”

SYNKRONIZITY: “SYNKRONIZITY, the new project led by former ATHEIST/CYNIC bassist Tony Choy, has completed work on its debut album for a May release. The cover artwork for the CD is being created by Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with ATHEIST, TESTAMENT, SIGH, ANACRUSIS and GWAR, among others. Commented Choy: ‘This project reflects how I have always wanted to express myself in metal combining fusion, death metal jazz to pop, but keeping it to true to the ‘South Florida death metal legacy and show the world what Tony Choy is capable of.'”

THURISAZ: “Belgium-based metallers THURISAZ have inked a deal with Greece’s Sleaszy Rider Records for the release of the band’s third album, The Cimmerian Years. Due in May, the CD was recorded and mixed at CCR Studio in Zulte, Belgium with producer Kris Belean. The artwork was created by the Dutch artist Geert van Mook . . . .”

TORCHBEARER: “Swedish black/death metallers TORCHBEARER will release their third full-length album, Death Meditations, on April 25 via Vic Records. The CD was produced by Plec Johansson (WATAIN, SCAR SYMMETRY, SOLUTION .45, MISERATION). The artwork was created by Pär Olofsson (IMMORTAL, IMMOLATION, MALEVOLENT CREATION). Death Meditations is a concept album based on the philosophy of Hagakure — the way of the samurai.”

VARG: “German Viking metallers VARG will release their new album,Wolfskult, on March 4 via NoiseArt Records. The artwork was created by Thomas Ewerhard and can be seen here. A limited-edition two-CD digipak version of the album will be made available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.”

VERENPISARA: VERENPISARA, the Finnish band featuring AMORPHIS members Tomi Koivusaari and Santeri Kallio, will release its fourth album, Eilinen On Kuollut, on February 23. The group started working on material for the CD five years ago, but record company problems and AMORPHIS commitments delayed the process, with the bulk of the recording sessions taking place over the last two summers. ”

WINDS OF PLAGUE: “Southern California metallers WINDS OF PLAGUE will release their new album, Against The World, on April 19 via Century Media Records. The CD was recorded at a Los Angeles studio with renowned producer Matt Hyde (SLAYER, HATEBREED) and will feature guest appearances by Jamey Jasta of HATEBREED, Drew York of STRAY FROM THE PATH, TERROR guitarist Martin Stewart and Mattie Montgomery from FOR TODAY.”