No, we’re not talking about the swine flu, or the avian flu, or the next animal virus that decides humans would be a nice host environment upgrade. We’re talking about new metal that has the potential to be sick.

On the first day of the New Year, we posted a round-up of new extreme metal albums forecast for release 2010, along with our list of the 21 we most wanted to hear.

One month has now passed, and we’ve discovered some forthcoming releases we didn’t know about on January 1. Seems like a good time for an update! So, we’ve cobbled together news blurbs about forthcoming albums from bands whose past work we’ve liked, or who look interesting for other reasons. Needless to say (but we’ll say it anyway), these are bands that fit the profile of music we cover on this site (with a couple of Exceptions to the Rule).

So, in alphabetical order, here’s our list of cut-and-pasted blurbs from various sources over the last 31 days about forthcoming releases we missed in our January 1 list:

AGALLOCH: “So what can we expect from the band’s long-awaited follow-up to Ashes Against the Grain? According to an interview songwriter John Haughm gave to German TV last May, ‘expect the unexpected.’ Haughm says that the next release will be ‘completely different’ from its predecessors — ‘a bit darker,’ closer to black metal, but with the same kind of dynamics that Agalloch is known for.  As for when we can expect the new album, Haughm said that he hoped it would be out by May 2010.”

APOCALYPTICA:  ”Finnish rock cello quartet APOCALYPTICA has entered Sonic Pump studios in Helsinki to begin recording its new album for a spring/summer release.” [This is one of those Exceptions to the Rule.]

APOSTASY: “Four new songs from the Swedish black metal act APOSTASY are available for streaming on the band’s MySpace page. The tracks will appear on the group’s forthcoming third full-length album, Nuclear Messiah, which will be released later in the year.”  (more after the jump . . .)

BARREN EARTH: “Finland’s up-and-coming prog/death supergroup, BARREN EARTH, has revealed the tracklist for their debut full-length record, Curse of the Red River, due out in the US on April 6, courtesy of Peaceville Records. Curse of the Red River is the follow up to BARREN EARTH’s debut EP, Our Twilight, which hit stores last November. . . . [The band] has launched a mini-site in anticipation of their debut full-length record . . . . The new mini-site, which contains audio samples, a video teaser, and more, can be viewed at this location.”

BENEATH: “Icelandic death metallers BENEATH will release their debut EP, Hollow Empty Void, on February 13 via Mordbrann Musikk. The CD was recorded, mixed and mastered by guitarist Johann Ingi Sigurdsson at Fossland Studio in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland.”

BRUTAL TRUTH: (see blurb on LOCK UP below.)

CHILDREN OF BODOM: “Finnish metallers CHILDREN OF BODOM will commence the songwriting process for their next album in February. The group hopes to enter the studio in early summer to begin recording the CD for a late 2010/early 2011 release.” [Okay, we're being optimistic about the 2010 release timing. Probably won't happen.]

DAWN OF ASHES: “Metal Blade Records is pleased to announce it has inked a deal with the Los Angeles horror inspired black/death metal band DAWN OF ASHES. DAWN OF ASHES is a band whose passion for intense and macabre imagery, music, and live performances will soon be seen by the metal masses when Genocide Chapters is unleashed in late spring/summer 2010.”

DE PROFUNDIS: “London, U.K.-based progressive extreme metal band DE PROFUNDIS will release its second album, A Bleak Reflection, on February 1, 2010 via Kolony Records. The CD was recorded in June/July 2009 with producer Fernando Pereira Lopes (MISANTHROPE, ORAKLE) and was mastered by Tim Turan (EMPEROR, OPETH, MOTÖRHEAD). One track is available for streaming on the band’s MySpace page.”

ENSLAVED: “Founding member/songwriter/rhythm guitarist Ivar Bjørnson of Norwegian masters of progressive/experimental metal ENSLAVED has issued the following studio update: ‘This is a short blog from the studio where we — ENSLAVED — have started to record our new album. We are doing the drums in Duper Studios here in Bergen; this time around we are recording everything in our hometown, something we last did with [2004's] Isa.’”

HOUR OF PENANCE: “Italian death metallers HOUR OF PENANCE will release their fourth album, Paradogma, on March 30 via Unique Leader Records. The CD cover art was created by Gyula Havancsàk, who has previously worked with such acts as ANNIHILATOR and DESTRUCTION.”

IMPENDING DOOM: “Impending Doom has completed the writing process for their next Facedown Records release. Today the group will enter Lambesis Studios (Winds Of Plague, Austrian Death Machine) in San Marcos, CA to begin tracking the effort with engineers Daniel Castleman and Kelly Cairns. A mid-2010 release is expected.”

KATAKLYSM: “As previously reported, KATAKLYSM has set Heaven’s Venom as the title of the follow-up to 2008′s Prevail, tentatively due in October via Nuclear Blast Records. Commented guitarist Jean-Francois Dagenais: ‘This album will be different than Prevail, but will still have the classic KATAKLYSM trademarks and hooks.’”

KEEP OF KALESSIN: “KEEP OF KALESSIN has set Reptilian as the title of its new album, due in early 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records. The band’s last CD, Kolossus, was released in June 2008. The album was made available via Indie Recordings and was licensed to Nuclear Blast for the following territories: Germany, Austria, Switzerland and rest of the world outside Europe (except Australia and Russia).”

KIVIMETSAN DRUIDI: “Finnish symphonic folk metal band KIVIMETSÄN DRUIDI is currently mixing its second album for an April release via Century Media Records. The group states, ‘it will most certainly surprise many of [our fans]!’”  [Another Exception to the Rule.]

LENG TCH’E: “Leng Tch’e has finished up work on their next album, which is currently being mastered and will be available in May. The group has issued the following: ‘Regarding the new album, everything is finished and Mr. Russ Russell is finalizing the master as we speak. This is by far the heaviest and most extreme record we’ve ever made, and if that wasn’t enough, the legendary Mr. Barney Greenway [NAPALM DEATH] himself laid down some guest vocals on a little song called “Totalitarian.” Brutal as feck, as they apparently say in the Midlands. . . . We are also close to finalizing a new record deal which I alas cannot yet share with the world. But rest assured it will take Leng Tch’e to places before unseen. All I can say is the new record will be released in May, so prepare for a summer filled with razorgrind mayhem!’”

LOCK UP: “Grindcore supergroup LOCK UP will enter the studio in the next month to record new material to be included on a split seven-inch single with U.S. grind merchants BRUTAL TRUTH. The almost mythical extreme metal behemoth — AT THE GATES frontman Tomas Lindberg, Anton Reisenegger of PENTAGRAM and CRIMINAL on guitar, NAPALM DEATH bassist Shane Embury and ex-DIMMU BORGIR and TESTAMENT drummer Nick Barker — is also busy writing material for an as-yet-untitled new full-length album, due for release later this year.”

ONE MAN ARMY AND THE UNDEAD QUARTER: “ONE MAN ARMY AND THE UNDEAD QUARTET, the Swedish band featuring former THE CROWN vocalist Johan Lindstrand, is currently writing material for its fourth album, tentatively due later in the year. . . . [The band's] third album, Grim Tales, was released on October 24, 2008 via Massacre Records.”

RAINTIME: “‘Fire Ants’, a brand new song from Italian melodic metallers RAINTIME, is available for streaming at this location. The track is the first taste of RAINTIME’s third album, Psychromatic, which is scheduled for release in North America on March 16. The follow-up to 2007′s Flies and Lies was recorded at Remaster Studios in Italy and was mixed and mastered by Logan Mader (MACHINE HEAD, SOULFLY, MEDICATION) at Undercity Recordings in Los Angeles, California.” [You got me -- one more Exception to the Rule. I have an inexplicable weakness for this band.]

STIGMA: “Italy’s STIGMA has set Concerto for the Undead as the title for its follow-up to 2008′s When Midnight Strikes!, due on April 30 in Europe (except in the U.K., where it will arrive on May 3) and May 4 in North America via Pivotal Rockordings. Concerto for the Undead features lyrics centered on the cult-classic comic book series Tales From the Crypt and includes guest vocal appearances by Jamie Hope (ex-THE RED SHORE) and Jon Hunt (ex-DEAD TO FALL).”

SWARM OF THE LOTUS: “Swarm Of The Lotus frontman (and guitarist) Pete Maturi has revealed that the group is currently working on material for a new album. Here’s the official word: ‘Things are going well for us and we’ve been productive as of late. We plan to take as much of this year as it will take to write a new album. So YES, a new one is in the works, to answer some of you guys that have been asking. We are already up to 3 songs being worked on simultaneously and are really digging the vibe and direction we are taking it. It’s Swarm for sure, but definitely has some areas that we’ve never really tapped into before.’”

TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED: “Trigger The Bloodshed is currently in the process of recording a new album for Metal Blade Records. According to the group, ‘So far, drums and guitars have been completely finished and are sounding the tits!’ The effort will be mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen (Heaven Shall Burn, Aborted) and a spring release is expected.”

WOE: “Candlelight has signed Woe, Krieg, and Yaotl Mictlan. These are American black metal bands, which is interesting for a European label known for European acts (e.g., Emperor, 1349, and Blut aus Nord). . . . All of Candlelight’s new signings have new albums out this year. I’m excited for Woe’s, as I’ve been listening a lot to 2008′s A Spell for the Death of Man.”

ZONARIA: “Swedish death/black metal band Zonaria has completed the songwriting process for its new album and will soon enter The Abyss studio in Sweden with producer Jonas Kjellgr (Scar Symmetry, Sonic Syndicate, Hypocrisy, Centinex, Carnal Forge) to begin recording the effort for a spring/summer release.”