October is over, except for Halloween, which continues to go on and on here at the metallic island that NCS calls home. Your humble editor spent the end of the month and the beginning of this new one grinding away at his fucking day job, which explains why this installment of METAL IN THE FORGE is late. It also explains why it’s more than typically incomplete, but more on that later.
Here’s the deal: In these posts, we collect news blurbs and press releases we’ve seen over the last month about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like (including occasional updates about releases we’ve included in previous installments of this series), or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know their music yet. In this series, we cut and paste those announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.
Remember — THIS ISN’T A CUMULATIVE LIST. If we found out about a new forthcoming album before September, we wrote about it in previous installments of this series. So, be sure to check the Category link called “Forthcoming Albums” on the right side of this page to see forecasted releases we reported earlier.
This month’s list begins right after the jump. I fell down on the job of monitoring the interhole and press releases to catch news about new albums that looked potentially cool to me, so I know I missed announcements of new releases that should be included here. So, feel free to leave Comments and tell all of us what I missed. Let us know about albums on the way that you’re stoked about!
ABIGAIL WILLIAMS: “American black metal outfit ABIGAIL WILLIAMS is putting the finishing touches on its new album, Becoming, for a January 24, 2012 release via Candlelight Records. ”
ALLEGAEON: “Allegaeon is preparing to enter the studio to record their second album for Metal Blade, and the follow up to the highly rated Fragments of Form and Function. This time around, the guys will be heading to San Diego to record with immensely talented up-and-coming producer, Daniel Castleman at Lambesis Studios. The band plans to record this December.”
THE AMENTA: “The Amenta is currently writing, recording and pre-producing the full length follow up to 2008’s divisive n0n album. With a working title of Flesh is Heir, the third full length is a crystallization of The Amenta’s methods. Featuring the expansive, aggressive riffing of the Occasus album and the ambient electronic destruction of n0n, Flesh is Heir also introduces a new eeriness courtesy of frontman, Cain Cressall and the unique musical and visual element that he brings to the band. The Amenta estimate that the album will be available early 2012.”
AMORAL: “”Silhouette”, the new video from the Finnish metal/hard rock outfit AMORAL, can be seen at Iltasanomat.fi. The song comes off the band’s fifth album, Beneath, which will be released on October 26.”
ANDROMEDA: “Swedish progressive metal band ANDROMEDA will release its new album,“Manifest Tyranny”, on November 25 in Europe via Inner Wound Recordings and November 21 in North America through Nightmare Records.”
ARKAIK: “Arkaik has officially locked down recording dates for their much anticipated sophomore release “Metamorphignition“. They will be entering Castle Ultimate Studio’s in February of 2012, and will be recording for the first time with new members Ivan Munguia (bass), and most recent addition Alex Hernandez Bent on drums.”
AUTOPSY: “AUTOPSY will be entering Fantasy studios in Berkeley, California late October to record a few new tracks for an upcoming collection entitled All Tomorrow’s Funerals. This monstrous release will be on Peaceville Records and will contain all of AUTOPSY’s EPs remastered by the band themselves as well as the new cuts, totalling 21 tracks all together.”
BASTARD PRIEST: “Sweden’s whore-filth death metal duo, BASTARD PRIEST, return to stink up your speakers with latest full-length, Ghouls Of The Endless Night. Featuring eight flesh-tearing tracks, the follow-up to 2010’s Under the Hammer of Destruction is set for release via Pulverised Records on November 7, 2011!”
CARACH ANGREN: “Dutch symphonic black metal act CARACH ANGREN has inked a deal with the French record label Season Of Mist. Commented the band: “We are very proud to be on Season Of Mist‘s roster! This covenant will enable us to release more hauntings upon the world in the years to come. A new horrific concept album is being written this autumn and recordings will start in less than two weeks. We promise you it will be darker and more epic than ever before!”
DIMMU BORGIR: “Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR have issued the following update via their Facebook page: “Wanted to let you guys know that DIMMU BORGIR had several studio sessions lately and have lots of new material for the upcoming 20th-anniversary album.””
DREAMING DEAD: “California death metal trio DREAMING DEAD are readying to unleash their long-awaited new full-length entitled Midnightmares. The follow-up to their 2009 Within One opus, was recorded from June through September of this year. All guitars and bass were tracked at the band’s own studio in downtown Los Angeles while the drums and vocals were tracked at Architeuthis Sound, (where Midnightmares was also mixed). The final product is nothing short of immense. Midnightmares offers up nine tracks of crushingly elaborate death metal anthems as led by band leader, vocalist and guitar priestess, Elizabeth Schall. Midnightmares will be released on October 31, 2011 as a digital download via the band’s official WEB SITE.”
GAZA: “Gaza enters the studio November 1 to record its third full-length album, the follow-up to 2009’s acclaimed He Is Never Coming Back. As yet untitled, the album will be produced by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou (Trap Them, Today Is The Day) at GodCity Studio in Salem, MA, and will be released in 2012 on Black Market Activities. Says Gaza frontman Jon Parkin, “We’ve been writing and crafting all summer long and then some. The songs are exactly what critics and haters have been wanting to hear from us. We didn’t write these for ourselves. We only care about what the world thinks.”
GHOUL PATROL: “Finnish death ‘n’ rollers GHOUL PATROL have inked a deal withSpinefarm Records. The band’s self-titled debut album will be released on October 26. According to a press release, the CD contains “45 minutes of swampy American-styled death ‘n roll!””
GOROD: “French tech-death metallers GOROD have entered the studio with producer Frédéric “Elmobo” Motte to begin laying down their new album for an early 2012 release.”
HOUR OF PENANCE: “Italian death metal band, HOUR OF PENANCE, will enter Cellar Studio in Rome on October 16th, with producer Stefano Morabito, to record their Prosthetic Records’s debut, and fifth album overall. Guitar player Giulio Moschini commented: “Following the tradition of releasing an album every two years, the time has come now and we’re ready to hit the studio and record our fifth album. . . . Moreover, as some of you know, this will be the first album with a new line up and as you can imagine having a new singer and a new drummer helped us to renew and improve our sound, once again.. this will be like the rebirth of Hour of Penance, in a better shape of course !”
ILLNATH: “Pitch Black Records has announced the signing of the Danish female-fronted melodic death metal outfit ILLNATH. The band’s third album, Third Act In The Theatre Of Madness, will be released on November 18.”
LECHEROUS NOCTURNE: “LECHEROUS NOCTURNE will enter SoundLab Studio in Lexington, South Carolina on December 10 with longtime engineer Bob Moore to begin recording its third album. A tour with DEICIDE in support of the new record will kick off in March 2012.”
MANIFEST: “Norwegian metallers MANIFEST will release their third album, Written In Blood, on November 11 via the band’s own record label, Violent Media.”
MYSTIC PROPHECY: “Greek/German heavy metallers MYSTIC PROPHECY will release their seventh album, Ravenlord, on November 25 via Massacre Records. The CD was recorded at Prophecy Music Factory studios with singer/producer Roberto Dimitri Liapakis (MYSTIC PROPHECY, SUICIDAL ANGELS, VALLEY’S EVE, INSIDEAD) and was mixed by Fredrik Nordström (DIMMU BORGIR, ARCH ENEMY, IN FLAMES).”
NECROPHOBIC: “Stockholm, Sweden-based death/black metallers NECROPHOBIC have inked a deal with Season Of Mist. The band, which was recently joined by guitarists Robert Sennebäck (DISMEMBER, UNLEASHED) and Fredrik Folkare (UNLEASHED), is currently writing material for its seventh album, tentatively due in late 2012.”
NOTHNEGAL: “NOTHNEGAL’s debut album is finally in sight! The Maldivian band named their upcoming full-length Decadence. Decadence is NOTHNEGAL’s first official studio release and the first release featuring the current line-up. Decadence was mixed by Greg Reely (FEAR FACTORY, MACHINE HEAD, DEVIN TOWNSEND) and Ahti Kortelainen (SENTENCED, SONATA ARCTICA), and has been scheduled for a January 20th (January 24th in the US) 2012 release.”
OBITUARY: “OBITUARY is currently writing material for the follow-up to the “Darkest Day” full-length CD, released in 2009 via Candlelight Records. “Our goal is to be in the studio by January or February and to release the album in May or June of 2012,” said Trevor Peres. “Of course, the album will be followed up by a ton of tour dates. We will start out in Europe with the summer festival circuit, followed by a proper European tour package and then do a full North American tour in the fall of 2012.”
ORANGE GOBLIN: “ORANGE GOBLIN, the heavy-hitting British metal band, has set A Eulogy For The Damned as the title of its seventh album, due in early 2012 on CD and vinyl (including limited-edition “clear” vinyl) via Candlelight Records.”
SHADOWS FALL: “Razor & Tie has announced the signing of two-time Grammy-nominated metal act SHADOWS FALL to a multi-album, North American deal. The band entered Zing Studios in Westfield, Massachusetts to begin recording its new album for a spring release.”
SOULFLY: “SOULFLY has completed recording its new studio album for an early 2012 release via Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at a Phoenix, Arizona studio with producer Chris “Zeuss” Harris, who has previously worked with CHIMAIRA, HATEBREED, ALL THAT REMAINS, THE ACACIA STRAIN, BORN OF OSIRIS and SHADOWS FALL, among others. The band’s new drummer, David Kinkade (BORKNAGAR, ARSIS, MALEVOLENT CREATION), described the group’s new material on his Facebook page as “crushing, fast thrash, blasting, tribal and fueled by extreme burrito fury. . . The record is sounding fucking SICK. Thrashy as fuck… totally ‘Arise’ [referring to SEPULTURA’s classic 1991 album] on crack and speed.””
VIKING: “Legendary drummer Gene “The Atomic Clock” Hoglan (DARK ANGEL, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, FEAR FACTORY, DETHKLOK) has laid down the drum tracks on the long-awaited comeback album from Los Angeles thrashers VIKING, entitled “No Child Left Behind”.
Is that THE Necrophobic or is that another band with the same name? Necrophobic as in these guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJFlCRJcC7M.
Stockholm, Sweden…so yeah, thats them
I WIN!
Gaza:
“The songs are exactly what critics and haters have been wanting to hear from us. We didn’t write these for ourselves. We only care about what the world thinks.”
He he.
I liked that, too. Gaza is a badass band. I’m looking forward to their new one.
Wrathprayer’s debut album “The Sun of Moloch: The Sublimation of Sulphur’s Essence Which Spawns Death and Life” gets released on December 31st. You can hear a track off of it here (Along with many other Nuclear War Now releases): http://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcamp.com/album/the-sun-of-moloch-the-sublimation-of-sulphurs-essence-which-spawns-death-and-life
Wait, never mind. Just saw that this was for November releases.
No, its for any releases projected out into the future, not just for November, so your addition is a good one. Fucking cool album title. I need to check this one out.
Gojira. Gojira. Gojira.
Ok the releases might be abit far in the future, but we’re talking about GOJIRA after all. They had a setback with the Sea Shepherd EP as their hard drive crashed, but the optimist in me wants to believe we’ll see it released within 2011.
ALSO; “02 November 2011. We are now in New York City ready to record the new album!” . Now I don’t really have realistic knowledge of how much it takes time from the recording process to the actual release, but say umm the first quarter of 2012? Yes? No?
First quarter 2012 for the new LP is my bet, and I’ve seen other reports indicating that’s their projection. And Sea Shepherd for the December holidays!
Anyone else notice that, no matter what band he’s in, Max spends more time saying how his next record is going to be “totally sick, like Sepultura on-crack-on-fire” than the actual guys in Sepultura do?
I’d take him more seriously if he would just quieten down once in a while.
As a person who really, really loves Arise and is ambivalent about everything else Max has done, I really hope that the new drummer’s description holds true to form.
I’m super excited about the new LoG and Cattle Decap coming next year. The latter are going to make an announcement about the new album on monday. This upcoming weeks is gonna be awesome! Hell On Wheels makes its premiere on AMC after The Walking Dead, I don’t think I have school tuesday because of Election day, and on friday The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is released, also I hope to be at the Exhumed, Goatwhore and Havok show on fridays as well.
Sounds like you have a promising week of quality entertainment ahead of you. Exhumed-Goatwhore-Havok should be truly slaughteriffic.