The Weekly Injection: New from THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, SERJ TANKIAN and more this week

This week’s new heavy metal releases include Serj a visit to the archives, an emotional return, a party on fire, and much more! To metals…

Sorcerer – Shock Spell

Genre: Black/speed metal
Origin: Portland, Oregon
Tag: Century Media

Buy now on Bandcamp

Start this week with a fun week. This has all the attitude of a classic metal band combined with the grit of a blackened band. It looks like a party where everything is on fire, and that’s fine. It’s a nice companion to pair with Midnight or even Kvelertak.

The Murder of the Black Dahlia – Servitude

Genre: Melodic death metal
Origin: Waterford, Michigan
Tag: Metal blade

Buy now on Bandcamp

On their first album without Trevor Strnad leading the group, The Murder of the Black Dahlia come back with an intense record. The intensity is multi-layered as it has the weight of a great loss and all the emotion that goes with it, but there is also the urgency of a band pushing themselves to prove they can still do it . It seems to me that they can.

Cyborg octopus – Bottom feeder

Genre: Progressive death metal/metalcore
Origin: San Francisco, California
Tag: Silent Pendulum Records

Buy now on Bandcamp

A lot has changed for Cyborg octopus on album number three. This could be because they’ve had to deal with line-up changes since their last album, but there’s also a band that has matured a bit. They’re still adventurous in transforming through thrash, jazz, deathcore and prog, and they sound more edgy than ever. Lots more saxophone from rising metal sax star Patrick Corona (live-Rivers of Nihil).

Hériot – Devoured by the mouth of hell

Genre: Metalcore/Deathcore
Origin: Swindon, England
Tag: Century Media

Buy now on Bandcamp

Damn, it’s heavy and in so many ways. There are tons of breakdowns and these are associated with muddy moments. I saw early reviews calling them “doomcore”, and it’s here, but it’s also hardcore with some post-rock in tow.

Lizard – Mesh

Genre: Progressive metal/art rock
Origin: France
Tag: Pelagic records

Buy now on Bandcamp

On Mesh always difficult to pin down Lizard have become more difficult to label. Lots of anthemic moments like Musesolid grooves like Royal Bloodsad and progressive moments like a Steven Wilson project, and yet still somehow muddy or at least mud adjacent. Overall, another cool entry in the catalog of a cool band.

Torn to shreds – Sanshi

Genre: Death metal
Origin: San Jose, California
Tag: Relapse

Buy now on Bandcamp

On their second record since branching out into a full band (as opposed to a solo act), Torn to shreds provide heartbreaking death metal. It’s one of those metal albums that sounds very Bay Area. I can’t explain it, but it’s quintessential Bay Area death metal.

Serj Tankian – Foundations

Genre: Experimental rock/metal
Origin: Beirut, Lebanon
Tag: Gibson

Buy now on Amazon

On this EP, Serj reworks old, unused ideas into something new. Some of them may give the impression One Down System because apparently, they were almost all that. Quite diversified across the five titles as well.

Also down this week…

• Worshiper – Bleeding on my teeth (Dark Descent Records / Sepulchral Voice Records) – Death/black metal
• Arcania – Lost Generation (Self-published) – Thrash
• Arkona – Stella Pandora (Debemur Morti) – Black metal
• Like living arrows – Hope and ruin (I.Corrupt.Records/Best Life Records) – Post-hardcore
• Wake up the dreamer – Holocene (Arising Empire) – Post-hardcore/melodic metalcore
• The bad times – The life of sin (Jump Start) – Ska/punk
• Cantervice – Hour H (FiXT) – Nu metal/electronic rock
• Crypt of Reason – Stargazer (Self-published) – Progressive doom/death metal
• FCF – III (Noise Pollution/Black Lodge) – AOR
• DRUGS – Until God shows it (Velocity Records) – Post-hardcore
• Demonic – Victorious Death – Live in Latin America (Agonia Records)
• Distant domination – Cross time (Fetzner Death Records) – Black metal/thrash
• Emasculator – The disfigured and the divine (New Standard Elite) – Brutal death metal
• Endonoma – Endonomos II – Lights (Argonauta Records) – Death metal/doom
• Angry – Violent Driving (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) – Grindcore
• Fatal Embrace – Hello deep down (Black Lion Records) – Melodic death/black metal
• Abandoned rite – The Forgotten West (Self-published) – Opera/folk metal
• Glorious bank robbers – Rock’n’Roll Church (Noise Pollution/Bollmora Rekords) – Rock
• High parasite – Forever we burn (Candlelight/Spinefarm) – Gothic metal
• The swallowing oblivion – Ontology of nothingness (Willowtip) – Avant-garde/technical death metal
• Richie Kotzen – Nomadic (BMG) – Rock
• Funeral March – After the storm (Ardua Music) – Death metal/doom
• Mimi barks – It’s a fatal trap (Silent Cult) – “Doom Trap”
• Mirror Queen – Days of death (Tee Pee) – Hard rock
• Nehoda – Nehoda (Self-published) – Rock
• Obsidian Mantra – As we all will (Via Nocturna) – Progressive death metal
• Oceans – Happy (Nuclear Blast) – Post-metal/metalcore
• Odium Humani Generis – Miedzyczas (Clever voices) – Black metal
• Our hollow, our home – Hope and Hell (Arising Empire) – Metalcore
• Spirit of Pestilence – Always outside (Self-published) – Hardcore
• Psychlona – Distorted vision (Magnetic Eye) – Stoner rock/psychedelic
• Pythonic – EP1 (Self-published) – Groove metal
• Rolo Tomassi – Live at the Electric Ballroom (MNRK Heavy) – Progressive Metal
• Salem Trials – Rot (Seek and Strike) – Black Metal
• Serious black – The advent of Akhenaten (AFM) – Power Metal
• Roast – Necronomized songs (Self-published) – Black metal/thrash
• Triskelion – Broken Elysium (Moribund Records) – Thrash
• Turbokill – Champion (Steamhammer/SPV) – Heavy Metal
• Vicious Blade – Relentless Strength (Redefining Darkness Records) – Thrash/Crust