New Releases From HEILUNG, HAMMERFALL & More Out This Week 8/9

This week’s new heavy releases include joyous rock stuff, grooves, and more! To the metals…

And So I Watch You From Afar – Megafauna

Genre: Progressive/math rock
Origin: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Label: Pelagic Records

Buy now on Bandcamp

While not a metal act per se, And So I Watch You From A Far have nearly twenty years of compelling (mostly) instrumental rock will all the ebbs and flows of a post-metal wall of sound record. Megafauna is another album of fun guitar theatrics and catchy melodies that deserves your attention. Lots of genre dabbling here too.

Fucked Up – Another Day

Genre: Hardcore/experimental
Origin: Toronto, Ontario
Label: Fucked Up Records

Buy now on Bandcamp

Last year Fucked Up put out a record called One Day and this is the sequel to said record. The little I’ve heard so far would pair nicely with ASIWYFA’s Megafauna as it is joyous and full of fun melodies. However, Damian Abraham can’t not sound intense. So regardless of how fun the music is, he’s bringing the rage.

HammerFall – Avenge The Fallen

Genre: Heavy/power metal
Origin: Gothenburg, Sweden
Label: Nuclear Blast

Buy now on Bandcamp

Album number thirteen from these legends is another epic power metal ride. No frills or unexpected twists here. You’re getting heavy metal, songs about heavy metal, and empowering anthems. Jordan has a full review here.

Heilung – Lifa Iotungard

Genre: Avant-garde/folk
Origin: Denmark
Label: Season Of Mist

Buy now on Bandcamp

Next up is a live record that was recorded at Red Rocks. Shows are recorded there all the time, but according to Heilung they “don’t play ‘shows’. They perform a ritual.” So this is a full ritual performed in 2021 at the legendary venue. The track listing is largely from their album Futha which was the newest release at the time, but you’re still getting stuff from Ofnir and even a track from a previous live release Lifa.

In Aphelion – Reaperdawn

Genre: Black/heavy metal
Origin: Sweden / Netherlands
Label: Century Media

Buy now on Bandcamp

Yes, yes. I know “Metal” Injection. Well here you go. In Aphelion‘s sophomore release is another dark and harmonious record. Reaperdawn is just a solid blackened metal record. I really don’t have a lot of flowery words to throw at it.

Mushroomhead – Call The Devil

Genre: Industrial/nu metal
Origin: Cleveland, Ohio
Label: Napalm

Buy now on Bandcamp

On their first record in four years Mushroomhead are back swinging. They’re experimenting with a more accessible sound like they did on the last record A Wonderful Life. It’s a diverse offering, but when the nu metal grooves hit, they HIT. It also is the first to feature a trip of new faces in vocalist Scott Beck, guitarist Joe Gaal, and drummer Aydin Kerr.

Also dropping this week…

• Bless The Dead – We Create This (Wormholedeath) – Southern/groove metal
• Blue Oyster Cult – 50th Anniversary Live – Second Night (Frontiers) – Hard rock
• Carnivore Diprosopus – Rise Of The Insurrection (Comatose Music) – Brutal death metal
• Crushuman – CrusHuman (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) – Death metal
• Dark Deeds – Death Keeps (Self-released) – Deathcore
• Duhkha – A Place You Can’t Come Back From (Good Fight Music) – Metalcore
• Earth Ship – Soar (The Lasting Dose Records) – Sludge/doom
• Four Year Strong – analysis paralysis (Pure Noise Records) – Pop punk
• Fulci – Duck Face Killings (20 Buck Spin) – Brutal death metal
• Hell Can Wait – Reaching The Point Where Pain Ends (Best Life/Genet/Our Pride) – Melodic hardcore
• Jim Peterik & World Stage – Roots & Shoots Vol. 2 (Frontiers) – Rock
• King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – FLIGHT b741 (p(doom) records) – Blues rock
• Kurokuma – Of Amber and Sand (Self-released) – Sludge/doom
• Monument Of Misanthropy – Vile Postmortem Irrumatio (Transcending Obscurity Records) – Brutal/technical death metal
• Nova Charisma – Metropolitan (Equal Vision) – Post-hardcore
• Oxygen Destroyer – Guardian Of The Universe (Redefining Darkness Records) – Black metal/thrash
• A Rising Force – Truth (Darkstar/Sony/Universal) – Hard rock
• Siamese – Elements (Long Branch) – Hard rock
• SJS – A Sequence of Mistakes (Self-released) – Progressive rock
• Stahlmann – Phosphor (Out Of Line Music) – Industrial/alternative metal