THE WEEKLY INJECTION: New Releases From SLEEP TOKEN, GHOST & More Out Today 5/19

This week’s new heavy metal releases include a prog icon settling in with a normal amount of collaborators, lots of mystique, and more! To the metals…

Arjen Lucassen’s Supersonic Revolution – Golden Age Of Music

Genre: Heavy metal
Origin: Hilversum, Netherlands
Label: Music Theories

Buy now on Bandcamp

Arjen Lucassen seems to be putting a pause on the whole calling a million friends to guest on an album thing. This time he’s got a normal band with the same people on all the songs. Very weird. Anyway, like all Arjen’s projects it’s an epic affair.

Botanist – VIII: Selenotrope

Genre: Experimental black/avant-gard metal
Origin: San Francisco, California
Label: Prophecy

Buy now on Bandcamp

This record is juxtaposition in sonic form. The drums are in near constant black metal mode with driving double bass and blast beats. Meanwhile, the rest of the band embraces a softer side with a piano-centric near post-rock. The moments when they converge it hit just right though.

Frozen Soul – Glacial Domination 

Genre: Death metal
Origin: Fort Worth, Texas
Label: Century Media

Buy now on Amazon

The sophomore effort from one of our modern death metal stars proves the first success wasn’t a fluke. This is hard-hitting, nasty sounding death metal. You’re getting some guest spots here with John Gallagher from Dying Fetus, Reese Alavi from Creeping Death, and a rather surprising cameo from Trivium’s Matt Heafy.

Ghost – Phantomime

Genre: Hard rock/heavy metal
Origin: Linköping, Sweden
Label: Loma Vista

Buy now on Bandcamp

Ghost know their way around a cover. On this EP they’re putting their spin on tracks originally by Genesis, Television, The Stranglers, Iron Maiden, and of course Tina Turner. Papa doesn’t quite have the range on the last one, but it’s still a success.

The Ocean – Holocene

Genre: Progressive metal/post-metal
Origin: Berlin, Germany
Label: Pelagic

Buy now on Bandcamp

Holocene is the latest and supposed final entry in The Ocean’s paleontology-inspired series. If you enjoyed the last track on Phanerozoic II, then you’ll enjoy this as it picks up where that song left off. The band’s own descriptions of the record claim they are getting more into electronics this time. From what I’ve heard, there are some little drum machine breaks, but the heavy remains.

Genre: Progressive rock/metal
Origin: Reykjavík, Iceland
Label: ViciSolum Productions

Buy now on Bandcamp

Somewhere between A Perfect Circle, The Ocean, and Leprous you’ll find Ring Of Gyges. These Icelandic progsters have huge vocals, dynamic rhythmic shifts, and tastefully wanky guitar work. Recommended for melodic prog fans.

Sleep Token – Take Me Back To Eden 

Genre: Progressive/alternative metal
Origin: London, England
Label: Spinefarm

Buy now on Amazon

Modern metal’s favorite mysterious outfit with an incredibly varied third record. There’s djent, hard rock, pop, atmospheric metal, and more. It’s hard to imagine someone not finding something to enjoy here. If you somehow don’t, you still have to admire their no rules approach and creativity.

Thulcandra – Hail The Abyss

Genre: Melodic black metal
Origin: Munich, Germany
Label: Napalm

Buy now on Bandcamp

Unlike Sleep Token, Steffen Kummerer is still dividing his heavy interests. The latest Thulcandra is another successful addition to the band’s growing grim catalog. The band can’t help but have some fun techy moments, but it remains far from Obscura. This is mostly straight ahead, windmill head bang inducing, melodic black metal that will require you to ice your neck after enjoying.

Also dropping this week

• Alcatrazz – Take No Prisoners (Silver Lining) – Heavy metal
• Arogya – SuperNatural (Out Of Line Music) – Gothic metal
• Blindfolded And Led To The Woods – Rejecting Obliteration (Prosthetic) –
• Chronicle – Where Chaos Thrives (Mighty Music) – Melodic black metal/thrash
• Decayer – Sonoran Death (Seek And Strike) – Deathcore
• Def Leppard With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Drastic Symphonies (UMe) – Rock/glam with an orchestra
• Deimhal – The Grand Gathering (Self-released) – Symphonic black metal
• Elitium – Wrong (Gruesome Records) – Death/groove metal
• Gozu – Remedy (Blacklight) – Hard rock/stomer
• Gumm – Slogan Machine (Convulse Records) – Hardcore/punk
• Halocene – Maleficent (Self-released) – Metalcore
• Henget – Beyond North Star (Season Of Mist) – Black metal
• Heretoir – Wastelands (AOP Records) – Black metal/post-rock
• Hrada – Mirrorland (Mythic Panda Records) – Progressive rock/alt pop
• Inferion – Inequity (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) – Melodic black/death metal
• Magick Touch – Cakes & Coffins (Edged Circle Productions) – Heavy metal
• Mystic Prophecy – Hellriot (Rock Of Angels) – Power metal
• Nexorum – Tongue Of Thorns (Non Serviam Records) – Black/death metal
• Omen Astra – The End Of Everything (Protagonist Music) – Death metal/hardcore
• Pa Vesh En – Martyrs (Iron Bonehead Productions) – Black metal
• Radien – Unissa Palaneet (Svart) – Sludge
• Shadows – Out For Blood (Sentient Ruin) – Heavy metal
• Roadwolf – Midnight Lightning (Napalm) – Hard rock/heavy metal
• Sweet & Lynch – Heart & Sacrifice (Frontiers) – Rock
• Sporae Autem Yuggoth – However It Still Moves (Personal Records) – Black metal
• Millennium – The Sign of Evil (No Remorse Records) – Heavy metal/NWOBHM
• Thetan Dim – Times (Anti-Corp Music) – Punk
• The Used – Toxic Positivity (Big Noise) – Alternative/emo
• VHS – Quest For The Mighty Riff (Wise Blood Records) – Death metal
• Yakuza – Sutra (Svart) – Progressive/avant-garde metal
• Yes – Mirror to the Sky (InsideOut) – Progressive rock