Written By Kevin McSweeney
Welcome to this week’s Seven Deadly Songs, Metal Lair’s weekly feature, in which we come haranguing with seven songs that are banging. This week, we’re looking at some of the best new albums to be released between the 16th and the 22nd of June, and the tracks that have us most excited for them. American artists are back in force this week, following a notable absence on the previous list, but there’s plenty to enjoy from elsewhere in the world. Let’s see what they all have to offer…
Abruptus – Tribulation of The Abominable God
This is how I like my death metal! Proper old-school stuff! And so raw and primal that it could be a demo from the late 1980s. And blasphemous! So blasphemous, in fact, that we might be consigned to the hottest corner of Hell simply for listening to it! Mexico’s Abruptus are releasing their debut full-length album, Drifting on The Macabre Depths, on June 20th, courtesy of Ablaze Productions. David Wolf’s vocals actually remind me of Burton C. Bell’s death growls on the first Fear Factory album, Soul of a New Machine, before they went in an industrial/groove metal direction. Bell was of course one of the first extreme metal vocalists to alternate between guttural and clean vocals, but there’s no singing to be found here; just harshness and pure evil, and it’s all the better for it!
Black Path – Endless Madness
Endless Madness is the first single to be taken from the second full-length album by Greek melodic/technical death metal band Black Path. The forthcoming album, Of Paint and Ash, is available from June 20th, released independently. The album, according to Artizans PR, “…is a deep exploration of internal conflict, weaving together themes of despair, perseverance, and the cyclical nature of human emotion,” from a band “…committed to pushing their sound into deeper, more emotional realms.” It’s also clearly the work of highly accomplished musicians, and there are moments of profound beauty interspersed within the brutality.
Firstborne – Wake Up
Next, we have the return of former Lamb of God and Megadeth drummer Chris Adler, as his current band Firstborne release their second full-length album, Lucky, via M-Theory Audio on June 18th. Wake Up is the first single from the album, and it’s an upbeat, thrashy number with a bluesy lead riff and a strong vocal performance from Girish Pradhan. Blabbermouth defines their sound as a blend of “…high-energy riffs, soaring vocals, and thunderous rhythms to create a modern yet timeless sound rooted in classic metal, hard rock, and shred guitar,” and that just about nails it.
Lucille– Dawn of Destruction
It’s not the most obvious name for a thrash metal band, sharing it as they do with one of America’s best-loved and most wholesome entertainers of the 20th Century, but it’s safe to say that the Polish thrashers certainly don’t sound anything like their name might suggest. This is vintage, 80’s-style thrash with a vocal performance that sounds uncannily like that of Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine. Dawn of Destruction is the title track from their debut full-length album, due to be released on June 20th via Dying Victims Productions. I love the fact that the I in their logo is a baseball bat – a symbol of a wholesome All-American sporting pursuit, of which Lucille Ball would have surely approved!
Malevolence – If It’s All the Same to You
Fresh from their secret performance at the Download Festival in the UK, we have British groove metal/metalcore merchants Malevolence adding a bit of Sheffield Steel to proceedings with this track from their fourth full-length album, Where Only The Truth is Spoken. It will be available from June 20th, courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records. Distorted Sound described their music as a “…confident combination of the shredding riffs of metal and the belligerent slam of hardcore,” and that’s exactly what is on offer here. Also, the accompanying video is highly entertaining, with its gangster-related theme and special guest appearance from legendary Brick Top actor Alan Ford, which is enough reason on its own to ‘ave a butcher’s hook at it, my old china!
Mugshot – I Will Be Here Forever
I’m feeling lazy in the Summer heat, so I’m going to quote liberally from Pure Noise records, who release Mugshot’s latest album on June 20th: “While most heavy bands mellow out—even if just a little—as they move through their life and career, Mugshot are not most heavy bands. Just under a decade on from the release of their acclaimed 2016 debut, Dull Boy, the San Jose, CA four-piece are back with All The Devils Are Here: The metalcore/hardcore outfit’s second studio full-length (and first for Pure Noise Records.)” Indeed, what we get on this track is hardcore beats and riffs with fierce guttural vocals and occasional Cannibal Corpse trills and Dimebag Darrell squeals. To quote Pure Noise again: “…this is Mugshot at their most extreme and brutal, both musically and thematically.” And that’s precisely why we’ve included them.
Warhog – Future Shock
(Predictive text keeps trying to change their name to Warthog and it’s pissing me off! I’m going to persist, however, because this is too good not to include.) Our final track this week is a big ol’ slice of traditional metal from Texas courtesy of Warhog. This track is taken from the band’s forthcoming second album, The Dystopian Chronicles, Vol. 3. (The previous two chronicles took the form of EPs.) The album is out on June 20th, released independently.
I love the 80s synths in the intro and throughout the song. It’s all very Seventh Son of a Seventh Son! The album artwork is pure 80s as well. It’s a strange kind of future shock that has you reminiscing about the past, but I love it!