Happy Friday! God is dead and all we got is a new Avenged Sevenfold song.
Ascended Dead
Evenfall of the Apocalypse (20 Buck Spin)
California death dealers Ascended Dead are here to chew bubblegum and play ripping death metal and they’re all out of bubblegum. Evenfall of the Apocalypse is one of the nastiest and most frenzied albums released in recent memory—just 40 minutes of mean-as-hell death metal. Those looking for an album that just does not let up should press play immediately.
Cattle Decapitation
Terrasite (Metal Blade)
There must be something in that San Diego water because Ascended Dead are joined on new release day by the mighty Cattle Decapitation. Terrasite is the established deathgrinders’ 10th album and it brings a lot of the expected stylistic trappings with a few new bells and whistles. The album builds on what Cattle Decap established on last album Death Atlas, continuing to explore melodic death metal within the context of their sound. The world is fucked and Terrasite is as fitting a soundtrack as any.
DevilDriver
Dealing With Demons Vol. II (Napalm)
Dealing With Demons Vol. II is 10th album from nü/groove metal outfit DevilDriver. The follow-up to 2020’s part one, Vol. II celebrates the purging of demons from singer Dez Fafara‘s psyche, according to the band. The nine-song, 36-minute album is very digestible, with DevilDriver traversing familiar territory and showcasing why they’ve been around this long.
The Acacia Strain
Failure Will Follow (Rise)
Few bands have caught my attention later in their career like The Acacia Strain. Albums like Continent never did much for me and later albums like Wormwood and Coma Witch only hinted at the band’s potential. Then, in 2020, they dropped It Comes in Waves, an album that owed as much to death and doom as it did to hardcore. They followed that up with 2020’s Slow Decay, which leads us to today: the release of two new Acacia Strain albums. Failure Will Follow is the sludgier, less traditional of the two albums; featuring Dylan Walker (Full of Hell), Ethan Lee McCarthy (Primitive Man) and Sam Sawyer, Failure Will Follow is a slab of sludgy, atmospheric hardcore. At three tracks and 38 minutes, Failure Will Follow is a bit of a behemoth—and a good reminder that challenging yourself later in your career can yield exceptional results.
The Acacia Strain
Step Into the Light (Rise)
Do you still need proof that The Acacia Strain are in their prime right now? No problem—have a listen to Step Into the Light, the second album the Massachusetts assbeaterss dropped today. The opposite of Failure Will Follow, Step Into the Light fits 10 songs across 23 minutes, playing with speed as much as with smash-your-enemies breakdowns. The Acacia Strain have never made a record this short and it really works for them, especially paired with the other album. I know that we just got two new albums but I’m already excited to hear where The Acacia Strain go from here.
Other Shit That Comes Out Today:
Battle Born, Blood, Fire, Magic And Steel (Prosthetic) Listen
Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean, Obsession Destruction (Redscroll) Listen
Cronos Compulsion, Malicious Regression (Caligari) Listen
Never Ending Game, Outcry (Triple B) Listen
The Amity Affliction, Not Without My Ghosts (Pure Noise) Listen
There Were Wires, There Were Wires (Iodine) Listen
Veil of Maya, [m]other (Sumerian) Listen