10. LUST HAG, “Irrevocably Drubbed” (Fiadh): Eleanor Harper, the sole force behind black metal force Lust Hag, uses her second full-length “Irrevocably Drubbed” to lash back against an increasingly hostile society toward LGBTQIA+ folks. A trans woman herself, Harper has witnessed and absorbed the hatred and oppression lobbied by what we call a president and the entire right wing, and even a lot of spineless Democrats have shied away from supporting people just trying to live as who they are. Harper uses this record as a means to express the torment of having to contend with political and societal forces aiming to hurt trans people and trying to contend with the hopelessness that has to permeate that thinking.

The title track opens, and it wastes no time spreading carnage, stabbing and vile as guitars storm and Harper’s vocals feel like they washed in acid first. Synth whirs to give a disorienting base, and the virulent pace continues to ravage without mercy. The pace grinds as it takes on soot, the drums damage, and the synth feels wondrous amid the ferocity. “Rancid Manipulations” has the guitars carving and the keys creating a noxious cloud, vicious howls digging deep into your muscle structure. “Feed the Mother Monolith” brings guitars stomping before their intensity rises and falls, growls clutch, and it feels like ashes are being inhaled into your lungs. The pace thickens and things get stormier and speedier, flattening and wrenching before thrashing away. “Humiliation Ritual” is the 8:40-long closer, and it blasts immediately, going for broke as screams ripple, and transcendent melodies leave the windows fogged. The playing then becomes a battering ram, hulking through a haze, trudging as senses are smashed. (May 9)

For more on the band, go here: https://eleanorharper.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://eleanorharper.bandcamp.com/album/irrevocably-drubbed

Or here: https://fiadh.bandcamp.com/album/irrevocably-drubbed

For more on the label, go here: https://fiadh.bandcamp.com/

9. MARES OF THRACE, “The Loss” (Artoffact): Canadian metal duo Mares of Thrace face the scourge and tumult of grief head on with “The Loss,” their nine-track, 50-minute opus that tackles the process of death and its aftermath as we try to cope. Vocalist/guitarist Thérèse Lanz and drummer Casey Rodgers follow up 2022’s “The Exile” with this piece that is unlike anything they’ve released in the past. Yes, their abject heaviness, sludgy power, and Lanz’s angular, knifing guitar riffs are all in place, but they branch out musically and emotionally on this charring collection. Along the way, Lanz’s words pierce the heart, even amid drowning anger, as anyone who has had to bury a loved one or is on that tortuous path, will recognize.

“Anticipatory Grief” tears the lid off this thing, an urgent, black metal-smashed attack that feels like one finally coming to a breaking point. Lanz’s unmistakable riffs wrench around the fury as she levels, “I can’t bear to send another friend off to another journey in the soil.” From there, it’s a battle to survive the trauma, and then we’re off to “The First Stage: Shock” that chugs and brawls right away. Lanz’s vocals are more a hardcore-style shout, the playing stomping and bruising, singing quivering amid the carnage. “The Third Stage: Anger” is less of an assault than expected from this phase, but it’s heavy as hell, and it’s blunt. Burly, muscular riffs thrash as Lanz howls, “I looked into your eyes the day you died, and I didn’t feel nothing.” “The Fifth Stage: Depression” runs 9:19, the longest track on here, and it begins moody and drizzling, piano notes dropping, Lanz speak-singing as the momentum picks up. Guitars get heated as the heaviness swells, smothering you completely under its weight, the screams piercing flesh before the pace grows colder. It’s sobering and titanically destructive at the same time. (May 16)

For more on the band, go here: https://maresofthrace.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://artoffact.com/releases/the-loss/

For more on the label, go here: https://artoffact.com/

8. RWAKE, “The Return of Magik” (Relapse): Rwake had been gone a long time. It’s been 14 years since “Rest” roused our metallic souls, and if you put that album on today, it sounds as fresh and vital as the day it was born. The Arkansas-based band, that’s as much a close-knit family as they are a musical outfit, finally returned on sixth record “The Return of Magick,” a brute force dashed with psychedelic colors and an unbreakable bond with the cosmos and nature. This six-track, 54-minute excursion has the band sounding as full of life as ever before, and perhaps that break helped this group—vocalists C.T. and Brittany (also on keys), guitarists Austin and John, bassist Reid, and drummer Jeff.

“You Swore We’d Always Be Together” opens ominously with clean guitars flowing, accordion landing softly, and then the thing rips, growls and shrieks sounding wonderfully scorched, pedal steel adding a syrupy emotional heft, warm leads battling with the sludge. Screams penetrate again, guitars trucking as the playing spills, everything subsiding in an electric haze. The title track wastes no time, trucking with furious cries, the intensity hammering as the guitars wrap like a cord, compromising your blood flow, C.T delivering spoken messages, “To all the witches in the woods, and to the goblins that understood, there is a spirit that walks among us, and it is living proof.” “Distant Constellations and the Psychedelic Incarceration” is the longest track here at 13:56, the opening narrated by Jim “Dandy” Mangrum of the great Black Oak Arkansas. “In After Reverse” warps before it guts, animalistic howls digging in their heels, doomy vibes rippling through the earth. A much welcome and needed return. (Mach 14)

For more on the band, go here: https://rwake.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://www.relapse.com/collections/rwake-the-return-of-magik

For more on the label, go here: https://www.relapse.com/

7. TERZIJ DE HORDE, “Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone” (Church Road/Fiadh/Tartarus): Dutch black metal firepower Terzij de Horde are living the same oligarch-powered reality as you and I, and on their thunderous “Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone” (a line drawn from German sociologist Hartmut Rosa), they break through the barriers trying to hold us back. The band—vocalist Joost Vervoort, guitarists Demian Snel and Jelle Agema, bassist Johan van Hattum, drummer Richard Japenga—is on fire from the start, blending black metal and even some hardcore strains, pouring their emotion and determination all over these seven tracks that burst with energy.

“Each Breath Is a Flame” sets the tone early, blazing out of nowhere as guitars fire up and simmer, feedback chokes, and righteous wails blend into “Raise Them Towards the Sun” that is raucous and punishing. Wails scar as black metal-style melodies let lava flow, a snarling force slashing into the side of the earth. Leads blaze and then glaze, bursting open at the seams, channeling a beastly attack that rampages to the end. “The All-Consuming Work of the Soul’s Foreclosing” has strings glazing and howls wrenching, melodic smoke darkening the air, the drums blistering and leaving marks. The pace picks up the speed as the howls destroy, everything coming to a blinding finish. “Justice Is Not Enough to Leave the House of Modernity” starts reflective before the emotion spurts,  Vervoort calling, “We must leave this house!” “Discarding All Adornments” brings boiling guitars and a hefty pace, steaming and flattering, the guitars spiraling into oblivion. The pace calms as Amelia Baker of Cinder Well speaks over the fog, the pace then engulfing and spewing a volcano’s worth of ash. (Oct. 10)

For more on the band, go here: https://terzijdehorde.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here (U.S.): https://deathwishinc.com/collections/church-road

Or here (Europe): https://www.deathwishinc.eu/collections/church-road

Or here: https://fiadh.bandcamp.com/

Or here: https://shop.tartarusrecords.com/product/terzij-de-horde-our-breath-is-not-ours-alone/

For more on the label, go here: https://churchroadrecords.com/

And here: https://fiadh.bandcamp.com/

And here: https://tartarusrecords.bandcamp.com/

6. DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT, “Innern” (Season of Mist): There’s little to quell our worries outside our doors, so perhaps turning inward to address that chaos and pain can begin to help a little bit. German black metal power Der Weg Einer Freiheit focus on those matters on their incredible “Innern,” which is German for “inward.” Here, the band—vocalist/guitarist Nikita Kamprad, guitarist Nicolas Rausch, bassist Alan Noruspur, drummer Tobias Schuler—turns their gears toward taking on what’s going on inside, trying to quiet the madness and finding reflection and renewal.

“Marter” is the 9:24-long opener and begins in a haze before ramping up, the drums bustling, howls tearing as a melodic fury engulfs everything. We then go from atmospheric right to the acidic belly of the beast, the pace shifting as guitars surge, the emotion calming for a brief respite as doom gusts into the picture. “Eos” is a real centerpiece gem, a song that starts off feeling progressive and wondrous, a hulking riff moving in and making the song its own, sticking in your brain. Vocals buzz as the playing mangles, beastly blistering leaving festering wounds, melodies swirling as clean singing arrives, increasing the drama and fading in calculated manner. “Fragment” wooshes in and brings more delicate strains, cleaner singing swirling in the surrounding air, the fires eventually erupting and aiming to consume. “Forlorn” has plucked guitars sting before eeriness spreads generously, clean singing bringing a pillowy nature, softer bass plodding as things feel oddly New Wave to a degree. Guitars then scuff as shrieks hammer, colorful playing heads into a pit of moodiness, and the calls of, “Please don’t let me go,” add to the introspection. (Sept. 12)

For more on the band, go here: https://derwegeinerfreiheit.de/

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://shopusa.season-of-mist.com/list/der-weg-einer-freiheit-innern

Or here (international): https://shop.season-of-mist.com/list/der-weg-einer-freiheit-innern

For more on the label, go here: https://www.season-of-mist.com/