Pitchfork's 10 Best Metal Albums of 2017

With their second full-length album “Infrared Horizon”, NY-based death metal band ARTIFICIAL BRAIN have created a sophomore release more advanced than their lauded debut album “Labyrinth Constellation”. By taking their brand of singular brutal guttural yet technical and ambient sci-fi death metal to a new galaxial plateau, “Infrared Horizon” sees the sonic architecture laid down by the band go further into the beyond and infinite. Conceived in 2011 by guitarist Dan Gargiulo (Revocation) and vocalist Will Smith (ex-Biolich), the band would be rounded out by bass player Samuel Smith (Luminous Vault), guitarist Jon Locastro, and drummer Keith Abrami. The band would align themselves with Profound Lore Records and drop their debut album “Labyrinth Constellation” in 2014 to wide praise within the circles of death metal that range from accolades from within technical, dark, guttural, and progressive death metal respectively. Along with decent touring around “Labyrinth Constellation”, the band would also have their music played and were even name dropped on multiple occasions in the popular CBS television shows Elementary and Limitless. Once again produced by Colin Marson (Gorguts, Dysrhythmia, Krallice) at The Thousand Caves, “Infrared Horizon” (featuring art by Adam Burke) sees ARTIFICIAL BRAIN traveling towards a sonic realm where the music has become more brutal and dissonant, technical, atmospheric, and just overall more otherworldly. Delving into the lyrics and themes of “Infrared Horizon”, themes such as dealing with the concept of a dystopian future in which robots and cyborgs have outlived human beings. Robots and Cyborgs who believe themselves to be not of creation of the long extinct humans but a more perfect evolution of them. The scenarios take place all over outer space and on unnamed planets (not necessarily Earth).

San Francisco's KING WOMAN unveil their debut full-length Created In The Image of Suffering, a profoundly crafted opus of brooding, ethereal doom-rock. Led by the hypnotic and breathy vocal dramatics of Kristina Esfandiari, KING WOMAN harness the elastic textures and temporality of drone and metallic shoegaze alongside the transcendental, melancholic power of doom. Recorded with engineer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Wreck & Reference, Oathbreaker) at the Atomic Garden, Created In The Image of Suffering's seven compositions evoke rich, gloomy imagery with crumbling washes of blurred, billowing distortion densely layered atop hazy, psychedelic atmospheres that call to mind a surrealistic Black Sabbath fronted by Mazzy Star. Complete with deeply personal, introspective lyrics that serve as catharsis for years of religious and mental torment, KING WOMAN truly suffer to create their art.

for orders outside the US and/or wholesale orders, please order directly from AN OUT RECORDINGS at anout [dot] band camp [dot] com or by emailing [email protected]

While Spirit Adrift made many take notice with their debut album “Chained To Oblivion”, it is on “Curse Of Conception” their stellar second album, and first with new label 20 Buck Spin, that the band has taken a giant leap forward in songwriting prowess, production and confidence. From the Metallica / Priest like opening moments of ‘Earthbound’ to the epic closing of “Onward, Inward”, Spirit Adrift are aiming sky high with burning focus and peak vigor. The aforementioned ‘Earthbound’ is a standard bearer for album-opening songcraft, leading into the colossal title track, a grungy and twisting radio-ready crawler. ‘To Fly On Broken Wings’ & ‘Graveside Invocation’ continue to show that any of the eight tracks on ‘Curse Of Conception’ could stand as featured singles. Throughout the duration brick heavy riff assembly, somber southern atmospherics and grand melodies entwine flawlessly into perfect metallic majesty, exemplified succinctly and totally in the instrumental ‘Wakien’ for example. With a host of fantastic albums released by their contemporaries lately, Spirit Adrift has taken their craft to an ascendent new level on ‘Curse Of Conception’ earning their rightful place among the top tier of modern metal bands clawing their way above and beyond the underground scene. Now more than at any time metal has become the lifeblood of rock music and Spirit Adrift offer ‘Curse Of Conception’ as an embodiment of that perseverant vitality. Purchase CHAINED TO OBLIVION on CD and vinyl here: www.20buckspin.com/spiritadrift

VINYL RE-PRESSING BEING ANNOUNCED SOON! BLOOD HARVEST RECORDS is proud to present SUFFERING HOUR's highly anticipated debut album, In Passing Ascension. One of the most exciting new bands BLOOD HARVEST has had the pleasure of hearing, SUFFERING HOUR exhibit a power and maturity that exceeds their otherwise short existence. Theirs is a death metal that defies most modern paradigms, safely eluding prevailing trends whilst driving deep into the heart of timeless DEATH METAL art, evoking mysticism as surely as molten crush, songwriting class as surely as hideous chaos, with a serpentine flow like no other. As a title, In Passing Ascension is thus apt. There's something elusively transcendent about the sonic wormholes SUFFERING HOUR create here, something that sounds plucked effortlessly from the ether whilst being grounded in the dirt and grime and filth of the earth - and, surely, the foundation of death metal itself. It's a sensation of floating across suspended terra firma, as paradoxical as that may read on paper. For verily, SUFFERING HOUR have mastered the art of extremes: melodicism vs. miasma, space vs. swarm, tech vs. hypnosis, osmosis vs. disintegration, death metal as art vs. death metal as death metal. In Passing Ascension therefore is an experience in and of itself, a virtual world in which to roam (and perhaps get lost). With suitable (and suitably stirring) cover art created by Witchrist's Alexander Brown, In Passing Ascension shall soon be hailed as one of the year's mightiest death metal debuts. A statement from the band reads: "SUFFERING HOUR are proud to announce our allegiance with Swedish label BLOOD HARVEST. We will be releasing our debut album, In Passing Ascension, on CD and on black and colored wax. BLOOD HARVEST has done releases for some of our personal favorite bands, such as ALTARS, IMPETUOUS RITUAL, and ADVERSARIAL, just to name a few. We are extremely excited to be working with a label of this quality in every respect of the word, and we're 100% sure Rodrigo will be doing our album justice. In Passing Ascension is an album we have been working on since summer of 2014, and after years of hard work, we're ready to present the album to you all. The album is our take on cosmic blackened death metal, with themes deeply rooted in nihilism and cynicism. Some of the big influences on this album range from Inquisition and Mgla to The Chasm and Dead Congregation. There will be more news coming soon, so stay tuned."