Stereogum's 40 Best Metal Albums Of 2016

After already having taken forward-thinking extreme music to unprecedented heights over the course of their short but propulsive career, Richmond's INTER ARMA are back with another opus of epic proportions. Like the band's previous works, the new album 'Paradise Gallows' is direct and foreboding while maintaining a nuanced, artful perspective. INTER ARMA's signature palette of dissonant high-end and abyssal low-end has been augmented with swathes of thick, impressionistic melody that lend 'Paradise Gallows 'a truly biblical sense of scale, both lyrically and in terms of the album's sonic content. Harsh and acoustic passages (including the band's first-ever foray into clean vocals) spar with complex rhythmic structures across nine sweeping tracks over 71 minutes of expansive, progressive heaviness. Dense, funereal, and richly evocative, 'Paradise Gallows' is a vibrant blend of doom, post-metal, sludge, avant-garde, black and death metal, and is a singular and powerful new addition to the band's already monumental discography.

In the seven years since 2009’s *Gin*, the Colorado duo swapped half its lineup—ex-Lord Mantis frontman Charlie Fell is doing the snarling now—but that’s not all Cobalt changed. Once recognizably black metal, their harrowing sludge now wades waist-deep in gunk-encrusted hardcore, Tool’s open-spaced art-grunge, the sadistic nihilism of Swans, and even primal roots forms. “Hunt the Buffalo” and “Beast Whip” both open as lumberjack-shack blues, “Breath” shimmers like forest-folk Led Zeppelin, and the lone voice on “Iconoclast” is a sampled Ernest Hemingway.

After signing with the label prior to the August 2015 release of the Interdimensional Extinction EP, BLOOD INCANTATION returns with a 30-minute cerebral whirlwind of powerful atmospheric death metal. The intense and otherworldly technical/ambient/funeral death metal of Starspawn leaves the listener feeling transcendentally disembodied at the end of an unknown dimension. Produced entirely in analog, the energy and magnetism of live BLOOD INCANTATION is tangibly melting through the speakers, and the songwriting, production and performance constellations have all fully aligned. With appearances at California Death Fest and Covenant Festival (Canada) already on the horizon, and an even more extensive US tour this September, the worldwide spread of the BLOOD INCANTATION tentacles into all orbits is as inevitable as your own death and this galaxy's violent collapse. Dark Descent Records will release the album on CD, vinyl, cassette and digital formats. The Stargate opens 8.19.16 (August 19, 2016)

A pivotal name in today's atmospheric black metal metal scene, MARE COGNITUM have always had much more to offer than mere ambient-infused black metal riffing. Their previous works, 'Phobos Monolith' (2014) and 'An Extraconscious Lucidity' (2012) showed a pronounced progressive approach to metal, and an unbearable tension that often releases itself in majestic, memorably dark melodies. New album 'Luminiferous Aether' travels across the same astral paths of the past, but with a stronger philosophical vision that permeates both music and lyrics, giving birth to an original cosmic black metal opus that borders on pure sci-fi. "'Luminiferous Aether' is a mere fragment of a larger contemplation of humanity's state, a reflection of its current position where it finds itself surrounded on all sides and even threatened from within," explains Californian multi-instrumentalist Jacob Buczarski, MARE COGNITUM's sole member. "In the face of an indifferent Universe, the hubris of man dictates that solutions come from self-destruction. The resulting rumination is a binary lamentation and musing on both whether or not and from where we can find hope, and also an investigation into what compels the human spirit to conquer the insurmountable, and to change in a deeper way than the catalyst of evolution would seem to spur." More violent, nihilistic and intense than its predecessors, MARE COGNITUM's 'Luminiferous Aether' dissects mankind's dark nature and ponders its peculiar impetus for masochism. And by doing so, it glances at a problematic future, at our final destination. "In an attempt to pierce to the core of sentience and its significance," Buczarski concludes, "the light and darkness of man is weighed and considered, and one begins to realize that in all of this, the hourglass of time swiftly empties, marching confidently towards humanity’s inevitable end." credits releases September 16, 2016 i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com All music composed, recorded, and produced by Jacob Buczarski at the Lunar Meadow, 2014-2016 Cover painting and logo by Moonroot Art Layout by Francesco Gemelli Vinyl edition out late 2016 via Fallen Empire Records: bandcamp.fallenempirerecords.com ....................... Cat. n. IVR064

Astronoid is: Brett Boland Daniel Schwartz Casey Aylward Matt St. Jean Mike DeMellia Written by Brett Boland & Daniel Schwartz. Mixed by Brett Boland & Daniel Schwartz. Mastered by Daniel Schwartz. Cover art by Lully Schwartz. ***PLEASE NOTE*** This album is downloadable for free - as we do not want pirates to profit from this music. Please donate as you see fit if you enjoy the music. Our suggested pricing scheme: Low budget = 3-4 EUR Average budget = 7-8 EUR High budget = 10-15 EUR Please tell everyone to download from the official sources only.

Art of Propaganda is proud to present the highly anticipated third album of Harakiri for the Sky, III: Trauma. Released in 2014 by Art of Propaganda, Harakiri for the Sky's Aokigahara reaped widespread critical acclaim for its startling synthesis of skyscraping post-rock textures and emotive black metal fury. Breathtaking and torturous in equal measures, the highwater mark that Aokigahara set has somehow been eclipsed by III: Trauma. Immediately, the album kicks off with an 11-minute epic titled "Calling the Rain," and indeed do Harakiri for the Sky summon forces both natural and supernatural. As the record winds through seven more equally scintillating epics, III: Trauma swells and swirls, crests and crushes, effortlessly dancing between genres with nary an ounce of self-consciousness. Not for nothing is the album titled Trauma: the emotional landscapes the band travail scrape both the direst depths and fleetingly blissful extremes of the human psyche. But, as masterful as the band are at this point, this is not new territory for Harakiri for the Sky; they have been a steady work in progress from the start. Founded in 2011 in Vienna, Austria, the aim of Harakiri for the Sky has always been to create a unique mixture of melancholy and aggression, madness and meaning, and wrapped in alternately manic/mellow songs that bridged black metal and atmospheric post-rock. The band was initially begun as a studio project by erstwhile Bifröst member M. S. joined by vocalist/lyricist J. J., and has recently been expanded to a live lineup. With that lineup secured, Harakiri for the Sky then embarked upon four successful European tours with the likes of A Forest of Stars, Der Weg Einer Freiheit, and Agrypnie among others, encompassing over 20 countries to date. Now prepared to release the masterwork III: Trauma, Harakiri for the Sky will take this volatile-yet-beautiful new concoction on the road for the remainder of 2016: massive sound-walls and the barest of emotions await!

"Kodama" the fifth album from Blackgaze pioneers, Alcest, marks the French duo's ferocious return to the stylistic maximalism of its early albums while continuing the band's relentless pursuit for new sounds and fresh ideas. "Kodama" is the Japanese word for 'tree spirit' and 'echo' and from the album's structure and dynamics to its cinematic sound, "Kodama" indeed 'echoes' Alcest's 2010 classic, "Écailles De Lune". But this is no simple back-to-the-roots album: the band has more punch, rhythm and organic feel than ever before. While clearly influenced by bands like The Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, Dinosaur Jr, Grimes and The Cure, "Kodama" ultimately reveals itself as Alcest's 'Japanese album', drawing substantial inspiration from Japanese art and culture. Originally triggered by Hayao Miyazaki's anime film "Princess Mononoke", "Kodama" picks up on the fate of its protagonist and, at its core, deals with the sensation of not belonging; of living in between worlds, be it city and nature or the physical and spiritual one. Duality is also crucial for the visual approach of the album, realized by French graphic designer duo Førtifem. Paying tribute to Japanese illustrators like Takato Yamamoto, the visuals portray contrasting elements like nature/urbanity, youth/death, femininity/animality and combine poetic elements with darker ones that were not present in Alcest's earlier works. By giving the album a cultural, stylistic and compositional narrative, Neige and Winterhalter keep "Kodama" from just being the latest improvement on the Alcest sound and instead make the album a most rare and exciting thing: a vital, relevant record from a pioneer that not only upholds the band's trailblazing legacy but actually makes you want to see where they go next. Buy at our shop here: worldwide: en.spkr.media US/Canada: us.spkr.media

Recorded live and mixed by Amaury Sauvé at the Apiary Studio (Laval, France) during December 2015. Mastered by Nick Zampiello and Rob Gonella at New Alliance East Mastering (USA) during February 2016.

LP limited to 300 copies (200 black 100 gold). To be released on 8th April 2016 via Broken Limbs Recordings (North America) / Sell Your Soul Records (Europe). 2017 LP repress by Vendetta Records (Germany) limited to 500 copies. Cassette release via COF Records (UK) limited to 100 copies. CD release by Vendetta Records limited to 1000 copies. "Six tracks of apocalyptic black metal, Wode's newest record unleashes five years of outstanding potential, finding the band on deadly form, wielding enough surprises to suggest that its work in service to the counter-cosmos is far from done." "...visceral black metal that’s making waves in the north of England." - Terrorizer "The promise of Wode has been realised. This is grand artistry, but without the pompousness of many, reliant instead simply on well produced, fierce as fuck black metal. Fantastic." - Ninehertz

SUMERLANDS explode onto the scene with their incredible self-titled debut album of classic heavy metal. Inspired by the timeless guitar-driven sound of the 70's & 80's, SUMERLANDS feature former Hour of 13 / Atlantean Kodex vocalist Phil Swanson and renowned producer Arthur Rizk (Inquisition, Power Trip, Pissgrave) on guitars and behind the boards! Powerful guitar riffs and galloping rhythms meld flawlessly together with soaring vocals and pristine production to create strong, hook-filled, moody anthems. This is a new wave of American Heavy Metal at its finest!

'Emotionale Ödnis' is Tardigrada's debut album, which builds upon the foundation set by their 2012 demo, "Widrstand", and rare live performances. With all lyrics mainly done in the Swiss dialect, Tardigrada present a darkly melancholic voyage; lush with atmosphere and texture.

Echoes of emo, vintage thrash, and video game soundtracks collide in this epic and imaginative metal masterpiece.

Front man Erlend Hjelvik on the new album: “We are finally getting ready to release our third album NATTESFERD on the world and however cliché it may sound, I'm not afraid to say that this is our best one yet! An exquisite smorgasbord of riffs infused with everything between the best of classic rock and heavy metal. I'm certain it will blow the minds of both old and new fans. Enjoy!”

NORWAY'S FINEST TRADITIONAL HEAVY METAL BAND DARKTHRONE RELEASE INSPIRED BLACKENED METAL ALBUM Norwegian duo Darkthrone began in the late 80's as a thrash/death metal act & progressed through technical death/doom metal experimentation to become legends of the black metal world and one of the original leading bands of the Norwegian scene, as well as inspiring a whole generation of metal bands. They returned in 2016 with their first new studio material since 2013’s triumphant The Underground Resistance; the album becoming the band’s most successful release in recent years. The heavy metal odyssey of 2016, Arctic Thunder, far outstripped even The Underground Resistance and powered the band straight to the front of fans' and critics' wanted lists. The album became an instant favourite as Fenriz and Nocturno Culto once more showed their mastery of “the riff”, demonstrating why Darkthrone remain one of the most respected and enduring acts in the history of extreme metal. An eclectic mix of free-spirited 80’s fuelled blackened heavy metal, all executed in Darkthrone's trademark raw and organic style, 2016's Arctic Thunder was recorded & produced by the band themselves, with the sessions conducted at Darkthrone’s old rehearsal unit "The Bomb Shelter", which they had originally used between 1988-1990. With themes based around hate, contempt, and the inner mind & soul, and with the notable presence of Nocturno Culto on vocal duties across all songs for the first time in recent years, Arctic Thunder retains a grim atmosphere, with a healthy dose of raw black metal inspired riffing permeating the album's 8 tracks. Mastering was again handled by Jack Control at Enormous Door.

In honor of their late mother, brothers Joe and Mario Duplantier of French metallurgists Gojira respond to tragedy with some of the most emotional songs of their career. Epic suites yield to sharpened body blows. For every pummeling track like “Silvera” and “The Cell” there are moving salutes like “The Shooting Star” and “Yellow Stone,” where sadness and depression transform into submission and ultimately salvation.