EVENT HORIZON

A new Sunday feature for Blessed Altar Zine! Inspired by the first picture captured of an actual Black Hole and some of my own Twitter Blog work, I’ve named this little feature “Event Horizon” – a focus on the some of the imminent Metal releases that you may be interested in looking out for and adding to a wish list as they approach availability. Today’s post covers 5 upcoming albums spanning styles from straight up Heavy Metal to Death/Doom, Old School Death Metal and Atmospheric Black sludge. Hope you find something of interest!

HEX – God Has No Name (Transcending Obscurity)
RELEASED: 5 July 2019
STYLE: Death/Doom
LINK: Bandcamp

Spain’s best kept secret, HEX, return with a pummelling new full length of death/doom metal music with unconventional riffing and delivery. This is mid-paced death/doom metal that is reminiscent of early RUNEMAGICK, BOLT THROWER, PARADISE LOST, HYPOCRISY and UNLEASHED. But there’s more than meets the eye, as the music is interspersed with exotic riffing, female vocals, interludes and even breakdowns. There’s a certain appeal to their music that makes it stand out from the derivative lot as this doesn’t owe too much to any particular style or band. It’s a cohesive fusion of various influences melded into a sound that Hex can now call their own. With members of experienced bands in the lineup such as VIRULENCY, TOMB, INCURSED, to name a few, the outcome is simply phenomenal. The fiercely titled release “God Has No Name” will go down as the breakthrough album for the band and perhaps even the whole of the current death/doom style with the band’s innovative and thoughtful approach towards it (from T.O.Bio)

GOREGANG – Neon Graves (Transcending Obscurity)
RELEASED: 20 May 2019
STYLE: Old School Death Metal
LINK: Bandcamp

Death metal/crust maniacs GOREGӒNG have worked hard on their first full length album after causing a bit of a stir with their short debut. With members of reputed bands like VENOM INC., RIBSPREADER, SOILWORK (live), etc. in their lineup, everything is top-notch and well-thought right down to the Mark Riddick logo, the jaw-dropping Juanjo Castellano artwork, not to mention the impeccable production and execution of the music that can be summed up as a perfect amalgamation of death metal with a lethal dose of crust/grind. There’s added menace in the vocal delivery, with Kling mixing it all up and pacing it beautifully to the undulating music. There’s an undeniable charm to the proceedings as the songs chug along with maniacal glee, breaking into faster punkish parts and rampaging till the end (from T.O. Bio)

IDLE HANDS – Mana (Lonefire Records)
RELEASED: 10 May 2019
STYLE: Heavy Metal/Dark Gothic
LINK: Bandcamp

The second band to rise from the ashes of Portland’s Spellcaster – IDLE HANDS features current Silver Talon guitarist Sebastian Silva and drummer Colin Vranizan. There’s some hype around this one and from the couple of tracks I’ve heard, it looks to be one of 2019 strongest albums.

NOVARUPTA – Disillusioned Fire (Suicide Records)
RELEASED: 29 April 2019
STYLE: Atmospheric/Blackened Sludge
LINK: Bandcamp

The main constant in NOVARUPTA is Alex Stjernfeldt. In his broken past he has played in bands like The Moth Gatherer and Mr. Death, which both have critical acclaim in the international press. When he left The Moth Gatherer, Alex stood disillusioned while facing an uncertain and bleak future. Fueled by depression and frustration and a need to explore a deeper and darker musical direction while also returning to the roots from which he came, the foundations of Novarupta was born. Blurring the lines between Band and Project, Collective and Art, Novarupta was created. With themes of living with depression, society and a world veiled in monochrome colours and trying to turn something destructive into something creative, the music and art took form. The creation of the debut was a collective effort between old and new friends, coming together in an open and creative forum, contributing to what was to become ”Disillusioned Fire”. (Edited From S.R bio)

STELLAR MASTER ELITE – Hologram Temple (Unholy Conspiracy Deathwork)
RELEASED: 3 May 2019
STYLE: Black/Death/Doom
LINK: Bandcamp

While most bands focus on earthly matters, some look beyond the immediate and meditate on possible futures for humankind. STELLAR MASTER ELITE are one of these bands, and their fourth album Hologram Temple asks probing questions about the converging point between man and machine, wrapped in a crushing envelope of black metal, doom and experimental electronica. Thundering fuzzy guitars meet pulsing rhythms and cosmic analogue synthesizers – the perfect stage for an authoritative growl to lead the way. “Hologram Temple” will be released as a double record in audiophile 180g format with etched side D and as a noble Digibook. Both publications receive a finishing by Hotfoil Embossing. ( From UCD Bio)

Carefully selected by KMaN

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