New Releases From SMASHING PUMPKINS, BLIND GUARDIAN & More Out This Week 8/2

This week’s new heavy metal releases include a re-recorded classic, some solid punk, fun thrash, and more! To the metals…

Blind Guardian – Somewhere Far Beyond – Revisited

Genre: Power metal
Origin: Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Label: Nuclear Blast

Buy now on Bandcamp

As the title would suggest this record is long-running power metal icons Blind Guardian re-recording – I mean – revisiting their fourth record. Pretty cool to hear these songs with more polished production and a few decades of experience behind them. Some editions also include a live performance of the entire record from a couple years ago. Fans of Somewhere Far Beyond have a lot the be excited about with this.

Carnophage – Matter Of A Darker Nature

Genre: Technical/brutal death metal
Origin: Ankara, Ankara, Türkiye
Label: Transcending Obscurity

Buy now on Bandcamp

Transcending Obscurity is usually spot on with their releases and Matter of a Darker Nature is another win for both them and Carnophage if you’re big on death metal. This has tech moments, old school production, and is just a dark and heavy good time.

Hirax – Faster Than Death

Genre: Thrash
Origin: Buena Park, California
Label: Doomentia Records

Buy now on Bandcamp

If you want some bite-sized thrash, then look no further than this four song EP from Hirax. Some songs may be familiar as they put some of these out last year on a demo cassette, but these are the shiny done versions and they rip.

A Night In Texas – Digital Apocalypse

Genre: Technical death metal/deathcore
Origin: Cairns, Australia
Label: Unique Leader Records

Buy now on Bandcamp

Love a nice blend of heavy as fuck metal with just the right amount of sci-fi nerdiness. This is unrelenting metal infused with some synths and symphonics to add an almost video game score element to it. The cover would make me think this is a nightmare version of Halo, and maybe it could be?

Poison Ruïn – Confrere

Genre: Punk
Origin: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Label: Relapse

Buy now on Bandcamp

This is some pretty straight ahead punk and it’s hitting just right. You’re getting classic raw production with some catchy bits and some spooky aura. The latter big was unexpected, but made it pretty cool.

Smashing Pumpkins – Aghori Mhori Mei

Genre: Alternative/grunge
Origin: Chicago, Illinois
Label: Martha’s Music

Stream and stuff here

As of this writing there aren’t any songs our samples out to sum up this record, so I guess you’re just getting facts. This is the thirteenth record under the Smashing Pumpkins name it and seems to be the first without Jeff Schroeder. However, it has apparently been worked on for two years and Jeff left last October? Anyway, in an interview with Kerrang! Corgan said: “I think the old-school fans will be happy, for once.” Could be cool.

Also dropping today…

• Acid Mass – Worship (Morbid And Miserable Records) – Thrash
• Anberlin – Vega (Equal Vision) – Alternative rock/emo
• Archon – Requiem (Last Mile Records) – Metalcore
• Asenblut – Entfesselt (Massacre) – Black metal/thrash
• Barbarian Hermit – Mean Sugar (APF Records) – Stoner/sludge
• Black Smoke Trigger – Horizons (Self-released) – Hard rock
• Convictions – The Fear Of God (Self-released) – Metalcore
• Footballhead – Before I Die (Tiny Engines) – Alternative rock
• Gravemind – Introsphere (Greyscale Records) – Metalcore/melodic death metal
• A Light Within – re:preface (Self-released) – Post-metal
• Lord Of The Lost – Live At W:O:A: (Napalm) – Live Gothic/industrial
• Manic Abraxas – Skinformation (Self-released) – Doom/stoner
• Mechanical Canine – To My Chagrin (Don Giovanni) – Punk/emo
• Mister Misery – Mister Misery (AFM) – Hard rock
• Ritchie Newton – Moments (NRT-Records) – Heavy metal
• Nox Novcula – Feed The Fire (Artoffact Records) – Post-rock
• Rise Of Kronos – Where The Gods Return (Manuskript) – Death metal
• Ron Keel – Keelworld (RFK Media) – Heavy metal
• Shadow Knell – Shadow Knell (Relapse) – Dungeon synth
• Sonagi – Everything Is Longing (Secret Voice) – Post-hardcore
• SulfuriS – Corpus/Animus (Inverse Records) – Groove metal