protest the hero - palimpsest

my first record of protest the hero from canada. their back catalogue is pretty difficult to get over here because there is no eu distro of their self-released stuff. for this newest output they teamed up with spinefarm records and made this clear with red splatter vinyl edition for the european market. great prog metal all around.

exocrine - maelstrom

french thech death boys from exocrine are back with their newest output "maelstrom". while the predecessor "molten giant" dealt with a lava born entity, "maelstrom" is about hostile creatures from the depths of the sea. musically the begins to grow on me. at first i thought it was weaker than "molten giant", now it's on eye-level at least. we'll see where it will lead... unique leader records did a splendid job with this "ocean depths" vinyl edition.

umbra vitae - shadow of life

a death metal project of jacob bannon of converge fame? that sounds like it was up my alley. i pre-ordered earlier this year and after listening to the single "blood blossoms" it became my most anticipated release of 2020. in the end the album couldn't live up to the expectations the single arose but it is still a damn good death metal record - or the closest to death metal bannon and his super group could get.

the red/white galaxy vinyl is an indie store exclusive and limited to 500 copies. released via deathwish inc.

hollow world - exanimate

the label deathcore from australia is a proof of quality in itself. no exception with these guys called hollow world. this is their self-released debut full length from 2017. one year later they gave us this rad vinyl pressing limited to only 50 copies. if you like the black dahlia murder or carnifex, then this is for you!

the drowning - the radiant dark

this is my first experience with the drowning and the label transcending obscurity alike. the band hails from wales and plays some highly infective melodic death doom metal. the label resides in indonesia and produces some of the loveliest colour vinyl around. a really enjoyable record and hopefully not the last one from both of them. vinyl edition limited to 100 copies.

hatebreed - weight of the false self

the veterans of hardcore are back with a new slab of greatness. it took hatebreed four years to release "weight of the false self" but after a few spins, I can confirm that it was worth the wait. will see if it stands the test of time. this is an euro pressing on nuclear blast nd exclusively sold through emp mailorder. limited to 300 copies and looking sharp.