Hey from still-scorching Arizona! Week two of This Week’s Picks lands right as French streets erupt, Brussels debates climate targets it won’t meet, and the Fed hands out a rate cut like a band-aid on a bullet wound. Same circus, new clowns. At least the underground is still consistent: furious, strange, and defiantly alive. These are the records out Sept 19 that I actually spun this week – and trust me, they hit harder than the headlines! – Scott
ABYSSALIS – Adaptation (Transcending Obscurity Records)
Death metal can get lost in its own technical tricks, but Adaptation doesn’t. Abyssalis keep things sharp and memorable, riff-driven and heavy without collapsing into chaos. The songs are put together with intent – fast, but never losing control – giving the record a deliberate weight.
Frontman Mac Smith swings between cavernous growls and caustic rasps, perfectly matching the mix of precision and grime. It grabs you with groove – riffs dig in, hooks hit, and there’s just enough brutality to shake you. This is death metal that looks ahead but keeps its roots intact.
Vibe: Best played when you want something smart and heavy hitting.
DEF/LIGHT – Stygian Conclave (independent / Grand Sounds Promotion)
Ukraine’s DEF/LIGHT have been at this since 2001, and Stygian Conclave shows why they’re still worth paying attention to. This is blackened death sharpened to a blade, built on riffs that churn like collapsing ruins and drums that feel like marching orders from some infernal general.
It works because they trim the fluff – every part has purpose. Each song hits like a ritual – harsh, tight, and relentless. DEF/LIGHT aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel – they stick to what they do best and tear it up.
Vibe: Feels like temples ablaze under a black sun.
DYING REMAINS – Merciless Suffering (Maggot Stomp)
This debut proves Dying Remains know exactly where to strike. Merciless Suffering sits in that mid-tempo death metal sweet spot: heavy enough to flatten you, catchy enough to keep you headbanging. Think Jungle Rot and Morta Skuld run through Obituary’s swamp.
The album has a story woven in, drenched in VHS-style gore. Tracks like “Hung and Drawn” hit like part of a late-night horror flick. It’s filthy, it’s fun, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Vibe: Perfect for fans of old-school brutality and midnight gore.
EVILCULT – Triumph of Evil (Awakening Records)
Straight from Brazil’s unholy underground, Evilcult serves up blackened speed at its most feral. Triumph of Evil isn’t about polish or precision – every riff hits jagged, every vocal shrieks, every solo feels ripped from the sky.
It’s steeped in Bathory, Sarcófago, and early Sodom, but with so much venom it feels alive. Recorded raw and analog, it oozes danger. This record feels more like a cursed tape you stumble across than a polished album.
Vibe: Feels like a garage band from hell, playing just for you.
GODZILLA WAS TOO DRUNK TO DESTROY TOKYO – Sideral Voivod (Octopus Rising | Grand Sounds Promotion)
You don’t pick up a record with this band name looking for restraint, and Sideral Voivod delivers exactly the kind of fuzz-fried bedlam it promises. The opener, “Interstellar Greyhound,” lurches forward on bass that sounds like it’s trying to break the speakers, drums that refuse to sit still, and guitar lines wobbling like they’re beamed in from some busted satellite.
It’s loud, loose, and strangely addictive – more like stumbling into a garage jam on another planet than a polished studio album. If you like your stoner rock splattered with psych chaos and a sense of humor, this one’s worth cranking. I recommend watching the ‘Sasquatch’s Eyes’ music video – it’s worth a spin. The video depicts a dystopian future where nukes have leveled humanity, and the survivors do little more than skate and drink beer, which perfectly captures the band’s mix of chaos and absurd fun.
Vibe: A monster movie soundtrack accidentally recorded during a bad trip.
MAAHES – Nechacha (Massacre Records)
With Nechacha, Bavaria’s Maahes take black metal into a vast, cinematic realm. Orchestral swells ride over riffs that still bite hard, creating a sound as massive as the Egyptian mythology they’re channeling.
The record mixes sheer ferocity with epic scope – blastbeats smash through massive arrangements, while tracks like “Keeper of Secrets” and “The Resurrection” feel like hymns to forgotten gods. Still uncompromisingly blackened, but with a scope that feels almost ritualistic.
Vibe: Feels like a dark temple ceremony – majestic, but deadly.
NEW WORLD DEPRESSION – Abysmal Void (Testimony Records)
Nearly 20 years into their career, Germany’s New World Depression keep hammering away at death metal’s foundations. Abysmal Void is groove-driven, grim, and utterly uncompromising. Each track tackles humanity’s ugliest traits – greed, delusion, destruction – through riffs that recall Asphyx and Bolt Thrower at their most devastating.
No frills, no gimmicks – just solid death metal.
Vibe: Perfect for staring into the abyss while banging your head.
NOVEMBERS DOOM – Major Arcana (Prophecy Productions)
After six years, Novembers Doom come back with a dark, conceptual album. Major Arcana draws on tarot imagery to shape its songs, but the Chicago veterans make it more than a gimmick: each track feels like its own story, heavy with fate.
Ambitious, but still raw and full of human pain. Songs like “Ravenous” crush with brute force, while “Mercy” and “Bleed Static” ache with melodic sorrow.
Vibe: Feels like drawing cards from a deck of doom and death – each heavier than the last.
PARADISE LOST – Ascension (Nuclear Blast)
Thirty-five years in, most bands either soften or endlessly recycle their past. Paradise Lost, somehow, do neither. Ascension doesn’t sound like a comeback record at all – it feels alive. The album glows with the doom-laden melancholy they perfected in the 90s, but sharpened by modern production and a sense of urgency.
Nick Holmes’ vocals swing between weary croon and deathly growl. Greg Mackintosh’s riffs remain soaked in sorrow, now paired with gothic flourishes that give texture.
Vibe: Doom keeps evolving – it never really dies.
SADISTIC GOATMESSIAH – Violence (Dying Victims Productions)
This German trio don’t bother with subtlety. Violence is exactly what it says: raw, filthy speed metal that reeks of Sabbat and early Nifelheim, played with reckless abandon.
The chaos feels real – no polish, no nostalgia, just raw mania. The production is dungeon-level, the riffs are pure chaos, and the whole thing could fall apart at any second – that’s exactly why it works.
Vibe: Feels like being thrown into the pit – ready or not.
STONED JESUS – Songs to Sun (Season of Mist)
Ukraine’s Stoned Jesus have been reshaping heavy rock for over a decade, and Songs to Sun is another leap forward. It’s the first in a planned trilogy, but it stands strong on its own: six sprawling tracks that merge fuzzed-out riffs, prog touches, and hook-laden choruses.
Heavy, thoughtful, and a sign that Stoned Jesus keeps moving while others stand still. Igor Sydorenko’s songwriting shines here, pulling threads from their past while heading into catchier, more straightforward songs.
Vibe: Perfect for cosmic trips – especially long drives and longer mind journeys.
VÍGLJÓS – Tome II: Ignis Sacer (Les Acteurs de l’Ombre)
VÍGLJÓS embraces second-wave black metal roots but twists them into something stranger. Tome II: Ignis Sacer is frostbitten at its core, yet layered with synth, mellotron, and even flashes of rock’n’roll swagger.
Has that old-school feel but with a strange, new twist. Tremolo riffs blaze like icy winds, while the atmospheric touches expand the sound into something almost otherworldly.
Vibe: Feels like black metal that both scorches and chills.
From Lovecraftian shadows to neon 80s highways, this week’s releases prove the underground can shapeshift into whatever nightmare (or dream) you need. Let it carry you through the noise of daily life, and remember: while the headlines fade, the riffs don’t. Catch you next week – unless the heat finally melts me first.
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