Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! Keep an eye out for dooting skeletons and other spoopy cliches. New & Noteworthy is a weekly column in which we highlight some of the newest rock and metal releases coming out each week. This week brings new music from Breaking Benjamin and Nekrogoblikon! If you would like to check out the last New & Noteworthy, you can do so here, and if you want to see last week’s sales numbers, check those out in Metal by Numbers. Light the Torch (previously known as Devil You Know) and Escape the Fate lead up the heavy releases for the week. Be sure to follow us on Spotify to get this month’s New & Noteworthy Playlist! Rather than doing a new playlist weekly, I’ll be making one monthly and updating week to week. Give it a listen, and let us know what you think.
Breaking Benjamin, Ember (Hollywood)
Ember is the sixth studio album from the American hard rock group Breaking Benjamin. This album, just like their previous release, was produced by guitarist/frontman Benjamin Burnley. A big thing they seem to be emphasizing is the heaviness of the album. It’s been a few years since I have listened to much BB, but it certainly seems that way compared to their early releases. Back in January they teased the release if this album with a video for the first single “Red Cold River,” and just today they released a second one for “Torn in Two.” Breaking Benjamin will be kicking off a short string of North American shows later this month into May in support of the album before going out alongside Five Finger Death Punch. Ember is also available on vinyl.
Behemoth, Messe Noire (Metal Blade)
Messe Noire is the newest live album from the Polish blackened death metal band Behemoth. The band has been touring extensively since the release of The Satanist in 2014. They have released videos for three songs: “Messe Noire,” “Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel,” and “The Satanist.” The video and audio are both fantastic, and really capture the sound and sight of the band’s live show.Will be touring North America in May and June, alongside Slayer, Lamb of God, Anthrax, and Testament! This absolutely has to be the must-go metal tour of the summer, and I will definitely be at the Pittsburgh date. They have a few one-off dates with Lamb of God during that time as well. Messe Noire will be available on vinyl later this year.
Nekrogoblikon, Welcome To Bonkers (Self-release)
California Goblin metal band Nekrogoblikon is back to their classic goblin themed shenanigans with Welcome to Bonkers, the followup to the band’s 2015 release Heavy Meta. Last month they released a music video for the track “Dressed as Goblins.” Welcome to Bonkers is also available in goblin green vinyl, and in other bundles that include a plushie doll of John Goblikon.
Metallica, Garage Days Re-Revisited: The $5.98 EP (remastered) (Blackened Recordings)
Metallica’s decision to to buy their masters back from the label and start their own has been one of the most savvy things they’ve ever done. Now they’re able to not only continue to make money off their catalog, they’ve also been remastering their material. The band’s first three albums have gotten the treatment, and while we wait for …And Justice For All to come out in a deluxe edition, we have Jason Newsted’s first output in the band, the five-song EP featuring the band’s now-iconic takes of songs by Misfits, Killing Joke, Diamond Head, Holocaust and Budgie.
Crematory, Oblivion (Steamhammer/SPV)
Dead City Ruins, Never Say Die (AFM)
Derek Smalls, Smalls Change (Meditations on Ageing) (Twanky/BMG)
Expulser, The Unholy One (Greyhaze)
Gozu, Equilibrium (Blacklight Media/Metal Blade)
Human Compost, Exhumations Of Death And Horror (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions)
Killer Dwarfs, Live, No Guff (EMP)
RLYR, Actual Existence (The Flenser)
Skeletal Remains, Devouring Mortality (Dark Descent Records/Century Media)
Vendetta Red, Quinceanera (Cleopatra)
This Curse, From The Darkest Places (N/A)
War On Women, Capture The Flag (Bridge Nine)
Wrong, Feel Great (Relapse)
Yashira, Shrine (Good Fight Music)
Vinyl Issues
Kittie, Origins/Evolutions (Lightyear)
Scorched, Excavated For Evisceration (20 Buck Spin)
