Black Friday is a fairly tame release day under normal circumstances, but it also happens to be Record Store Day this year, meaning that there are tons of special releases that you will only find at your local music shops. Go here to check out the full list of Record Store Day releases, as well as to find out what stores in your area are participating in Record Store Day. In the meantime, here is your new music itinerary for this Black Friday. Go forth, shop to your heart’s content, buy some great metal albums, and please be kind to everyone you encounter.
Primordial, Gods to the Godless (Metal Blade)
Irish extreme metal group Primordial had never released a live album in their career, but they found the nostalgia for such a release in recent years. Finding the right show was the real key, though, and that’s where the organizers of the Bang Your Head!! Festival in Germany came in. Primordial was invited to play the festival for the fourth time in 2015, and the organizers happened to have recording equipment set up for the festival’s general use. One recording later, a longtime dream became reality for the band, and now everyone gets to hear it as well.
Witchery, In His Infernal Majesty’s Service (Century Media)
In His Infernal Majesty’s Service is Witchery’s sixth album, and also their first new album in six years. Sorry folks, but there’s no other “six” association I could find to give this one the devil’s number. Anyway, all eyes are on Witchery here to see if they’ve rediscovered the sound that made their first three albums instant classics. The addition of Nekrokraft vocalist Angus Norder has a lot of people excited for that possibility, and his vocals could make or break the album. Also making his debut here is drummer Chris Barkensjö, whose resume includes work with Construcdead, Carnal Forge, Grave, Nightrage, and many others.
Killswitch Engage, Beyond the Flames: Home Video Part II (Roadrunner)
Okay, I’m cheating a little bit here, as this is technically a Record Store Day release. However, Killswitch fans all over the world need to know about this release, because it contains something that they’ve been clamoring for since 2012 – a documentary about Jesse Leach’s return to the band and the band’s growth as a result of that. The documentary comes on a Blu-ray disc that also features music videos, outtakes, and profiles of the band members. The audio disc portion contains six live tracks from the band’s performance at the 2014 “Monster Mosh” in Worcester, Massachusetts.
