This week sees new releases by Graveyard, Periphery, Blut Aus Nord, Septicflesh, Winds of Plague, and tons more. MS new release expert Vic Vaughn takes a looksee at each after the jump!

Arkan – Salam (Season Of Mist)
A collaboration of heavy music and traditional Oriental instruments and songwriting, Arkan’s second album continues the style seen on 2008’s Hilal. The band’s members are French people descended from Algerians, and this record is quite a nod to their ancestors’ music combining with their own. Recorded by Fredrik Nordstrom at his legendary Studio Fredman, the backbone of these tunes is clearly rooted in melodic metal, just mixed in with many instruments not often heard in a metal recording.

Batillus – Furnace (Seventh Rule)
New York doom monsters Batillus’s first full-length. We’ve already seen what these guys can do on their 2009 EP The Batillus and their 2010 split with Hallowed Butchery, and now we get this six-song beast. The record slays with its heavy backbone, but mixes in liberal amounts of melody to keep things interesting. You may remember this band from MetalSucks’ NYC Sucks Vol. 1, which included their track “The Children of the Night Make Their Music” from the Hallowed Butchery split. This is some sick tunage, do not miss.

Blut Aus Nord – 777: Sects (Debemur Morti)
777: Sects is the first part of a trilogy concocted by Blut Aus Nord, an avant-garde black metal band from France. The band has put out twelve releases since 1995, with the forthcoming 777: The Desanctification and 777: Cosmosophy expected before the end of the year.

Cruachan – Blood On The Black Robe (Candlelight)
Cruachan are pioneers of the Celtic metal genre, which incorporates traditional Irish instruments such as the tin whistle, mandolin and violin, and infuses these instruments with metal music. While earlier releases by the band incorporated more of a black metal sound, they have since moved to a more traditional metal style to add their Celtic influence to. Blood on The Black Robe follows 2006’s The Morrigan’s Call.

Former Thieves – The Language That We Speak (No Sleep)
Following last year’s EP The Great and The Alleged Great, Former Thieves’ first full-length record is out today. Hailing from Iowa, the band plays a style of post-hardcore with enough aggression and melody to keep many hardcore detractors entertained. The touring machines are currently on tour with Native and La Dispute before heading out with The Carrier next month.

Foundation – When The Smoke Clears (Sumerian)
Foundation’s B9 debut finds the band treading the same waters they have been on past releases like Hang Your Head and their self-titled record. This is some pretty average hardcore, great for a circle pit but easily undistinguishable from many other hardcore releases. The album was recorded with Matt Washburn, who has worked with Mastodon and Norma Jean in the past.

Graveyard – Hisingen Blues (Nuclear Blast)
Graveyard’s self-titled first release (on Tee Pee Records) was a perfect album of rocking blues/psychedelic rock. Lo-fi for a reason, the music blends controlled wailing and bluesy, hard rock instrumentals. If the music sounds like fellow Swedes Witchcraft, it’s because Magnus Pelander of the aforementioned band played with Joakim Nilsson and Axel Sjoberg, guitarist/vocalist and drummer of Graveyard, in a similar band called Norrsken. This is the band’s first for Nuclear Blast, and while the label may seem like an odd fit, Graveyard are definitely a stellar addition to NB’s lineup.

No Turning Back – Take Control (Think Fast!)
Take Control is the Netherlands-based hardcore band’s third full-length, and continues the progression of a band that formed when all the members were 16 nine years ago. No Turning Back followed up 2008’s Stronger by touring every continent except Antarctica. The band will do the same on the road for Take Control.

Norther – Circle Regenerated (Century Media)
Circle Regenerated is the first album not to feature any of Norther’s original members, as founding leadguitarist/vocalist Petri Lindroos left the band in 2009. The band has kept on, though, and found a new guitarist and vocalist for their sixth full-length. The band’s lineup shift doesn’t change anything in the music, really, as the band is still playing a phenomenal mix of aggression mixed with keyboards, samples and occasional clean vocals.

Ovo – Cor Cordium (Supernatural Cat)
This two-piece metal band is easily described as a doom metal band, but they often break the confines of the genre. On their sixth record, guitarist/vocalist Stefania Pendretti howls, shrieks and growls while belting out crushing guitar riffs while drummer Bruno Dorella pound out some seriously heavy rock that easily goes into noise and sludge in addition to doom.

Periphery – Icarus Lives EP (Sumerian)
Djent masters Periphery are back with the follow-up to 2010’s self-titled album. The release includes four remixes of the track “Icarus Lives!” from the self-titled album, as well as the original version of the track and two bonus tracks released with the same album. Two new tracks are also included on the EP. Icarus Lives will come with a DVD including two music videos and footage of the band.

Septicflesh – The Great Mass (Season Of Mist)
After an initial run from 1990-2003, Septicflesh reunited in 2007, Septicflesh is a death metal band for sure, but they also incorporate orchestras and blackened vocals into their overall sonic palette. The overall product is pretty epic, and alternately beautiful and evil at the same time. All the elements combine extremely well, and nothing really feels forced together. Septicflesh’s last album was 2008’s Communion.

Sylosis – Edge Of The Earth (Nuclear Blast)
Edge Of The Earth is the follow-up to 2008’s Conclusion Of An Age, also on Nuclear Blast. Lead guitarist Josh Middleton does vocals on this album after the band fired former vocalist Jamie Graham. Sylosis’s music blends elements of death metal and thrash metal, with predictable results. While it’s good music, they’re not really doing anything that hasn’t been done before. The band have toured with As I Lay Dying and The Black Dahlia Murder.

Winds Of Plague – Against The World (Century Media)
For their fourth album, Winds Of Plague continue to play the mix of deathcore and symphonic keyboards that we’ve come to expect from the band. I could never get behind this band, it just doesn’t work for me. But I do have to respect that this album features a spoken-word track from The Ultimate Warrior (former WWF champion) entitled “The Warrior Code”. The album also features guest appearances by Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed, Martin Stewart of Terror, and Mattie Montgomery of For Today.

– VV