Not a bad week of releases immediately following Devil’s Night and some holiday called Halloween. This week is heavy on the awesome black metal, with Taake and Throne of Katharsis releasing sweet records today, as well as new shit from Megadeth, Steel Panther, Sick of It All, Dreaming Dead, Krisiun and more. Check it all out after the jump.

Dreaming Dead – Midnightmares (self-released)
Dreaming Dead’s first full-length, 2009’s Within One, saw the band becoming a very impressive death metal outfit. The fact that most of the band is female is interesting, but still only a side detail… this band is seriously awesome. The band’s first release was on indie label Ibex Moon, but this time around they’re self-releasing. Excellent.

Krisiun – The Great Execution (Century Media)
Krisiun play pretty straightforward death metal and they’ve always delivered excellent results. Their new album won’t stray from the path they’ve always been on, as sample track “The Will To Potency” (which is streaming on Century Media’s YouTube) proves. This is the Brazilian trio’s follow-up to 2008’s Southern Storm.

Megadeth – Thirteen (Roadrunner)
Megadeth’s thirteenth studio album features the return of long-time bassist Dave Ellefson. Several songs here are from the band’s past, such as “Black Swan”, which was a bonus track released with United Abominations, and “New World Order”, which was written in 1991. I’ll have to hear the record to decide, but digging up old b-sides and uncompleted songs sounds like a band might be struggling for new material. However, Megadeth are still an impressive band even this far into their career, so this will be worth a listen, at least.

Sick Of It All – Nonstop (Century Media)
The legendary New York hardcore band’s tenth studio album is the follow-up to 2010’s Based On A True Story. The band has had the same lineup since 1992, and they’ve remained true to their style of aggressive hardcore over the entire history of the group. This is the band’s second record for Century Media, although their previous label, Abacus, was an imprint of CM.

Steel Panther – Balls Out (Universal)
Steel Panther’s anthemic and over-the-top take on sleazy glam metal is as ridiculous as it is musically impressive. 2009’s Feel The Steel was a silly album, and with winning song titles like “Just Like Tiger Woods”, “Let Me Cum In” and “Weenie Ride” you know the lyrical content of this new album will be similar. One thing I don’t understand is the guest appearances from Dane Cook and Chad Kroeger, but whatever, it’s Steel Panther and they do their own thing.

Taake – Noregs Vaapen (Candlelight)
The Norwegian black metal band’s fifth full-length is an impressive showing of some epic and crushing black metal. The album is full of extremely awesome riffs amidst the dark black metal chaos, and this is one of the best black metal records of the year by far. The album also features guest spots by Attila Cishar (Mayhem) and Demonaz (Immortal).

Throne Of Katharsis – Ved Graven (Candlelight)
The band’s third full-length delivers some excellent black metal, just like the band has always done. The Norwegian group has been around since 2002, and their style of dark, evil black metal is extremely hail-worthy.

Uneven Structure – Februus (Basick)
Ambient and technical, Uneven Structure deliver a dizzying mix of soaring post-rock and technical precision mixed with a symphonic metal palette. The result is impressive, especially considering this is the band’s debut full-length album. This is the band’s follow-up to the 2009 EP 8.

Vallenfyre – A Fragile King (Century Media)
Featuring members of Paradise Lost, Doom and My Dying Bride, Vallenfyre deliver their debut album with A Fragile King. The album runs the gauntlet of styles throughout, showing hints of doom, sludge, Entombed-style death n’ roll and more. This album kicks some serious ass, and it might be a contender for album of the year.

-VV

All of these new releases and more are available through Amazon on CD and as MP3s for cheap!