A POST-HALLOWEEN PLAYLIST (PART 1): NEW MUSIC AND VIDEOS FROM APOPHYS, AUTOPSY, BIG DUMB FACE, BLOODWAY, BONGCAULDRON, BURY THE MACHINES

 

Halloween, and the few days leading up to it, always seem to be a hot time for the release of new metal, for obvious reasons I suppose. This year’s Halloween season sure as hell proved to be busy for hapless metal bloggers like me who were trying to keep up with all the new stuff rushing out into the world. Because I had a lot of premieres to write yesterday (which in themselves added to that Halloween torrent of new metal), I didn’t have time to compile a Halloween round-up. So I’m doing it today instead.

Now, you may well think this is ridiculous, but I have 17 new songs and videos to recommend. A few of them are 7-10 days old, but the rest were all released on the last couple days of October. Rather than trying to boil that list down to the size of an average SEEN AND HEARD post, I just decided, fuck it, I’ll throw ’em all at you.

Because there are so many, I alphabetized everything by band name, beginning with Apophis and ending with Watain, and divided the list into three parts. I’m going to post them as fast as I can get them ready to go. And because there are so many, I’m resorting to a tactic I’ve used occasionally in the past: Although I may dribble a few words here and there, I’m mainly presenting everything with just basic release info and no reviews. Here we go:

APOPHYS

We have some history with this band, whose line-up includes a lot of talented Dutch musicians with impressive resumes — I wrote no fewer than six posts surrounding the 2015 release by Metal Blade of their debut album Prime Incursion, including an interview and a track premiere. Now they have a new album coming out, and on Halloween they released the first single, “Retaliate“.

Album: Devoratis
Release Date: January 22, 2018
Label: Ultimate Massacre Productions
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apophysdeath

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AUTOPSY

When a Facebook friend first heard this new Autopsy song he exclaimed, “This is punk as fuck!” Hell yes it is. And by the way, on the same day this new Autopsy EP is released, Peaceville will release a split by Autopsy and Sweden’s Bloodbath. It makes me moist in the nether regions to think about that.

EP: Puncturing the Grotesque
Release Date: December 15
Label: Peaceville
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Autopsy-Official-162194133792668/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIG DUMB FACE

Nice band name. No pretensions at all. Turns out it’s an outfit founded by Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit, Black Light Burns) with his brother Scott back in 1998. This song and video, “Jesus Retreats“, comes from the group’s first album in 16 years, which may explain why I’ve never heard of this project before. And no, this is not nu metal, though I’m not sure what to call it.

Album: Where Is Duke Lion? He’s Dead…
Release Date: October 31
Facebook: None

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLOODWAY

We previously premiered a video for a new song “Midlight Scout“) off the next album by Romania’s Bloodway, and now they’ve released another video and song, “Prison Paradise“… which has hit the bullseye in my head, again.

Album: A Fragile Riddle Crypting Clues
Release Date: November 3
Label: I, Voidhanger
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bloodways/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BONGCAULDRON

“Born, got drunk, played riffs, we’ll eventually die”. And that’s the background info that UK’s BongCauldron provide about themselves. This next song is described by the band as follows:

“‘Devil‘ was written on a decline into self-destructive alcoholic despair. This song envisages depression as a force that will never leave you. A disease that no one can fully see but yourself. Everywhere you go, everywhere you look, every time you speak its standing right next to you ready to smash you in the teeth”.

The song is as brutally heavy as those words.

Album: Binge
Release Date: December 1
Label: APF Records
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bongcauldron/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BURY THE MACHINES

Based on their “verb-the-noun” name, some of you might guess this is a deathcore band. You would be wrong. Very wrong.

Bury the Machines is the project of Chicago native (and current L.A. resident) John E. Bomher, Jr. (I KLATUS, ex-YAKUZA) and drummer Mark Serpico. This video is for a new single named “Sweet Succubus“, which was released on Halloween.

Single: Sweet Succubus
Label: https://burythemachines.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/burythemachines/