2017 has been another top-notch year for metal and 2018 already has a ton of confirmed releases that have us chomping at the bit. Here’s 10 albums that you should keep an eye out for over the year.
10) Skeletonwitch – TBA
It’s been nearly two years since Adam Clemans replaced previous vocalist Chance Garnette and over four since we’ve had a full-length release. The wait is nearly over though, in November Skeleonwitch announced that they were in the studio with Converge’s Kurt Ballou taking production duties with the aim of releasing a new album in Spring 2018. As the first full length with Adam Cleman’s the band are under a lot of pressure to come up with something great, but 2016’s EP ‘The Apothic Gloom’ has me confident they won’t disappoint.
9) Black Tusk – TBA
Black Tusk are an underrated gem of a sludge band. If you’ve not had the opportunity to check this band out before now would be a good time to check out their impressive back catalogue before delving into next years release, and you won’t have long to wait as their latest teaser on the 21st December claims the album is “almost done”.
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8) Soulfly – TBA
Max Cavalera has bought turned up the heaviness on his releases over the past few years. The latest Cavalera Conspiracy album ‘Psychosis’ was a blistering slab of ferocity and with Max claiming he’s going to be “continuing my experimentation with the heavy side of music” there’s plenty of reason to be excited!
7) Tesseract – TBA
Tesseracts next album will be the first time they’ve managed to release two consecutive albums with the same vocalist. The return of Dan Tompkins for 2015’s ‘Polaris’ wasdivisive, as the band went into a more song-focused direction eschewing their more progressive style from previous releases. Album number four may well return to this style but we look forward to it either way.
6) Suicidal Tendencies – ‘Get Your Fight On’ EP & TBA
Suicidal Tendencies are spoiling us. Not only have we got a confirmed release of EP ‘Get Your Fight On’ for March 9th, they’ve also announced a second EP which they aim to put out later in the year. Suicidal have been on top form since they started making new music again in 2013 and the addition of Dave Lombardo has only made them better.
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5) Judas Priest – ‘Firepower’
Most bands that have been around for forty plus years tend to slow down a bit. Not so with Judas Priest if the short snippet they released in November is any indication. If you’re reading this website I doubt I need to explain to you how big of a deal a new Judas Priest album is, Firepower releases in March 2018 so we don’t have long to wait!
4) Ministry – ‘AmeriKKKant’
After the death of guitarist Mike Scaccia died in 2012 and the release of ‘From Beer To Eternity’ on which he appeared posthumously it seemed that Ministry was finished. After some time off to mourn and refocus Al Jourgensen is back and seems to have his sites set on the American president Donald Trump stating that “This album, ‘AmeriKKKant’, will provide FEMA-type relief for the devastation ‘Hurricane Cheeto’ has brought upon us”. We’re not sure what that means either, but we’re glad to have a new Ministry album on the horizon.
3) Possessed – TBA
‘Seven Churches’ is one of the most influential albums ever made, at least when it comes to Metal. A staggering thirty-two years later they’re back and signed to Nuclear Blast. Most death metal fans had long given up on new material despite their reformation and live shows since 2007, so it’s incredibly exciting to finally have confirmation that a new album is on the way.
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2) Machine Head – Catharsis
The disappointing single “Catharsis” and the rhetoric surrounding this album has us a little worried. Robb Flynn has told fans through Metal Hammer to “Lower your expectations for the heaviness, lower your expectations for the speed. If ‘The Blackening’ was us at our most thrashing and aggressive, this is probably the most melodic and the most grooving we’ve been” and that the band got into a “weird zone” during the albums creations. Still, it’s Machine Head so we remain cautiously optimistic.
1) Tool – TBA
While I’m not going to believe it until I actually hold the album in my hands Tool’s drummer Danny Carey went on record to tell Loudwire that a new album would “definitely” be out next year and that they’d “probably have it done in the first half of the year if things go as planned”. Prophets of Rage guitarist Tom Morello has also confirmed that he’s heard some of the new music, describing it as “epic, majestic, symphonic, brutal, beautiful, tribal, mysterious, deep, sexy and VERY Tool.”
