Weekly Binge 1/16/2015

Well it's the start of a new year, and with January tends to come some decent releases looking to capitalize on the holiday drought, but nothing outright exceptional. This week, however, sees the stateside release of Witchrider's debut LP "Unmountable Stairs"; a most definitely exceptional release. Also releasing this week is Sylosis' "Dormant Heart" and 6:33's avant-garde debut "Deadly Scenes" along with plenty of re-releases by the label Metal Mind including albums by Candlemass, Clawfinger, and Benediction. See below for a full breakdown. Enjoy!

Also don't forget to check out the Top Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Albums of 2014!

Pick of the Week

Witchrider - Unmountable StairsRecommended Track: SP

Genre: Stoner Rock
Label: Fuzzorama

Witchrider rides fuzzy, Californian waves with an intensity Josh Hommes (Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age) could only imagine. The starting half of the album consisting of “OCD,” “One for Five” and “Black” get the dust swirling as tracks "Far From You" and "SP" come in for the sonic kill. Vocalist Dan Dorninger kills the desert sun groove, and the rest of the group rises on the sum of it's parts. Consider this a 2015 release because it's going to most definitely be on a few end of the year lists.

Runner-Ups

Sylosis - Dormant HeartRecommended Track: Harm

Genre: Melodic Death/Thrash Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast

6:33 - Deadly ScenesRecommended Track: Black Widow

Genre: Avant Garde/Progressive Metal
Label: Kaotoxin

Notables

Other releases this week include:

• Benediction - Grind Bastard Re-ReleaseGenre: Death Metal | Label: Metal Mind
• Benediction - Killing Music Re-ReleaseGenre: Death Metal | Label: Metal Mind
• Benediction - Organised Chaos Re-ReleaseGenre: Death Metal | Label: Metal Mind
• Benediction - Subconscious Terror Re-ReleaseGenre: Death Metal | Label: Metal Mind
• Benediction - Transcend the Rubicon/The Dreams You Dread Re-ReleaseGenre: Death Metal | Label: Metal Mind
• Candlemass - Candlemass Re-ReleaseGenre: Doom Metal | Label: Metal Mind
• Candlemass - Lucifer Rising Re-ReleaseGenre: Doom Metal | Label: Metal Mind
• Clawfinger - Life Will Kill You Re-ReleaseGenre: Rap Metal | Label: Metal Mind
• The Crown - Death Is Not DeadGenre: Melodic Death Metal/Thrash Metal | Label: Century Media
• Desolate Shrine - The Heart of the NetherworldGenre: Death Metal | Label: Dark Descent
• Einherjer - Av Oss, For OssGenre: Viking Metal | Label: Indie
• Exlibris - AfterealGenre: Power Metal | Label: Metal Mind
• Karma To Burn- Arch StantonGenre: Instrumental Stoner Metal | Label: FABA
• Pain of Salvation - Falling HomeGenre: Progressive Rock/Acoustic | Label: Inside Out
• Palisades - Mind GamesGenre: Metalcore/Techno-core | Label: Rise
• Panzer, The German - Send Them All To HellGenre: Heavy Metal/Thrash Metal | Label: Nuclear Blast
• Wednesday 13 - Monsters of the Universe - Come Out and PlagueGenre: Horror Metal/Heavy Metal | Label: Self

Thanks for reading and hope you found something new to listen to. See you next Friday for the next Weekly Binge where I will break down more notable goodies.

- The Catalyst