...AND THERE'S ALL THIS TO COME, TOO!
Rounding up everything else that needs to be on your radar in 2019
AMON AMARTH celebrated their amazing career with the Pursuit Of Vikings documentary last year, but in 2019 it’s all about moving forwards, with a brand new album rumoured for this spring. Experimental duo BLACK FUTURES will be putting their music where their mouth is with a debut album to come within the next few months. Judging by recent comments from Fenriz, we should be getting a new DARKTHRONE album at some point this year, too. DEVILDRIVER had a blast paying tribute to country music in 2018, but we’ll be getting all-new material from Dez and the boys this year, probably around late summer if all goes to plan. DREAM THEATER promised us a back-tobasics approach to their 14th studio album, Distance Over Time. Quite what that means for a bunch of prog metal legends we’re still not sure – we’ll have to find out when the record arrives on February 22.
EPICA will have a new album out at some point this year, as the Dutch symphonic metal mainstays look to follow countrymen Within Temptation into bigger venues around the world.
EVANESCENCE could finally be at work on a new album, if rumours are to be believed – it’d be their first of all-new material since 2011’s self-titled release. Heavy metal lads GRAND MAGUS return with another round of battleready metal anthems. Have your swords polished. HEXVESSEL will unveil their latest sermon next month – it’s titled All Tree, so don’t expect odes to technology and futuristic shenanigans. HO99O9 will unveil their second album this year. Will their stint touring with Prodigy mean we get a ton of dancey #bangers? We’ll have to wait and find out. ICED EARTH unleash another missive of fiery heavy metal anthems this spring. Don’t expect any pop punk jams about girls on that one.
IN FLAMES will continue their sonic evolution with a new album in March, and their festival Borgholm Brinner will return in August. With Jonathan Davis getting his solo album off his chest, it’s a safe bet to look out for new KORN music this year – exactly when, though, is anyone’s guess for now.
2018 was a standout year for LACUNA COIL, featuring some immense live shows and a Best
Live Band award at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods. They’re not standing still, though: we’ll be getting a brand new album by the end of the year. LOATHE’s new record should be a fine litmus test for whether the bruising young metalcore crew can step it up to the next level, while grindcore legends NAPALM DEATH will release a new album of their own later this year. Will we get to see them at Glasto again, though? NEW YEARS DAY told us recently that they binned a whole album’s worth of material to start again for the new record.
We’ll find out if it was worth it in March. Death metal royalty NILE will unveil their next extreme metal attack this year. Probably including stuff about Ancient Egypt. NOTHING MORE will be hitting Europe sooner or later, likely around springtime, and we may get new music from the alt-rock Texans. You never know quite what you’re going to get from majestic proggers OPETH when it comes to new music, but the Swedes have been at work on a new album and will have it ready to roll before the year’s end.
Master of terrormonies ROB ZOMBIE has a new album and a sequel to The Devil’s Rejects both incoming. Show-off. SABATON will be bringing the fire and fury to Bloodstock in August, and
they’ll be armed with a brand-new album, too. Drone metal terrorists SUNN 0))) will have another album of pulverising sonic noise this spring. VOLBEAT released new live album Let’s Boogie! Live From Telia Parken last month, but expect to see a full new record from the Danes sooner or later.
We anticipate WEDNESDAY 13 taking a break from making spooky props for his live show to get a new album out the door by summer or thereabouts. WHILE SHE SLEEPS’ third album, So What?, lands imminently, bolstered by a UK tour that’ll see the Sheffield crushers headline London’s prestigious Roundhouse venue – their biggest-ever headline show.