Crossover thrash metal zasedba Belushi Speed Ball bo 10. maja izdala nov album Stellkira. Prvi single My Favourite Color Is Pizza je že na voljo za poslušanje, objavili pa so tudi naslove drugih komadov, ki bodo del ploščka:

My Favorite Color Is Pizza
This is the Peak
Eels and Escalators
Get to the Point
Glass Bones and Paper Skin IV
The Adventures of Rick and Mortarion
Garth, Let My Family Go
Griffith Did Literally Everything Wrong
The Hash Slinging Slasher
The Accountant's Due (Stab the Katana)
Tater Tot Eyes

Lansko leto je enočlanska black metal zasedba Blackbraid, ki svojo inspiracijo išče v zgodbah ameriških staroselcev, izdala album Blackbraid II. Po krajšem premoru pa zdaj idejni vodja Sgah’gahsowáh sporoča, da je že začel delo z novim albumom, ki bo nosil ime Blackbraid III. Podrobnosti za zdaj še ostajajo skrivnost. Celotno izjavo Sgah’gahsowáha pa lahko preberete spodaj:

»I realize it has been several weeks since I posted on this account which is unusual for me. Rest assured the silence is a temporary but necessary one. The solitude of winter has always been an integral part of my writing and this year is no different.

That being said it should not surprise you that I have recently begun work on a third full length, Blackbraid III. The details of this release are still largely unknown and there is much work to be done in the coming months, just know that my lack of social media presence during the writing process is a necessary one.

As the winter wanes on I will make more updates on the new album as the process progresses. As always, thank you all for your endless support, I promise this is only the beginning.«

Rap metal pionirji Body Count, ki jih vodi vsem dobro znani Ice-T, se junija odpravljajo na turnejo po Evropi. Pot jih bo tokrat zanesla tudi k našim južnim sosedom, saj bodo 16. junija nastopili v Zagrebu. Vse ostale datume turneje najdete na priloženi sliki.

Nova progresivno metalska super zasedba Whom Gods Destroy, ki jo sestavljajo člani Derek Sherinian – klaviature (Dream Theater, Sons of Apollo, Black Country Communion), Ron »Bumblefoot« Thal – kitare (Guns N'Roses, Sons of Apollo), Dino Jelusick – vokal (Whitesnake, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), Yas Nomura – bas in Bruno Valverde na bobnih, so za 15. marec pri Insideout Music najavili izid studijskega prvenca z naslovom Insanium.

Predstavljajo pa tudi sveži video za prvi single In The Name Of War.

Progresivni death metal duet Iapetus sporoča, da je podpisal pogodbo z založbo Willowtip Records. Band je trenutno v fazi priprave materiala za tretji album, spodaj pa lahko preberete izjavo banda ob začetku sodelovanja z novo založbo:

»We are honored, humbled, and thrilled to announce our partnership with Willowtip Records - to join their incomparable roster, both past and present, and to stand alongside so many incredible bands that we have long admired both as fans and peers.Willowtip is and has always been dedicated to pushing the boundaries of metal - to championing the off-beat and the unfamiliar - and so we feel resolutely at home beneath their legendary, ever-innovative banner. This partnership is, for us - and in so many ways - a perfect fit. We could not be more excited for the endeavors ahead.

Writing for our next album has been ongoing for years, and is still well underway - while it's still too far-off for specific details, we can promise that it will be our darkest record yet - an 80+ minute conceptual rumination on hopelessness, mortality, and meaning in an uncaring cosmos. More news will become available as the album progresses.

And, as always, our unending gratitude for the continual support of our fans across the globe - if you haven't already, check out some of our new, outstanding labelmates - An Abstract Illusion, Countless Skies, Hath, Slugdge, The Anchoret, and more!

Cheers, and Happy New Year!«

Kanadski death metal band Fathomless Ritual, za katerim stoji B. Dean (Gutvoid, Fumes, Pukewraith), je podpisal pogodbo z založbo Transcending Obscurity Records, pri kateri bo izdal studijski prvenec Hymns For The Lesser Gods. Izid je napovedan 12. februarja, za pokušino pa band predstavlja komad Gorge of the Nameless. Album obsega naslednje naslove:

Hecatomb for an Unending Madness
Exiled to the Lower Catacombs
Gorge of the Nameless
Grafted to the Chambers of Mirth
Wielding the Bone Wand
Cosmic Reflections from the Basin of Blood
Gelatinous Being of Countless Forms
Gifts for Aranaktu

Norveški death/thrash metalci Sovereign so le nekaj dni po objavi komada Counter Tech objavili še naslovni komad svojega prihajajočega prvenca Altered Realities. Album izide 19. januarja pri Dark Descent Records.

Death/thrash metalci Sovereign iz Norveške predstavljajo še en komad s prihajajočega prvenca Altered Realities. Tokrat band v posluh ponuja komad Counter Tech, album pa naj bi izšel 19. januarja pri Dark Descent Records.

Finski temačneži Counting Hours bodo 23. februarja pri Ardua Music izdali svoj drugi studijski album The Wishing Tomb. Komadu Timeless Ones lahko prisluhnete tukaj, sicer pa bodo na ploščku ti komadi:

Unsung, Forlorn
Timeless Ones
Away I Flow
All That Blooms (Needs To Die)
Starlit / Lifeless
The Wishing Tomb
No Closure
A Mercy Fall
This Well Of Failures

Švedski death metalci Ribspreader so napovedali Reap Humanity, svoj deseti album v 20 letih delovanja. Plošček bo izšel 16. januarja pri Xtreem Music na CD-ju ter digitalno in bo prinesel devet komadov:

The Skeletal Towers
A Fleshless Gathering
Reap Humanity
Count Damnation
As the Ghouls are Summoned
Like Breeding Vermin
Further Into Decay
Human Fodder
Shrouded in Despair

Norveški death/thrash metal band Sovereign predstavlja komad Altered Reality s prihajajočega prvenca Altered Realities, ki bo 19. januarja izšel pri založbi Dark Descent Records. Album prinaša vsega sedem komadov:

Altered Reality
Futile Dreams
Nebular Waves
Counter Tech
The Enigma of Intelligence
Synthetic Life
Absence of Unity

Nizozemski industrial metal band Autarkh, v katerem delujejo člani zasedb Dodecahedron, Inferum in Dear Mother, so napovedali nov album. Ta bo nosil naslov Emergent in bo izšel 10. novembra pri Season of Mist Underground Activists. Poleg naslovnice je znana še tracklista:

Open Focus
Strife
Duhkha
Trek
Refocus
Aperture
Eye Of Horus
Countless Kaleidoscopes
Ka

Italijanski thrasherji Game Over bodo 20. oktobra pri Scarlet Records izdali svoj nov album Hellframes. Na ploščku bodo sledeči komadi:

Vision
Call Of The Siren
Path Of Pain
The Cult
Count Your Breaths
Atonement
Deliver Us
Synthetic Dreams
My World Dies Screaming
Hellframes (feat. Dome/Fulci)

Predstavlja se nova mednarodna progresivna metal skupina Temic. Gre za projekt, v katerem med drugim delujejo sedanji/nekdanji člani projektov Devin Townsend, Shining in The Neal Morse Band. Zasedba bo 17. novembra pri Season Of Mist izdala svoj prvenec Terror Management Theory, spodaj pa lahko prisluhnete prvemu singlu Count Your Losses.

Danski hard rokerji Black Oak County so izdali single It's On You, ki je med drugim na voljo tudi v obliki videospota.