Happy Friday, everyone! Welcome to our Metal Release Day Battle Royale!
In one corner: acclaimed Georgia metallers Baroness, coming through with Gold & Grey, the fifth and final installment of their wildly successful chromatic-themed releases, each one more lauded than the last (2015’s Purple even garnered high praise from Metallica frontman James Hetfield himself). Anticipation for Gold & Grey is through the roof – Stereogum even referred to it as a “masterpiece” before it even came out. Relax, guys. Still, Gold & Grey will likely be a contender for many year-end metal lists, and I haven’t even heard it yet!
In the other corner: Polish extreme Metal band Hate, whose Blackened Death ferocity is perhaps only matched by the almighty Behemoth. I reviewed 2017’s Tremendum quite positively, complimenting it specifically for embracing more of Hate’s Black Metal side, and am hoping that Auric Gates of Veles blows it out of the water.
Whoever emerges as today’s victor, just know that it’s a great day to be a Metal fan! As for who this blog will declare the winner….well, my forthcoming Mid-Year Metal list may or may not be a good indication….
