Earlier before 2015 was upon us we decided to have a retrospective look forward, if there ever was such a thing! Seeing as most of the bands mentioned do not currently have singles we thought, why not see what their previous, often stellar catalogue has and might I say that this year has got some seriously big acts, well, we think it does. Remember most of this is just simple speculation and in some cases, pure hope. So don’t be getting the wrong idea!
Lamb Of God
Having finally pulled themselves through the worst of what their previous exploits had for them Lamb Of God return to the fore this year. After a gruelling two years for singer Randy Blythe, being acquitted after a lengthy trail where the singer was held in Czech Republic jail, the band are back to it. Releasing the poignant Ashes movie documenting their trials and tribulations and Blythe writing his novel in just the one year, Lamb Of God are now getting back into the driving seat. Appearing at various festivals throughout the summer, means that the band will probably have material ready for this year. This is all speculation at the moment, but it has been three years now since their last phenomenal record Resolution, which saw them truly begin to be at the top of their game. The question is now, what will the band sound like? Perhaps insight they now have might be a key to changing their overall sound, who knows. I reckon we will by the end of the year though.
Expected release date : August 2015
Cattle Decapitation
San Diego’s truly ferocious Cattle Decapitation are set to return this year as well, having written the best and most importantly accessible record of their catalogue Monolith Of Inhumanity in 2012 people were finally beginning to notice this limitless band. With much of the bands previous releases being slightly too grind oriented, the release of Monolith Of Inhumanity showed some truly fascinating changes that the band had initiated. With a modern production sound, retaining what makes the band so devastating to listen to and both see live, we cannot wait to hear what the band have cooked up for us! Judging by the band having written the material but not successfully recorded it we would estimate that the record will be seeing the light of day early Spring. A huge step up from their previous album Monolith Of Inhumanity was the band only just beginning to understand exactly what their sound entailed, so we’re in for a treat this year.
Expected release date : March – April 2015
Scale The Summit
After releasing their latest effort The Migration in 2013, saw the band begin to attain the traction they had sorely been after. Their first ever UK show, illustrated that the band had waited far too long to come over to these waters. With an ever growing fan base the instrumental quartet are truly revolutionary, nothing I can define is anything similar to the band. Although an instrumental piece their sound is refined and one of less is more. Having found attention on their The Collective release, slowly harnessing it more on The Migration, it should be very interesting to see what the band come up with this year. If you’ve not heard their brand of progressive instrumental then this will most certainly be the year that you do.
Estimated release date : June 2015
Ghost B.C.
Having created two albums, one with a notorious special edition that sliced things up in the metal world, Papa Euronymous and co will in fact be returning as well this year. Their own brand of heavy metal tinged glamour will be seeing a new release, as with the two previous albums, we would imagine the band would be sticking to their well versed formula, although a little experimentation wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility. Whatever it is they come up with, it’s sure to be one of the years most ghoulishly glamorous proceedings.
Estimated release date : June 2015
The Black Dahlia Murder
Releasing their hilarious documentary/live show double whammy Fool ‘Em All last year, The Black Dahlia Murder have announced that it is indeed time to write the follow up to Everblack. Potentially being one of the biggest names in modern death metal at the moment, having some of the best back catalogue the band will have a lot to live up to. However what is brilliant about The Black Dahlia Murder aside from their incredible song writing and musicianship is the amount of projection they get. Whilst also, this is important among the metal community, garnering the respect of loggerhead old school death metal fans, whilst also introducing new fans to their brilliant sound.
Being on the entire Warped Tour last year the band are exposing more and more people to the true possibilities of death metal, although many will argue against it The Black Dahlia Murder, were lumped in very much with the death core titans. After a line up change seeing the introduction of Arsis‘ own Ryan Knight, the band added a new sense of melody to their already crushing sound, pairing up with the drumming ability of Abigail Williams’ Alan Cassidy the band have the potential to become one of the biggest and most respected death metal acts around.
Estimated release date : July 2015
Meshuggah
Touring the world over in 2014 Meshuggah celebrated twenty five years of being together as a band. All over the globe the band moved about with a specially tailored live set, including tracks that had not been played for years. From the influential, yet totally different from nowaday, Contradictions Collapse along with some choice cuts that fans would love. The band also decided to revisit their history in another medium, re mixing and re releasing their EP “I” the twenty one minute track is a masterful nugget of just how innovative this band truly are, not to mention the band also released a live DVD of their previous year,The Ophidian Trek , where by the band promoted their most recent release. The absolutely astonishing Koloss, once again a lot of this article is just simple speculation, however knowing Meshuggah this will be three years since their last release. Having stated that the band are messing around with stuff, gives us hope. Although the process is long winded, as the old adage says, good things come to those who wait.
Estimated release date : October 2015
The Red Chord
More of a hope than a guess really, the influential ark of this band can be felt through the entirety of the 2000’s when their sound was as avant garde as it came. Although with certain members releasing Nightkin’s first effort, with the mention of sparse live shows, it seems that the band are gearing up slightly for something, perhaps some small tours in the year. Being positive and hopeful however, I would say they might be a new album in the pipeline. Fingers crossed.
Estimated release date : November?
Alkaloid
Although some of these are speculative there is one band that will definitely be releasing new material. Formed of the remains of previous bands, Obscura drafted Hannes Grossman on drums and Christian Munzner on guitar, along with Aborted guitarist Dan Lilker And finished off with Dark Fortress singer. We have one of the worlds most avant garde metal groups there have been, each band notorious for their excellent releases after hearing a snippet of their first works, in their preview for their crowd funding campaign. Melding various different and slightly unorthodox elements on their first full length The Malkuth Grimoire, it seems that Alkaloid will definitely have some heads turning this year.
Estimated release date : April 2015
And finally Nile
Nile have been biding their time, worshipping their various Egyptian deities and learning their hieroglyphs. Their last output At The Gates Of Sethu, released in 2012, has been a while now. I would imagine that the band would begin to think about some new material, having toured the album in many different cities we might be seeing a new incarnation of Nile this year. Perhaps some experimentation may occur as well, don’t get me wrong they will never lose the classic Nile sound of beautiful Egyptian themes, sounds and language mixed with their tech death batterings but perhaps some form of difference would be welcome. I fear if the band don’t change it up, they might lost interest. Having said that Nile are as reliable as Cannibal Corpse in the death metal arena, so if you like what you hear, chances are you will probably adore their new material this year.
Estimated release date : September 2015
Any other speculations that you guys might have? Let us know!
