The New Jersey quintet, LORNA SHORE, has returned and upped their sonic ante with new album, Pain Remains. “This was the hardest record that we’ve ever had to write,” says guitarist Adam De Micco. “The title came out when I was writing the album,” recalls Adam. “I had a lot going on personally. A lot of loss – and that came out in the songwriting.” Nothing makes that more apparent than the three-part album-shuttering opus, “Pain Remains” that stretches over 20 minutes, bludgeoning the listener with a sense of scale and raw emotion with Will venting over a tidal of cascading riffs, animalistic growls and swelling synths. “I always wanted to write a really sad death metal song, a deathcore love song,” says vocalist Will Ramos. “When I first heard the music, it had so much emotion – have you ever fallen in love in a dream and woken up and realized that none of it was real? It’s about chasing that emotion.” From the opening choral chants and orchestration (composed by guitarist Andrew O’Connor) of “Welcome Back, O’ Sleeping Dreamer” straight into labyrinth of musical twists, turns, technicalities and raw emotion at the core of tracks like “Sun//Eater” or “Soulless Existence”, LORNA SHORE has woven together a sprawling document of ambition, soul and ability that few can match. Clocking in at just over an hour, Pain Remains is as far-reaching in scope as any modern extreme metal album. It thinks big, pushing beyond preconception or musical boundaries.

East Coast metalcore ensemble the Acacia Strain utilize a bone-crushing rhythm section, apocalyptic samples, and a unique triple-guitar assault to deliver their signature blend of hardcore, noise, and death and doom metal. Emerging in the early 2000s, the band found success in 2008 with their fourth full-length effort, Continent, which soared to the top of Billboard's U.S. Heatseekers chart. Subsequent efforts like Death Is the Only Mortal (2012), Coma Witch (2014), and the horror-themed semi-concept LP It Comes in Waves (2019) continued to snap necks in the metal community with brutal efficacy. Formed in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 2001, the group consisted of guitarists Chris Daniele, Daniel Daponde, and Daniel Laskiewitz, vocalist Vincent Bennett, bass player Karrie Whitfield, and drummer Ben Abert. They released their debut, ...And Life Is Very Long, in 2002, followed by 3750 on Prosthetic Records in 2004. After 3750, the band lost Abert (who was replaced by drummer Kevin Boutot) and Daniele, and gained bassist Seth Coleman (Whitfield departed in 2003). In 2006, the Acacia Strain returned with their third full-length album, Dead Walk, on Prosthetic; subsequently, Coleman was replaced by bassist Jack Strong. Released in 2008, Continent found the group operating as a foursome, following Daponde's departure, while 2010's Wormwood introduced melodic hooks into the venomous mix of breakdowns and skull-splitting howling. The live CD/DVD Most Known Unknown arrived the following year. The Acacia Strain signed to Rise Records in 2012, releasing Death Is the Only Mortal by year's end. Longtime member Laskiewitz left the band in 2013, and was replaced by Devin Shidaker and Rich Gomez, both of whom contributed guitar to the Acacia Strain's seventh full-length album, 2014's Coma Witch. In early 2017, the group issued "Bitter Pill," the first single from their eighth studio long-player, Gravebloom, which arrived later that June. In late 2019, the band released It Comes in Waves, a doomy, taut, and atmospheric seven-song set with single-word song titles that, when put together, construct the sentence "Our only sin was giving them names." The following year saw the Acacia Strain issue a series of pummeling 7" releases (A, C, E, D, Y) that went on to form (and spell) the full-length Slow Decay, which arrived that summer. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

Texas death unit I AM will release their Eternal Steel full-length September 9th via MNRK Heavy, today unveiling the record’s artwork, track listing, and first single!  Brandishing a unique blend of furious thrash and death metal like a weapon of mass destruction, I AM is purely no-nonsense in their patented “Texas Death” assault. Armed with riffs, speed, and overwhelming power, “I AM writes songs that make you want to move” (Decibel Magazine).  Across three full-length slabs of bludgeoning intensity and snarling rage, I AM put a Southern stamp and revitalized swagger into deathcore, a subgenre rarely as raw, energized, and diverse as this band. In the spirit of fellow Southern icons Pantera and newer Texan heroes Power Trip, I AM channels discontent and anger into empowering anthems, as likely to inspire a grueling workout as to incite the pit. Reminiscent of the combination of death metal heaviness and thrash metal speed found in the early catalog of Sepultura, I AM mines the heaviness of Morbid Angel and the dexterity of the Big 4 to create something groundbreaking of their own. Vocalist Andrew Hileman — who started the band in 2011– guitarists Tom Reyes and Chris Burgess, bassist Erik Rodriguez, and drummer Brandon Busa deliver their Texas Death in clubs, theaters, and festivals, with bands like The Acacia Strain and Kublai Khan.   Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Randy Leboeuf & EQ