Happy New Year’s! New year, new music! So what are we excited for this year? Glad you asked! Here’s a rundown of what we think will be played incessantly at the Rock and Roll Fables offices:
16. Summoner: (TBD/TBA)/Gozu: (Revival/March)
Two of Boston’s most underrated heavy acts will be back with new records sometime in 2016. Gozu recently announced the follow-up to The Fury of a Patient Man is due in March through Ripple Music and if it’s anything like its predecessor, fans are in for a real treat. Meanwhile, desert rock luminaries Summoner have been prepping their next and frankly, at this stage of their career, that band can do no wrong.
15. Filter: (Crazy Eyes/April 8th)
The only reason this is so far down the list is because it was on our 2015 most anticipated list. But the wait is almost over! Produced by frontman Richard Patrick, Crazy Eyes promises to be Filter’s most uninhibited release yet with a new line up that rocked all the Filter classics while on tour last year with Coal Chamber, Combichrist, and American Head Charge. Check out first single “Take Me To Heaven” here.
14. Child Bite: (Negative Noise/April 1st)
I’ve been waiting for this Phil Anselmo-produced collection of crazy since last year but fear not, despite the April Fool’s Day release date, the long awaited fourth release from Detroit’s Child Bite is almost actually upon us. Part rockabilly, part punk, part metal, yet all amazing, Child Bite’s upcoming promises everything you love about this band turned up to 11.
13. Knives Out! (TBA/Summer)
Todd Smith fans got not only a new Dog Fashion Disco album last year but also a new El Creepo one to boot! In 2016, the Smithtrain keeps on chugging forward with (Surprise!) a new album from Knives Out! featuring Smith, Jasan Stepp (DFD, Polkadot Cadaver), David Cullen (Polkadot Cadaver), Tommy Sickles (Nothingface), and as confirmed by a Facebook post in December the return of guitarist Tom Maxwell who has been busy with HELLYEAH recently. Their debut, Black Mass Hysteria, was an incredible metal masterpiece combining all the sounds of their other musical outlets into a cohesive pile of pummeling brutality. As for album number two? The sky’s the limit…
12. Bob Mould (Patch The Sky/March 25th)
Bob Mould has been a roll over the past few years. Since Silver Age in 2012, Mould has rekindled that ’90’s Sugar magic and captured a little of that Husker Du grit to create some of the best rock albums of his career. 2016 will see the release of his 12th solo album again featuring Jason Narducy and Jon Wurster which is, according to Mould, his “darkest” AND “catchiest” one yet.
11. Killswitch Engage: (Incarnate/March)
The second record with vocalist Jesse Leach back at the mic is shaping up to be a beast. The most diverse and interesting KSE record to date since As Daylight Dies perhaps? If first single “Strength Of The Mind” and the Game Of Thrones-inspired track “Loyalty” are the smallest of indicators then Incarnate is shaping up to be an instant classic from these Massachusetts metallers.
10. deftones (TBA/April 8th)
Has it really been 4 years since deftones released Koi No Yokan? If time has taught deftones fans anything it’s that the Sacto quintet always deliver, especially with such an extended period between records.
9. Youth Code (TBA/TBD)
Didja catch the taste of Youth Code’s upcoming sophomore opus late last year while they toured with Skinny Puppy? It was a brilliantly executed pile of ominous post-industrial noise curated by Rhys Fulber which showcased the team of Sara Taylor and Ryan William George’s sonic prowess. Our write up of “Anagnorisis” is here, be prepared for what’s to come.
8. TR/ST (TBA/TBD)
There’s been very little movement in the TR/ST camp except for the release of new single “Slug” earlier in 2015 along with a smattering of DJ sets and shows but hopefully 2016 will bring a new album from the Canadian electro luminaries.
7. 16Volt (TBA/May)
The most underrated industrial rock band is finally back after a small hiatus. It’s been almost five years since their last full-length was released and mastermind Eric Powell is reinvigorated with a new line up after releasing an album as Black December last year. This time, 16Volt is label free and teaming with Indiegogo (Campaign is here) to create the best fan experience and deliver the best 16Volt record yet!
6. Zack Lopez (Bloodlines/April)
Middle Class Rut going on the dreaded “extended hiatus” sucks, okay? But then one half of the outfit announces a solo record which, in my opinion, could go either way. It could be so far away from what fans loved about that other band but it could also be the next evolution and then some. Luckily for MCR fans, what Zack Lopez has given us so far falls into the latter category. Teaming with Pledgemusic (Check it out here), Lopez has created a subscription service which gives pledgers new songs and updates every two weeks until the release of a full-length in April. So far the results have been stellar with the very MCR sounding “I Don’t Know” to start things off followed by tracks which show even more depth (“Even The Losers”, “Don’t Say I Won’t”) without necessarily going for the jugular.
5. He Is Legend (TBA/TBD)
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t initially impressed when Heavy Fruit, the long awaited follow up to It Hates You, initially came out in 2014. It lacked the immediacy of that 2009 banger I thought but once I dove deeper, found the album to be the next logical progression and a fucking killer addition to an already solid discography. It’s been two years since Heavy Fruit and now, after a successful Indiegogo campaign last year, He Is Legend is back with a whole new collection of badass tunes.
4. White Lies (TBA/TBD)
It’s been 3 looooong years since White Lies released their glorious third album, Big TV, but the band has promised new music in the new year and it’s sure to exceed every expectation that fans have set for the UK gloom-rock trio.
3. All Tvvins (TBA/TBD)
If you never discovered front man Conor Adams other band The Cast of Cheers then All Tvvins will be like a gift from the musical Gods above with all of their awesomeness. After dropping some infectious singles in 2015 (“Thank You”, “Darkest Ocean”, “Too Young To Live”), All Tvvins (Completed by Lar Kaye) is set to drop their debut full-length which promises to be filled with even more sonic goodness than the previous singles teased.
2. American Head Charge: (Tango Umbrella/March 25th)
I’d say AHC is a guilty pleasure of mine but they’re just so fucking good that how could anyone feel guilty of liking this heavy metal monstrosity that survived the nu-metal era (relatively) unscathed. Eleven years since their last full-length, American Head Charge is primed to take it all back once again with their first release through new label home Napalm Records, Tango Umbrella. It’s an exciting chapter in the already rich history of AHC and if you were lucky enough to catch them on the road last year with labelmates Coal Chamber, then you got a small taste of what you’re in for (We were lucky enough, read more here)
1. Corrosion Of Conformity (TBA/TBD)
Please, please, PLEASE let 2016 be the year that finally sees the follow up to 2005’s In The Arms Of God. The quartet of Woody Weatherman, Reed Mullin, Mike Dean, and Pepper Keenan has finished an almost endless touring cycle in celebration of Deliverance, signed with Nuclear Blast and are ready to record their first record together since that aforementioned classic. Be prepared for one of the most anticipated and best rawk albums of 2016 if it surfaces.
Not enough for you? Well, fear not! There’s a slew of other releases you have to look forward to (But frankly, there’s only so many hours in a day to write about all of them). Also slated for 2016 release, and albums we think you’ll dig, are new ones from Rob Zombie, Lady Gaga, Gojira, Bile, Rammstein, The Dreaming, Helmet, Soundgarden, Testament, Katatonia, Alice In Chains, Rorschach Test, Al Jourgensen’s Surgical Meth Machine, Prong, Katatonia, Diiv, and the long gestating new record from Amen.