10 Bold Predictions For Heavy Metal In 2018

This entry comes as an addendum to the “Year of Black Metal” point from earlier, but, at the same time, it’s about a great band making a truly great album, so it deserves a slot all its own.

For those of you who have never heard nor heard of Harakiri for the Sky, quite frankly you’re missing out on a true diamond in the heavy metal rough. Mixing incessantly despondent black metal with progressive song structures and amazing riffs, the duo identified only as M.S. and J.J. are the gatekeepers to state-of-the-art, experimental extremity: the next generation of bands like Opeth, Enslaved and Gojira.

In February, the darkened collective will drop their fourth album, Arson, via the Art of Propaganda record label. The disc is set to be a seven-song extravaganza of ceaselessly heavy, embittered, ten-minute-plus suites, of which three have already been released. And they’re, well… they’re just wonderful. “Tomb Omnia”, “You Are the Scars” and “Heroin Waltz” are a trilogy of massive chunks of the heaviest, fastest, most complex metal around. They boast manic roars and blast beats as well as a plethora of atmospheric interludes, including isolated guitars interludes and harrowing acoustics.

If the rest of Arson follows in its singles’ footsteps, we may very well have 2018’s metal album of the year on our hands.