Abyssus (Greece)

Few other genres/sub-genres can be as relentless as death metal and Greek metallers Abyssus have about 19 tracks on their recently released full-length album Once Entombed… to prove that. Even better, they throw in a bit of that noisy, crust influence, vocalist Kostas Analytis sounding his reckless, visceral best.

Camel of Doom (UK)

Formed in 2002, these lads from Leeds are your best bet for psychedelic gloom and doom. And as is the case with all psychedelic bands, there’s no special joy in listening to just one or two tracks off their new album Terrestrial. Camel of Doom scatter a couple of fillers to build the mood, four out of eight tracks clock in over 10 minutes each, ploughing atmospheric riffs and vocals probably screamed directly at the sky on songs like ‘Pyroclastic Flow’.

Boargazm (South Africa)

Hurray for pig squeals, right? There is something undoubtedly funny yet brutal about Pretoria-based “intergalactic space metal” band Boargazm, who have built their entire look and sound on the idea of an alien pig race bringing down an “aporkalypse” on Earth. Turns out there’s a rebel band of “pig whisperers” who went to see an oracle, from the third world to find out that to prevent the “aporkalypse”, they have to travel back in time and warn the world. You’ll never see pigs the same way again.

Exarsis (Greece)

Active since 2009 and currently based out of Athens, thrash metallers Exarsis underwent a line-up change in 2013, adding a new guitarist, drummer and vocalist. Although their previous vocalist had this distinctively high-pitched voice that gained them a few unwanted guffaws, their latest album, 2015’s The Human Project, is an all-out thrash affair. Going by their lead single ‘Skull and Bones’, they’re still retaining a few of those high-note vocal melodies to stay distinct.

Juggernaut (India)

When you have producer Adhiraj Singh working on your track, there’s very little doubt that the resultant track is going to be a groove monster of a tune. But Nashik metallers Juggernaut actually let their vocalist Lokesh Patil take the spotlight for the most part on their debut single ‘Why So Serious?’ The band are explicit in saying it’s not a reference to The Dark Knight’s The Joker’s signature line. They told Metalbase, “[It’s] a shout out to people to not get depressed or serious in life about let downs or failures in life. To rise above all the pain, suffering and break free of shackles binding them.”

Love Sex Machine (France)

The most ear-grating, deafening release of the year (so far) belongs to this French sludge metal band that is misleadingly called Love Sex Machine. Then again, their second album is called Asexual Anger, so we can’t really confuse them for a Prince-era funk band any longer. The eight-track record, which released last month, is dense and intense, and will probably ruin your throat if you plan to sing along to it.