Fear Factory
Album Due Out Late Summer
Personally, their most recent release, Genexus, was one of the best of their entire career. Of course, Demanufacture and Obsolete are classics, I just felt the direction they took with that record was such a perfect blend of Bell's vocal melodies and Cazares' guitar riffs.
Rhys Fulber's continued involvement with production is only getting better and Mike Heller's debut drum writing for the band was spot-on. I don't exactly expect the band's upcoming tenth LP to top their last one, but if it's anywhere similar, it'll be magnificent. – Riley Rowe
FĂłrn
Album Due Out August/September
Fórn is punishing. The extreme, sludge-fueled doom the Boston quintet crafts slowly and methodically steamrolls listeners through a somber atmosphere and thunderous walls of sound. The coming year will bring a continuation of the band's dynamic sound that has many fans of extreme metal excited.
Outside of a great song for a greater cause and live shows, Fórn remained relatively quiet this past year. Yet, 2017 is an exciting year for the band itself. In addition to the news of their newest full-length album through Gilead Media, they will be making an appearance at Roadburn as well. – Cody Davis
Full Of Hell
Album Due Out In Spring
Every time Full of Hell announce a new album my bones rattle a bit. The band has been merciless in pushing their sound further and further without dumbing down their approach or driving it more mainstream.
If anything, since Roots of Earth Are Consuming My Home the band has become more difficult to digest and strangely more alluring. But this is also the first non-collaboration LP they’ve put out since 2013’s Rudiments of Mutilation. And it’s been recorded by Kurt Ballou at GodCity. So it’s going to probably be the most death metal the band has ever sounded and hopefully the most claustrophobic. – Christopher Luedtke
Ghost
Album Due Out Sometime 2017
Ghost's musical path has been one hell of a ride since its inception. From retro heavy metal to orchestrated horror, up to 2015's grandiose Meliora, Ghost has proven its worth and then some.
Even more interestingly is that Ghost has stated numerous times that it plans its musical and storytelling future far in advance. So Ghost knows damn well what's coming 2017, and while we're still not even remotely sure what it'll be, I'm beyond stoked. How can Ghost possibly follow up Meliora? – Greg Kennelty
High On Fire
Album Due Out Sometime 2017
Guitarist Matt Pike is attempting to release two new studio albums with both Sleep and High On Fire. The latter band is one that took some time to grow on me, but 2007's Death Is This Communion caught my attention real quick.
Unlike Sleep, High On Fire is no stranger to frequent releases with an evolving sound. What once sounded like an extension of Sleep has turned into one hell of a thrash band with 2015's Luminferous further solidifying that. While Goatwhore takes the Satanic angle, High On Fire takes the drug-induced route. 2017 is going to be a great year. – Nic Huber
In Vain
Album Due Out Sometime 2017
In Vain is Norwegian and played progressive melodic black metal. I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about at this point, though it's worth mentioning that In Vain does it better than most.
It's been four years since In Vain graces our ears with Aenigma, and I'm sure the new stuff will be even faster, more melodic, and generally gloomier than we've heard from In Vain. At least that's what I'm gathering from the pre-production clips.
Oh, and Borknagar's drummer Baard Kolstad just joined the band! – Greg Kennelty
Judas Priest
Album Due Late 2017
The metal Gods spent 2016 writing new material and recording demos and previously said they hoped to enter the studio this month. Guitarist Richie Faulkner has gone on record saying the album will be out this year, so we can expect a late release, especially since the band said they have no touring plans this year. No word on the sound of the album, but we can expect an evolution of the sound they were forming on 2014's Redeemer of Souls. – Robert Pasbani
Marilyn Manson
Album Titled "Say10" Due Out Feb. 14
Easily in my top five most highly anticipated records of the year. I’ve been a Manson fan longer than any other band/artist I love. To be quite frank: other than The High End of Low, I love everything he’s ever done. His two most recent records have proved to be excellent releases, and I’m excited to hear what he has to say about the world in Say 10. – Michael PementelÂ
Mastodon
Album Due Out In Spring
In what may be a similar record tonally to Wilson, I’m pretty stoked for the next Mastodon album. Brann said the concept was pretty death-centric, so it'll likely be a heart wrenching ride. However, the fact that they’re returning to a full-on concept album again gets my prog nerd heart all kinds of excited. – Daniel Cordova
Me And That Man
Album Due Out January
Adam Darksi, better known as Nergal from Behemoth, will finally release his solo album in January 2017, and I couldn’t be more stoked! Having heard some of the tracks, and talking to Adam about our mutual love for Wovenhand, which played a big influence on the project, makes it that much more exciting to hear.
Me and That Man will be a shock to many Behemoth fans, but I for one love dark music that goes places no metal band can. – Frank Godla
Morbid Angel
Album Due Sometime in 2017
Morbid Angel went through a serious lineup change after the release of the controversial album, Illud Divinum Insanus. They ditched founding vocalist David Vincent and brought back his replacement, Steve Tucker, who promised a full-on death metal album. The band is currently in the studio with Erik Rutan and have enlisted the services of former Abysmal Dawn drummer Scott Fuller. This should be interesting. – Robert Pasbani
Mutoid Man
Album Due Out Spring 2017
Having heard some of the tracks off the album already, I am beyond stoked to own the follow up to their Bleeder album released last year. With a couple years of active touring under their belt, the band continues to grow and bring the party tornado to your music player.
The album will no doubt kick ass if you're a fan of guitar, bass and/or drums! – Frank Godla
Ne Obliviscaris
Album Due Out Sometime 2017
Ne Obliviscaris only has two albums out right now, and both are instant classics. Now with about three years between albums and coming off an absolute masterpiece like Citadel, the expectations are pretty high. Though is Ne Obliviscaris really capable of disappointing its fans at this point?
As stoked as I am for this album, I genuinely have no idea what to expect. Portal Of I had a lot of black metal influences with the band's usual classical jams, and Citadel was written as three songs with massive progressive movements. So who the hell knows what 2017 holds! – Greg Kennelty
The Ocean
Album Due Out Late 2017
It's been a long four years since The Ocean dropped their perfect record Pelagial, and in 2015 they released the song "The Quiet Observer." It is incredible song, but not enough at all.
Apparently that song was a portion of a much larger writing session, and the band is FINALLY getting off of the road and taking the rest of those songs to the studio. Mastermind Robin Stapp said the band has given a similar forecast before, but after four years of touring the Pelagial, I believe him this time. – Daniel Cordova
Origin
Album Due Out Summer 2017
As a long time Origin fan for the last 15 years, it’s nigh ridiculous that a band so hellbent on pushing extremity in musical form are still active and capable of upping their game at this point. But as we all know, Origin are innovators and not imitators, so the normal rules don’t apply to them. As the band prepares to record their 7th full-length, take heed of their warning “Stronger, faster, and with the first recurring identical line up from one album to the next in the band’s history. Prepare for blasts to roll, sweeps to be swept and boundaries to be pushed. We are everywhere and nowhere, light speed to absolute zero. We are Origin. See you in 2017. Hail Space.” – Austin Weber
More anticipated heavy metal releases on the next page…