There’s no doubt that 2018 has brought us several great metal releases from some of the biggest names in the business and more than a handful of noteworthy newcomers as well. As 2019 looms upon us in the coming weeks, there is plenty to be excited about for what the new year will bring us metal fans. Here is a list of some of 2019’s most anticipated metal albums to look forward to throughout the year:
Korn
Korn – Back in July it had been reported that guitarists James “Munky” Shaffer and Brian “Head” Welch were in the midst of the writing process for the nu-metal masters’ upcoming 13th album. Frontman Jonathan Davis commented, “I’m more impressed on these than I was with Serenity of Suffering,” the band’s 2016 release, and most recent studio album. Expect to see a new album from Korn, hopefully, sometime in 2019.
Overkill – The thrash metal pioneers will be releasing their 19th studio album, ‘The Wings of War’ on February 22nd, 2019 to follow up their 2017 release ‘The Grinding Wheel.’
Opeth – Earlier this year, the band revealed they were well on their way to finishing a 15-song album for their 13th studio release, anticipated for the first quarter of 2019. The new album would be the follow-up to the Swedish prog-metallers 2016 release ‘Sorceress.’
In Flames – Following up their 2016 album ‘Battles’, the Swedish heavyweights will be releasing a new album in 2019.
In Flames
Anthrax – Bassist Frank Bello stated the band will start working on their follow-up to 2016’s ‘For All Kings’ in January, which had been previously delayed to join fellow Big Four comrades Slayer on their farewell tour.
Rammstein – The German, headline-making industrial metal veterans will release a new album in early 2019, followed by a U.S. tour.
Tool – Possibly one of the longest anticipated album releases of the past decade and beyond is the new album from Tool. The prog metal icons haven’t released an album since ‘10,000 Days’ in 2006, and the mysteries shrouding their next album’s delay have been an ongoing saga that has included everything from legal battles to an overly-analytical and perfectionist writing process. At this point, news from Tool’s camp has confirmed with a great degree of certainty that there will be a new Tool record at some point during 2019.
Tool
Megadeth – The Big Four juggernauts will release their 16th studio album in 2019 which frontman/guitarist Dave Mustaine promises will not only contain blast-beats this time around but will also not focus as much on politics. Mustaine has also recently been adamant about another Big Four show or tour before Slayer enters retirement.
Lamb of God – The NWOAHM pioneers are planning to record in the fall of 2019 for their next album that will be “hopefully out for Christmas presents for all your kids,” says drummer Chris Adler.
Dokken – The melodic hard rock legends have revealed plans to enter the studio this month to begin working on material for a new album to be released hopefully in the spring of 2019. The new record will be a follow-up to 2012’s ‘Broken Bones.’
Carcass – The U.K. death/grind veterans, who already demoed 50 minutes of new music earlier this year, are planning to release a new album sometime in 2019 to follow up their 2013 comeback album ‘Surgical Steel.’
Carcass
Papa Roach – The California nu-metallers recently released three new tracks from their upcoming album ‘Who Do You Trust?,’ expected to release sometime in 2019 as the follow-up to 2017’s ‘Crooked Teeth.’
Rob Zombie – Horror master, Rob Zombie confirms that his next solo album ‘Complex’ is completed and will be released early 2019 as a follow-up to 2016’s ‘The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser.’
Slipknot – Having recently released their newest single/music video “All Out Life” from their upcoming album – for which they’ve already received much critical acclaim – the masked nu-metal maniacs will be releasing their sixth studio album in mid-2019 according to frontman Corey Taylor.
Slipknot
AC/DC – Nothing official has been confirmed of a 2019 release from the hard rock veterans, but former vocalist Brian Johnson and drummer Phil Rudd were recently photographed outside Warehouse Studios in Vancouver, where AC/DC’s last three albums were recorded, hinting that both have rejoined the band.
Exodus – Not willing to put out an album without fellow bandmate Gary Holt, the Bay Area thrash quintet would rather wait for the guitarist to complete his run on Slayer’s farewell tour and rejoin the band to finish recording. Exodus expects a new record, which promises to be “very violent and heavy,” no sooner than late 2019 or possibly early 2020.
Flotsam and Jetsam – Having recently released the new single/music video for “Recover,” off their upcoming album, the American metal veterans are scheduled to release their 13th studio effort ‘The End of Chaos’ on January 18th, 2019 as a follow-up to their 2016 self-titled LP.
Dream Theater – The prog masters will release ‘Distance Over Time’ on February 22nd, 2019 to follow up 2016’s ‘The Astonishing.’
Dream Theater, Photo Credit: Mark Maryanovich
King Diamond – The band expects a 2019 release to follow up 2007’s ‘Give Me Your Soul… Please.’ In an interview with Eddie Trunk earlier this year, King Diamond revealed that the new album was already 80 percent done.
Children of Bodom – The Finnish extreme metal masters are set to release their 10th album ‘Hexed’ on March 8th, 2019 to follow up their 2015 release ‘I Worship Chaos.’
Mastodon – Nothing has yet been confirmed, but the band has been seen in the studio recently which means we could see an album from them in 2019. Their last release, and seventh studio album, was ‘Emperor of Sand’ in 2017 from which the track “Sultan’s Curse” earned Mastodon a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance this year.
Mastodon
Body Count – According to frontman Ice-T, the band will release ‘Carnivore,’ their follow-up to 2017’s highly successful ‘Bloodlust,’ sometime in 2019. The album will feature death metal vocalist Chris Barnes (Six Feet Under, ex-Cannibal Corpse) and is intended to be a reaction to people being offended by everything today. Ice-T comments, “Everyone’s so pussy right now – we’re carnivores.”
Amon Amarth – Earlier this year, the band reported they were halfway through writing material for their new album, which is expected to be released sometime in 2019. It will be the follow-up to the Swedish death metal quintet’s 2016 album ‘Jomsviking’ and the first to feature new drummer Jocke Wallgren.
Deftones – The nu-metal pioneers have mentioned that they will have new music out in 2019 to follow up 2016’s ‘Gore.’
Deftones
Avenged Sevenfold – Guitarist Synyster Gates revealed in September that the band is “definitely working on stuff” for an expected 2019 release to follow up 2016’s ‘The Stage.’
Sabaton – The Swedish power metal warriors have confirmed a new album release sometime in 2019, with lead vocalist Joakim Brodén commenting, “of course, next year there will be an album.” The new record will mark the follow-up to 2016’s ‘The Last Stand.’
Killswitch Engage – In September, vocalist Jesse Leach revealed that the metalcore five-piece were “about halfway through 21 songs” for their expected 2019 release to follow up 2016’s ‘Incarnate.’
Hellyeah – The band was in the process of recording their new album when drummer and metal icon Vinnie Paul passed away. Paul had been recording extensively prior to his passing and had nearly finished all of his drum parts. No official release date has been announced yet, but sometime in 2019 we should be able to hear Vinnie Paul’s final recordings with Hellyeah.
Vinnie Paul
Soilwork – The Swedish metalcore quintet are set to release their 11th studio album ‘Verkligheten’ album on January 11th, 2019 to follow up 2015’s ‘The Ride Majestic.’
Limp Bizkit – The band has been due to release a new album, rumored to be titled ‘Stampede of the Disco Elephants’ for some time and have hinted that it’s almost complete. 2019 could be the year fans will hear new rhymes from the self-proclaimed “redneck fucker from Jacksonville” Fred Durst and nasty riffs from the always eclectic Wes Borland. The new album would be the band’s seventh studio release, and their first since ‘Gold Cobra’ in 2011.
Misery Signals – Reported at the beginning of the year, the Wisconsin metalcore act have been working on their fifth studio album that we should hopefully see released sometime in 2019 to follow up their 2013 album ‘Absent Light.’
Testament – The Bay Area thrash metal titans are expecting to have their new album out by April, 2019 to follow up 2016’s ‘Brotherhood of the Snake.’
Testament
Fleshgod Apocalypse – After some major lineup changes in 2017, the Italian death metallers finally confirmed in October that they were back in the studio with producer Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Aborted) working on their expected 2019 release to follow up 2016’s ‘King.’
Death Angel – As of October, the Bay Area thrash legends had officially hit the studio to work on material for a 2019 album release to follow up 2016’s ‘The Evil Divide.’
Whitechapel – The American deathcore beasts are scheduled to release ‘The Valley’ on March 29th, 2019 as a follow-up to 2016’s ‘Mark of the Blade.’
Napalm Death – Metal Nexus personally spoke with frontman Barney Greenwall who indicated during the interview that he would spend the first part of 2019 writing lyrics for the grindcore veterans’ next album, and once complete, the band would begin recording. We could see Napalm Death’s 17th studio album released sometime in late 2019.
Napalm Death
