Friday is here — or close enough to start the countdown. This week's release slate punches above its weight, led by one of heavy music's most overdue returns and backed by a precision thrash record and a deep-catalog excavation worth your time. Here's everything that matters.
Corrosion of Conformity — Good God / Baad Man (Nuclear Blast)
Eight years. That's how long it's been since COC put out new music — and they didn't come back quiet. Good God / Baad Man is a double album split into two distinct halves: Good God leans into the band's heaviest, most aggressive instincts, while Baad Man opens the throttle into rockier, more melodic territory. Think of it as two records that share a spine but face opposite directions.
The lineup has shifted since No Cross No Crown. Reed Mullin — COC's founding drummer, who passed away in 2020 — is irreplaceable, and the band doesn't pretend otherwise. Stanton Moore (Galactic) fills the drum seat, and Bobby "Rock" Landgraf handles bass in place of Mike Dean, who departed amicably. Pepper Keenan and Woody Weatherman are still the core. The artwork comes from New Orleans artist Scott Guion, which feels right — COC and New Orleans are inseparable at this point.
The lead single "Gimme Some Moore" — directed by Pepper Keenan himself — signals that the band still knows how to write a riff that sounds like it was born in a swamp and raised on Blue Cheer records. Good God runs six tracks; Baad Man pushes deeper with eight more. Full runtime makes this one of the most substantial releases COC has delivered in their 45-year run.
Pre-order or stream it: Corrosion of Conformity on Amazon
Nervosa — Slave Machine (Napalm Records)
Brazil's Nervosa have been running at a relentless clip since Diva Satanica took over lead vocal duties, and Slave Machine — their sixth full-length on Napalm Records — doesn't slow down. Twelve tracks of precision thrash that wears its Bay Area influences on its sleeve without being a tribute act. Vocalist Diva Satanica, guitarist Prika Amaral, bassist Mia Wallace, and drummer Eleni Nota have locked into a chemistry that the live circuit has been confirming for two years straight.
Lead single "Slave Machine" arrived as a statement of purpose: fast, layered, political, and technically tight. The full album reportedly digs deeper into systemic critique territory — "The New Empire" and "Hate" are the titles you'll notice by the end of the first spin. With 12 tracks and no filler in sight, Slave Machine is the kind of record the thrash revival desperately needed someone to deliver without nostalgia attached.
Nervosa — Slave Machine on Amazon
Edge of Sanity — Elegy - Chapter II (Century Media/Napalm Records)
Dan Swanö has been running a systematic reissue campaign of the Edge of Sanity catalog — remastering, remixing, and excavating the archives that most bands would rather keep buried. Elegy - Chapter II is the latest, collecting unreleased pre-production demos, rehearsal cuts, alternate versions, and live material spanning 1990 to 2003. This is for the archivists and the diehards who already own everything and want to hear where the songs started.
Swanö is meticulous about this material — nothing is thrown out for the sake of release. The remaster of Cryptic (1997) drops the same day as a companion piece. If you're already in the weeds on progressive death metal history, this week is a double win.
Edge of Sanity on Amazon
For full Metal Mantra coverage of upcoming releases and tours, visit our Metal News hub and check the New Releases archive for last week's picks.
