FatherAlabaster

Craft - White Noise And Black Metal
Craft - Terror Propaganda
Borknagar - Empiricism

I have to say it seems a bit ominous that we haven't heard from you since you posted this 

Here's a list of bands I'm personally interested in that are either confirmed or strongly rumored to have new material coming this year, to be updated from time to time as I hear more.
_____
Krallice: Wolf EP 01/09/19
Mo'ynoq: Dreaming In A Dead Language 01/11/19
Noctambulist: Atmospheres Of Desolation 01/21/19
Altarage: The Approaching Roar 01/25/19
Light Dweller: Incandescent Crucifix 01/26/19
Ossuarium: Living Tomb 02/01/19
Windswept: The Onlooker 02/08/19
A Million Dead Birds Laughing: To The Ether 02/11/19
Saor: Forgotten Paths 02/15/19
Sinmara: Hvisl Sjarnanna 03/08/19
Contrarian: Their Worm Never Dies 03/15/19
Krypts: Cadaver Circulation 05/??/19

Wormed
Funebrarum
Cruciamentum
Nocturnus AD
Afterbirth
Antediluvian
Mitochondrion
Blood Incantation
Ad Nauseam
In Human Form
Pseudo Sentai
Obsequiae
Yellow Eyes
Immortal Bird
Carcariass
_____
Anybody else have upcoming albums you're excited about? Feel free to share info, promo tracks, etc. Normal forum rules apply -- this is for fan discussion only, any misplaced promotion will be treated as spam.

I really hate Spotify. Bandcamp and YouTube are great for checking out new music. I buy music either through Bandcamp or (for physical purchases of stuff that isn't on BC) I'll look for CDs on themetaldetektor.com. I'll put CDs on in the car, or occasionally in my studio room, but mostly I buy digital or rip the albums and listen on my phone or computer.

Working my way through these slowly xD So far i'm really digging Crimson Glory (In Dark Places inparticular) and Fates Warning - Point of View is a great song.

Diabolical Masquerade - Nightwork

Alice In Chains - Rainier Fog   ...sounds like a strong album for these guys on first listen, thanks @MacabreEternal for the rec.

Alright, so here are some recs you may enjoy. 
Psychotic Waltz - A Social Grace (1990)
 
Anacrusis - Screams and Whispers (1993) 
 
Thought Industry - Songs for Insects (1992)
Catharsis - Pathways to Wholeness (1995) 
 
Also, all of Alabaster's recommendations are on point with Fates Warning being particularly essential as they had a ridiculous run of quality between The Spectre Within and A Pleasant Shade of Grey. 

I don't like Dream Theater at all, and honestly I'm not the best person for recommendations in this area, but maybe some of this stuff will land with you. You'd probably dig Fates Warning if you haven't heard them yet. My favorite albums are No Exit and Parallels:
 
Also check out their older stuff, I don't like their original vocalist too much but you might enjoy him more than I do:
 
Crimson Glory rules, not very much like DT but highly worthwhile:
 
 
I'd assume you know old Queensryche, but just in case:
 
If you like old Queensryche, you'll probably like Lethal. I guess I wouldn't really call this "prog metal" but it's only a hop, skip, and jump away:
 
Also try Riverside. They're pretty different from what I've mentioned so far, more like modern rock with a bit of a Pink Floyd vibe, but aside from the lame harsh vocals here and there, their first album is pretty cool:
 
On a more metal tip, BAN turned me on to Pagan's Mind at some point last year, again not very similar to DT but I'd be surprised if you didn't like this:
 
And one of my favorite albums from last year is "progressive metal", albeit (again) totally unlike Dream Theater. Howling Sycamore has a hell of lineup (highlight is the original vocalist from Watchtower, yelling his face off) and you might get something out of them:
 
Maybe some of that will appeal. With any luck, @True Belief or @Ecthelion will also swing by and drop some of that sweet sweet knowledge on you.

Thanks Father and Macabre, i've started to feel a fair bit better since the new year started, i'm seeing a counsellor every week or so. 
Also I Must admit it's good to see you guys still posting on here, I've missed you all 

I have to say it seems a bit ominous that we haven't heard from you since you posted this 

Sorry to hear about the instability and depression. That can be a real son of a bitch. I hope you find yourself in a better spot soon. Welcome back, nice to see you back around the place.

I have to say it seems a bit ominous that we haven't heard from you since you posted this 

Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Lost Trident Sessions

I don't like Dream Theater at all, and honestly I'm not the best person for recommendations in this area, but maybe some of this stuff will land with you. You'd probably dig Fates Warning if you haven't heard them yet. My favorite albums are No Exit and Parallels:
 
Also check out their older stuff, I don't like their original vocalist too much but you might enjoy him more than I do:
 
Crimson Glory rules, not very much like DT but highly worthwhile:
 
 
I'd assume you know old Queensryche, but just in case:
 
If you like old Queensryche, you'll probably like Lethal. I guess I wouldn't really call this "prog metal" but it's only a hop, skip, and jump away:
 
Also try Riverside. They're pretty different from what I've mentioned so far, more like modern rock with a bit of a Pink Floyd vibe, but aside from the lame harsh vocals here and there, their first album is pretty cool:
 
On a more metal tip, BAN turned me on to Pagan's Mind at some point last year, again not very similar to DT but I'd be surprised if you didn't like this:
 
And one of my favorite albums from last year is "progressive metal", albeit (again) totally unlike Dream Theater. Howling Sycamore has a hell of lineup (highlight is the original vocalist from Watchtower, yelling his face off) and you might get something out of them:
 
Maybe some of that will appeal. With any luck, @True Belief or @Ecthelion will also swing by and drop some of that sweet sweet knowledge on you.

Mournful Congregation - The Incubus Of Karma

It was a weird year for me. I'll sum up my feelings toward new releases in 2018 by misquoting Bilbo Baggins: "I listened to less than half of you half as much as I would have liked, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." With only a little hierarchy, here are a few albums that, for whatever reason, in whatever way, caught and held my attention.
____
Howling Sycamore: Howling Sycamore   ...dark horse favorite for my Album Of The Year. Tight, controlled music with incongruous, ridiculously expressive power-metal vocals from Jason McMaster of Watchtower. I could wish the music had gone more nuts in spots, but accessibility is one of the strengths here. Most people either love it or hate it based on the vocals. If you love it, these songs can burrow their way into your brain like those critters from The Wrath Of Khan.
Augury: Illusive Golden Age   ...if only more modern tech death was like this. Musicianship for days, idiosyncratic snaky counterpoint riffing, moments of real majesty scattered throughout. The occasional melodic "yelling" vocals drag it down a bit for my taste, but at least they're being true to themselves.
Svartidaudi: Revelations Of The Red Sword   ...melodic/dissonant BM in the now-familiar Icelandic style, jangly and chiming, like if Deathspell Omega woke up one day with a burning desire to clean their apartment and put everything in its place. What sets this apart are memorable themes and thoughtful, engaging song structures that reward repeat listening.
Evoken: Hypnagogia   ...their most varied album yet, with the atmospheric elements dialed up, visions of sky and sunlight occasionally piercing the usual dense forest canopy. Not a huge stylistic departure from the previous one overall, but with a more heartfelt sense of focus behind the melodies (to my ears, anyway). Keyboards and gorgeous violins come and go throughout sprawling, lumbering tracks that recall the mood of early to mid 90s My Dying Bride. I love it. Fans of vintage Peaceville-three doom should find a lot to hang their hat on here. A journey awaits.
Craft: White Noise And Black Metal   ...another extremely well-paced, thoughtfully written album that remains engaging throughout. Riffy BM with a spite, cold precision, and occasional sense of bounce or groove that reminds me of what I liked about the modernizing turn that some black metal took in the late 90s and early 2000s; but this doesn't come off as a throwback, it's fresh and vengeful.
Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik: Hugsjá   ...much like their first album, I was initially let down by this, and wanted something with more teeth. Repeated listening let me sink into the lonesome, meditative beauty of these songs and enjoy them for what they are, which (as I often have to relearn) is the entire point.
____
Other albums I also liked but have less to say about at the moment:
Golgothan Remains: Perverse Offerings To The Void   ...dissonant DM with a modern Portal/DSO/Ulcerate riffing style and some old-school balls to back it up.
Cult Leader: A Patient Man   ...everything pushed a little farther from their last album. Aggressive parts are more aggressive, moody parts are moodier. The pacing and length of the gloomy clean-vocal tracks drags this down, but I think it's supposed to be dragged down, so I guess that makes it ok.
Whoredom Rife: Nid - Hymner Av Hat   ...solid 2nd-wave Darkthrone/Satyricon vibes here, engaging songs that do the right things in the right spots, a definite improvement over the first album in my book.
Ulthar: Cosmovore   ...angry, angular, odd death metal with a grimy sound, blackened edges, and a willingness to pummel. This is one of my more interesting recent DM finds in a year when I wasn't clicking with a lot of DM, and I wish I had more to say about it.
Soldat Hans: Es Taut   ...long, drawn-out tracks billed as "folk doom". Post-rock and post-metal atmospheres at the pace of funeral doom, abrasive crust-laden vocals, gloomy brass, and an unusual sense of what should happen next. You will feel your heart slow down.
Anachronism: Orogeny   ...gutsy, a little Gorguts-y, technical yet catchy modern dissonant DM. Creative guitar work is the star of the show. Second band in a row here from Switzerland.
Mournful Congregation: The Incubus Of Karma   ...Macabre said it pretty well. This album isn't near the bottom of the list because I didn't like it as much, it just happened to wind up here. Great work, more enjoyable than the previous one for me.
Hooded Menace: Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed   ...more doom-death with really good guitar work and a solid sense of pacing. A kickass riff or cool melody or harmony hides behind every corner.
Replicant: Negative Life   ...another dissonant modern DM album with some Gorguts, Negativa, and Pyrrhon-inspired riffing. 
Starkweather/Concealment split   ...two long-form stream-of-consciousness tracks. Sneering, lumbering, psychedelic post-hardcore from Starkweather; groovy, dissonant something-but-I-don't-know-what from Concealment, like an impromptu jam session with Luc Lemay and the guys from Virus.
Imperial Triumphant: Vile Luxury   ...love the brass, choral parts, and general mood here. I'll leave it at that for now and hopefully make this the subject of its own writeup at some point.
Portal: Ion   ...more twisted guitars and stuttering drums from these weirdos. I go back and forth between missing the murk of their older recordings and appreciating the dryness and relative intelligibility of this one. They're their own musicians; this is a stark, refined album that plays with standard ingredients in a way that comes across as outsider/art music.
 

I miss Blut.  Forum is a lesser place without him and his fathomless music knowledge.

Deine Lakaien - Forest Enter Exit
Portishead - Dummy

Worked most of the festive period taking only the public holidays off.  Have enjoyed my more detached Xmas and New Year since I have been able to focus on the festivities on the actual days they matter (not from 6 weeks before like the TV seems to think it all starts from).
Busy year ahead methinks for the great undead one.  Population culling, creating “legitimate” business fronts, long walks in the country, sacrificial virgin quotas that are barely achievable, a dip in suitable European fodder from March onwards, craft items to make for the church fayre, an additional recycling bin collection, extensive police “enquiries” and some potatoes to grow.
Makes me tired just thinking about it.

A new year has dawned. May it be as cursed as past years. 
Same deal as before - I've dragged myself up from sun and surf where the family dwell with in-laws, and other poisonous Australian creatures reside. To be honest, I had a great time paddling around in my recently acquired kayak, king of the seas, jousting with pirates, triumphing. Mercifully, however, I've returned to the city of glass where the castle sits abandoned and free for my own perverted and unutterable use. 
Cricket on the TV
Wine in the glass
Metal on the stereo
Let's do this! 

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Visions Of The Emerald Beyond
Opeth - Deliverance
Opeth - Ghost Reveries

Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik - Hugsjá (again)
Opeth - Orchid

Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Visions Of The Emerald Beyond