You know ’em, you love ’em, and you wish they’d release some new music eventually. These are the classic death metal bands that really ought to release a new full-length album! Not because they “owe it to fans” or whatever, but because they’re too damn good to stay this quiet for this long.
This list excludes bands that are currently broken up (yes, we’d love new Necrophagist).
Dead Congregation
Dead Congregation has two full-length albums released in 2008 and 2014, followed by an EP in 2016. There’s been occasional talk of a follow-up to their 2016 EP Sombre Doom – namely in a 2018 interview when the band mentioned they were “working on new material for an upcoming full-length album” – but nothing has ever happened.
Dismember
Of all the bands on this list, Dismember feels like one the most likely candidates to release a new record. Dismember recently(ish) signed to Nuclear Blast and has been digitally reissuing their entire back catalog, plus there’s talk of new music outside their shows.
According to drummer Fred Estby in a 2024 interview: “Yeah, I mean, we have material already. We’re talking about making an album. It’s just a matter of when and where and how, because we don’t live… I live in the U.S, Richard [Cabeza, bass] lives in Belgium, the other three guys live in Sweden still, so we just have to plan it out well.”
Gorguts
Gorguts is back and they’re plotting a new record for hopefully sometime in 2026 (at least they were in the studio). We haven’t heard much else about the follow-up to their 2016 EP Pleiades’ Dust (and their first full-length since Colored Sands in 2013).
According to Gorguts guitarist and vocalist Luc Lemay in a 2025 interview with Capital Chaos TV, the new record is gonna be a bit of a callback: “I was trying to get a new aesthetic together, but I just couldn’t find anything interesting to spark me up. And then I said, ‘Hey, what if I take ingredients from all the records?’ ‘Cause I hadn’t [written] a riff with tremolo picking and thrash beats since [1993’s] Erosion [Of Sanity].
“That’s a long time. So what about writing riffs like that again? And then I started blending this with dissonant riffs and everything, and then, wow, it gave something really new. You recognize the band right away, but it’s very different from all the other records. So, that was the creative process for this one. So I’m very excited for this one.”
Grave
Will Grave ever follow up their 2015 record Out Of Respect For The Dead? Right now it’s looking like a maybe.
Grave is currently featuring original frontman Ola Lindgren, drummer Jensa Paulsson who originally played for Grave between 1988 and 2002; bassist Jonas Torndal who originally played for Grave between 1989 and 1992; and guitarist and vocalist Jörgen Sandström, who originally played for Grave between 1988 and 1995. The band has been playing reunion shows, though there’s not been any concrete talk of a new record.
Hate Eternal
It’s been eight years since Hate Eternal released Upon Desolate Sands, and it doesn’t seem like we’re getting a new one anytime soon? Hate Eternal mastermind Erik Rutan joined Cannibal Corpse in 2020 and had his home studio destroyed in Hurricane Helene in 2024. So the guy’s been preoccupied.
Rutan did acknowledge Hate Eternal in a 2021 statement, saying: “I feel so grateful to have been and still continue to be a part of this music that I feel so passionate about and embrace. Hate Eternal will absolutely continue on. JJ, Johnny and I look forward to recording another unrelenting Hate Eternal album in the future when the time is right.
“As many people know I have always done multiple things in my career and I plan on continuing that starting with Cannibal Corpse as well as Hate Eternal, Mana Recording, producing and other musical endeavors when time allows. We will have some other great Hate Eternal news to share in the near future and look forward to continuing down the path I have been a part of for decades.”
Demilich
Despite their legendary status and high-billing on death metal festivals around the world, Demilich has one album to their name – Nespithe in 1993. And if you’ve never heard Nespithe, prepare to be transported to a psychedelic hellscape where words are belched out as poisonous clouds.
Nespithe has been reissued a few times over the years, with the definitive version being 2014’s 20th Adversary of Emptiness issued by Svart Records. But will we ever get a new Demilich record? Who knows. It’s also not even clear if Demilich is a band anymore.
According to a post from roughly half a year ago, Demilich was slated to play Summer Massacre 2025 but it got cancelled. That might have been Demilich‘s final show, unless it wasn’t: “Next up, possibly the last gig of the band, at @kuoliofest . With, hopefully, 1-2 new songs. If the songs are to be played, it’s fairly certain it won’t be the last show, though. Confusing.
“But how the hell should I know what will happen? I’m just a little boy croaking and trying to play along with the big guys. Please let me live my beautiful childhood without the pressure of huge decisions of the adulthood.”
Atheist
Atheist released their comeback record Jupiter in 2010 and, despite playing shows and even touring between now and then, hasn’t released a new record since. Atheist signed to Nuclear Blast in 2023 for the reissue of their back catalog, and as of 2025 they were working on a new record. Though nothing has surfaced just yet.
Anata
Swedish technical death metal band Anata were in the studio in 2023 recording the follow-up to their 2006 record The Conductor’s Departure, though three years later and we haven’t heard much of anything about it. It’s also not exactly promising that Anata generally posts about once per year on their socials.
Martyr
Martyr – the band featuring frontman Daniel Mongrain (Voivod, ex-Cryptopsy, ex-Gorguts), guitarist Martin Carbonneau (ex-Crucifixion), bassist François Mongrain (Apocalyptic Fear, ex-Ex Deo), and drummer Patrice Hamelin (Gorguts) – played their first show since 2011 at Trois-Rivières Metalfest 2023 on November 10, 2023. The show featured Martyr playing a handful of fan favorites alongside the entirety of their 2000 record Warp Zone.
Martyr has been playing a bunch of shows ever since, so who knows – maybe we’ll be graced with a new record?
