Polish death metal titan Vader is set to release the twelfth studio album of its legendary, 33-year career on November 4, 2016. This disc is entitled The Empire.

The record comes via the Nuclear Blast label and harkens back to the thrash sound of Vader’s very earliest days as a band. The first single to be released is the blistering “Prayer to the God of War,” which also happens to be our selection for this week’s Massive Metal Monday.

Norwegian extreme metal band Tsjuder has had a rocky history. Their numerous line-up changes, break-ups, and other assorted misfortunes have resulted in the band only releasing five full-length albums in its tumultuous 23-year career.

But, when they’re active they are super influential, as evidenced in today’s Black Metal Friday selection. Tsjuder’s 2006 live DVD Norwegian Apocalypse shows the band in all of its live glory.

Swedish Metal juggernaut Meshuggah has just released its eighth studio album, The Violent Sleep of Reason, via Nuclear Blast Records. The album is true to the band’s pummeling, polyrhythmic pedigree. Definitely not easy listening, but well worth the journey for the truly progressive metalhead.

“Clockworks,” the album’s jarringly massive opening track, clocks in at over seven minutes, so naturally they made it also the first official video. The visually morphing landscape of the clip is a perfect analogy for the music that accompanies it. But then trying to describe either the music or the visuals is roughly equivalent to trying to describe the power and devastation of a hurricane to someone who’s never been through one.

Thirty years ago tomorrow, September 27, 1986, the metal world lost one of its brightest stars. While on tour in support of their magnum opus Master of Puppets, Metallica were involved in a tragic bus accident that claimed the life of their 24-year-old bass prodigy Cliff Burton.

Burton was asleep in a top bunk near the open escape hatch when the drive of the tour bus lost control on an icy road, causing the bus to flip over. The bassist was ejected through the hatch and crushed by the rolling vehicle. It was a tragic end to a brief but stellar career for a man that many consider to be the greatest metal bassist of all time and the unquestionable heart and soul of one of metal’s most beloved bands.

So, to commemorate this somber anniversary, this week’s Massive Metal Monday is dedicated to the memory and legacy of the immortal Cliff Burton. Here is the master performing his signature song live in 1983. This is “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth).”

Carach Angren means “Iron Jaws” in the Elvish language of Sindarin and appears as the name of a mountain pass in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is also the moniker of one of symphonic metal’s most celebrated modern bands.

Hailing from The Netherlands, Carach Angren (the band) has released four full-length albums and two extended plays since their formation in 2003. All of the band’s records so far have been horror-themed concept albums. The latest of those endeavors is the 2015 album This Is No Fairytale.