diff --git a/.bumpversion.cfg b/.bumpversion.cfg
index e10e8fb4..a76f2061 100644
--- a/.bumpversion.cfg
+++ b/.bumpversion.cfg
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [bumpversion]
-current_version = 0.5.0.dev3
+current_version = 0.5.0
 commit = True
 tag = False
 parse = (?P<major>\d+)\.(?P<minor>\d+)\.(?P<patch>\d+)(\.(?P<release>[a-z]+)(?P<build>\d+))?
diff --git a/.github/workflows/testsuite.yml b/.github/workflows/testsuite.yml
index 9394fd91..0dadff3c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/testsuite.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/testsuite.yml
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ jobs:
           # tensorflow-cpu:latest (2.1.0) is not available for python 3.8 yet.
           - python-version: 3.8
             testml: yes
+          # build time with limited macos jobs
+          - platform: macos-latest
+            python-version: 3.7
 
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v1
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 8903d05d..34b85a74 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ Improvements
 
 * Python 3.8 is now fully supported.
   (`#193 <https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/pull/193>`__) `@rlizzo <https://github.com/rlizzo>`__
+* Major backend overhaul which defines column layouts and data types in the same interchangable
+  / extensable manner as storage backends. This will allow rapid development of new layouts and
+  data type support as new use cases are discovered by the community.
+  (`#184 <https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/pull/184>`__) `@rlizzo <https://github.com/rlizzo>`__
 * Column and backend classes are now fully serializable (pickleable) for ``read-only`` checkouts.
   (`#180 <https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/pull/180>`__) `@rlizzo <https://github.com/rlizzo>`__
 * Modularized internal structure of API classes to easily allow new columnn layouts / data types
@@ -33,6 +37,11 @@ Improvements
 New Features
 ------------
 
+* Added ``str`` type column with same behavior as ``ndarray`` column (supporting both
+  single-level and nested layouts) added to replace functionality of removed ``metadata`` container.
+  (`#184 <https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/pull/184>`__) `@rlizzo <https://github.com/rlizzo>`__
+* New backend based on ``LMDB`` has been added (specifier of ``lmdb_30``).
+  (`#184 <https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/pull/184>`__) `@rlizzo <https://github.com/rlizzo>`__
 * Added ``.diff()`` method to ``Repository`` class to enable diffing changes between any pair of
   commits / branches without needing to open the diff base in a checkout.
   (`#183 <https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/pull/183>`__) `@rlizzo <https://github.com/rlizzo>`__
@@ -68,6 +77,9 @@ Changes
 Removed
 -------
 
+* ``metadata`` container for ``str`` typed data has been completly removed. It is replaced by a highly
+  extensible and much more user-friendly ``str`` typed column.
+  (`#184 <https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/pull/184>`__) `@rlizzo <https://github.com/rlizzo>`__
 * ``__setitem__()`` method in ``WriterCheckout`` objects.  Writing data to columns via a checkout object
   is no longer supported.
   (`#183 <https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/pull/183>`__) `@rlizzo <https://github.com/rlizzo>`__
@@ -318,5 +330,5 @@ Breaking changes
 .. _v0.2.0: https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/compare/v0.1.1...v0.2.0
 .. _v0.3.0: https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/compare/v0.2.0...v0.3.0
 .. _v0.4.0: https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/compare/v0.3.0...v0.4.0
-.. _v0.5.0: https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/compare/v0.5.0...v0.5.0
+.. _v0.5.0: https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/compare/v0.4.0...v0.5.0
 .. _In-Progress: https://github.com/tensorwerk/hangar-py/compare/v0.5.0...master
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index cbc1c828..43208bd2 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 year = '2019-2020'
 author = 'Richard Izzo'
 copyright = '{0}, {1}'.format(year, author)
-version = release = '0.5.0.dev3'
+version = release = '0.5.0'
 
 pygments_style = 'default'
 pygments_lexer = 'PythonConsoleLexer'
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 4da2d038..2ec37c92 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ def run(self):
 ]
 
 INSTALL_REQUIRES = [
-    'blosc<1.8.2',
+    'blosc>=1.8',
     'click',
     'grpcio',
     'protobuf',
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ def run(self):
 
 setup(
     name='hangar',
-    version='0.5.0.dev3',
+    version='0.5.0',
     license='Apache 2.0',
     # Package Meta Info (for PyPi)
     description=SHORT_DESCRIPTION,
@@ -223,6 +223,7 @@ def run(self):
         'Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: Only',
         'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.6',
         'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7',
+        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8',
         'Topic :: Database',
         'Topic :: Scientific/Engineering',
         'Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries',
diff --git a/src/hangar/__init__.py b/src/hangar/__init__.py
index 65a504e0..b863c7a1 100644
--- a/src/hangar/__init__.py
+++ b/src/hangar/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-__version__ = '0.5.0.dev3'
+__version__ = '0.5.0'
 __all__ = ('make_torch_dataset', 'make_tf_dataset', 'Repository')
 
 from .repository import Repository
diff --git a/src/hangar/diagnostics/__init__.py b/src/hangar/diagnostics/__init__.py
index fe09b1e4..25e82413 100644
--- a/src/hangar/diagnostics/__init__.py
+++ b/src/hangar/diagnostics/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-__version__ = '0.5.0.dev3'
+__version__ = '0.5.0'
 
 from .graphing import Graph