Happy Halloween! It's the last chance to dance of Spooky Season, and there's a whole heap of brilliant new metal songs for you to sink your teeth into as we hit the weekend.
But first, the results of last week's vote! Japan's Zilqy took third place with Misfit Toys, while Vindicta proved they've got hooks to spare on Idol(l)s. But our overall champions for the week were the returning alt/goth force The Yagas, Vera Farmiga once again proving herself the queen of Halloween on the 80s flavoured Runaway.
We've got a diverse selection for you to dive into this week, ranging from veteran legends like Saxon to rising stars Sleep Theory, underground brutes Entheos and Crucivore and even a couple of Halloween-friendly tunes. Don't forget to cast your vote in the poll below - and have an excellent weekend!
Mean Ghouls - He's A Serial Killer
Not so much channelling the Misfits as exhuming the corpse and reanimating it, Mean Ghouls' debut album ...And The Horror Goes On is out today. The band are celebrating with the brilliant horror-punk ditty He's A Serial Killer, thundering into Halloween weekend with a sense of flair and infectious energy.
Entheos - Hell Is A Part Of Me
There's something proggy and off-kiler about the new Entheos single. Taken from new album Empty On The Inside, which came out last week, Hell Is A Part Of Me brings to mind the sonic acrobatics of Jinjer without feeling like they're trying to imitate anyone, vocalist Chaney Crabb showing off some seriously impressive range across the song's runtime.
Imminence - Crestfallen
There's no shortage of violins in modern metal - it seems everyone has a symphonic gene in them somewhere - but nobody is using the instrument quite like Imminence. The Swedish band's latest single Crestfallen balances minimalist vocal melodies and production with a keening violin line that really elevates the track, making it feel at once anthemic and devastating. New album Axis Mundi came out at the start of the month and is well worth exploring.
Blind Channel - Messiah
Blind Channel's new album Painstream is out today and the Finns have commemorated the fact with a new single in the form of Messiah. The nu metal bounce of their previous era looks to be gone entirely; instead this is a stirring modern metalcore ballad, pounding riffs meeting a big, ascendant chorus that betrays the band's massive ambitions.
Yoth Iria - Dare To Rebel
Hailing from Athens, Yoth Iria play black metal very much in the vein of Hellenic BM icons Rotting Christ. What that means is there's no frosty blastbeats and Norwegian style shrieks here, instead Dare To Rebel is a thunderous march of resistant force, almost cinematic in quality whilst never sounding baldly commercial. Taken from new album Gone With The Devil, consider this song a perfect entry point to a very different school of black metal mastery with a triumphant, old school heavy metal edge.
Saxon - Medusa
From one Hellenic icon to another. Granted, Biff Byford's boys are from Barnsley, but they're going full Clash Of The Titans on new track Medusa, putting their not inconseriable pedigree of old school heavy metal riffs to work in a fist-pumping, NWOBHM tune about the gorgon Medusa. New album Gods Of Thunder is due January 22.
Crucivore - The Banished Torment
There's a whiff of Cradle Of Filth like gothic theatricality to Crucivore's The Banished Torment. The Portuguese death metallers otherwise bear no resemblance to Dani Filth's cohort, but the song's intro definitely feels like something we could've heard on Midian, before we're flung headfirst into a pulverising meatgrinder of riffs and gargled growls. New album Desecration is out November 13, so keep your eyes out.
Sleep Theory - Giving In
With less than a week to go until they return to the UK to play arenas with Papa Roach, Sleep Theory have offered a taste of where they're going next on Giving In. The answer is: bigger, harder and more anthemic than before. Giving In is a bounding track that feels perfectly suited to massive rooms, and next week we'll surely be able to road test that theory.
Wulfgang - You Mean Nothing To Me
If you've found yourself missing when Queens of The Stone Age had riffs, boy oh boy do you need to hear Wulfgang. The British group evoke the same kind of tonal stoner groove, but deliver the clattering beats and wailing guitars that have been absent from Homme and co. since Era Vulgaris, You Mean Nothing To Me keening guitars bringing to mind a sense of despair and decayed state that is so satisfying to behold.
Nina Saeidi & Wyatt E. - The Branch That Yields Peace Has Been Cut For The Oil Of Its Fruit
Nina Saeidi's already made a name for herself as the bewitching vocalist in UK prog metallers Lowen, but now she's branching out in a surprise team-up with Belgian doom metallers Wyatt E. The conjoined force will release the album Armour Of Surrender on January 29, and although the title of the first single - The Branch That Yields Peace Has Been Cut For The Oil Of Its Fruit - might be wordy, it also clearly communicates a message about current global events amdist a dense, atmospheric song with distinct Middle Eastern tones.
Void Sector Zero - Extraterrestrial Disassembly
Who doesn't love a bit of cosmic thrash? With a bass tone that sounds like they've plugged directly into a generator, Void Sector Zero are clearly having lots of fun in the progressive thrash sphere on Extraterrestrial Disassembly. Featuring members of Necrophagist, Abigail Williams and Revocation, plus guest contributions from Alkaloid's Morean, there's a clear love for challenging, progressive music with some great, ominous droning vocals. Debut album Dead Space Enigma is out December 11th and we can't wait to hear what directions they go in.
Sunborn - Silent Attraction
They might all be wearing masks - and there's definitely some R&B/pop melody in the track - but thankfully France's Sunborn aren't tied up in the whole "masked and mythological" schtick. Instead, Silent Attraction is a juddering, skittery track that leaps between tech and alt. metal elements that feels indebted to the Sleep Token playbook without ripping it off wholesale. Its unique, and we're keen to see what else they've got in store.
