It's been a wild few weeks for massive names in metal putting out excellent new singles, and the flood shows no signs of slowing as this week we bring you new songs from the likes of Lamb Of God, Ghost, Bullet For My Valentine and Rob Zombie (well, sort of).
But first, the results of last week's vote! Iowa metal kings Slipknot took the top slot with the massive The Dying Song (Time To Sing), but it was a close call with competition from Alter Bridge and Megadeth (feat. Ice-T) bringing up the rear.
At the top of this page you will find this week's vote, including a whole host of new blood and underground champions, including deathcore champs Lorna Shore, ex-Delain singer Charlotte Wessels and Leanese black metal troupe Kaoteon. Check out the songs below and don't forget to cast your vote!
1. Lamb Of God – Omens
Trust Lamb Of God to drop one of the most shit-kicking, fist-to-the-face metal singles of the year, Omens fulfilling their capacity for absolutely massive metal bangers. Between the song’s colossal grooves and Randy Blythe’s inimitable vocal, Lamb Of God have again captured the sheer physicality and essential magic of heavy metal, a good omen for the band’s headline appearance at this year’s Bloodstock.
2. Ghost - Spillways
Ghost really love Abba. The clink of keyboards leads in to one of this year’s most insidious metal bangers, masking some dark imagery beneath syrupy pop hooks. What’s more, it works a treat - we’ve not been able to stop humming it since we first heard the track, Spillways leaking out of our ears like so much blood from the eyes.
3. Charlotte Wessels - Human To Ruin
While most of symphonic metal’s upper echelons have gone for big-top theatricality, former Delain singer Charlotte Wessels is keeping the fantastical elements of the genre alive and well. Human To Ruin is an epic driven by Wessels’ incredible vocal talents, her voice ranging from fully operatic to fiercely metallic.
4. Lorna Shore - Cursed To Die
If you’d have said ‘deathcore is coming back in a big way’ even just a couple of years ago, you’d have been met with raised eyebrows and skepticism. Props to Lorna Shore for pumping fresh vitality into the genre, however, Cursed To Die the latest in a series of stunningly expansive and brutally crushing singles that redraw the genre’s boundaries and show just how explosive and massive the band can sound.
5. Bullet For My Valentine - No More Tears To Cry
Bullet For My Valentine have always been one of metal’s more emotionally driven bands, the Welsh band converting their personal demons into empowering metal anthems. No More Tears To Cry tackles the battle against mental health issues, BFMV offering a sense of release and catharsis that just goes to show why they’re one of the biggest success stories in 21st Century British metal.
6. Daedric - Only
Soaring alt-metal and buzzing electronica collide on Daedric’s Only. Before she’s even released an album, Daedric has already amassed over 70,000 views on YouTube with the singles Wretched and Dawnbreaker. Considering the same story worked well for The Hu and Spiritbox, Only may yet prove to be another step towards becoming a fast-rising metal sensation.
7. Kaoteon - Neither God Nor Master
Kaoteon’s sound has evolved immensely since the band first emerged from their native Lebanon, each of the band’s three albums to date presenting a very different vision of extreme metal. The title-track of the band’s upcoming fourth release, Neither God Nor Master sees the band go full symphonic, underpinning their apocalyptic blackened tones with some exceptional string work.
8. Blind Guardian - Violent Shadows
Blind Guardian have sacked off the orchestras and found the heavy metal thunder that helped them rise to the top of the power metal pile in the 90s, and thank Christ for that. Violent Shadows might whiff slightly of cheese, but that only makes it more delicious as the band go hell for leather in ways fans have been asking for almost constantly over the past 20 years. Who needs prog intricacy when you’ve got the absolute powerhouse that is Hansi Kürsch up front?
9. Rob Zombie - It’s Zombo (Zombo Theme)
Rob Zombie might be dipping his toes into PG territory for the upcoming The Munsters movie, but the weird sideshow vibe of his music still shines through on It’s Zombo (Zombo Theme), taken from the movie’s original soundtrack. The riffs and organ-like keys are prime Rob Zombie, but the vocals seem to call back to the main man’s early days in the experimental noise scene, more than a shade of Butthole Surfers creeping into the mix.
10. Taipei Houston - As The Sun Sets
Aka the self-proclaimed ‘power duo’ featuring Metalli-sprogs Myles and Layne Ulrich. The pair have been clearly dipping into the more eclectic corners of dad Lars’ record collection, forgoing his band’s steamrolling stadium metal for a sound that owes more to the livewire 00s garage rock of The White Stripes and The Black Keys. Damn effective it is too – As The Sun Sets is three minutes of fuzzy, tooth-rattling energy.
