METAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! Trad metal champs Dream Evil have come screaming back this week with a new single, but if your tastes have shifted away from classic heavy metal over the past 50 years, fear not; we've also got a fine selection of brutal new cuts from the likes of Nile, Bury Tomorrow, Entheos and newcomers Crucifiction amongst many others for this week's new music round-up.
But, we're getting ahead of ourselves. First, the results of last week's vote! Absolutely no surprise that Babymetal and Electric Callboy's Ratatata was far and away the winner of last week's vote considering it's a team-up by two of contemporary metal's most colourful new bands, but symphonic metal champions Nightwish put up a good fight with Perfume Of The Endless, the first single from their forthcoming new alum, while Bridear took a very admirable third slot to prove Japan's metal scene is thriving right now.
As we said up top, we've got a diverse and decidedly heavy offering for you going into this week, seemingly everyone and their dog breaking out their best breakdowns and stinkface riffs for your listening pleasure. Much as we ask every week, we need your help to crown the very best, so don't forget to cast your vote below. Otherwise, happy listening and have an excellent weekend!
Bury Tomorrow - Villain Arc
Doubling down on the heaviness they brought forth on last year’s The Seventh Sun, Bury Tomorrow’s latest stand-alone single Villain Arc sees the band pushing in a more death metal-like direction. Or at least vocally, anyway, as instrumentally they’re still swinging for the fences with ambitious, hammering metalcore riffs and brutish breakdowns that feel like they’re specially-made for levelling massive venues. With vocalist Dani Winter-Bates teasing the single as “the next step into a different era of the band”, it looks like there may be more of this more vicious side of the band to enjoy in the near future.
Crucifiction - Caged For Extermination
There’s brutal, and then there’s brutal. Vocalist Salem Vex already established some extreme metal cred with Bloodbather, but new project Crucifiction goes even harder, new single Caged For Extermination propelling vicious deathcore along grinding riffs, blast-beats and some of the filthiest breakdowns you’re likely to hear this week in a monstrous, ear-splitting but brain-delighting racket.
Nile - Chapter For Not Being Hung Upside Down On A Stake
And if deathcore isn’t your chosen brand of extremity, how’s about a beastly fresh cut from Nile? Now on their tenth album, Chapter For Not Being Hung Upside Down On A Stake is an incendiary and ferocious assault on the senses, deftly toeing the line between technical wizardry and powerful, groove-driven force. New album The Underworld Awaits Us All will be with us August 23 and if the rest of the record is this hefty, it’s going to be another demonstration of why Nile are so brilliant.
Scene Queen - Whips And Chains
With her upcoming debut album Hot Singles In Your Area, Scene Queen is showing off just how sonically diverse bimbocore can be. While the likes of 18+ and Finger lean on metalcore riffing and impossibly catchy choruses, the likes of Stuck showed a more electronic-pop side to her music. Consider Whips And Chains a middle ground then; bouncy electronic beats that could come from mid-00s R’n’B or hip hop hide typically venomous lyrics, “whips and chains/cars and money/I’ll cut your breaks if you fucking touch me”, giving way to a monstrous breakdown in the song’s closing moments. Who needs genre boxes anyway?
Puscifer - The Algorithm
Maynard James Keenan is a busy boy. After a massive multi-band 60th birthday tour of the US, the vocalist is now touring Europe and the UK with Tool, but that hasn’t stopped him unveiling new music from Puscifer. A stand-alone single recorded for the soundtrack to comic series American Pyscho, The Algorithm is more riff-driven and surprisingly straight-laced compared to some of the project’s more experimental tendencies, while the lyrics taking aim at “social mediots” feels like a continuation of the lyrical threads Maynard explored on A Perfect Circle’s Eat The Elephant.
Dream Evil - Metal Gods
Dream Evil have been preaching the gospel from the Book Of Heavy Metal for over 20 years now. No surprise then that the band’s latest single - and title track of their upcoming seventh album - Metal Gods is a fist-pumping celebration of trad metal in all of its boot stomping glory. Namechecking everyone from Priest and Maiden to Manowar, the track does exactly what you’d expect - namely offering up a fittingly headbangable tribute to the bands that built the genre that has become a global phenomenon.
King 810 - Glow
Talk about a stylistic departure. Moving away from the beefy nu metal swagger that is their bread and butter, King 810’s latest single Glow has shades of David Bowie like psych-pop. Vocalist David Gunn uses his baritone to great effect against upbeat keys, moments of bold melody feeling like real breakouts that show there’s so much more to King 810 than songs about guns and urban degradation.
Entheos - Life In Slow Motion
Offering their first taste of new music since last year’s Time Will Take Us All, the latest Entheos single is all about casting a compassionate eye on drug addiction, its lyrics exploring not only the perspective of an addict but the fallout around them. A stand-alone single, Life In Slow Motion is decidedly more brutal than you might expect of a prog-tinged group, utilising ultra-tight technical instrumentation and brief respites of melody to craft a spiky, tooth-gnashing rager.
Leprous - Atonement
Leprous have proven time and again that they are a singular force within prog metal and new single Atonement is no exception. Taken from the band’s upcoming new record Melodies Of Atonement, to be released August 30, Atonement is a gorgeous showcase of the band’s compositional brilliance, Einar Solberg’s powerful vocals soaring over subtle electronic elements and crunching riffs, whilst the song’s breakout moments are almost orchestral in just how powerful and instrumentally layered they are.
Ocean Grove - Fly Away
Tackling the nu metal resurgence with a sense of vibrancy and distinct character, Ocean Grove’s new single Fly Away feels like a head-on collision between the claustrophobic grooves of Coal Chamber and Turnstile’s alt-flavoured hardcore. So bouncy it practically never touches the floor, Fly Away is exactly the kind of tune you need for summer - buoyant, joyous and utterly addictive.
