It's here! With an elongated bank holiday weekend, this weekend sees the kick-off proper of 2022's festival season, with a full-scale Download due to return next week. In the meantime, there's all manner of brilliant new songs to sink our teeth into, including epic Viking-themed metal from Amon Amarth, sonic bedlam from ex-Dillinger Escape Plan drummer Billy Rymer and thrash metal from South Africa. Talk about variety.
Last week saw some of metal's heavy-hitters come out to play, so it's not massively surprising that Rammstein dominated the vote with their new song Dicke Titten - so you can revisit that below. Also on the podium were Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen's solo epic Storm and Bullet For My Valentine's Stitches, each reaffirming how they got to the top of the heavy metal totem pole in the first place.
Even with a long bank holiday looming (in the UK at least), there's plenty to sink your teeth into this week and, as ever, a vote at the bottom of the page for you to crown the best new metal track of the week.
Amon Amarth - Get In The Ring
Mad as it’d be to see Johan Hegg take on Guns N’ Roses’ press-bashing callout, Get In The Ring is actually Amon Amarth’s epic new entrance theme for AEW wrestler Erick Redbeard. It’s also the opening track on Amon Amarth’s new album The Great Heathen Army and true to Johan Hegg’s claim that this new album is Amon Amarth returning more directly to their death metal roots, Get In The Ring is all thunder and violence; everything a Viking-loving metal fan needs.
Shinedown - Daylight
Singing from the heart, Shinedown's Daylight is appropriately titled as its lyrics deal with some of the worst life can throw at us and celebrates those who help us through the tough times. It's a simple message, but one that should be sung loud and proud - something helped by Brent Smith's massive vocal which dominates the track.
Bury Tomorrow - LIFE (Paradise Denied)
Bury Tomorrow are ready for the summer. Their brand of full-throated sing-along metalcore is exactly what the doctor ordered for the return of full-scale festivals across Europe, LIFE (Paradise Denied) getting right up in your face and demanding circles as far as the eye can see. A second stand-alone single to complement March’s DEATH (Ever Colder), the Southampton quintet are setting the bar high for the follow-up to 2019’s Cannibal.
Patriarchs In Black - Sing For The Devil
A new project helmed by Dan Lorenzo (ex-Hades) and Johnny Kelly (ex-Type O Negative/Danzig), Patriarchs In Black come out like a portmanteau of New York’s disparate music scenes from the early 90s to the turn of the millennium - with shades of Helmet, Life Of Agony and A Pale Horse Named Death all in the mix, that’s by no means a bad thing.
Ithaca - Camera Eats First
Continuing to prove Ithaca's worth as one of the UK’s most vital metallic hardcore acts, Camera Eats First combine some absolutely colossal riffs with sublime melodies. It fits perfectly with the single’s video, the striking, almost renaissance aesthetics of their They Fear Us album making for stark contrast with the abundance of food being splattered about the place.
Thoughtcrimes - Panopticon
Featuring ex-Dillinger Escape Plan drummer Billy Rymer, there’s a familiar sense of all-out sonic bedlam to Thoughtcrimes’ output thus far. Panopticon starts out as an all-out frenzy, only to chuck a weird and wonderful alt-metal chorus in the middle and summarily bury it under a polarising mix of clattering drums and drifting, Deftones-style melody and faint electronica.
Eluveitie - Aidus
Three years since we last heard from Eluveitie, the Swiss folk metal heroes are back with one of their darkest songs to date. There’s more than a shade or two of black metal and melodeath in the mix of Aidus, but fans of the band’s Celtic folk stylings aren’t left out in the cold. It’s a massive way to make a comeback and we hope to hear more of this side of the band going forwards.
Infanteria - Embrace The Trauma
Almost 40 years since thrash first burst onto the metal landscape and there’s still an undeniable thrill to hear bands flying out at 300mph. Hailing from South Africa, Infanteria take the colossal rumble of Bay Area thrash and transport it into the 21st Century, Embrace The Trauma rolling out like a freight train with no brakes.
The Halo Effect - The Needless End
Dark Tranquility vocalist Mikael Stanne never turned his back on the scene he helped popularise, so it'd be disingenuous to call his work with The Halo Effect a return. Yet, there's an undeniable sense of grandeur and scale to The Needless End that absolutely nails the magic of Gothenburg almost three decades on from that scene's game-changing apex. Considering the band are due to tour arenas later this year with Amon Amarth and Machine Head, there's a lot to be excited about.
Cage Fight - Guillotine
Someone’s probably ending up on a watchlist from this. Released just in time for the platinum jubilee, Cage Fight’s Guillotine is a short, sharp blast of thrash-flavoured hardcore. With a cheeky, choppy little video and the best pig-squeal breakdown this side of deathcore, Cage Fight are living up to punk’s snottiest, most controversy-baiting tendencies.
