We don't think there's been a more dramatic race for top spot of the fan vote in all the time we've been running our tracks of the week feature. For a good while last week, it looked like Slipknot had it in the bag, but then Alter Bridge shot past them, entering the week with a very admirable showing. Only, they didn't win either. It was the triumphant return of Gothenburg legends In Flames that ultimately took the crown, The Great Deceiver proving to be a comeback for the ages. New album soon? We can but hope...
This week it's another top tier showing, with Megadeth returning with their new single Soldier On, New Years Day dropping a surprise new single, and Delain's new line-up making their debut. There's also the not-insignificant matter of Venom Prison coming back with a storming Stampin' Ground cover, Power Trip guitarist Blake Ibanez announcing new band Fugitive, and Revocation releasing a song with guest vocalists Corpsegrinder and the much-missed Trevor Strnad of The Black Dahlia Murder.
So check out the songs below and as ever, don't forget to vote!
Megadeth - Soldier On!
Surely no track title could better describe the indefatigable spirit of Dave Mustaine than Soldier On? Set to a militaristic drum-beat and flanked by nimble-fingered guitar leads, Soldier On combines the technical wizardry of 80s Megadeth with the undeniable commercial allure of their 90s output, its massive chorus perfect for everything from radio to arenas, festival fields and beyond.
New Years Day – Hurts Like Hell
This surprise new stand alone single from Ash Costello and co finds them getting their Halestorm on, delivering a blockbuster, industrial-edged arena rock anthem. “The song is an acceptance and celebration of my relationship with chaos,” says singer Ash Costello. Yep, we’ve all been there.
Drowning Pool - Mind Right
Over 20 years since they went supernova with Bodies, Drowning Pool are back with an absolute belter of a new single in Mind Right. The classic groove/alt/nu-metal hybrid is still right up front in their sound, but there’s an extra layer of hardcore aggro that feels like somebody has been binging Cancer Bats on the regular. It’s massive, chest-beating club metal at its best - and we couldn’t be more delighted.
Venom Prison - Officer Down
Venom Prison’s choice to cover Stampin’ Ground’s Officer Down makes perfect sense, especially given former guitarist Scott Atkins produced VP’s latest album Erebos. With a groove tight enough to make diamonds from coal and a breakdown that sounds like a building collapsing, Officer Down is yet more proof that Venom Prison are one of the UK’s most viscerally engaging acts.
Fugitive - Maniac
With Power Trip guitarist Blake Ibanez again swinging the axe, there’s a familiar heft and cutting brutality to Fugitive. The band released a five-track EP on Monday (August 8) that taps into the same effortlessly brilliant thrash revival vibe that made Power Trip so beloved by metalheads, albeit with a much gnarlier, snarled voice at the front in the form of Seth Gilmore. The EP’s title-track is an absolutely delightful show of force for what this band are capable of and a reminder that there is some truly special metal coming from the States right now.
Delain - The Quest And The Curse
Delain’s first single since the departure of vocalist Charlotte Wessels in 2021, The Quest And The Curse also introduces the band’s new singer Diana Leah. With a powerful, almost prog metal heart and soaring symphonics, the new song shows Delain are powering ahead into a new era while keeping things as massive as they’ve ever been.
Revocation - Recrucified (feat. Corpsegrinder and Trevor Strnad)
Talk about an all-star line-up. For the closing track of their upcoming album Netherheaven, Revocation went all out with some blistering tech-death, drafting in guest vocalists Corpsegrinder and Trevor Strnad of The Black Dahlia Murder for that extra spicy touch. The combination of top-tier death metal grunters should already get fans excited, but hearing Trevor in such unbeatable form and knowing this is one of his last recordings makes Recrucified feel especially poignant.
Wednesday 13 - You’re So Hideous
20 years since he first burst onto mainstream consciousness with Murderdolls, Wednesday 13 is back with a new single and album due in October (though not Halloween, missing a trick). Complete with an Exorcist-inspired music video, You’re So Hideous is a prime slice of horror punk in the vein Wednesday has championed so brilliantly over the past two decades plus, built around a massive chorus hook that you’ll be singing for weeks.
Tobias Sammet’s Avantasia - Misplaced Among The Angels (feat. Floor Jansen)
By this point, it’s a given that any new song by Tobias Sammet’s Avantasia is going to be a massive, operatic affair, but Misplaced Among The Angels takes things to a whole other level with the inclusion of guest vocalist Floor Jansen. Sammet and Jansen make for a vocal powerhouse pairing, subtle strings and wailing 80s style guitars affording the single a sense of scale that is epic in every sense of the word.
Slaughter To Prevail - 1984
As deathcore continues to claw its way back to a position of power and vitality, Slaughter To Prevail’s latest single 1984 shows you don’t have to cut the genre with other subgenres to make a killer tune. Stink-face inducing without sounding derivative, 1984 hooks bypasses the brain to go right for the instinctual need for physical, crushing heaviness, whilst also managing to be anthemic in a Hatebreed/Parkway Drive kind of way.
