It might be getting colder, but the albums release schedule for Autumn is only just getting warmed up, which is mad considering we've had Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth, Machine Head and Parkway Drive over the past few weeks.
But first, the results of last week's vote! Alter Bridge ultimately took the crown with thumping new single Sin After Sin, but it was a tight race with Ozzy and Lamb Of God bringing up the rear admirably.
This week sees the return of Tribulation, the goth metal heroes dropping a surprise standalone single to perfectly greet the darker nights. In Flames also continue the spectacular form of their past couple of singles, as do deathcore heavyweights Lorna Shore, plus new music from Chuggaboom, Rise Against and The Devil Wears Prada. As ever, don't forget to vote for your favourite below!
1. In Flames - Foregone Pt. 1
Continuing the incendiary form of their past couple of singles, In Flames latest release Foregone Pt. 1 comes with the announcement that their new album (also titled Foregone) will arrive in February 2023. With rampaging riffs, massive choruses and a sense of enormity that elevates even the most extreme moments of the song, Foregone Pt. 1 is an annihilating and exhilarating example of the kind of songs that made In Flames leaders of the legendary Gothenburg melodeath scene.
2. Epica - Final Lullaby (ft. Shining)
Sure, symphonic metal is brilliant and all, but you know what it’s missing? Saxophone. Thankfully Epica are addressing that paucity in the ultra-bombastic new single The Final Lullaby, drafting in Norwegian group Shining to bring some saxy vibes to a fiery metal banger. The first song from an upcoming collaborative album, The Final Lullaby shows just why Epica have become so beloved over the past twenty years.
3. A.A. Williams - The Echo
A sea of melancholy gives way to towering strings and a colossal emotional crescendo at the peak of A.A. Williams’ latest single The Echo. Dark and alluring like being ushered to the fathomless depths of the ocean, the song is yet more proof that Williams stands as one of the most unique voices in contemporary heavy music.
4. Tribulation - Hamartia
After the departure of songwriter Jonathan Hultén shortly after the completion of 2021’s Where The Gloom Becomes Sound, it was hard to tell what the future held for goth-death alchemists Tribulation. As Hamartia shows however, any fears are entirely unsubstantiated. The new single is a gothic delight, seductive and anthemic guitar lines standing out against the blackened snarl of Johannes Andersson.
5. Lorna Shore - Pain Remains I: Dancing Like Flames
The grandeur of symphonic metal meets the all-out brutality of deathcore at its finest in Lorna Shore’s latest single Pain Remains I: Dancing Like Flames. The opening number in a trilogy (called “the Pain Trilogy”, because we’re still in extreme metal territories here), the track is an epic first glimpse at the ambitious vision Lorna Shore have set out for their future.
6. ChuggaBoom - No Rules, No Limits
Yes, he did say ‘Take a shit in the moshpit’. As the nu metal revival fully takes hold, it’s always good to remember that for all the monster tunes the genre produced, there was always a sense of daftness lurking (barely) below the surface. ChuggaBoom embrace that fully on No Rules, No Limits, the single mixing rapped verses, mosh-calls, breakdowns and screeching electronica in pure nu metalcore bliss.
7. The Devil Wears Prada - Broken
Arriving just ahead of Color Decay’s release (today, in fact), Broken shows just how far The Devil Wears Prada have developed as songwriters, moving beyond the confines of metalcore to court greater melodicism while not losing the power and strength of their sound. A fist-in-the-air anthem, Broken shows that the Ohian band still have their sights on the very top and are amassing the kind of songs that just might carry them there.
8. Rise Against - Pain Mgmt
Over 20 years since they formed and the passionate fire of activism at the heart of Rise Against remains as strong as ever. A call to arms as sure to incite sing-alongs as it is moshpits, Pain Mgmt bears all the hallmarks of a great Rise Against anthem - driving riffs, pogoing basslines and Tim McIlrath’s massive vocal soaring atop it all.
9. Skynd - John Wayne Gacy
With their prediliction towards serial killers, it was inevitable Skynd would eventually get round to one of the most notorious murderers of the 20th Century. Roiling electronica and creepy vibes abound on John Wayne Gacy, the song’s industrial stylings perfect for creating an unsettling atmosphere.
10. Meshuggah - I Am That Thirst
Like a nest of apoplectic hornets that's just been kicked, Meshuggah assault the senses with an overload of polyrhythms and consciousness-expanded ferocity. The latest single from this year's Immutable, I Am That Thirst is an unstoppable slab of progressive Swedish extremity.
