Well would you look at that. We decided to start a weekly new music round-up and you turned out in force to tell us exactly which tracks floated your boat most from last week's selection of Five Finger Death Punch, The Hu and beyond.
As the only band there to be headlining arenas in their own right, it probably isn't a massive shock that FFDP topped the poll, but The Hu and Lorna Shore put an admirable effort in for the podium-finish.
This week we've trawled far and wide to find the best selection of new tracks you need to hear, with a handy little vote again at the bottom so you can tell us exactly who rules the roost. From (comparative) veterans like Arch Enemy and Avatasium to newcomers Wargasm and Witch Fever, this is the veritable sonic buffet we can offer your ears for the penultimate week of May.
Asking Alexandria - Faded Out (feat. Sharon Den Adel)
Asking Alexandria’s shift to radio-friendly rock in recent years has yielded mixed results, but there’s no denying that when the band are on form they deliver enormity enough to match their arena-sized ambitions. Teaming up with Within Temptation’s Sharon Den Adel for Faded Out, AA’s sense for colossal sing-alongs is honed to perfection, the duet making great use of both Danny Worsnop and Den Adel's golden pipes.
Arch Enemy - Sunset Over The Empire
Trust Arch Enemy to continue elevating the bar for anthemic melodeath, Sunset Over The Empire exhibiting the very best facets of their sound. From Alissa White-Gluz’s stirring snarls to Michael Amott’s colossal riffs, this is Arch Enemy firing on all cylinders, taking the underground and turning it into something fit for arenas.
Tobias Sammet’s Avantasia - The Wicked Rule The Night feat. Ralf Scheepers
If you’ve been bemoaning the lack of traditional heavy metal this year, you’ll want to fling Tobias Sammet’s Avantasia on immediately. From the guitar god leads to an opening shriek that would do Rob Halford proud (which, given it’s Primal Fear’s Ralf Scheepers is no massive surprise), The Wicked Rule The Night is pure trad metal brilliance through and through, all leather and spikes like 1982 never went away.
Coheed and Cambria - Comatose
After the epic prog bombast of the first Vaxis, Coheed and Cambria have seemingly changed tact completely for its sequel, leaning into their bounciest power pop tendencies. Comatose is a wonderfully addictive demonstration of Coheed’s pop sensibilities, its absolute massive hook jamming itself right into the brain. Nobody said prog has to be all noodling guitars and mathematical equations.
Witch Fever - Congregation
Don’t let the bright colours fool you - Witch Fever are doom through and through. The title-track from their upcoming debut album, Congregation buzzes and writhes like a swarm of angry bees, perfectly accentuating the song’s lyrical themes of dismantling a religious patriarchy.
Audrey Horne - Break Out
It’s all gone a bit Labyrinth for Audrey Horne. Created by film students at the school guitarist Arve Isdal works at, there’s something lovingly naff about the puppet-featuring Break Out video, a perfect accompaniment to the band’s classic hard rock/heavy metal crossover sound.
Municipal Waste - High Speed Steel
Thrash, rinse, repeat. If you’re expecting any more from Richmond’s Municipal Waste you’ve missed the point - but then, when your band is this good at reviving the beers ’n’ broke-necks of old school thrash you probably don’t need to think too hard about doing anything else. Crack open a cold one and limber up your neck - Municipal Waste are still gonna fuck you up.
Kaoteon - The Oculus Eye
Though originally from Lebanon, Kaoteon’s sound has always exhibited a sense of globalism that transcended borders (both national and genre-based). The Oculus Eye feels like the band have finally cast their eyes on the increasingly distinct sounds emerging from North Africa and the near East, drawing out the character whilst losing none of their own identity in the process.
Alexisonfire - Sans Soileil
Luscious textures and emotional gravitas form the bedrock for Alexisonfire’s rich new single Sans Soleil. Pulled from the band’s upcoming album Otherness, Sans Soleil is exactly the kind of candid, confessional song that helped make Alexisonfire - and numerous other post-hardcore heroes - so beloved in the first place.
Wargasm - D.R.I.L.D.O.
Divisive as they may be, there’s no denying Wargasm have a sense of flair and character. Latest single D.R.I.L.D.O takes the electro-fusion and nu-metal adjacency of their sound to its extreme, feeling like the missing link between Peaches, Pitchshifter and Ministry. Accompanied by a mad video that sees armed police and a Kingpin-style figure walking through a rave full of ‘freaks’ (their words), it’s like Matt Reeves’ The Batman meets Fight Club.
