Happy Friday! We're just over halfway through October now, which means the gig calendar is about to go into overdrive. But while new releases are steadily slowing down - for this side of 2025, at least, that doesn't mean we don't still have a tonne of brilliant new songs to bring you.
That in mind, here are the results of last week's vote! They might be relative newcomers, but the industrial metal tones of Tayne took them to a solid third place position, while Ice Nine Kills' offering to Terrifier's Art The Clown came in second. The overall winners, however, were prog metal legends Dream Theater, Night Terror getting in on the Halloween spirit in their own unique way.
We've got a hefty selection for you to peruse this week, with everything from Indian folk-meets-nu-metal from Bloodywood to all-new tracks from Arch Enemy, Wargasm, Swallow The Sun and Slaughter To Prevail. Don't forget to cast your vote in the poll below - and have an excellent weekend. Happy listening!
Arch Enemy - Liars & Thieves
Fresh from their massive UK tour alongside In Flames and Soilwork, Arch Enemy have released Liars & Thieves from upcoming album Blood Dynasty, out March 28. Unveiled live as part of the tour, the track plays up to the melodeath veterans' capacity for all-conquering anthemia within a raging, thrashed up track, Alissa White-Gluz switching between imperious snarls, 80s thrash like callouts and a melodic breakout that if we didn't know better would be tagged power metal. It's a great mix, and proof that even as they hit veteran status, Arch Enemy can still find ways to excite and evolve.
Slaughter To Prevail - Behelit
As one of deathcore's hottest rising stars, Slaughter To Prevail are showing just what that means on latest single Behelit. Symphonic elements add a grandeur to their vicious, thundering sound that betrays the sense of scale and ambition this band have achieved to date, while the music video - using scenes from infamously dark anime Berserk - perfectly accentuates their knowingly grimdark stylings.
Bloodywood - Nu Delhi
2024 might've been a quieter year for Bloodywood in comparison to last year - where they played sold out tours and appeared at festivals including Download - but they haven't exactly been quiet. A feature on the soundtrack to 2024 action-thriller Monkey Man reminded the world how unique and potent their sound was, and new single Nu Delhi reinforces that, combining distinctly Indian folk with thumping nu metal. The result is an absolute riot and comes with the news the band will be touring Europe and the UK in early 2025, meaning a new album is likely just around the corner. Here's hoping...
Wargasm - Circle Pit / Bad Seed
Wargasm haven't announced a new album just yet, but its starting to look like we might be getting one sooner than anyone might expect. New double-single Circle Pit and Bad Seed comes after the band teamed up with Corey Taylor over the summer on 70% Dead and gave debut album Venom a sorta-sendoff by playing it in full at a tank graveyard over the summer. These new singles capture some of the multifaceted energy the band bring to the contemporary metal scene; Circle Pit bounding along on an electro-underpinned beat with some frenetic moments that feel like Babymetal gone nu metal, while Bad Seed is a straight up brute, showing just how heavy this band can get. Glorious stuff.
Swallow The Sun - Charcoal Sky
On their past couple of albums, Swallow The Sun leaned hard on the most elegaic elements of their symphonically-underpinned death-doom sound, crafting a sense of gorgeous melancholia. While they've not exactly broken form with that on new album Shining - out today - new single Charcoal Sky also balances it out with furious force as the band show their death metal elements aren't being neglected.
Dream State - Bloom
With less than a week to go until they head on a headline tour of the UK, Welsh group Dream State have added another vibrant alt metal banger to their canon in new single Bloom. Their first new release since the Still Dreaming EP that came out earlier this year, Bloom captures the fist-pumping, invigorating spirit of the band, vocalist Jessie Powell offering the kind of massive hooks that have made Dream State a beloved festival fixture in 2024.
Blackgold - Insane In The Brain
Masked nu metal revivalists Blackgold already showed they knew their way around a killer hip-hop cover when they covered I Ain't Goin' Out Like That in 2022, but now they're going for a double-dip of Cypress Hill as they team up with Skindred's Benji Webbe for a cover of 1993 hit Insane In The Brain. The result is an oft-daft but very satisfying rocked up rendition of the track, the thuggish low-end riff making this feel like a real beast.
L.S. Dunes - Machines
L.S. Dunes might poke fun at their 'supergroup' status in the video to new single Machines, but there's no denying their pedigree when considering the band features members of Thursday, My Chemical Romance, Saosin and Coheed and Cambria in their ranks. Their expertise with emotionally driven, anthemic songs is front and centre in this new single, Machines propelled along thick, enveloping bass notes and vocals that bring to mind the early 90s Smashing Pumpkins material, getting us plenty excited for new album Violet, out January 31.
Bex - Some Kinda Syko
There's no shortage of character in the emergent nu gen scene, and self-styled 'nu punk' BEX is a bright new voice amdist its ranks. Latest single Some Kinda Syko joins the likes of Scene Queen in calling out sexism, harassment and abuse in the scene, BEX wrapping a fierce sense of anger around addictive hooks and a squelching, stomping bass line.
Dead Icarus - 1 Million Days
There's more than a hint of the anthemic prowess Alex Varkatzas harnessed in Atreyu in 1 Million Days, the latest single from his new project Dead Icarus. It should go without saying, but that's by no means a bad thing; the track is explosive and utterly massive, Varkatzas's vocal towering over all in ways that you can practially hear crowds roaring along. Chuck in a massive, techy breakout towards the end of the track and you've got a fine recipe for brilliant new metal.
Jonathan Hultén - Afterlife
Jonathan Hultén's departure from Tribulation after the release of 2020's Where The Gloom Becomes Sound might've been a shock, but given the paths both he and his former band have taken since, it seems one borne of creative adventure. There's a gothic grandeur still present in Hultén's solo work that shows his ties to his former life haven't been forgotten entirely, but where Tribulation embraced extreme metal Hultén instead goes full dark-pop with stunning results. If you loved the Ghost rendition of Stay With Me, you'll definitely want to check this one out.
Obeyer - Witness
Built on thuggish force and pummelling beatdowns, metalcore newcomers Obeyer show off their visceral wares on new single Witness. Signed to Periphery's label 3DOT, it shouldn't be a surprise that there's more to the band that sheer lunk-headed heft however, and sure enough Witness seeds some surprisingly melodic elements amidst the din, suggesting you should expect some left turns on debut album Chemical Well, due November 15.
Magnolia Park - Oblivion Eyes (ft. Kayzo & Ethan Ross)
Mixing elements of EDM, metalcore and nu metal, Magnolia Park's latest single Oblivion Eyes shows just how far-reaching their sound is. Pulsing synths meet snarling moshcalls and suprisingly addictive hooks, while rapper Ethan Ross adds an element of Lil Peep like emo rap, cementing this as a contemporary refresh on the nu metal "mix it and see" approach.
Defects - Goliath
There's an explosive vitality to Defects' latest single Goliath that perfectly reflects the exciting state of British metal in 2024. Slipknot-like bursts of intensity are cut with ascendant, bounding choruses and gorgeous guitar leads that see the track skittering its way across contemporary metal history from nu metal to metalcore and beyond, all tied together by the fact this track is just plain brilliant. On tour in the UK from October 29, this lot are definitely worth seeking out if you're looking for vibrant new sounds.
Patriarkh - Wierszalin III
Sometime defectors operating under the Batushka banner, Patriarkh have emerged as a new distinct entity from that band's messy split in 2018. While they might have a new name, Patriarkh still tread the same Russian orthodoxy-inspired approach to black metal that they always have however, and Wierszalin III captures a mysterious, mystical atmosphere that the band tap into amidst thunderous blasts. Keep your eyes out for new album PROROK ILJA on January 3.
