Just when it was looking like the remainder of the summer festival calendar was going to be a total washout, the sun has returned! A little, anyway, but it'll do as we prepare for the last few summer events of the year and fix our eyes on the many (many!) upcoming releases that will be with us from September onwards, singles aplenty keeping us awash in brilliant new music.
Speaking of, the results of last week's vote! It was a diverse selection of styles on offer last week, but it looks like the tried and true favourites of thrash, groove and trad metal won the day. New York heroes Prong took a very admirable third place below the Metal Queen Doro, but it was Brazilian thrashers Nervosa who took the crown, beating out all competition with the fast and furious Seed Of Death.
This week we've got a wide array of delights for you to explore, from the latest singles from well-established vets Cannibal Corpse and Taproot to emergent talent in the form of Creeper, Saint Agnes and Bleed From Within, as well as a few underground nasties for those who love their metal right in the deep end. As ever, we need you to tell us which songs excite you most, so don't forget to cast your vote below!
Cannibal Corpse - Summoned For Sacrifice
A schmaltzy ballad, who’d have thunk it? We’re joking, of course: Cannibal Corpse haven’t earned their status as one of death metal’s most reliable bands by turning their backs on the tried and true formula of pulverising, thumping death metal, and Summoned For Sacrifice fits the bill and then some. The air of menace and evil overtones on the guitars comes right from the books of old school death metal, while the video feels like a fully-fleshed (or de-fleshed, as the case may be) concept for the next Saw-style horror.
Creeper - Teenage Sacrifice
From their earliest days Creeper have always had a flair for the theatrical, but even by their standards Teenage Sacrifice feels like a massive step up. There’s a Jim Steinman/Meat Loaf sensibility to the epic guitar solos and ominous keys of the track, feeling like a return to the gothic stylings of the first album after the more diverse sonic exploration of 2020’s Sex, Death and the Infinite Void. With killer lines like ‘All my friends are digging graves/and I’m handing them the shovel/burning churches to the ground and making love in the rubble’ Teenage Sacrifice already feels like an anthem in the making.
Bleed From Within - The Will To Resist
Shrine was a serious step up in production and execution from Scotland’s Bleed From Within, and the ecstatic response the band have received since its release speaks to just how well its songs have gone over with fans. We might have to wait a while for a follow-up yet - particularly as the band pop up on bills alongside the likes of Amon Amarth and Trivium - The Will To Resist comes from the freshly announced deluxe edition of Shrine, capturing that same sense of enormity and chest-beating aggro-positivity that made Shrine so brilliant.
Taproot - No One Else To Blame
Almost a decade since their last album, Taproot are back with the announcement that new album SC/SSRS will be with us on September 29. And not a moment too soon: the nu metal revival is in full swing, and No One Else To Blame dives right back into stylings that brought the band acclaim at the turn of the millennium, cascading riffs and massive vocal hooks ensuring the track nonetheless feels fresh and potent.
Skynd - Robert Hansen
Released just ahead of their headline performance on the Thursday night of this year’s Bloodstock festival in the UK, Skynd’s latest single Robert Hansen is all about dark menace and pulsing industrial notes in a catchy, sleek package as the band explore the story of the titular serial killer.
SiM - Hide and Seek
Japan’s SiM have become beloved in their home nation for their unique mixture of genres and styles, and Hide And Seek is a perfect demonstration of the surprising mixtures they can flow up. Nu metal riffs give way to reggae beats and vocalisations, only to break out into a sing-along metalcore-style chorus, the whole thing fitting together surprisingly well and keeping listeners on their toes. We can’t wait to see if the rest of PLAYDEAD is this ambitious.
Saint Agnes - Follow You
Explosive and fizzling with lightning energy, Saint Agnes’ latest single Follow You is exactly the kind of anthem that summer festivals beg for, blaring riffs and danceable beats ensuring it’ll get bodies moving. Saint Agnes have plenty of experience in that of course, and with shows set up for October to support new album Bloodsuckers you can bet Follow You will be a new live favourite in no time.
Earthside - Let The Truth Speak (feat. Daniel Tompkins & Gennady Tkachenko-Papizh)
With nimble-fingered guitars, crashing riffs and powerful strings throughout, US prog metal newcomers Earthside are setting their sights on global conquest with new single Let The Truth Speak, the title-track of their upcoming second album, out November 17. With guest contributions from TesseracT vocalist Daniel Tompkins and Gennady Tkachenko-Papizh, the track offers a sense of enormity that shows just how much they have evolved since their debut way back in 2015, leaning on prog metal’s most melodic, epic elements to craft something transcendental.
Celestial Sanctuary - Swivel Eyed and Gurning In The Shadows
God bless death metal song titles. Celestial Sanctuary’s latest single Swivel Eyed And Gurning In The Shadows might elicit a few chuckles with its lengthy title, but it’s all seriousness in the sheer heft and extremity the band bring to bear on the song itself, blast-beats and tight, thrashy riffs making this one a serious neck botherer. Keep an eye out for Insatiable Thirst For Torment, due August 25.
Rile - Climb Out
Another fine entry to Church Road’s stable of vicious, hard-hitting noiseniks, Salt Lake City metallic hardcore mob Rile announced their debut album Pessimist with the furious Climb Out. Propelled by almost tribalistic drum-beats in the intro, Climb Out then builds out to swirling walls of noise as Rile lean on metalcore’s most discordant and chaotic elements in a five-minute assault on the ears. Glorious stuff.
