It feels like it's been about 600 years, but January 2025 is finally over! While it's certainly felt like an unending expanse of time, that doesn't mean the first month of 2025 has passed by without bringing us some excellent new releases, as the new albums from The Halo Effect, Wardruna and Alk Blk Era.
In that spirit, we're also back with another hefty round-up of the finest metal cuts you compiled of singles that've appeared over the last week. That in mind, here are the results of last week's vote! We'd got an impressively stacked roster last week with big names like Papa Roach, Killswitch Engage, Dream Theater, Destruction and more dropping fresh cuts. Doom metal merchants Conan took a very admirable third place with their latest single Frozen Edges Of The Wound, getting narrowly edged out of second by the returning Killswitch Engage. But the overall winners were extreme metal veterans Cradle Of Filth, whose new album was announced with the brilliantly fiendish To Live Deliciously.
We're not slowing down on the heavyweight acts this week, either. You'd do well to check out the new cuts from the likes of Jinjer, Hanabie and Deviloof, but there's also fresh offerings from Saxon, Epica, Bloodywood and more in the running, so don't forget to cast your vote in the poll below - and have an excellent weekend!
Epica - Cross The Divide
It's been almost 12 months since Epica revealed they were working on their ninth studio album and this week they shared that Aspiral will be with us on April 11. Lead single Cross The Divide is a hale affirmation of their status as beloved symphonic metal veterans, a massive track which fully utilises orchestral instrumentation alongside thundering low-end to create a fusion of rampaging ferocity and grandiose melody.
Bloodywood - Tadka
Bloodywood are on a tear. Second album Nu Delhi is still a few weeks away from its March 21 release date, but the band's first single this side of 2025 - following from the epic Babymetal collaboration Bekhauf last month - is yet more proof that the Indian metallers have one of metal's most refreshing and unique sounds, their fusion of thumping nu metal and Indian folk on full display in the thrashing Tadka that'll have your mouth watering in more ways than one.
Hanabie - Tasty Survivor
Speaking of distinctive sounds, Hanabie are back with their own hyperactive blast of metalcore-laced "Harajuku-core" in Tasty Survivor. A standalone single that serves as the opening theme for anime Momentary Lily, Tasty Survivor captures some of the multifaceted elements of Hanabie's sound, swinging from propulsive, snarling bursts of metal to hyperactive, anthemic choruses and skittering electronica in a fusion that falls just shy of total sensory overload but is undeniably brilliant.
Jinjer - Duel
There's only a week to go until Jinjer's new album Duel arrives, so the band have given us one last glimpse of what to expect in the angular, aggro title track. There's something almost Slipknot-ish to the skittering drums that kick off the track, but the second the track kicks off its pure Jinjer brilliance through-and-through, a heady mix of proggy time signatures, ultra technical instrumentation and sonically acrobatic vocals from Tatiana Shmayluk.
Saxon - 1066
If you're aching for something more in the vein of traditional heavy metal, it doesn't come more classic than Saxon. Biff Byford and co.'s tribute to the year that effectively ended the era of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, 1066 rumbles along on a warfooting, a steady march of triumphant riffs and hale vocal deliveries that have made Saxon one of the OG champions of pure heavy metal.
Forlorn - Funeral Pyre
It's been four years since UK newcomers Forlorn put out the ultra-atmospheric Emptiness and Emotionless singles, showcasing their fusion of post-metal abjection and howling metalcore. With Funeral Pyre, the band officially announce their debut album Aether, due for release on March 28. If you heard those early singles, you'll recognise that Forlorn's sound still inhabits much the same realms, a gorgeously layered sound that contrasts guttural snarls and howls with haunting melodies to great effect. And if you didn't hear those singles, you're long overdue. Welcome to the party.
![Forlorn - Funeral Pyre [Official Video] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/e4FxEOZTDjg/maxresdefault.jpg)
Kuunatic - Disembodied Ternion
Japanese psych/doom with a folk twist. That's a lot of adjectives to basically say, Kuunatic are something very different that you need to hear right now. There's an element of drone to the softly undulating riffs that form the bedrock of the band's sound, but with three vocalists merging to create a spiritual, almost religious effect on their sound, it's hard not to feel like this is some dark mantra issued into the void to bring forth some eldritch beast. The group's new album Wheels Of Ömon is coming on April 11 and will be followed by a short UK tour that kicks off in London on the all-too-perfect date of April 20.
Deviloof - Inshu
Sticking to the realms of Japan for a while, we unearthed something gruesome in deathcore mob Deviloof. The group's latest single 因習 [Inshu] features Shogun and Thor actor Tadanobu Asano in a gorgeously cinematic video accompanied by frenzied, shrieking extremity that takes a delightful dive into the pig-squealing, bree-filled years of deathcore with a fresh take and some hugely atmospheric passages that hint to greater ambitions by the band. God, we hope there's more of this to come.
Inhuman Nature - Possessed To Die
Pigsqueals are all well and good, but what about riffs? There's no danger of those running out in Inhuman Nature's latest single Possessed To Die, a characteristically stomping blast of crossover thrash that'll have you headbanging like its 1986. It might've been six years since their self-titled debut, but the London riffers aren't in danger of suddenly reinventing themselves as djentcore boppers, Possessed... signalling that new album Greater Than Death will be more old school brilliance when it arrives April 25.
![Inhuman Nature - Possessed To Die [Official stream] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LTsTfGZnA0s/maxresdefault.jpg)
Harbringer - No Vermin
Harbringer are swinging fro the fences on latest single No Vermin. The technical death metal base that has long served as their bread and butter is still right up front, but there are also passages of anthemic melodic quality that bring to mind 21st Century metal acts like Trivium. Harbringer showed they had anthemic potential all the way back in 2019 with Compelled To Suffer, but these cleans add an extra element to their sound that suggests they'll be pushing the boat out on their next record.
Raging Speedhorn - Every Night's Alright For Fighting
We're surprised nobody's thought of combining Raging Speedhorn's muscular brand of sludgecore with wrestling before, to be honest. While they're still not quite popping up on the soundtrack for NXT just yet - a missed opportunity, if you ask us - the video for new single Every Night's Alright For Fighting is a loving tribute to the colourful, larger-than-life characters that helped popularise wrestling in the 80s and 90s. What's more, the single announces the impending arrival of new album Night Wolf, due for release on March 6.
Within Destruction - Cybergirl
Living up to its name, Within Destruction's Cybergirl is an electro-enhanced mash-up of metalcore and alt-metal that has some serious bite. The lead single from the Slovenian band's new album Animetal, due for release April 11, the track offers up some decidedly sci-fi sonics before giving way to choruses that could pass for heavy pop under the right light. That's not to say they don't offer some heft, though; the track clangs and wails with a massive breakdown and grandstanding guitar solo that shows the group aren't afraid to take big swings.
