Everybody good? Yeah, us too, thanks for asking. One of the reasons is because we’ve got a brand new batch of killer metal songs for you to wrap your ears around for starters, which we'll get to in a second. Before that, a tip of the hat to Shinedown, who cleaned up in the public vote for last week’s Track Of The Week with America’s Burning.
And this time? The big guns are out this time around, with brand spanking new songs from The Hu, Amon Amarth, Parkway Drive, Within Temptation and more, all of whom will be stuffing envelopes full of cash in an attempt to persuade you to vote for them this time around (we're joking, of course).
You can do that at the bottom of the page. But first you might want to actually listen to the songs. Go on, you know it makes sense…
The Hu – Black Thunder
In May, Mongolian metal warriors The Hu released their first original song in three years, This Is The Mongol. Now they’ve followed it up with Black Thunder: a stomping folk rocker with a video flaunting the sweeping landscapes of their homeland. To boot, they also announced that both songs will be on their long-awaited second album, Rumble Of Thunder. Ready your warpaint!
Amon Amarth – The Great Heathen Army
What’s this? Johan Hegg and co have gone nu-gen with this glitchy electro-metal banger about a near-future cyborg trapped in a neural network of its own creation? OF COURSE THEY HAVEN’T, YOU FOOLS! It’s a powerful, mid-paced song about rampaging viking hordes doing rampaging, viking horde-y things in Ye Olden Days, delivered with the kind of elemental power that only metal’s favourite horn-raising beard-farmers know how to nail. It wasn’t broke, it didn’t need fixing.
Parkway Drive - The Greatest Fear
When Parkway Drive released Ire back in 2015, they set the tone for the titanic, arena-sized tunes they would be dealing in going forward. Seven years later, The Greatest Fear feels like the realization of everything Parkway have achieved to date, everything from its colossal riff to the 80s-style guitar god solos and pumping, anthemic chorus screaming that Parkway Drive are on track to reach metal’s top tier.
Bring Me The Horizon – Strangers
"We're just a room full of strangers, looking for something to save us," croons Oli Sykes on the latest release from Bring Me The Horizon. It's a big, catchy, swaying anthem packed with big riffs, hooky lyrics and a sprinkling of electronic elements. Bread and butter for Bring Me The Horizon these days, basically.
Within Temptation – Don’t Pray For Me
Holland’s finest symphonic metal powerhouse have added to their recent string of standalone singles with Don’t Pray For Me. Possibly named after Barney Gumble’s wisest words, the track is a punchy goth metal stomper, topped off by Sharon Den Adel’s howling vocals. Whether or not it will appear on WT’s eagerly anticipated eighth album remains to be seen.
Five Finger Death Punch – Times Like These
The build-up to FFDP’s ninth album, Afterlife, continues. Times Like These is the fourth single that the Vegas outfit have released since April, and it’s unsurprisingly infectious. The ballad carries strong Wrong Side Of Heaven vibes, lifting from acoustic guitars to a stomping hard rock chorus. Frontman Ivan Moody is the show-stealer here though, his voice as raspy as it is tender.
Soulfly – Filth Upon Filth
Soulfly have never belonged exclusively to one subgenre, but on this bruiser they go full groove metal mode. For three minutes, this new single marches powerfully, with its stamping snares adorned with a blazing solo and a particularly pissed-off-sounding vocal onslaught. It’s a great taste of the destructively heavy Totem album, due next month.
Fallujah – Embrace Oblivion
Technical death metal darlings Fallujah are back with a fresh new face. Vocalist Kyle Schaefer made his debut in April on Radiant Ascension (the lead single of new album Empyrean) and returns on this ear-buster, growling surprisingly optimistic lyrics. Meanwhile, we also get blast beats and guitar shreds aplenty – of course! More intricate brutality will surely follow when Empyrean drops in September.
Electric Callboy feat. Conquer Divide - Fuckboi
German electronicore bunch Electric Callboy are now four singles deep into the leadup to September’s Tekkno album. The newest, Fuckboi, doesn’t pack as much screaming aggro as the rest of them, and instead takes the form of a synth-backed pop punk floorfiller. Good luck getting that chorus out of your head after that first listen…
Oceans Of Slumber – House Of The Rising Sun
Straying even further from their death metal roots, Oceans Of Slumber have switched lanes to more eclectic songwriting. Previous Singles The Lighthouse and The Waters Rising dabbled in spirituals and classical music respectively, and now cover of The Animals’ 60s classic finds them flirting with melancholic folk. New album Starlight And Ash, which drops later this month.
