The metal world really can't get enough of collaborative efforts lately - and thankfully, neither can we. This week we bring you a clash of British metalcore titans from Bury Tomorrow and While She Sleeps, death metal newcomers Frozen Soul tag-in Dying Fetus legend John Gallagher and quite possibly the weirdest Jonathan Davis feature you'll hear this year.
“But what about last week’s results?” we hear you ask. Well, Linkin Park unearthed previously unheard Meteora-era track Lost, The Hu teamed up with Alice In Chains’s William DuVall, and Kreator and Lamb Of God went toe-to-toe on their own collab, but the honours were unexpectedly taken by deathcore mob Brand Of Sacrfice, who came out on top of the pile. Shocker!, as they said in the tabloids.
So who’s going to clean up this week? You know the score by now – crank up your speakers, dive in and vote on the poll below…
Sleep Token – Vore
Are Sleep Token the next Ghost? Not just because of the mask, but because the buzz around them is even more deafening than it was at the same stage of Tobias Forge and co‘s career. The clattering Vore is the heaviest of the five singles they’ve released so far from upcoming third album, Take Me Back To Eden, and further proof that it’s shaping up to be one of the most diverse and exciting releases of 2023.
Bury Tomorrow – Heretic
It’s a Brit metalcore deathmatch, as Bury Tomorrow’s Dani Winter-Bates goes toe-to-toe with While She Sleeps frontman Loz Taylor on this blazing collab from upcoming seventh album The Seventh Sun. Check out the killer video too – some serious blood-splattered secret society vibes.
Heriot – Demure
The British metal scene is more exciting than it’s been in a decade, and Heriot are part of this new golden generation. The first thing they’ve released since last year’s Profound Mortality EP, brand new single Demure manages to be unsettling and crushing at the same time, piling on the atmosphere along the steel-plated heaviness. The only way is up from here.
The Amity Affliction – I See Dead People (ft. Louie Knuxx)
A study of the act of grieving for those we have lost whilst trying not to end up in the same position ourselves, I See Dead People is modern metalcore at its most stark and sensationally savage. Featuring a posthumous appearance from rapper Louis Knuxx – a close friend of the band, who passed away back in 2021– that only further cements the crushing sentiment, it is a track that represents catharsis at its most crushing whilst still feeling wholly uncertain about so much.
The Ocean - Parabiosis
For over 15 years, The Ocean have been charting a course through emotionally-wrought crushing post-metal themed around paleontology. Parabiosis marks a step towards the end of that particular journey, new album Holocene the final entry in the concept before the band move on to new shores. Fittingly, Parabiosis is a demonstration of the softer side of the band, shifting away from the tectonic sludge crush of older tunes to instead embrace soaring melodies that wouldn’t go amiss alongside the likes of Leprous.
The Raven Age - Parasite
Taking the Trivium route to remaking classic heavy metal archetypes with a contemporary twist, The Raven Age have announced new album Blood Omen will be with us in July. In the meantime, the band will be showing off their anthemic prowess across the festival fields of Europe, as well as in support of heavy metal legends Iron Maiden.
Kim Dracula - 70 Thorns (feat. Jonathan Davis)
You might ocasionally hear the term 'post-genre' banded about and wonder what the hell it means - Kim Dracula's 70 Thorns is a perfect example. A hyperactive mixture of genres and styles, the song flies from bombastic power metal to trap-metal, to nu metal-like industrialised beats and then out extreme metal with exhilirating unpredictability. Even more surprising than these whiplash-inducing shifts is that it works, Korn's Jonathan Davis helping give the song a strong hook that suckers you in despite the chaos unfolding arund.
Frozen Soul - Morbid Effigy (ft. John Gallagher)
After proving themselves to be the coolest newcomers in death metal (in every clever sense of the phrase) with their 2021 debut Crypt Of Ice, cryo-themed Texan brutes Frozen Soul are now doubling down with a second album of stomping, OSDM grooves - produced by Trivium's Matt Heafy, no less. Morbid Effigy sees Frozen Soul team up with Dying Fetus's John Gallagher, stomping and grinding in the oh-so-satisfying way that further proves that Texas is the go-to place for old school revival right now.
Esprit D'Air - 雫 (‘Shizuku’) feat. Misstiq
Underpinning thumping power metal with swelling strings, Esprit D'Air's new single 雫 (‘Shizuku’) arrives right as the band head out on a UK tour that includes sold-out dates in London, Cardiff and York. There's a sense of scale to Shizuku that makes it all the more astonishing that Esprit D'Air are a solo project by Japanese artist Kai, feeling much more like the kind of world-conquering metal epic that has helped power metal become such a vital force again this past decade.
The Acacia Strain - Fresh Bones
As their tour with Deez Nuts and UnityTX continues to roll through Europe, metalcore/deathcore crossover brutes The Acacia Strain have announced their new album Step Into The Light will be with us on May 12. Don't let the hopeful title trick you however - lead single Fresh Bones shows the band are as dirty and punishing as ever, bludgeoning the listener with frantic blast-beats before cooling down with a grindingly slow trudge.
