We've said it before, and we'll say it again: big names don't always win the popular vote. In a week where we had new material from Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth and Machine Head, the winner of our vote for track of the week (by some considerable margin too) went to Jonathan Young and Caleb Hyles with their epic fantasy metal song Wolf Within - you can listen to that below.
This week we've assembled a stylistic banquet for you to gorge yourselves silly on. Death metal traditionalists Bloodbath are back with a new album, while O.C. metalcore heroes Bleeding Through are bringing back scene sing-alongs like 2006 never went away. As ever, you'll find a vote at the bottom of the page, so have your say on what tracks put a smile on your face this week.
1. Bloodbath - Zombie Inferno
Rolling around like clockwork every four years, death metal supergroup Bloodbath are back with another meaty slab of old school DM nastiness in Zombie Inferno. Upping the pace a thousand-fold from chief growler Nick Holmes’ dayjob in Paradise Lost, Zombie Inferno is an all-out rampage on the senses and delightfully repugnant first taste of new album Survival Of The Sickest.
2. Bleeding Through - Damage Done
O.C. metalcore heroes Bleeding Through are back and swinging for the fences with Damage Done. The lead track off a three-track EP, Damage Done balances BT’s love for extremity with massive choruses and more ‘bleghs’ than you can shake a finger-down-the-throat at.
3. Dub War - Get Back Up (feat. Mike Bordin)
It’s been 20 years since Benji Webbe brought Skindred roaring into the world with their reggae-metal fusion, but even before that Benji was challenging boundaries with Dub War. Returning to his original band almost 30 years since he first formed them, Get Back Up exudes the effortless cool that Benji is beloved for while drafting in Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin for an extra dose of heft in the percussion sector.
4. Brutus - Dust
With Belgium increasingly becoming a hotbed of activity for bands in the 'post-' suffix territories of hardcore, metal and beyond, it feels good to have Brutus back on such spectacular form with Dust. The band's first new song since 2020, Dust bursts force in an outpouring of adrenaline and emotion, exactly what you want to blast the cobwebs off.
5. Miss May I - Earth Shaker
Bridging the gap between 00s metalcore and 90s melodeath, Miss May I's Earth Shaker feels like somebody took the best of both worlds from Killswitch Engage and Soilwork, then fused those elements together. With fret-wizardry, blastbeats and massive mosh calls aplenty, Earth Shaker is everything a millennial metalhead could hope for in one neat package.
6. Shinedown - America Burning
Honestly, if we’d not seen this track was released by Shinedown, we’d believe this is a new song by Billy Talent. Jangly punk with an eye on everything happening around the world at the moment, America Burning is Shinedown drawing a line in the sand with an ear for their usually massive choruses.
7. Strange Bones x Death Blooms - 25 Thousand Volts
Combine Blackpool electro punks Strange Bones and Liverpool’s nu metal revivalists Death Blooms and what do you get? An all-out lightning-drenched assault on the senses, is what. With shades of Gallows and hardcore noise terrorists The Armed, 25 Thousand Volts is as vibrant and overwhelming as its title suggests.
8. Oceans Ate Alaska - New Dawn
With slow-slung riffs and vocals that sound like somebody trying to strangle a hutt, Oceans Ate Alaska make their return after a two year absence with some pure, core (metal? Death? Hard? Take your pick) nastiness on New Dawn.
9. Grief Ritual - Immurement
Between Heriot, Conjurer, Employed To Serve, Svalbard, Ithaca and Malevolence over the past few years, the UK has really stepped up its metallic hardcore game. Grief Ritual are here to add to that rich tapestry, like somebody pissed off Raging Speedhorn and then led them through tar, their blackened, sludgy hardcore is exactly the flavour of nastiness we want to hear.
10. Sobriquet - Divine
Trying to pin down Sobriquet's sound is an act of pure lunacy. Divine swings between Converge-style hyperactive post-hardcore, blistering black metal and all-out Dillinger Escape Plan weirdness, all within two-and-a-half minutes. Taken from the Sheffield-based band's upcoming EP Apotheosis, the song is a slice of madness very much worth your time if you love all-out sonic bedlam.
