How is everyone out there? Good, glad to hear it. Us? Oh, we're not too bad, thanks for asking. Mainly because we've just been totting up the votes for last week’s Track Of The Week. And the winner is… *drum roll* …Evanescence’s Wasted On You.
So congratulations to Amy Lee and, er, the others. You get to keep the trophy for the next seven days.
Luckily, we've got another bunch of brand spanking new tracks from some of metal's finest to get us through this week. And because we're such fantastic people, we've decided to share them with you.
Sit back and listen to new songs from The Hu and Lzzy Hale, Scorpions, the mighty Orange Goblin, A.A. Williams, a guest guitar solo from Matt Heafy and a left-field Metallica cover. And don't forget to vote for your favourite when you’ve done – you’ll find the poll at the bottom of the page.
So crank it up and let's meet here at the same time next week…
The Hu ft. Lzzy Hale – Song Of Women
East meets west as Mongolia’s finest enlist Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale for this sweeping, evocative anthem. There’s still no one else out there doing this kind of thing.
Scorpions – Sign Of Hope
Everything’s gone to shit, but wait, here come the Scorpions to heal the world once more with this short-but-sweet, mostly acoutic anthem. A Wind Of Change for the Lockdown Generation, basically. But where's the whistling?
A.A. Williams – All I Asked For (Was To End It All)
Spring is here, the birds are singing, and Deftones-fan-turned death-gospel figurehead A.A. Williams is marking the occasion by serving up this bleak, funeral-paced teaser for her debut album, Forever Blue. Full marks for the none-more-goth video too.
Bleed From Within – Night Crossing (ft. Matt Heafy)
“Matt Heafy would like to join the chat”: the Trivium frontman joins the lockdown fun in the video for the Glasgow bruisers’ latest single, adding a surprisingly tasteful solo to this otherwise cranium-crunching banger. From their upcoming album Fracture.
King 810 – Dukes
Is the same King 810 who kicked up such a shitstorm a few years ago? The gang signs and gun-talk have been ditched for a sound that comes on like Clutch, if Clutch had just got out of jail after a 10-stretch. Hey, that's a compliment.
Greg Puciato – Deep Set
The second single from the ex-Dillinger Escape Plan’s forthcoming debut solo album Creator Of God swaps the aural nightmare of predecessor Fire For Water for something weirder and – dare we say it – sexier. There, we said it.
Orange Goblin – The Devil’s Whip (Live)
OK, we missed this last week. But Orange Goblin are gods amongst men, and this live version of their boozy 2014 neck-cracker – taken from upcoming live album Rough & Ready, Live & Loud – is a turbo-charged monster stoner boogie rumble that would make Lemmy proud.
North Atlas – Hypnotist
Marilyn Manson meets Biffy Clyro with a whiff of Heilung-esque pagan imagery in the video – don't let it be said that Scottish trio North Atlas don't have all the bases covered. But Hypnotist proves that this unlikely mash-up works.
The Sword – She
Kiss’ 1974 sleaze-rock chestnut gets the fuzzmungous makeover it never knew it needed courtesy of Lars Ulrich-approved stoner kings The Sword.
Marissa Nadler – Nothing Else Matters
Another cover, but this one coming at things from a totally different angle. US death-folkie Marissa Nadler has reimagined Metallica’s bruised Black Album ballad as a spectral goth number on her new EP, Covers 3, and it's unexpectedly brilliant.
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