September is done! We’re closing in on spooky season now (and damn if we can’t hear the faint rustle of bells in the distance) but before we hit the end of the year there’s still plenty of great new releases to explore, meaning its important as ever for us to cut through the clutter and bring you some excellent new metal songs.
First, the results of last week’s vote! Belgian speed metallers Evil Invaders charged into third place, while Waterlines took a very healthy second with Giant Killers. But the overall winners for the week were Ukraine’s Ignea, whose collab with Combichrist Prefab proved too good to resist.
This week we’ve got the first glimpse of an Alissa White-Gluz fronted Dragonforce as well as new music from Bullet For My Valentine, Crypta, Enslaved, Clutch, Apocalyptica and more. As ever – and with the end of year rapidly approaching – we need you to tell us which songs excite you most, so don’t forget to cast your votes in the poll below – and have an excellent weekend.
Apocalyptica – Upperhand (ft. Kalandra)
Partnered up with nordic folk star Kalandra, Apocalyptica’s Uppherhand makes great use of the Finns’ ability to create a sense of scope and drama. It’s a slow building track, Katrine Stenbekk’s voice soaring over brooding melodies before the song really leans in on its symphonic metal elements at the 2:30 mark. Gorgeous.
Dragonforce – Hunger Of The Beast
Recruiting Alissa White-Gluz was always going to have a big impact on Dragonforce’s sound, but we’d wager few people were expecting this. It feels like a full mash-up of the powerful melodeath that Alissa has been belting out for over 15 years now, colliding head-on with Dragonforce’s brand of full-tilt power metal. With a self-titled record set for March 17 next year, we reckon this is just the start of exciting new realms for the power metal vets.
Crypta – A Portrait Of Decay
It’s been three years since Crypta’s last record, but we’re finally getting a glimpse of what comes next. With guitarist Victoria Villarreal joining their ranks, the Brazilian death metal group have offered up something grandiose and sweeping on A Portrait Of Decay, a six-minute monolith with some gorgeous proggy guitars creeping in before the end.
Bullet For My Valentine – Social Apocalypse
Picking up from the more metallic edge they reintroduced on 2021’s self-titled album, Bullet For My Valentine are going big on Social Apocalypse. Far from going back to The Poison playbook after celebrating that album, the Welsh band have picked up where they left off and crafted something that would fit comfortably in the modern metalcore bracket alongside the likes of Parkway Drive or Bring Me The Horizon. They’re certainly writing for the arenas they’ve eyed up for the UK tour next year.
Tom Morello – Unconquered (ft. Kneecap)
Tom Morello has never shied away from making political statements. The fact he appears in this video wearing a Bob Vylan shirt, with Kneecap guesting is a pretty clear line in the sand. Musically, Unconquered feels like that all-too-often unexplored realm of rave-rock energy, not quite using EDM but bringing to mind acts like the KLF or The Prodigy with a tight, dancy riff. Tom’s new album Everyone Gets Everything They Want is out today.
Polyphia – With Eyes To See
Keeping those danceable riff vibes going strong, Polyphia’s With Eyes To See also delivers some tight, stomping beats. In truth, if you heard this on radio – or a club, which seems like a much more fitting setting for it – you could be mistaken into thinking this is some Glastonbury-friendly dance group, such is the track’s infectious energy (with the looping vocal definitely helping cement the sense). New album Be Not Afraid is expected October 23.
Clutch – Wasted Lands
If you were worried that rock’n’roll had all but given up on its street walkin’ cheetahs with hearts full of napalm, and fellas who make love to mountain lions and sleep on beds of red-hot branding irons, rest assured: Clutch have you covered. The band’s latest single – and the title-track of their next album, due January 22 – Wasted Lands is exactly that kind of dick-swinging, chest-beating bravado that made rock so damn brilliant in the first place: “What’s it’s name? This creature of malice? No one knows for sure, but the locals call him Neil Patrick Fallon.”
Suicide Silence – Make Your Exit
It’s been a hot minute since Suicide Silence sounded this feral. There’s been no shortage of heft on the last couple records, but Make Your Exit is genuinely abrasive and punishing in the most satisfying ways, spelling good things for new album Graceless, due November 20.
Wolfbrigade – Doomrunner
If the d-beat and barked vocals weren’t a dead giveaway, Wolfbrigade love them some crusty punk. Doomrunner is a rampaging, slobbering beast, simple yet effective as the band kick it out fast and hard like Discharge and Napalm Death did before them. New album Howl From Underground is out October 9.
Leng T’che – Hammered Into Collapse
Wait, is that another d-beat we hear? For the briefest moment, yes, but Leng T’che aren’t exactly the kind of band to stick in one lane, Hammered Into Collapse managing to sprint its way through a extreme metal’s diverse land-scape in under two-and-a-half minutes as they go from squealing deathcore, grind and death metal to sludgy filth. Its been almost a decade since their last record, but they’re making up for lost time.
Haerdsmaelta – City Of The Dead
“We built this city on rot ‘n’ mold.” Its hard to say exactly where you’d place Sweden’s Haerdsmaelta, the gaskmask-festooned group pogoing on skronky, off-kilter riffs that bring to mind Voivod’s X-Stream with their weird punk-metal weirdness. Taken from the band’s upcoming self-titled album – due October 23 – it’s a delightfully weird and fizzy track well worth your time.
Brat – Speculum Bleed
Fancy some gore? Brat are going full Cannibal Corpse with the lyrical content to Speculum Bleed, while adding a subversive twist that is really highlighted in the splat-happy video. With some big, thrashy riffs, it’s proof that they’re pushing their brand of bimboviolence into new directions on new album Manslayer, out today.
Enslaved – Tale Of Trees
Prog be damned, Enslaved are back in the realms of frosty nastiness. Alright, not entirely, but you’ll forgive our excitement after shanties and folk tunes (which were great, we’ll concede) just having the Norwegians go absolutely barmy with raspy black metal scratches the itch nicely. Taken from upcoming album Mið, Tale Of Trees suggests the album will be anything but.
(LouderSound)
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