Spring has sprung – or at least, it’s trying to. But, between the flashes of occasional sun and the splashes of rain 10 seconds after, at least the world of heavy metal has given us some measure of consistency. New songs from Anthrax, Green Lung, Sicksense and more have kept our spirits high, even when the temperatures haven’t been.
Before we talk about this week, though, we need to talk about the results of last week’s poll. Metalcore constants Motionless In White and doom metal traditionalists Khemmis gave great showings with their respective songs Playing God and Beneath The Scythe, but the best of the best were Lovebites and their power metal barnstormer Reaper’s Lullaby. Congratulations!
Now, we reset the tables and present nine more heavy bangers for your pleasure. Give them all a go and let us know your choice for the creme de la creme below. While you do that, we’re going to try and assess whether this weekend will be a t-shirt weekend, a raincoat weekend, or a bit of both. (Probably both.)
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Anthrax – It’s For The Kids
New York’s finest thrashers have returned with a no-frills rager. It’s For The Kids is a four-and-a-bit-minute attack that breaks Anthrax down to their essential elements: pounding bass and drums, a wild guitar solo and some Dio-esque athletics from vocalist Joey Belladonna. Expect more bashing and crashing when the quintet release their first album in 10 years, Cursum Perficio, on September 18.
Five Finger Death Punch – Eye Of The Storm
There’s a reason Five Finger Death Punch have stayed so massive: no one writes big, no-nonsense arena metal bangers are readily as they do. New track Eye Of The Storm is another straight from their playbook: big, stomping, angry riffs, an inescapably hooky chorus and a typically chest-beating vocal performance from Ivan Moody.
Warning – Night Comes Down
Think Anthrax made you wait a while? That’s nothing compared to British doomsters Warning, whose upcoming album Rituals Of Shame will break a dry spell ongoing since 2006. Second single Night Comes Down is a characteristically slow burn, but give it the time it needs and it’ll wash you away in tides of sorrow. Extra kudos to singer/guitarist Patrick Walker, whose voice remains in heart-rending form.
Green Lung – Evil In This House
Green Lung added new layers to their sound on 2023’s This Heathen Land, emphasising lush prog and keyboards. Evil In This House, from this September’s Necropolitan album, sees the London occult fanatics return to their Sabbathian roots via a balls-out riff and a dark yet delectable chorus. It also comes with a suitably haunted house movie-inspired music video, which relishes in every 70s horror cliche under the sun.
Madball – Rebel Kids
On the lead single of new album Not Your Kingdom, Madball go after the posers with knives out. “You wear rebellion like it’s fashion and life is just a stage,” frontman Freddy Cricien unloads over a barrage of pure, stomping punk. The music video was filmed at Post 82: a volunteer-run country venue that, for one night only, these NYC boys turned into a volatile hardcore hangout.
Split Chain – Scatterbrain
Deftones-core continues to thrive thanks to Bristol bunch Split Chain. Scatterbrain is a frenzied mix of nu metal and shoegaze that obviously bows before the masters, but it also throws its own curveballs with the hardcore drumming and that bold, grungy hook. Along with March’s single Sylvia (I Won’t Belong To You), it comes from a deluxe reissue of the band’s debut Motionblur, out on September 11.
Sicksense – Newsflash
Also preaching the nu metal gospel are Arizona’s Sicksense, who’ve followed up last year’s album Cross Me Twice with Newsflash. An anthem for individuality, it’s equal parts bouncing rap and hot-head riffery, spearheaded by dual singers Vicky Psarakis (ex-The Agonist) and Robby J. Fonts (Stuck Mojo). No word on a new album yet, but the band call this song “a harbinger of more material on the horizon”, so keep your eyes peeled.
Earthside – A Dying Star
Earthside have collaborated with such vaunted vocalists as Sevendust’s Lajon Witherspoon and Tesseract’s Daniel Tompkins, but A Dying Star gives the foursome’s core instrumentalists their chance to shine. Although the song has flashes of meaty guitar, it’s just as much an atmospheric experience, stacking dreamy keys and hypnotic drum parts. You’ll almost definitely hear it live if you’re seeing the Americans on their first headline European tour, which kicks off later this month.
![Earthside - A Dying Star [Official Music Video] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/A2wqHxddbts/maxresdefault.jpg)
Mother – Unholy
Shadowy metalcore solo act Mother has debuted with Unholy, a song which darts between downbeat melodies and screaming tirades in the same vein as Bad Omens and Spiritbox. With lyrics like “the voices are screaming”, it’s about the anonymous artist’s experiences with dissociation and borderline personality disorder, where, as she explains, “you begin to question your own memories”. No gigs or future songs have been announced yet, but there must be more on the horizon, right?
Mourir – Nous, le venin
Mourir is French for ‘to die’ and Nous, le venin means ‘We, the venom’. So, the 10-minute track from this Toulouse black metal force is about as cheery as you’d expect. With its post-metallic first half and that full-throttle finale, it’s a dreary and widescreen take on the genre, closer to Wolves In The Throne Room than Mayhem. It’s also a demented preview of the album of the same name, due on July 10 via Pelagic Records.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.loudersound.com ’
