Love is in the air – or near enough, anyway. And if sappy love ballads and sexy tunes aren’t your thing, thankfully we’ve got a hefty selection of rising and underground metal artists for you to dive into this week.
First, the results of last week’s vote! UK black metallers Winterfylleth clawed their way to a third place finish, while nu metal veterans Sevendust landed a very healthy second. But the overall winners were the UK’s own reggae-metal masters Skindred, in hopefully not the only top spot they’ll be taking this year after their last album hit number 2 in the UK charts. We can but hope!
We’ve got a strong selection of tracks for you to dive into this week, from the radio-friendly alt. metal of Sleep Theory, to black metal beasties from Mayhem and Hecate Enthroned. There’s also prog metal, hardcore, doom and a few shades besides, so be sure to tell us which song excites you most by voting in the poll below. Have an excellent weekend!
Sleep Theory – Words Are Worthless
One of this month’s Metal Hammer cover stars, Sleep Theory kick off their sold-out UK tour tonight. Arriving just in time is new single Words Are Worthless, a stirring alt-metal rager that makes great use of symphonics to underpin radio-friendly, arena-baiting vocal melodies. It sounds massive, and judging from their ascent thus far, the band just might yet be too.
All Them Witches – Red Rocking Chair
Jam-loving desert rockers All Them Witches have taken a trip to the doom side on new single Red Rocking Chair. While they’ve been no strangers to a bit of Sabbath influence, there’s something primordially menacing about the riffs on this latest single, building out into the kind of intense, explosive guitar playing that’s made the band such a delight live (and on record) over the past decade.
![All Them Witches - Red Rocking Chair [Official Visualizer] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6I221jU1XO0/maxresdefault.jpg)
Flesh Creep – King Of The Hill
Birmingham might be the city that gave the world Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, but it also spawned the likes of Napalm Death and GBH. Newcomers Flesh Creep fall decidedly more into that latter category, new single King Of The Hill stomping forth in a fuzzy onslaught of riffs and slobbering, rabid energy. Taken from their debut album We Need You To Bleed – due for reissue on February 20 – it’s a delightfully feral hardcore track to sink your teeth into.
Mizery – The Weapon Pt. II
The 80s crossover vibes are strong on the new single from San Diego’s Mizery. Bringing big Suicidal Tendencies/Corrosion Of Conformity energy, The Weapon Pt. II also has a swing and bounce that makes us want to catapult ourselves through a brick wall and curb stomp a tank. The band’s new Mizery EP is due March 20, and is well worth a listen if you’re itching for more Power Trip/Higher Power/Pest Control style revival vibes.
Hawxx – Macho Bullshit
“Fuck your macho bullshit forever.” It’d take some doing to miss the message of Hawxx’s latest single, Macho Bullshit going straight for the throat in a lumbering, lurching rager that’s built for sweaty mosh pits. Part alt-metal, part hardcore, it’s another example of how the British band are carrying the torch for punk ideals.
Hecate Enthroned – Gallery Of Rotting Portraits
Veterans of the UK black metal underground, Hecate Enthroned have come howling back from a seven year absence with the gloriously bombastic Gallery Of Rotting Portraits. Touched with symphonic elements but no less violent and squalling for the fact, Gallery is a feral bastard of a track, and has us eagerly awaiting a new record from the long-running, criminally overlooked group.
Mayhem – Realm Of Endless Misery
Speaking of returning black metal masters, Mayhem are also making a comeback after a seven year recording absence this week. Liturgy Of Death is out now, and final pre-release single Realm Of Endless Misery shows the Norwegians have lost none of their bite and fury over the past three decades, issuing a vortex of frosty, fang-bearing blast-beats, howls and even a smattering of vocals that sound like Christopher Lee raging from beyond the grave.
A.A. Williams – Wolves
Currently on tour in the UK, deathgospel/post-metal artist A.A. Williams continues to give us glimpses at the direction she’s headed for her third album. Dark, doomy realms prevail in a track that is utterly enchanting, feeling like shades of Deftones by way of Codeine or early Low.
Tailgunner – War In Heaven (ft. Adam Wakeman)
Fierce defenders of the faith, there’s some real old school Judas Priest/Dreamer Deceiver energy to Tailgunner’s heavy metal ballad War In Heaven. It’s a gorgeously emotive and dramatic track with some guitar guitar work, while the synthy keys – courtesy of sometime Sabbath keysman Adam Wakeman – really do bring to mind metal’s formative years. Tailgunner’s new album Midnight Blitz is out today and well worth a listen if you’re looking for a fresh take on the classics.
Myrath – Soul Of My Soul
From one end of the metal ballad spectrum to the other, French/Tunisian prog metallers Myrath are going grand with their latest release Soul Of My Soul. Leaning hard on symphonic elements with some gorgeous piano work, the track swells and builds to something properly epic. New album Wilderness Of Mirrors is due March 27.
Green Carnation – Sanguis (Blood Ties)
After returning to their prog metal roots with 2020’s Leaves Of Yesteryear, Norway’s Green Carnation are getting especially ambitious. Sanguis (Blood Ties) marks the first single of the second entry in their proposed A Dark Poem trilogy, coming five months after the band released Shores Of Melancholia in September. Stylisticlally, it sees them continue to explore the melancholic, hinterlands between prog melody and doom darkness across an expansive sub-seven-minute runtime.
Kanonenfieber – Heizer Tenner
What if you cut Rammstein with Bolt Thrower and Rotting Christ? A bizarre combination, but one that describes some of the elements of Germany’s Kanonenfieber. A masked band singing anti-war songs rooted in narratives around World War 1, there’s a ferocious, blackened energy to new single Heizer Tenner that brings to mind the more forceful energies of RC, while the anti-war message is pure Bolt Thrower and the industrial stomp has Rammstein’s grease all over it.
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