Happy December! We're officially into the final stretch of the year, with End Of Year lists aplenty to keep you warm - with joy or rage, that's up to you - as we close the book on 2023. We've already asked you to tell us what the best metal album of 2023 is and pretty soon we'll be asking you to cast your votes on the songs of the year, but there's still at least one week's worth of juice to wring from 2023 yet.
That in mind, here are the results of last week's vote! Thanksgiving couldn't stop some brilliant new music trickling through at the end of November, and melodeath supergroup The Halo Effect took a very admirable third place with their latest offering The Defiant One. That was beaten however by thrashers Suicidal Angels, while top prize went to NWOBHM legends Saxon and their fist-pumping anthem Hell, Fire and Damnation.
There's another metal legend in the running this week with Bruce Dickinson officially unveiling his first solo song in 18 years, but we've also got plenty of fresh talent in the form of Every Hell, Zetra and Type O Negative/Crowbar supergroup Eye Am, as well as a whole bunch of other brilliant songs to explore. As ever, we need you to tell us which songs excite you most, so don't forget to cast your vote below!
Bruce Dickinson - Afterglow Of Ragnarok
Bruce Dickinson’s first solo song since 2005’s A Tyranny Of Souls proves to be well worth the wait with a sense of epic trad metal grandeur that sees classic Maiden histrionics met with a weightier, darker sound Dickinson perfected around King In Crimson. Although we’ve still got a few months before The Mandrake Project is with us - due for release March 1 via BMG - Afterglow Of Ragnarok is an exciting taster for what lies in store, even bringing in some Amon Amarth style growls towards the end that have us wondering just how heavy Bruce is going to get with his new record.
P.O.D. - Afraid To Die (ft. Tatiana Shmayluk)
After touring with Jinjer in 2022, P.O.D. have recruited vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk for new single Afraid To Die, a chest-beating burst of nu metal flavoured positivity. Against Sonny Sandoval’s insistent flow, Shmayluk adds melodic underpinnings that burst out into huge sing-along choruses, building out to furious screams that really let Tatiana flex her vocal prowess.
Blind Channel - Die Another Day (feat. RØRY)
Although Blind Channel primarily trade in bouncy nu metal, the Finns are showing off a very different side on new single Die Another Day. A big piano ballad duet with English singer RØRY - with fellow Finns Apocalyptica lending the keys and cello strings - Die Another Day attests to the band’s aspirations to conquer international charts and build off their success at Eurovision in 2021, falling on the wistful, emotional side of nu metal best characterised by the likes of Linkin Park.
Unprocessed - Die On The Cross Of The Martyr (ft. Tim Henson & Scott LePage)
Die On The Cross Of The Martyr isn’t so much a showcase of instrumental acrobatics as it is a full-scale circus of dextrous prog-metal wizardry. Drafting in Polyphia guitarists Tim Henson and Scott LePage, Unprocessed’s latest single is all about showcasing just how brilliant the musicians of contemporary prog metal are whilst not losing sight of their capacity for writing emotive, massive-sounding tunes, building out to vicious, beatdown-friendly bursts of heaviness that showcase just how multi-faceted this band are.
Video Nasties - Harvest Of Flies
With an insistent stomp, Liverpool’s Video Nasties are howling back to life on Harvest Of Flies, their first new single since 2021’s Draw The Shades. The overtones of classic horror are still very present in the band’s sound, a tooth-gnashing mix of extreme subgenres which chucks elements of black metal, thrash, 80s death metal and even a bit of groove into a blender.
Eye Am - Cryptomnesia
Uniting members of Crowbar and Type O Negative, there’s no prizes for guessing what kind of music Eye Am make. But while there’s a familiar sense of sludgy miserablism to the band’s new single Cryptomnesia, it’s testament to their combined creative energies that the song also taps into some of the more beautiful melodic elements of Type O, taking a classic doom metal blueprint and adding flair that suggests something very special might be coming together in this new group. Keep an eye out for their debut release in 2024.
Zetra - Sacrifice
Zetra have been an exciting name on the underground for a couple of years now, a unique vision of goth metal that draws heavily on the genre’s 80s inspirations, mixing elements of bands like The Cure, Type O Negative and Depeche Mode into one fascinating concoction. Freshly signed to Nuclear Blast, Sacrifice combines jutting riffs, high-toned vocals and synths for a bewitching mix that suggests the goth revival of recent years - Grave Pleasures, Creeper, Naut - is far from over.
Dominum - Cannibal Corpses
Tongue planted so firmly in cheek it’s popping out the other side, Dominum’s latest horror-themed offering is the sleek, strutting Cannibal Corpses. Although ostensibly a power metal band, there’s an 80s AOR sensibility to this latest single that puts Domnium more in line with the likes of Europe, Edguy or The Night Flight Orchestra, laying the cheese on thick but in an earnest way you can’t help but love.
Every Hell - Freaking Out
The latest project to feature the talents of former Black Peaks frontman Will Gardner, Every Hell arrive with Freaking Out, a wailing, wild-eyed burst of riffs and saxophones that places them somewhere between the thrilling, sing-along hardcore of Every Time I Die and out-and-out alt weirdness of bands like Turbowolf. We can’t wait to see just how wild this band can get.
Kekht Arakh - Wanderer
The fusion of rough-and-raw black metal with gothic romanticism has long been key to the uniqueness of Kekht Arakh, new single Wanderer a prime example of the unique sound the Ukrainian project has showcased since their 2019 debut Night And Love. While news of a full-length follow-up to 2021’s Pale Swordsman hasn’t been confirmed just yet, the sheer existence of Wanderer and the fact the band are confirmed to perform at the 2024 Roadburn certainly suggests we should be expecting new music next year.
