May the... well, fifth be with you. Ahem. Terrible Star Wars puns aside, we're back again with a stacked selection of the best new metal songs from this week for your listening pleasure.
But first, the results of last week's vote! It was a solid showing from the likes of Corrosion Of Conformity, Blackbriar and Vexed, but by far last week's runaway champions were Ukrainian prog metal heroes Ignea, celebrating the release of their new album with the single Incurable Disease. Swedish metal mavericks Avatar took a very respectable 2nd place, while Cradle Of Filth brought extreme metal to the table with Demon Prince Regent.
As ever, we've scouted high and low to bring you this week's collection of new metal singles, diving deep into new releases from well established bands and newcomers alike to offer our final selection with the likes of The Hu, 3Teeth and Scar Symmetry all vying for top spot. Don't forget to cast your votes below, and have a fantastic weekend!
The Hu - Bii Biyelgee (acoustic)
Whether recruiting guest singers or stripping everything back for an acoustic rendition, The Hu are forever tinkering with their arsenal of Mongolian folk metal anthems. The acoustic rendition of Bii Biyelgee comes from the upcoming deluxe edition of 2022’s Rumble Of Thunder and captures the rootsy sense of whimsy the band tapped into with their second record, still offering an utterly unique take on the rock and metal template.
Poppy - Spit
At this point you should know, it’s a fruitless endeavour trying to pre-empt what nu gen OG Poppy is going to do next. Case in point: Spit is a frenzied take on a classic Kittie nu metal banger, zapping it with fresh lightning as the American singer shows off her best snarls and howls. The fact it comes just a month after the bouncy, synth-led club banger Church Outfit is yet more proof Poppy refuses to be categorised.
3Teeth - Merchant Of The Void (feat. Mick Gordon)
With pulsing industrial metal banger Merchant Of The Void, LA’s 3Teeth have officially kicked off the campaign leading up to their new album, apparently due “later this summer”. Between the song’s unstoppable marching beat, throbbing bassy synths and a throaty rasp that traces lineage in both Al Jourgensen and Trent Reznor, the track is an exciting taste of what 3Teeth have in store on album #4 - massive anthems you can dance, bang your head and roar along to.
Scar Symmetry - Chrononautilus
Striking a hard balance between utterly ferocious death metal and shimmering, synth-laden prog, Scar Symmetry’s Chrononautilus is a perfect illustration of why the Swedes were perfect supports on the recent Meshuggah European tour. As delightfully bonkers as the more technical aspects of the song are, for us the real shining moment of Chrononautilus is in the splendidly joyous melodic passages that creep in more frequently in the song’s latter half.
Boris and Uniform - You Are The Beginning
Japanese noise terrorists Boris have teamed up with New York brutes Uniform, and the results are fucking fantastic. You Are The Beginning has a touch of Body Count-style crossover to it, mixed with the requisite low-end sludge and noise both bands have dabbled in over their careers, all building to a thrashy freakout that has us wanting to run head-first through walls.
Voyager - Prince Of Fire
With just a week to go until they bring their brand of space-age prog metal to Eurovision 2023, Aussies Voyager are showing off their angular, unpredictable take on the genre with Prince Of Fire. Taken from upcoming album Fearless In Love, due July 14, the track marries weightless melodies with explosive riffs and displays of technical brilliance that brings to mind the likes of Between The Buried And Me and Polyphia whilst imprinting Voyager’s own unique sonic identity onto the prog framework.
The Dirty Nil - Celebration
Depending when you catch them, Canadians Dirty Nil can deliver anything from sunny pop punk to pounding heavy rock and straight-up proto-thrash, 2021’s Doom Boy showing the band know their way around a hefty riff. You can now chuck Celebration on that headbang-happy pile too, its core riff feeling like Kerry King taking on Van Halen while the band clatter and crash around it.
Death Ray Vision - Behead The King
Death Ray Vision's Behead The King is by no means a comment on current events, but rather about "the helplessness you feel watching the world burn around you and being powerless to do anything about it". A crossover banger mixing punk, hardcore and metal in a fist-pumping, headbanging rager, the song's driving, beatdown-friendly core riff is tinged with the occasional nimble fretwork of classic 70s and 80s trad metal, while new vocalist Keith Bennett offers a hoarse rasp that could come right from the realms of Crowbar.
Spirit Adrift - I Shall Return
This time last year, Spirit Adrift were making their London live debut to an utterly packed out Black Heart at Desertfest. With festival appearances lined up for this summer, the stoner-via-heavy-metal upstarts are waving the flag hard for trad metal, I Shall Return riding on driving riffs and impassioned vocal melodies that speak to the triumphant spirit of heavy metal.
Anjel - Burning Down (feat. KXDS)
Newcomer Anjel’s Burning Down shows off her powerful vocal talents in a propulsive, emotionally charged package. More impressive is that Burning Down is just Anjel’s second single following her debut Timeless, the new song trading out the pop-punk influences of her first song to tap into the powerful anthemic energy of early 2000s post-grunge by way of Evanescence.
