Happy Friday! We're back this week with another hefty round-up for the week's biggest, best and most exciting new singles, including new tunes from the likes of Machine Head, Disturbed and Black Label Society. It's not all veteran names, however. Be it Hollywood actress Vera Farmiga dipping her toes into post-punk goth with The Yagas, Danish noisy bastards Eyes returning with the grindcore-like Better or Harper releasing her latest metalcore-flavoured single, we've got you covered across a variety of styles and subgenres.
But first, the results of last week's vote! Ozzy Osbourne might've popped up in a guest feature for Billy Morrison in last week's round-up, but even the Prince Of Darkness couldn't lay claim to one of the top 3 spots in our fan vote. Held off third place by monstermen Lordi, the Finns were themselves kept at bay by goth metallers Lacuna Coil. Top spot though went to rising Norwegian star STORM, whose Walking Dead showed Harper isn't the only metal wunderkind on the scene right now.
As mentioned up top, we've got a diverse selection of bands for you to explore this week, so don't forget to vote for your favourite song below - the top three will make it into our big playlist for the best metal songs of 2025. Otherwise, take care and have a great weekend!
Machine Head - Unbound
After teasing that their eleventh studio album would be with us "in April" back in November when they released the all-star team-up These Scars Won't Define Us, this week Machine Head officially announced Unatoned for an April 25 release. New single Unbound drops like a sledgehammer-turned-guillotine, all hefty riffs and massive, swinging beats that, with Robb's typically anthemic snarls, make us very excited to see the band live again this year.
Harper - Thorn In My Side
It's been three years since Harper first burst onto the scene, but the metal wunderkind is picking up some serious steam on latest single Thorn In My Side. Explosive metalcore in the vein of Spiritbox, Harper might wear her influences on her sleeves but does so with a level of passion and zeal that makes it undeniably exciting. Considering she made Download history last year as the youngest performer to grace its stage, we can't wait to see what happens next.
Disturbed - I Will Not Break
Given they kicked off 2025 celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Sickness, perhaps it isn't too surprising that Disturbed are going old school on latest single I Will Not Break. From the pulsing thumps that lead into the track to Draiman's inimitable "Ah-Ah" vocalisations, the track certainly feels like something that could've come from their debut, but delivered with a confidence and sleekness that is in keeping with just how far the band have come in the quarter-century since its release.
House Of Protection - Afterlife
With their debut EP Galore last summer, House Of Protection made some serious waves with their genre-straddling brand of alt. metal/nu/hip-hop mash-up. New single Afterlife shows they're only just getting started. Taken from their upcoming EP Outrun You All, due May 23, it's a tar-paced thumper that has surprisingly melodic vocals drifting atop a sea of fuzzy, electronica-enhanced low-end. Whether you catch them with Poppy when they tour the US in April, or otherwise see them this summer at Download Festival, make sure you don't miss this lot.
Wednesday 13 - When The Devil Commands
The Duke Of Spook has come a long way from his graverobbing-in-drag lyrical roots. 20 years on from his solo debut, the punk energies that defined early albums Transylvania 90210 and Fang Bang have been replaced with a darker heft that is front and centre on Wednesday's latest single, When The Devil Commands. It's a dark and stormy stomper with a typically titillating video, a perfect reminder that Wednesday 13 remains a master of horrorcore.
Alien Weaponry - 1000 Friends
With a little over a month to go until Alien Weaponry's third album Te Rā arrives on March 28, Alien Weaponry have offered another glimpse of things to come in new single 1000 Friends. Given the single's focus on more contemporary issues - taking aim at social media in particular - it's hardly surprising that the band have stripped away their more folk instrumentations to go right for the neck with some clattering groove metal riffs.
The Yagas - She's Walking Down
It's something of an open secret that The Conjuring's Vera Farmiga loves heavy music. With her band The Yagas, she's putting that love in the spotlight however, her band's latest single combining powerful, pumping vocals with ethereal, almost post-punk melodies that bring to mind the likes of Unto Others, Grave Pleasures with a more fiery twist.
Black Label Society - Lord Humungus
Look, Zakk Wylde is only a set of leather body armour away from looking like he'd fit into the Mad Max universe anyway, so is it any surprise that Black Label Society's latest single is an ode to the hockey masked villain from The Road Warrior? It's a match made in heaven, BLS' trademark motor-rumble riffs adding to a gritty air of cool around the track, getting us even more pumped up for whatever BLS might be cooking up in 2025.
Urne - Throes Of Grief (ft. Tim Öhrström)
Out on the road this week with Norwegian black'n'rollers Kvelertak, Urne surprised us with a double-drop of singles. But while their cover of Dio-fronted Sabbath tune I is excellent (and you should definitely check that out), it's original tune Throes Of Grief that gives us our first hint of where the band are headed stylistically now they're signed to Spinefarm. Classic heavy metal architecture with a contemporary heft and even shades of extreme metal, Throes... is exactly the kind of tune you'd expect for a band who produced one of the best metal debuts in recent years.
Rootbrain - Unawares
A collision between thrashy riffs and soulful, Alice In Chains-like vocal melodies, Rootbrain's latest single Unawares strikes a careful balance between classic schools of metal. But although Unawares evokes the anything-can-happen mindset that embodied the final years of glam (before Grunge officially changed the aesthetic of popular heavy music), there's a contemporary energy and force to the German/Finnish group's sound that brings it firmly into the 21st Century.
RØRY - Wolves
There's a little over a week to go before rising alt. metal star RØRY embarks on a packed-out tour of the UK, making the perfect time to drop an emotive new single. Wolves is a gorgeous contemporary ballad in the vein of Linkin Park or Bring Me The Horizon, dealing with a sense of loss and grief with cathartic breakouts and soaring vocal melodies.
Eyes - Better
In 2023, Denmark's EYES came out with the wildly swinging, swivel-throated mashup of noise rock and hardcore that was Congratulations. Freshly signed to Prosthetic Records, it's safe to say they've only grown uglier and more frenzied. A one-minute blast of grindcore-like fury, the track flies by in a cacophony of howls and clattering drums. Taken from new album Spinner - out April 25 - it's a first taste of some truly wonderful nastiness. Drink deep.
