Metal Hammer's Tracks Of The Week: August 23 2024
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Happy Friday! We're once again honing in on the end of another month, meaning the End Of Year looms ever closer! But, before all that we've still got plenty of new records to dive into, and even more songs to discover.
That in mind, here are the results of last week's vote! Returning extreme metallers Schammasch edged out the competition to take a third place spot, but when it came to the week's top two places there was a clear theme: new beginnings. Alex Varkatzas' new band Dead Icarus triumphed into second with The Unconquerable, but it was High Parasite - the new project from My Dying Bride frontman Aaron Stainthorpe - that earned top spot, the gloriously gothic Wasn't Human prevailing.
This week we've hunted high and low to bring you some of the freshest and most exciting new bands around. Granted, there are a few familiar faces in there - and if you don't know Oceans Of Slumber and Unto Others yet, you're sorely missing out - but with the likes of Gore., Knife, Seven Hours After Violet and Chat Pile representing (relatively) new bastions of heaviness we'd say there's plenty to discover and love. Don't forget to cast your vote in the poll below - and have an excellent weekend!
Seven Hours After Violet - Radiance
After announcing his new project with the storming Paradise in June, Shavo Odadjian's new project Seven Hours After Violet have now announced their self-titled debut album will be released on October 11. New single Radiance also finds the System Of A Down bassist delivering some decidedly familiar tones in a moody, powerful ballad that also incorporates Middle Eastern melodies and symphonic swells to great effect.
Chat Pile - Masc
Chat Pile's 2022 debut God's Country positioned them as a powerful new force rising out of the murky, intermingled depths of hardcore, noise rock and sludge metal, but with enough mainstream appeal to attract interest from the likes of Pitchfork and The Guardian. New single Masc continues to toe the line between beefy abrasion and popular appeal, a thick, queasy bassline lending a sense of catastrophic force whilst shoegaze melodies drift overhead. Taken from the band's upcoming second album - Cool World, out Oct 11 - Masc seems to confirm the band's continued ascension out of the underground.
Diamante - All For The Glory
If Diamante's last single 1987 wasn't a big enough hint, Diamante loves an 80s throwback. New single All For The Glory really captures the era's bigger-is-better ethos with a massive radio-friendly single all about taking whats yours, evoking the likes of Lita Ford and Doro Pesch whilst revelling in a sense of triumph that was so essential to 80s heavy metal.
Turmion Katilot - Yksi Jumalista
Self-styled "disco metal" group Turmion K?til?t never could resist a boogie, so its no major surprise that new single Yksi Jumalista has some infernal dancefloor-filling qualities. Taken from the group's upcoming record Reset - out October 25 - the track captures some of the menacing "underground dance club" energy of 90s industrial metal, with a joyous breakout that'll have you out your seat in no time.
Oceans Of Slumber - The Given Dream
Revelling in gothic splendour, Oceans Of Slumber's latest single The Given Dream has a sense of melodic fragility that is anchored by Cammie Beverly's powerful voice. Gorgeously immersive, when the song kicks in there are shades of the band's doomy roots that have become less prominent in recent years as they stepped up into the prog metal sphere. There's only a few more weeks to go until the band's new album Where Gods Fear To Speak arrives, so be sure to check this one out.
Unto Others - Mama Likes The Door Closed
Unto Others are embracing their inner Misfit(s) on new single Mama Likes The Door Closed. The band's usual gothic air is still present and correct, of course, but the single hones in on a more aggressive, thunderous vision of the dark than we've seen with the likes of Raigeki and Butterfly, closer to past songs like Give Me To The Night and showing that the band aren't losing any of their fire even as they embrace the more ethereal realms of goth.
Glacial Tomb - Stygian Abattoir
Coming on like a landslide in a minefield, Glacial Tomb's latest single Stygian Abattoir is a roiling sea of riffs, squeals and growls crammed into an explosive, claustrophobic sub-four-minute package. The opening track of next month's Lightless Expanse - out September 20 - Stugian Abattoir is a gloriously nasty blast-to-the-face that should be all the persuasion you need to check the band out.
Uncured - Manifesto
"I'll kill, kill kill, but not with a gun - I'll take a single bullet and sodomise everyone." Nu metal wasn't ever particularly renowned for its poetic lyrics, but nu metalcore revivalists Uncured are clearly subscribing to the school of visceral nastiness when it comes to new single Manifesto. A raging, down-tuned stomper that brings to mind shades of Dope, Slipknot and Killswitch Engage, the track is a taste of what the band will be offering on upcoming EP Warpath, due in 2025.
Dampf - Might As Well Have Died
It's testament to Dampf's ambitions that even with new album No Angels Alive arriving this week, the Swedish band didn't opt to release a single song, but a double-release. It's also testament to how diverse the band's sound is across the record however; while War With The World is propelled along by jaunty folk metal flutes, Might As Well Have Died is an altogether moodier beast, a stomping beat and squealing, 80s guitars lending a sense of scale that shows this band aren't lacking when it comes to panache.
Knife - Metalized Blood
The clue's in the title, but Knife's latest single Metalized Blood is metal as fuck. A blast of blackened speed, the track comes from this week's Live Leather Hounds EP and is a no-frills blast of greasy, flame-licked heaviness that'll surely delight fans of Midnight, Abbath or Motorhead alike.
Gore. - Babylon
Newcomers Gore. have recently signed to Spinefarm and are celebrating the fact with genre-mashing single Babylon. Brutish guitars give way to ascendant choruses and hackle-raising electronic elements across the song's three-and-a-half-minute runtime, presenting a decidedly contemporary vision of metal that feels like it can go anywhere. With their EP A Bud That Never Blooms arriving on October 24, maybe it can.
