Metal Hammer's tracks of the week: June 27 2024
Wait, summer's over? Alright, we're being a bit facetious, but with midsummer now out the way and the nights starting to get longer (god, already?), we're tipping over into the second half of 2024... which naturally also means a tonne of new releases, tours and things to get excited about, making our lives assembling these round-ups of the best new metal songs so much easier. On second thought, good riddance!
First, let's talk about the results of last week's vote. There were some big names in the running, so no surprise it's familiar faces all in the top 3. Oceans Of Slumber's gorgeous Poem Of Ecstasy took a healthy third slot, just behind Powerwolf-do-pirate-metal swashbuckler Sinners Of The Seven Seas. But when there's new Ghost music, few bands can compete and perhaps unsurprisingly The Future Is A Foregin Land took the crown. Is this the last song we're getting of the Papa Emeritus IV era? We won't spoil Rite Here Rite Now for you, but... well, watch the movie (and don't forget you can read all about it in the new issue of Metal Hammer, on sale now).
This week we've hunted high and low to find you the best metal songs around, and it seems everybody is pushing the boat out. Whether it's Tribulation ditching the corpse paint and going full goth, Beast In Black dabbling in disco of Dream Evil heading on a Journey, there's some unexpected left turns to check out, as well as a healthy dose of brutality thanks to the likes of To The Grave, Within The Ruins and Mrs Frighthouse - don't say we didn't warn you on that last one.
As ever, we need you to tell us which tracks excite you most, so don't forget to cast your vote in the poll below - and have an excellent weekend!
Tom Morello - Soldier In The Army Of Love
Rage Against The Machine may be dead and buried (again) as of January this year, but guitarist Tom Morello has maintained their spirit on new song Soldier In The Army Of Love. The confrontational rap rock number is also a multi-generational effort for the agitator, who’s tapped his son Roman to help him out on guitar. The track is the first taste of an upcoming, as-yet-untitled solo album from the ’90s alt-music icon, which he’s previously categorised as his “first-ever full-length solo rock effort”. Colour us curious as to what we’re going to be hearing next…
Tribulation - Saturn Coming Down
When songwriter Jonathan Hultén parted ways with Tribulation after contributing to 2021’s Where The Gloom Becomes Sound, there was a question mark on how the band would sound going forward. The 2023 Hamartia EP laid some fears to rest at least, but new single Saturn Coming Down feels like the first proper glimpse at where the Swedes are headed going forward. The black metal elements have been dialled back some and the shimmering goth has been dialled way up, resulting in a track that feels more traditionally goth metal than Tribulation’s usual bastardised style but doesn’t break ties with the past entirely.
Dream Evil - Chosen Force
They might have written The Book Of Heavy Metal - or a song about it, at least - but Dream Evil seem to be channelling their inner Journey on new single Chosen Force. It’s not quite a full AOR shift, but the massive vocal melodies definitely feel like something you’d hear in a European karaoke bar, while the keyboard lines add a retro spin that makes this track a total delight.
Beast In Black - Power Of The Beast
Speaking of heavy metal luminaries going in a bizarre, brilliant retro direction, Beast In Black’s latest single Power Of The Beast sees them go full disco. Given the bombast of their sound, it’s a stylistic switch-up that doesn’t feel too distant from the band’s core sound and the result is a fist-pumping anthem that at times comes off like a heavy metal Flashdance.
Alt Blk Era - My Drummer’s Girlfriend
The nu gen continues to thrive. Blurring the boundaries on where pop, alternative and metal intersect, Alt Blk Era’s latest single My Drummer’s Girlfriend is nothing short of a total delight, an undeniable earworm with the kind of hooks that make it feel like it should be played on radio almost constantly. Add to that a thumping bassline and huge breakout moments and this one feels like it has ‘alt hit of the summer’ written all over it.
To The Grave - Dead Wrong (ft. Michael Kerney)
Ugly, slobbering deathcore with a seriously mean edge. That’s the outline for Aussie deathcore mob To The Grave’s latest single Dead Wrong, a track that dispenses with deathcore’s shift to sleekly-produced, symphonically underpinned extremity in favour of down-in-the-mud beatdowns and squealing visceral nastiness. Taken from the band’s upcoming third record Everyone’s A Murderer - out August 30 - it’s a taste of things to come from this utterly rabid bunch.
Wrex - Heaven’s Gate
Beatdowns are nice, but sometimes you need a bouncy, buoyant melody. This week our fix comes from Brighton duo Wrex, new single Heaven’s Gate feeling like an alt. metal take on a 90s club banger with floating vocal melodies and an insistent electro beat that explodes like a handgrenade. The band’s new EP This Hell Goes A Long Way Down is out August 16 and the band will be kicking off a UK tour at Camden’s Black Heart that same night, offering a chance to see exactly how this translates to dancefloors across the country.
Within The Ruins - Castle In The Sky
Now, if you do want some ultra-sleek deathcore, we’ve got you covered there too. Massachusetts mob Within The Ruins are seven albums in and absolutely embracing deathcore’s more cinematic, progressive elements on new single Castle In The Sky, striking a balance between furious, stomping beats and nimble, technical guitar lines that have an air of the neoclassical about them. New album Phenomena II is out August 23 and if the rest of it is this impressive, we could be looking at ascendant new stars.
Turmion Katilot - Schlacter (ft. Chris Harms)
Nice as it is to have a load of sleek, sexy industrial metal that looks and sounds ready for the big screen, sometimes you can’t help but pine for the days where the genre was dominated by wild Europeans in fetish gear. That’s the energy that Turmion K?til?t capture on new single Schlacter, the Finns teaming up with Lord Of The Lost vocalist Chris Harms for a shrieky, frenzied banger that sounds like a wild night in a subterranean club. Pure class.
Blackgold - Social Blackout
Consistently one of the most arresting and brilliant bands of the nu metal revival, BLACKGOLD’s latest single Social Blackout is yet more proof that The Matrix was the perfect nu metal movie. Drawing its visuals from the sci-fi classic, the music video is a perfect accompaniment to the band’s thumping, electronically-enhanced sound and helps underpin the sense that Blackgold know exactly how to craft a distinct audio-visual package that’ll capture the imagination like the nu metal old guard did almost 30 years ago.
Feed The Wolves - Breakaway
When it comes to describing radio-friendly alt metal, there’s generally an expectation for music that broadly fits under the post-grunge sphere. Florida’s Feed The Wolves have aptly titled their debut single however, Breakaway sounding much more in line with the soulful, prog-adjacent sounds of A Perfect Circle or Sevendust than your Creeds or Shinedowns, gloriously massive to behold with the kinds of vocal hooks that could dominate rock radio. Keep your eyes on this lot.
Skye Dahl - Hypokrit
Drawing on Viking aesthetics, glam metal panache and contemporary rock energy, Skye Dahl’s latest single Hypokrit is a rhythmic, thumping rock’n’roll anthem. It’s definitely distinctive, and impressively addictive to boot, the kind of track that’ll get stuck in your brain for months to come while the inclusion of Nordic folk elements further in lend a sense that Skye’s music can go anywhere. What’s not to love?
Mrs Frighthouse - DIY Exorcism
Like being suckerpunched by a tidal wave, Scottish industrial/noise group Mrs Frighthouse bring utter devastation with new single DIY Exorcism. Raging against abusers and sounding like the end of the world cranked up to 10, the song brings to mind the maximalist terror of Lingua Ignota with some of the quirky energy of Julie Christmas, with added operatic elements that make it feel truly distinct.
