Has it really already been a year since Ozzy Osbourne left us? This week has seen some commemorations of heavy metal's original icon, the metal world still reeling from his loss. Yet, metal continues to evolve - as this week's collection of brilliant new songs shows.
First, the results of last week's vote! The all-star team-up between Mastodon and Queens Of The Stone Age clearly got a few people excited, as they've bagged themselves third place in the poll, while In This Moment's industrial thumper Crawl took second. Our overall winners for the week however were nu metal revivalists Red Method, whose single Detonate sweeped the poll.
This week has been an absolute rush on new releases, but we've still whittled it down to 12 brilliant new metal songs you need to hear. Whether that's the latest from Amon Amarth, Hatebreed or Halestorm, or rising talents like Black Spikes, Kim Dracula and Imminence, we've got you covered - so don't forget to cast your vote in the poll below and have an excellent weekend!
Amon Amarth - Gjallarhorn
Amon Amarth never fail to deliver an epic. Even so, Gjallarorn feels properly anthemic, befitting a band who've played arenas and bigger festival slots in recent years. Taken from new album The Allfather Awakens, due October 2, its another mighty tune for the band to add to their live arsenal. We'll look forward to hopefully hearing it when the band return to the UK in October.
Imminence - False Light
Imminence look ready to blow up. After selling out London's Roundhouse last year, they've lined up a Brixton Academy appearance for January next year. But that doesn't mean they're suddenly softening their edges. If anything, new single False Light feels like a demonstration of how furious and stark the band can be, mournful violin standing out against Eddie Berg's larynx-shredding howls. New album Axis Mundi is coming October 2.
Wormwood - Yra|Extras
Scabrous black metal from Sweden, Wormwood are indulging their most grandiose songwriting tendencies on new single Yra|Extras. Taken from the new Å EP, due out in a couple of weeks on August 7, the track melds explosive BM blasts with surprising elegant moments of melody, even ducking into some Leprous-style undulating gentleness around three-and-a-half minutes, all contributing a sense of being sent on a sonic odyssey.
Kim Dracula - Molecular Conversion
With their 2023 debut, Kim Dracula emerged as one of metal's wildest new bands, with a madcap sense of throwing together everything from jazz and nu metal to Mr. Bungle style avant garde to make something properly fascinating. New single Molecular Conversion is a surprise change of pace in the same way Faith No More's take on Easy was to anyone who knew the band from Epic and Surprise You're Dead. The song's core melodies feel like something only Maynard James Keenan could invoke in A Perfect Circle, giving way to a surprise horn section that somehow doesn't feel a million miles out of place. Freshly signed to Rise Records, we reckon album 2 can't be too far away.
Black Spikes - Zelvar
Lithuania's Black Spikes have an insane look - and a sound to match. New single Zelvar starts out in clanging, snarling metal, only to contrast it with a gentle, Swan-Lake like melody. Which promptly gets stomped under a colossal boot. It's a killer contrast as the song switches between the two extremes, and has us plenty excited for new album Ydos, due out on August 28.
Showing Teeth - Bad Exchanges
There's something delightfully unhinged and feral about Showing Teeth's latest new single, Bad Exchanges. Maybe it's the frequent blast-beats, or the shrieking, grindcore like screeches, but the Nashville artist really nails a sense of frenzied mania. New EP A Fate Worse Than Loneliness is coming on September 4.
Hatebreed - Kill Count Increase
Hatebreed have been comfortably clattering skulls for coming on 30 years, so why stop now? Six years since their last album, Kill Count Increase comes with the announcement that new album Fatal Paradox will be out November 6. Short, sharp and delightfully thrashy, its a reminder that Hatebreed are masters of their own distinct brand of thumping metallic hardcore.
Rattlesnakes - Shadows In The Night
Classic heavy metal is enjoying a glorious, triumphant revival. Joining the ranks of Asomvel and Tailgunner are Nottingham-based newcomers Rattlesnakes, freshly signed to Listenable Records they've put out the killer Shadows In The Night to show what they're all about. Sat somewhere between the thrash of Nervosa and the classic speed chops of early Venom or Diamond Head, Shadows... is also the title track of their debut album, due October 30.
Micah Martin - Burn Them All (ft. OddKidOut)
The fusion between metalcore and EDM is nothing new at this point, but newcomer Micah Martin is offering a fresh new spin on the meeting-of-worlds. Chuggy riffs give way to some proper drum'n'bass electro that somehow feels like a throwback to early rave rock pioneers Enter Shikari whilst also feeling fresh and exciting. His full debut All I Need is out November 20.
Ripper - The Source Exterminator
How's about a bit of Chilean death metal to take you into the weekend? Ripper's The Source Exterminator is a high speed assault on the senses, all wailing guitars and machine-gun drums as they race towards annihilation, slipping in some great half-pace switches to nail some crossover energy amdist it all. The band's new album - aptly titled Towards Rebirth, considering it comes ten years since their last - is out today.
Broken By The Scream - Hanakabura
Sometimes only the most frenzied noise will do. Japan's Broken By The Scream have been putting out music for almost a decade now, but will be making their way over to Europe this summer with gigs lined up across the continent including an appearance in London and at Wacken Festival. To celebrate the fact, they've put out an absolute mania-inducing headfuck of a track in Hanakabura, a song which swings from manic goblin extremity to Babymetal-like kawaii melody with frequent infusions of distinct Japanese folk flourishes.
Hypno5e - Lost Fires
If you've made your way through all the feral and frenzied songs we've offered above, we figure you've earned some respite. Of a sort. Hypno5e aren't lacking for heft, but the French post-metallers are offering up at least a few moments of delicate respite with new single Lost Fires, the first single taken from their new album Trame Noire, due November 6. And when it gets heavy, it goes.
