Happy Friday! Summer is well and truly heating up now with Mystic, Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Park and Download all done and dusted for the year, and Hellfest underway as we speak. That doesn't mean it's getting any quieter for new music though - quite the contrary, in fact!
So before we get stuck into this week's new releases, here are the results of last week's vote. Power metal veterans Helloween took a very respectable third place, but it was a tight race for top spot. Ultimately Swedes Orbit Culture were kept off top spot by symphonic metal rising stars Blackbriar, whose latest single Harpy took the crown.
We've got another colourful and diverse selection for your listening pleasure this week. There's the first new single from Biohazard in over a decade, a heavy new cut from Muse and extreme metal cuts from Omnium Gatherum and Necrotted, as well as thrash (Nervosa), stoner/doom (Margarita Witch Cult) and fresh offerings from the likes of The Yagas, As Everything Unfolds and so many more.
Don't forget to cast your vote in the poll below - and have a fantastic weekend.
Biohazard - Forsaken
OGs of metallic hardcore, Biohazard are back with their first new single in over a decade. Forsaken is no wild reinvention of the band; chunky riffs, massive gang-chants and grooves deeper than the Grand Canyon make this a very happy return for the group. There's no word on exactly when we'll get the new album, but the band have confirmed work is underway.
Muse - Unravelling
Muse have talked more and more in recent years about their love for 80s metal, even releasing some new music with added heft. Unravelling continues that trend, starting out in the proggy art rock pomp areas that fans of the band will be familiar with before giving way to some seriously crunchy riffs. It's hardly "Muse go Meshuggah" but with the band headlining Hellfest this weekend, there's definitely an inclination towards the heavier side of life as they eye up a follow-up to 2022's Will Of The People.
Beyond The Black - Rising High
Now, speaking of classic metal sounds. Beyond The Black have put out their first new single since their 2023 self-titled in Rising High. Although the hand have expressed symphonic metal allegiances in the past, Rising High feels decidedly more indebted to 80s and early 90s heavy metal, all thumping riffs and grandstanding leads with some killer hooks. Jennifer Haben isn't turning her back on her more melodious vocal stylings, but has hinted this track kicks off a "new era" for the group - suggesting a palatte change going in to their next album.
Omnium Gatherum - The Last Hero
Beyond The Black aren't the only band adapting 80s arena metal to their sound this week. Finnish melodeath vets Omnium Gatherum play up to the enormity of the decade where metal ruled the world with some seriously tasty guitar licks, even chucking in keyboard leads that bring to mind countrymen Children Of Bodom. The first single from new album May The Bridges We Burn Light The Way - release date currently TBA - it's a glorious mix of extremity and enormity.
The Yagas - Chervona Ruta (ft. Gogol Bordello)
Given their shared Ukrainian roots, it makes sense that The Yagas and Gogol Bordello would team up to cover Ukrainian pop hit Chervona Ruta. Falling decidedly closer to Bordello's own folk-punk stylings than The Yagas sparkly goth/alt metal, the track is nonetheless a thumping celebration of Ukrainian culture, released just in time for the Ukrainian holiday Kupala Night and aimed at helping to raise funds for Ukrainian medics via the UNITED24 platform.
Nervosa - Smashing Heads
After taking over as lead vocalist of Nervosa with 2023's Jailbreak, Prika Amaral has settled comfortably into her groove if new single Smashing Heads is anything to go by. The Brazilian thrasher isn't reinventing her band's sound; this is pure Teutonic-style thrash with a healthy dose of early death metal chucked into the mix, infernal howls leading the charge for a high-speed assault on the senses that is pure bliss. Here's hoping a new album won't be too far round the corner.
Necrotted - Fat God (ft. Alan Grnja)
If the lurking presence of a grim reaper amidst the pastel pinks of Necrotted's new video Fat God wasn't enough of a giveaway, the band are going full tongue-in-cheek with their latest video. But while they might present a front of fun, the music of Fat God is pure filth, blast-beating deathcore heaving and squealing with pure menace, the band also drafting in Distant's Alan Grnja to up the intensity.
As Everything Unfolds - Set In Flow
2023's Ultraviolet was a serious step up for UK alt metallers As Everything Unfolds and saw the band reaching new heights. Freshly signed to Century Media, the band's mixture of electronic and metalcore elements remains as potent as ever on Set In Flow, the track feeling like a metallic take on 90s techno with vocalist Charlie Rolfe offering up some massive vocal hooks that speak to the bigger stages the band have played over the past few years.
The None - In Civic Pride
Kicking off with an almighty howl and giving way to clanging, industrial-toned bass that sounds like a multi-car pile-up, The None are going full wild-eyed frenzy on new single In Civic Pride. It's a manic track that chucks up echoes of Primus, Big Black and Dillinger Escape Plan, while not actually sounding like those bands. Fascinating, furious and absolutely essential.
Margarita Witch Cult - Witches’ Candle
Rampaging fuzzy stoner/doom from the heart of Birmingham, Margarita Witch Cult's latest single Witches' Candle is pure occult Sabbath worship - and glorious for the fact. Taken from new album Strung Out In Hell, due July 18, it's a healthy dose of British doom that'll surely please fans of the likes of Green Lung, Cathedral or Orange Goblin.
RinRin - Built Diff
Built Diff isn't just the title of RinRin's latest single, it's practically a mission statement. The Fillipino-born, Australia-based artist takes a pick-n-mix approach to genres that sees everthing from clattering, techy metalcore mix in with hip-hop, trap and alt. metal, all in a vibrant package. Taken from the album The Nut House, which is due September 12, it's probably the most unique metal song you'll hear this week, forged in the vein of fellow iconoclasts Bring Me The Horizon and Poppy.
Lowheaven - Mercy Death
There's an industrial tone to Lowheaven's latest single Mercy Death, but rather than the sleek, danceable modern industrial of bands like 3Teeth, it's more akin to the apocalyptic "someone dropped a warehouse on your head" force of a Godflesh or Uniform. There's much more to the track besides those industrial tones however; lurching riffs, agonised screams and melodies that could come from the school of Deftones or Cave In, it all mixes together to create an intoxicating brew, spelling great things for debut album Ritual Decay, due August 29.
