Put it down to the Easter chocolate, but there's a lot of surprising - and very welcome - returns happening in metal right now - but we'll get to that. We might've missed an instalment but there's been no shortage of brilliant new metal singles to dive into over the past couple of weeks.
Before we get into that, here are the results of the last vote! Dimmu Borgir's welcome return netted them a happy third place, while Wrex bounced into second with Paranoia. But the winners overall were newcomers Blackmarket, whose snarling Asphyxiate proved irresistible.
This week we've got new music from veterans like Evanescence and underground doom heroes Warning, as well as rising stars like Lyrre, Burial Path and Reverya to tickle the itch for new nastiness from the disparate relams of the metal underground. As ever, we need you to tell us which songs excite you most, so don't forget to cast your vote in the poll below - and have an excellent weekend!
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Atreyu - Children Of Night (ft. Max Cavalera)
They might both be metal veterans, but we'll admit it's a surprise seeing Max Cavalera pop up with 00s metalcore heroes Atreyu. Children Of Night has more surprises in store of course - the buzzing synths and light vocal melodies suddenly getting brutalised by Max's distinct growl. It's a real headfuck of a track - whoever thought you could compare Atreyu to Muse? - but also a show that they aren't relying on old tropes, new album The End Is Not The End due April 24.
Evanescence - Who Will You Follow?
Surely a new Evanescence album must be around the corner. After a couple of TV/Movie soundtrack singles last year (Afterlife and Fight Like A Girl), Amy Lee and co seem to be gearing up ahead of their big arena tour of the UK and Europe this Autumn. Working with Spiritbox/BMTH producer Zakk Cervini and Jordan Fish, they're swinging with a striding, powerful track that calls back to their Fallen era while still feeling distinctly modern.
At The Gates - The Dissonant Void
There's a natural sense of bittersweetness going into At The Gates' eighth album. Recorded before the passing of vocalist Tomas Lindberg, it's easy to read a sense of poignance in the more meditative guitar tones that pop up in a song like The Dissonant Void. More than that though, the track is a stellar demonstration of ATG's peerless ear for making anthemic melodeath tunes, epic and powerful in ways only they really achieve. The Ghost Of A Future Dead will be with us in just a couple of weeks - April 24 - and sounds worthy of their immense legacy.
Warning - Stations
Even with renewed live activity, we'll be honest and say we didn't expect a new album from underground heroes Warning. Rituals Of Shame is due June 19, and comes 20 years after the seminal Watching From A Distance. If you love cold, bleak doom metal this song should be priorty one: intervening years playing in the more acoustically inclined 40 Watt Sun haven't dulled Patrick Walker's ability to convey aching sorrow with an underlying beauty, and Stations is a great showcase of why this band are so revered in doom circles.
Graphic Nature - Faceless
"Take off your mask - let me see what's underneath." Graphic Nature aren't taking a swing at the resurgence of masked bands in metal - we think - but there's a swagger and energy to Faceless that suggests someone has pissed them off. Combining thumping metalcore breakdowns and nu metal's boundless creative energies, it's another great, infectious single from the UK band that has us eager to hear where they'll go next.
Dogma - Fate Unblinds
There's been a lot of talk about Dogma over the past year. Most of it has revolved around the band's line-up collapsing publicly amidst accusations of mistreatment, with former members ultimately splintering off to create the band Vindicta. But the controversy hasn't killed Dogma - in fact, quite the contrary, the band's upcoming UK tour is entirely sold out and now they've got a new single out in Fate Unblinds. The classical heavy metal vibes are still present from the band's debut, but there's also a decidedly less sensual focus to this new song, adding a defiant edge. Stay tuned, we reckon.
Jamie Lenman - Not Likely
Taking a leaf out of the Ozzy Osbourne book, retirement hasn't sat well with Jamie Lenman. While the British singer/songwriter isn't making a full return to active duty, he's announced plans to play this year's ArcTanGent and released new single Not Likely. After the power pop sugariness of 2022's The Atheist, he's back to a stripped down, dirty heavy rock'n'roll sound that has echoes of the brutish post-hardcore he made with old group Reuben. Either way, it's great to have one of Britain's most underrated songwriters back on the scene.
Einherjer - Bloodborn
If you're looking for something a bit more epic and dare we say OTT, Viking metal veterans Einherjer definitely have you covered. Bloodborn is the first single from the band's new album Lifeblood, expected June 19 and delivers a mix of shanty-like vocals, blackened snarls and relentless, pounding rhythms that'll make you want to slam dance in traffic.
Reverya - Lost
While the contrast of beautiful melody and brutality has been a mainstay of metal for well over 25 years now, Tampa prog metal newcomers Reverya add their own vibrant take on new single Lost. The ethereal meets a kind of spleen-venting ferocity in ways that bring to mind the likes of Jinjer or Spiritbox without sounding like the Florida band are playing catch-up. Colour us intrigued.
Lyrre - Ephemeral
Folk metal comes in many forms in 2026. No longer just the jaunty knees-up of Korpiklaani and Turisas, nor the ancient mysticism of Wardruna or Heilung, Poland's Lyrre offer a take on the genre that looks at the medieval (ish) folk of their native country and folds it into emotive, elegant compositions. Ephemeral is a gorgeous showcase of what the band can do, and comes from new album Nothing Is Promised, due May 7.
Nunslaughter - Jesus Fucking Dies
With a name like Nunslaughter, they were hardly going to sing about bunnies and squeaky toys, were they? Even so, Clevland's blackened thrash provocateurs are going for the throat on new single Jesus Fucking Dies, taking the old grindcore approach of "hit em hard, hit em fast and don't overthink it" to make a track that is pure blasphemic bliss.
Burial Path - A Display Of Penance
Considering just how popular deathcore is at the moment, it was only a matter of time before we got musicians looking to push the genre even further. Self-described "post-deathcore", newcomers Burial Path present A Display Of Penance, a track which incorporates some of the sinister menace of black metal alongside post-metal minimalism and deathcore's all-round ferocity in a snappy, rock-gargling package.
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