Festival season is officially here! With Welcome To Rockville officially kicking off this weekend, and both Desertfest and Sonic Temple due either side of the Atlantic next week, all eyes are on fields, parking lots and stadiums for the coming months as massive bands and emerging talent collide.
That in mind, here's the results of last week's vote! We had a lot of underground talent in the running, but even so it's surprising that the likes of Loathe and Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats didn't get a look in on the top 3. Instead, we had nordic alt metaller Eivor bagging third place, while Lithuania's Black Spikes took second. But the crown went to Bahrain's Zvindiyar, their brutal, occultish brand of death metal narrowly pulling ahead of the competition.
We can feel the festival spirit seeping in this week with new music from Scene Queen and Motionless In White, not to mention returning doom metal veterans Witchsorrow who'll play the aforementioend Desertfest next week. On top of those is an assortment of trad metal revivalists, doom metal, deathcore and everything in between - so don't forget to let us know which new song excites you most by casting a vote in the poll below. Have an excellent weekend, festival or no!
Motionless In White - Playing God (ft. Corey Taylor)
Eyeless 2.0? It's hard to shake the comparison to one of Slipknot's most furious tracks when you hear the skittering opening of Playing God, particularly given Corey Taylor makes a hefty guest appearance on the track. More than just lip service though, Playing God also has flashes of MiW's own brand of anthemic metalcore with a big, belting chorus that suggests big things ahead when new album Decades arrives on July 17.
![Motionless In White - Playing God (feat. Corey Taylor) [Official Lyric Video] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/L2ZBtkEpGdw/maxresdefault.jpg)
Scene Queen - Tracksuit
Scene Queen has proven time and again that she's got a real talent for killer hooks and hard lyrics. "Boys will be boys and that boy was a cheater/So he turned his girlfriend into the grim reaper" has a real menace to it that you can imagine crowds shouting back gleefully. We won't have to wait too long to see if that's true; SQ is set to open the main stage of Download Festival on June 12.
Cancer Bats - Stay Stuck
It feels wild that we're looking at 20 years of Cancer Bats. Insanely consistent hardcore bruisers, the Canadians are flying the flag as proud as ever on new single Stay Stuck, still slinging massive metal riffs atop a thumping, energetic hardcore base. The band's new album Give Me Dirt is due August 8 and, as they've proven time and again, is likely to be an absolute belter.
Khemmis - Beneath The Scythe
Doom metallers Khemmis have always erred on the side of metal's early champions, but they've never sounded so triumphant as on Beneath The Scythe. Trading in dread and impending destruction for sweeping riffs and big, fist-pumping beats, the single comes from their upcoming self-titled album, due June 12.
Lovebites - Reaper's Lullaby
You can always rely on Japan's Lovebites to pull something mad and frantic out the bag. Reaper's Lullaby blurs the lines between power metal and thrash, with even a little bit of high-speed melodeath chucked in for good measure. It's a heady, adrenaline-inducing mix that perfectly sums up their muscular sound with new album Outstanding Power out today.
Dominum - Doctor Doctor
There was definitely a point where you could point to Dominum and say, 'They're Powerwolf, but with zombies instead of Werewolves.' The band are pushing themselves away from those associations with their new album from the looks though, new single Doctor Doctor feeling more like an AOR revivalist tune in the vein of VBO or Night Flight Orchestra than your usual power metal fayre, albeit with the same sense of fun and impossible catchiness.
Lex Legion - Gypsy Tears
If you're going to have a band championing the traditional sounds of heavy metal as it was in the 70s and 80s, you'd do worse than having an all-star line-up made up of former King Diamond members - including Andy La Rocque and Motorhead/Scorpions drummer Mikkey Dee - flexing their stuff. With vocalist Nils K. Rue, the band are dipping into the hellish realms of early KD/later Mercyful Fate material, feeling decidedly infernal and oh-so glorious. The band's self-titled debut is due June 12.
Loom - Douglas
It's been almost a decade since UK post-punk Loom put out their self-titled record and seemingly disappeared in a puff of gothy smoke. Douglas sees them make a moody return to active duty, a propulsive, lumbering bassline providing an achor for their dark, noise rock inflected sound.
Carnifex - Roses & Rotting Corpses
Slobbering, frenzied deathcore out of California, Carnifex are a lot nastier than their sunny surroundings would suggest. New single Roses & Rotting Corpses is their first with new label Sumerian, and catches the veterans going hell for leather with an impressive sense of technicality and brutal force. We can only assume a new album is on its way.
Witchsorrow - Bacchus
Doom metal has been having a moment over the past few years. From bands like Khemmis and Pallbearer revitalising the genre in the US to Green Lung becoming a breakout in the UK, there's plenty of brilliant low'n'slow bands to check out. Veterans Witchsorrow should be high on your list. Over 20 years since they first formed, the band's brand of occult-tinged doom remains potent and alluring on new single Bacchus, a fuzzy slab of classic doom that proves you don't always need to reinvent the wheel to make something delightfully potent.Nnew album The Devil And All His Works arrives July 3.
![Witchsorrow - Bacchus [Official video] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_3YIMsDa5Ag/maxresdefault.jpg)
Pryti - Zero
Drawing on her own spiritual journey, UK alt. metaller Pryti is all about finding light in the darkness on new single Zero. An emotive, gently building track with echoes of Evanescence and A.A. Williams, it also serves as a brillaint showcase of her melodic prowess.
Rezn - Cloudfall
If we can have dreampop, why not nightmare metal? Alright, we're being a bit glib - there's still plenty of dreaminess to Rezn's Cloudfall, but the sinister undertones of their psych metal sound gnash away readily throughout the track, casting a dark shadow over even the brightest melody. Keep your eyes out for their new album Cycles in the Infinite Dream, due July 24.
Mimi Barks - Jericho
Nu gen star Mimi Barks continues to push boundaries on her latest single, Jericho. It takes almost two minutes to kick in, but the switch-up from gentle pop-rock ballad to a more metalcore-ish breakout is geninely jarring, a great showcase of how fluid her sound is. New EP Dreamstate Of Fear is coming on July 24, with a full UK headline tour in September.
