It's Friday, it's hot and we've got another massive round-up of new music for you - welcome back to Metal Hammer's Tracks Of The Week!
Kicking us off this week are the results of last week's vote. Brazilian thrashers Nervosa took a healthy third place in the poll with the furious Smashing Heads, but were ultimately surpassed by euro metal sensations Beyond The Black. Far and away our winner for the week though was the team-up between The Yagas and Gogol Bordello, Chervona Ruta helping to raise funds for Ukrainian medics via the UNITED24 platform.
Onto this week's selection! We've got some heavy hitters back in the running with Papa Roach, Lorna Shore, Halestorm and Hollywood Undead all offering up new music, as well as more underground selections with Sinsaenum, Manegarm and Witch Club Satan covering various aspects of the extreme metal spectrum. As ever, we need you to tell us which song excites you most, so don't forget to cast your vote in the poll below - and have a great weekend!
Papa Roach - Braindead (ft. Toby Morse)
In just a few weeks, Papa Roach will join Korn as freshly annointed festival headliners when they top the bill at Wacken 2025. Much like their nu metal peers, the question isn't how they got here but why it's taken so long, the band having more than a few massive anthems in their arsenal. We're not just talking old school cuts, either; newest single Braindead sees them draft in H20's Toby Morse for a straight-up hardcore-tinged anthem that has a killer hook.
![Papa Roach - BRAINDEAD (feat. Toby Morse) [OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/C0pkWdijSAM/maxresdefault.jpg)
Witch Club Satan - You Wildflower
"You don't give up." Invoking the spirit of fierce resistance, Witch Club Satan are back with a menacing new single in You Wildfire. With a video that bridges Midsomar and Cannibal Holocaust, the Norwegian black metallers are as incendiary and menacing as ever on this latest single, our first taste of new material since their explosive self-titled debut in 2024. Set to make their UK debut at this year's Supersonic Festival, we can only hope the new record is just around the corner.
Lorna Shore - Unbreakable
With massive crowds turning out everywhere from Copenhell and Download to Hellfest, Lorna Shore have been affirming themselves as the heavyweight contenders for the deathcore crown. Latest single Unbreakable amps that sense up a hundredfold, quite possibly the grandest single the band have put out to date (and that's really saying something) taking some huge lead guitar lines and symphonic underpinnings and meeting them with unrelenting brutality. With new album I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me out on September 12, the world could well be in their sights.
Higher Power - All The Rage
It's a ballsy move surprise-dropping your new album, particularly when there's been a five-year wait since the last record. But Leeds hardcore heavy-hitters Higher Power have no fear as they announced the release of There's Love In This World If You Want It today, lead single All The Rage showing the massive stylistic leaps they've made over the past decade. The fuzzy 90s nostalgia that crept in on 2020's 27 Miles Underwater has been expanded, shifting the band away from their Cro-Mags roots towards a more Smashing Pumpkins/shoegaze sound that still clatters the brain like a brick.
Fire From The Gods - Incinerate
Incinerate could well be the heaviest single Fire From The Gods have ever put out. The debut of new vocalist Myke Terry after the departure of AJ Channer last year, the US rap metallers seem to be pushing in a more visceral, less melodically inclined direction with harsh, guttural howls and whining, electronica-enhanced notes creating a nerve-raising sense of discordance. We'll be eager to hear more of what they've got in the pipeline, that's for sure.
Halestorm - Darkness Always Wins
Lzzy Hale has a seriously big week ahead. On Saturday June 28 Halestorm will support Iron Maiden on their biggest ever UK headline show at London Stadium, then the following Saturday she'll be in Birmingham's Villa Park for the big Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne farewell performance. Thankfully, Halestorm have shown they're more than up to the pressure. Darkness Always Wins, the latest single from new album Everest, due August 8, might dip into power ballad territory, but it's done with the force and energy of classic 80s balladeers like Lita Ford or Doro Pesch.
Sinsaenum - Last Goodbye
With their first two records, Sinsaeunum showed they were a band keen to evolve their sound, shifting from an inspiration well of late-80s and early-90s death metal to a groovier, more nu metal inflected sound. That evolution has seemingly continued on new album In Devastation - due August 8 - new single Last Goodbye taking on an almost death/doom or gothic metal edge with its incorporation of morose melodies and cello alongside some seriously ferocious breakouts.
Manegarm - I Skogsfruns Famn
Now in their 30th year, Sweden's Manegarm remain as captivating as ever. Striking a balance between frost-tipped black metal and stirring, almost Celtic folk metal melody, I Skogsfruns Famn is exemplar of the band's multifaceted appeal, chucking out riffs that could come from a Satyricon record alongside swaying melodies you could imagine coming from an Ensiferum or more folk-inclined Borknagar.
Hollywood Undead - Savior
It seems Hollywood Undead are stepping it up as they eye up a follow-up to 2022's Hotel Kalifornia. After last year's Hollywood Forever, the LA rap metallers are embracing their more emotional side on new Savior. There's an undeniable spectre of the weighty angst of Linkin Park to the track, but it also serves a reminder that there was so much more to nu metal than thunking riffs and masks, HU keeping the spirit alive long before the nu metal renaissance.
Scene Queen - L-Shaped Couch
Scene Queen has never cared for genre gatekeepers. No massive surprise then she's pushing boundaries again on latest single L-Shaped Couch. Drawing on pop-style melodies and hooks, disco beats and the occasional crunching riff, the single is indicative of the playful, unpredictable approach SQ takes with each new release. There's no word on a follow-up to last year's Hot Singles In Your Area yet, but with a UK and European tour coming in September it's fair to say she'll be active towards the end of this year.
Fates Messenger - Eternal War (ft. Tim Williams)
Apocalyptic and apoplectic from the south of England, Fates Messenger go for a full blitz on the senses with latest single Eternal War. Taken from their new EP of the same name, which comes August 22. Edging towards the more epic, classic heavy metal inclined sides of metalcore (think early Trivium but heavier), it's an explosive introduction to their visceral sound. Keep your eyes out for this lot.
Melancolia - Spit (ft. Christopher Mackertich)
Drawing on the harder edges of nu metal, Melbourne's Mélancolia are at full frenzy on new single Spit. Taken from new album random.access.misery, out August 29, it's a clattering and skittering beast that throws serious beatdowns and shredded-throat vocals out with glee.
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