Time marches inexorably on, and so must we. We're over halfway through September now and the massive tours are rolling through with regularity (hello Evanescence and Spiritbox!), bringing with them the knowledge there's a tonne of new records to explore in the coming weeks. So, we're cutting through the clutter and picking out some of the finest metal songs around right now.
Speaking of, the results of last week's vote! The big news was, of course, that Slipknot were back with new music but we'll admit even as big as they are, we were surprised to see them slip into the top three given the discourse around Arsenal. Goes to show, the haters are always louder than anyone else. Elsewhere, Miss May I took second place with Highbrow Thieves, but our overall winners for the week was Ando San and Hype Man / Triggas.
This week we've looked far and wide for exciting new sounds to bring to you, whether that's the new offerings from Trivium and Godflesh, or emergent talent like Hulder and Sable Hills. As ever, we need you to let us know which songs excite you most, so don't forget to cast your vote in the poll below - and have a great weekend.
Sable Hills - Homura (ft. Fuki)
Epic metalcore coming out of Japan, Sable Hills' Homura kicks off with the kind of gorgeous, soaring solo you'd expect to hear in a power metal record. They're not imbibing the cheese though; there's something Trivium like in their adoption of classic metal tropes - including a healthy love for In Flames style melodeath - in a slick, modern package with some Japanese folk flourishes. Keep your eyes out for new album Homura, out November 13.
Trivium - Dead Inside Of Me
Speaking of Trivs, they're back! Fresh off the back of announcing dates in 2027 with In Flames, the boys from Orlando have offered up Dead Inside Of Me. After the more trad-metal inclined energies of In The Court Of The Dragon and What The Dead Men Say, this feels like a conscious choice to change up their sound, going for something almost Machine Head like with lumbering, bassy verses and big breakout choruses.
Hulder - …And We Will Sing
Summer is well and truly dead and we're ready for frosty Scandinavian forests to take us into Autumn. Granted, Hulder actually hail from Washington, but there's an undeniable Scandi-influence on their brand of black metal, with ...And We Will Sing going hard on pure frosty ferocity.
Evil Invaders - Dreamstate
We had a long summer, so why not get a jump start on Halloween too? Evil Invaders sound so steeped in 80s Satanic Panic we wouldn't be surprised if they didn't so much form as get summoned from the Necronomicon. Slayer meets Mercyful Fate, it's gloriously over-the-top and theatrically evil, all high pitched wails and galloping guitars.
Ignea - Prefab (ft. Combichrist)
Teaming up with 00s metal veterans Combichrist, Ignea are exploring the heavier ends of their sound on Prefab. The booming, apocalyptic tones are a stark contrast to some of the more melodic fare the Ukrainians have indulged in the past, though there's still rays of light breaking through in the keytar work that adds a little bit of levity to the whole song. The group's new album Monumental is due October 23.
Mental Cruelty - Frost
"I'm lost in the dark!" So goes the hopeless declaration right up top in Mental Cruelty's Frost, a desolate and suitably frosty track that sounds like staggering on a death march through the tundra. Taken from new album Echoes of a Forlorn Land, the track does a great job of balancing the relentless heft with some soft, folky melodic sections that feel are like stumbling onto a roaring hearth after an eternity out in the cold.
Cabal - Hurt Me (ft. Justine Jones)
You can practically taste the sweat flying on Cabal's Hurt Me. From riffs that switch up between bounding beats, sudden thrashy two-steps and a spine-worrying breakdown, to the snarling exchange of vocals between Andreas Bjulver and Employed To Serve's Justine Jones, who guests on the track, it takes metalcore back into the dingy clubs it inhabited for decades before arena stardom plucked out the likes of BMTH or Architects. Both bands are touring the UK together in November, so we'd say its good odds this one will be roadtested before long.
Zilqy - Run
With a killer main beat and big, breakout pop metal choruses, Zilqy's Run is at once something you could see fitting in with the likes of As Everything Unfolds or Luna Kills, while being undeniably Japanese in its melodic structure without ever sounding like anyone else. It's a dramatic and powerful track, and comes from the band's upcoming debut Birth Of Riot, due October 7.
Ministry - Singularity
"Your time on this planet has passed." Ministry are getting a little ahead of themselves on Singularity, but not by much. The band's final record Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery) is set for an October 30 release and this new single leans on the mechanised, end of the world bacchanalia that's been their bread and butter for the past four decades. Just a shame the band seem to have opted for a cheap AI video to back it up.
Godflesh - Master And Slave
It's not a great time to be an industrial metal superfan. Or at least, not one who is hoping for a bright future. Justin Broadrick's Godflesh are also gearing up for a big finale, though next week's Decay album will actually be their penultimate. Master And Slave finds the group in typically apocalyptic, claustrophobic form, sounding much as you'd expect it would if you'd been sucked into a great machine and ground to dust and mulch by unyielding gears.
Vesseles - Eternally Within Us (Reclaimed)
Mining the vein of gothic, symphonically underpinned black metal, Vesseles might be a masked and mysterious band but there's very little Sleep Token-ish about them. Instead what we get is something feral and crawling, grandiose in its use of strings and piano without ever feeling overblown or fully orchestral. The band's debut Home (Reclaimed) isn't due until March 26, 2027, but this will tide us over nicely in the meantime.
Waterlines - Sinister
Knowing that Waterlines mix metalcore and EDM, you might be expecting some Electric Callboy like fun 90s dance shenanigans. Sinister is nothing of the sort. A dark, careening track, the electronica is used to underpin their sound and add a buzzing tonal foundation to their riffs, the big, breakout chorus the only real concession to release from an otherwise tight and intense song.
