We’ve officially reached the point where it’s so hot that we don’t want to go outside anymore. But who needs sun, sea and socialising, anyway? We’ve got a brand-new week of heavy metal bangers to listen to!
Before we dive into that, though, let’s look at the results of last week’s poll. Metalcore up-and-comers Koh put in a respectable showing, receiving 31 percent of our readers’ votes, but the far-and-away champions were goth metal institution Moonspell and their throwback track The Great Wolf In The Sky. Congrats, chaps! Your prize money is in the mail.*
Now, beneath a ceiling fan that’s been spinning so long and so hard that it may take off at any moment, we cast our eyes to a refreshed lineup. This week, Anthrax, Amon Amarth and Hanabie are among the noiseniks vying for your approval. Listen to their offerings below and decide which ones will be saved from the lion pit.
(*It is not.)
Anthrax – The Edge Of Perfection
Following on from the May release of It’s For The Kids, the lead single previewing Anthrax’s forthcoming 12th studio album, Cursum Perficio, the New York thrash metal legends return with another stunner, The Edge Of Perfection, which guitarist Scott Ian describes as “the apex predator of Anthrax songs” and – quite a claim, this – “the best song we’ve ever written”. If this doesn’t get you excited for the September 18 release of the first Anthrax album in TEN FUCKING YEARS, you might wanna check your pulse to make sure you’re still actually alive.
Amon Amarth – Upphaf
Amon Amarth going acoustic? Sounds as likely as a tortoise going mach five. But, for their new standalone single, the Viking berserkers dropped the metal and tapped into moody Nordic folk. Upphaf (Old Norse for “beginning” or “origin”) bridges the gap between the Swedes’ last album The Great Heathen Army and its as-yet-unannounced follow-up, with the members saying its quietness stands in stark contrast to the “fury” of what’s coming next. Reckon this will make the setlist for their European tour in October?
Hanabie – Life Is Short, O Brave Girl
Anime’s favourite metal band have added another jewel to their crown. Following collaborations with the series Momentary Lily and Araiguma Calcal-Dan, new single Life Is Short, O Brave Girl is the opening theme to Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games: a new show about friends bonding over their shared love of beat-’em-ups. It’s as colourful and electrified as you’d expect from anything under the Hanabie banner, including their recent EP Iconic, which dropped at the start of the year.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Level 5
If the title of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard‘s upcoming 28th studio album, Alien Metal, has you imagining the prolific and always creatively restless Melbourne psych kings pivoting towards some sort of Voivod-meets-Slift space rock, we’re here to warn you that it’s nothing of the sort. Instead, we’re promised “a seamless, ever-shifting journey through techno, hardcore, house and jungle influences, filtered through King Gizzard’s unmistakable psychedelic lens”, which sounds like one hell of an intriguing trip to be fair, not least because guitarist/vocalist Joey Walker assures us that it “goes hard”. Here’s a tasty preview of what’s to come.
Devildriver – Strike And Kill
Devildriver’s 11th album Strike And Kill, out today, is the best thing the American groove heavyweights have made in more than a decade. The title track demonstrates why. After a dramatic opening, it drops into a blitzkrieg of metal, endowed with a ferocious turn from frontman Dez Fafara. New producer/guitarist Gabe Mangold unquestionably earns his paycheque, as well, with every chugging riff landing like a sledgehammer to the foot. Stream the full album to hear one of the New Wave Of American Heavy Metal’s finest bands rediscover their mojo.
Chat Pile – Pen I S Mall
Oklahoma City noise-rock supremos Chat Pile offer up another taste of their forthcoming Who Loves The Sun album (scheduled for a September 4 release), and – hurrah! – it’s a deliciously bleak feel bad blast of rage and loathing. Pen I S Mall finds frontman Raygun Busch looking back on his past life as a maintenance man in a shopping mall with joy-free lyrics such as “the world is full of hallowed halls of degradation / Hard to think but your whole life can pass, as a series of acts of subordination“. Here comes the bummer!
No Cure – Brain Matter Displacement
Well, now this is just nasty. Taken from the Birmingham, Alabama straight edge metallic hardcore band’s debut album It Is Going To Get Dark, out today, Brain Matter Displacement is an unapologetically savage revenge fantasy, with guesting force-of-nature Jayway from Bayway spitting “I don’t give a fuck if you like me / Bitch you could suck my dick / Cause you gone have to deal with me “, while vocalist Blaythe Steuer promises to “smash your skull in to the pavement“. Charming.
Fallen Letters – A Familiar Absence
Hailing from Bengaluru, India, Fallen Letters play a strain of atmospheric prog metal ideal for Opeth and Katatonia fans. A Familiar Absence is their first release since last year’s mighty debut album Mindfractures and finds the band in diverse form, blending black, death and post-metal. Frontman Vishal Naidu is similarly restless, as he darts between haunting cleans and full-throttle growls. No word on a second album yet, but hopefully it’s sooner rather than later, because stuff this good is add