Here at Revolver, we’re always on the hunt for new songs to bang our heads to — indeed, it’s a big part of our jobs. With that in mind, here are the tracks released this week in manga-mining deathcore, folk-tinged nu-metal, crossover thrash and more that have been on heavy rotation at Revolver HQ. For your listening pleasure, we’ve also compiled the songs in an ever-evolving Spotify playlist.
Slaughter to Prevail – “Behelit”
Though Alex Terrible says he doesn’t watch a ton of anime, the bare-knuckle vocalist also admits that Slaughter to Prevail’s new single obviously took heavy inspiration from dark fantasy series Berserk (which is based on the manga of the same name).
With “Behelit,” Terrible uses his demonically pitch-warped bellow to weigh in on the titular mystic stones that propel the Berserk plot, though he also channels the show’s sword-swinging Guts character through lines about eternal struggles and the destiny of mankind. This all arrives through a moodily epic front-end spiked with fantasy synths, with a percussive bridge that batters the speakers like an angry battalion.
Poppy – “the cost of giving up”
We’re obviously taking Poppy’s lines out of context here, but this latest, melody-bruising rocker from her forthcoming Negative Spaces album has indeed burrowed deep into our psyches “like a summer tick.”
Poppy and co-producer Jordan Fish are once again cross-genre-pollinating to astounding effect, bringing the heat through melancholic yet uplifting nu-jacent guitar hooks, in-miniature music-box interludes and a rough and raw set of late-song gutturals from the marquee artist.
If this is what it feels like to hear Poppy speaking from the “dark side” of her mind, we’ll take another dose of darkness, please.
Jerry Cantrell – “Off the Rails”
Jerry Cantrell is traversing metal epochs with the second song on his just-dropped I Want Blood album. It all begins with an ominous guitar pull-off motif that brings to mind a mix of Iron Maiden’s “Wasted Years” and prime-Eighties Priest, but also immediately locks into the familiarly eerie, minor-key multi-vocal harmonies we’ve loved hearing the Alice in Chains founder deliver since the Facelift days.
The music hardly sounds as off the rails as the title and dread-stirring lyrics suggest. Rather, it finds Cantrell in complete control of his craft, an assuredly brooding anthem we’re game to listen to — per the pre-chorus’ suggestion — “over and over.”
Pest Control – “Year of the Pest”
U.K. crossover modernists Pest Control are ushering in the “Year of the Pest” with a ruthlessly thrilling new single of the same name.
While it comes across as a more unorthodox, ambiguous and even hive-minded plurality than the usual totems from the Chinese Zodiac, vocalist Leah Massey-Hay suggests a large-form invasion is swarming our way as we speak, and it’s set to take over mankind en masse.
As a metaphor for Pest Control’s aggressive aesthetic — think frantically buzzing thrash beats, exorbitantly weird guitar dives and a fully-furious shouting style from Massey-Hay — it lays out the band’s menacing M.O. quite nicely.
Bloodywood – “Nu Delhi”
Through the quick-vaulting dynamism of their first new song in two years, Indian metal unit Bloodywood are inviting you back into the “wild wild East” with their signature, cross-cultural flair.
It’s a percussive beast of a piece that contrasts simply-stated nu-mosh grooves with bhangra-leaning counter-rhythms manically tapped onto a traditional dhol drum. The vocals are a multi-lingual melting pot of rapped, screamed and sung moments about the lovable “lion’s den” that is the capital of India.
All told, the culture-jamming track is as much of a “feast for the senses” as the busy streets of Bloodywood’s hometown.
Ingrown – “Enemy”
Look… the irresistible, caveman-clubbing pound of Ingrown’s new “Enemy” single — the first tease from an upcoming full-length through Closed Casket Activities — sure seems like the kind of song you’d want to hear before taking a king-sized rip off of a bong and hopping over a bonfire. It might even be the right kind of soundtrack for a safety-helmet-less dirt-bike ride around the plains of Idaho, or something to blast while you’re spraying gunfire into an open field.
That’s certainly how Ingrown and their friends interpret it, going by the reckless energy on display in the accompanying music video.
The Jackass-style warning ahead of the clip beseeches you, however, to not attempt these stunts on your own. Instead, bring that crazed intensity to the pit the next time Ingrown roll through your town.