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 insterstellar synth-rock, overwhelming doom, industrial hardcore 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.
Arcadea – “Fuzzy Planet”
We’re stoked to report that Arcadea — the synth-circuited and sci-fi-inspired rock project from Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor and Zruda guitarist Core Atoms — have touched down with new music for the first time since 2017.
Though they say their danceable “Fuzzy Planet” single is less proggy than anything on their last LP, the dueling analog synth solos from Atoms and new Arcadea member João Nogueira suggest the act are still tapped into a polyrhythmic cosmos.
Dailor goes ultra-romantic with his yearning, young-love-dipped vocal. The music video finds him cast as a literal crooning clown pitching woo at an intergalactic prom.
Blackbraid – “The Dying Breath of a Sacred Stag”
If Blackbraid’s last single, May’s “Wardrums at Dawn on the Day of My Death,” delivered on the militant aggression signaled by its title, the indigenous black-metal project’s follow-up adopts a more mournful and soulful tone befitting its name.
Spearheaded by the visionary Sgah’gahsowáh, Blackbraid’s latest opens with acoustically plucked guitar lines before erupting into epic blackened melancholy that’s perfectly complemented by the gorgeous nature-set music video. A dying breath, yes, but still a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Carcosa – “1983”
Carcosa’s first new song in 10 months — the longest gap between releases for the Vancouver deathcore crew — “1983” is a horns-up tribute to vocalist Johnny Ciardullo’s first car, a 1983 Chevy Monte Carlo. “This car it meant so much to me and my journey to becoming who I am now,” explained Ciardullo. Wanting to be the last person to drive the vehicle, he donated the Chevy to a scrap yard that gave the proceeds to the Breast Cancer Society of Canada, a cause close to his heart since his mother is a breast cancer survivor.
Considering all this, “1983” sounds close to the heart: fierce and crushing, steeped in memories and catchy as hell.
FRAYLE – “Walking Wounded”
The last time we’d heard from FRAYLE, the Cleveland doom crew had served up a sensationally inky Soundgarden cover. Two years on, they’ve returned with an exquisitely funereal original called “Walking Wounded,” and it’s got us in tatters.
Intoning “broken promises” and misery while wandering “a land full of tepid men,” vocalist Gwyn Strang brings a hushed but thematically heavy stack of vocal harmonies to the piece. The band’s instrumentalists follow suit with grave-and-gutting musical gloom.
Street Sects – “Spitting Images”
Industrial-hardcore duo Street Sects announced and previewed two albums this week — one called Dry Drunk from the band proper and a second, reportedly more melody-glazed release called Full Color Eclipse from new sister project Street Sex — with tantalizing singles.
Dry Drunk’s “Spitting Images” hits hardest, between its feral screams and gnarly, metallic chromaticism akin to Ministry’s iconic “N.W.O.” Lyrically, it’s heavy as hell, too, alluding to deep family fracture and a rocky road through recovery (“Seems like the harder you try, the more hardship you will find”).
Unsettling, to say the least, but we’re intrigued enough to keep drinking deep on the HEALTH-backed duo’s Drunk preview.
Vianova – “Uh Yaya”
“Acid Jazz, Metalcore, Mathcore, Thall, Elevator Music?” enthuses one YouTube commenter of Vianova’s new single. “idk man, i never hear something that is out of nowhere, weird, wacky like this before but at the same time sounds freaking amazing.”
We couldn’t put it much better. Like a German Mr. Bungle raised in the era of djent, these Berlin Dadaists throw in the kitchen sink and then some on the absurd and surprising “Uh Yaya.”
Vianova likely somewhat tongue-in-cheek describe it as a “chaotic mess.” One man’s mess is another man’s masterpiece.