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 old-school death metal, djent balladry, doom metal 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.
Chevelle – “Karma Goddess”
While we’ve rabbit-holed our way through every inch of alt-metal brother band Chevelle’s just-released Bright as Blasphemy, mid-album standout “Karma Goddess” is a heavy trip we keep coming back to, in particular.
Their “Karma” is a chameleonic entity that finds Chevelle diffusing Sabbath-style stoniness with groovily Rage Against the Machine-esque chromatic riff crawling, while vocalist-guitarist Pete Loeffler wriggles his vibrato tenor towards Maynard James Keenan territory. That said, they stir the soup enough to serve up an A-game Chevelle outing with its own unique aftertaste.
GAEREA – “Submerged”
Portuguese enigmas GAEREA have taken the plunge with Century Media Records, and the impact of “Submerged,” the Porto-based post-metal outfit’s first single for the label, has drenched us in an epic wash of blast-intensive beatwork, sung-and-screamed intensity and seafoam-iridescent guitar intricacy.
This is all to say that the tide of the masked band’s story has got a hold on us.
Details on their first full-length for the label have yet to arrive, so we’ll just sit here in the splash zone ’til the next wave arrives.
Paradise Lost – “Tyrants Serenade”
Despite Paradise Lost vocalist Nick Holmes’ gloomy lyrical allusion in the first verse, the third single to the gothic-metal titans’ forthcoming Ascension is anything but a “silent lament.” Indeed, “Tyrants Serenade” slow-stomps itself through a beautiful, if brooding arrangement of molasses-drip drum hits, wah-craned-and-gain-surged guitar riffs and a looming sense of unease.
Accordingly, Holmes croons of facing weary, dreary nights alone. We’ve been tossing and turning over here, too, waiting for the rest of Ascension to rise out of our speakers — the “slow pain” couldn’t come soon enough.
Tribal Gaze – “Beyond Recognition”
After gifting us a trio of heavy-hitters on last year’s split EP with Deadbody, Tribal Gaze are finally ready to full-meal-deal the damage this fall through the release of their forthcoming Inveighing Brilliance LP — which also happens to be their Nuclear Blast debut.
The riff-stacked “Beyond Recognition” sure sounds like a Tribal Gaze track — replete with vintage OSDM hallmarks, gargantuan grooves and caveman-clubbing chug-outs — but the tune also finds the act gelling into their oeuvre with profoundly leveled-up cohesive intensity. It’s not a new look, per se, but we like what we’re seeing.
Unprocessed – “Solara” feat. Paleface Swiss
German metal act Unprocessed teamed up with Paleface Swiss this week to deliver a hellaciously heart-bruised and hella heavy preview of their upcoming album, Angel.
Contrasting a chunkily detuned groove, Manuel Gardner Fernandes lays down gentle coos detailing someone who can light up a room in public, but casts a heavy shadow behind closed doors (“You’re the sun/You shine everywhere but in my home”). Above the bridge’s firestartin’ breakbeat, guest spitter Marc “Zelli” Zellwegger leans into an increasingly manic and shout-intensified rap about how that person turned out to be the devil in disguise.
As for these devils, they’ve proven themselves to be a match made in hell.
Vianova – “Obsolete”
Vianova vocalist Alexander Kerski is troubled over the fate of humanity.
In “Obsolete,” the Berlin-based band’s brilliantly bizarre and djent-friendly torch ballad, he croons himself through existential thoughts of whether bankers, programmers or artists will exist a few centuries on from now, or whether the rise of the machines will mean the planet will be home to a billion “useless bags of meat.”
The video has him crying into his beer stein before linking up with his bandmates to perform a sax-heavy, melancholically judding stunner that vibes like Benson Boone on a Bad Omens bender. Sounds weird on paper, but we’ll take another round of this before humanity’s last call.