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 hardcore, progressive metalcore, deathcore 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.
Heriot – “At the Fortress Gate”
“Torn fragile membrane, pulled from bone and skin.”
You can absolutely feel the sinew-snapping pain of this disgustingly visceral lyric from metalcore faction Heriot’s “At the Fortress Gate,” which is naturally wretched out through an anguished scream.
While the full-body battering the band deliver on this latest Devoured by the Mouth of Hell single is oppressive, to say the least, we can’t help but notice the video also finds a bunch of U.K. metalheads furiously circle-pitting along to the bruising beat. When it comes to in-concert battle damage, maybe an ACL tear is a small price to pay when the hits land this sick.
Fentanyl – “Blind”
Comprising members of Spiritual Cramp, SPY and more, Bay Area hardcore supergroup Fentanyl released three songs from their forthcoming self-titled full-length this week that cumulatively come in well under three minutes. “Blind” is technically the least speedy of the bunch, but it’s nevertheless an all-rage pit-starter that speaks to the out-of-control intensity of first-wave American hardcore, along with a dash of Violence-minded vintage Ceremony and the garage-rock presence of the most manic Hives records.
Most importantly, Fentanyl produce terrifyingly, ear-bleedingly weird music, with their fully-dimed, yet bizarrely clean-and-trebly single coil Strat sound making us wonder if most heavy bands have overestimated the power of a distortion pedal.
Born of Osiris – “In Desolation”
When a progressive metalcore force like Born of Osiris starts a song off with a line like “this rhythm shakes the earth,” as vocalist Ronnie Canizaro indeed does on the band’s third single of the year, you know they mean to do us some harm.
Sure enough, the veteran combo deliver big with a series of foundations-rattling grooves, precision-djented guitar judding and concussively powerful chorus hooks. As they hint at with some song-structural meta lyricism, “In Desolation” is a pressure-cooker of percussive tension that ultimately explodes into a massive back-end breakdown.
Vended – “Serenity”
Vended are more than ready to break out of their shells.
With “Serenity,” the Iowan outfit’s latest heavy tease from their upcoming self-titled debut album, vocalist Griffin Taylor growls of numerous panic attacks brought on by some interpersonal drama. One the one hand, it’s making him feel super isolated and craving a ton of alone time, but on the other side of things, he knows going full ostrich isn’t going to go well for him in the long run (“I’m getting sick of the nights where I can’t see a reason to go out and fight”).
Musically, the song mirrors the lyric’s push and pull, swelling and swerving between brutal nu-core pummeling and darkly introspective melodies. By the end, after the smoke clears, you might even find a certain kind of serenity.
Left to Suffer – “Slow Talk”
Despite the crushing levels of distorted, detuned guitar depravity applied to Left to Suffer’s “Slow Talk” — not to mention the hellaciously bestial lows frontman-of-a-thousand-voices Taylor Barber pushes out of his diaphragm on this thing — the band’s Leap of Death centerpiece also manages to be one of the record’s most heart-tugging moments.
You can credit that to its mix of sophisticated symphonic stringwork, the trap-ballad snap of its verses and the heavy-hearted lyricism Barber brings to the break-up song. “Pain is inevitable,” he notes, and in this case he’s not hinting at a deathcore breakdown.