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 heart-swelling post-hardcore, brutal death metal, youthful 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.
Better Lovers – “Don’t Forget to Say Please”
Metallic hardcore supergroup Better Lovers delivered a surprise thrill ride this week, via this merry-go-round-referencing single — the act’s first new track in nearly a year.
The ripping tune delivers a deliriously damaged fracas of chipped-tooth mosh beats, funhouse-freaky guitar noise and a positively bone-chilling array of screams, yelps and spoken-word treatises from frontman Greg Puciato. It all makes for a spin-dizzy slice of heaviness, and we politely thank them for their “Please.”
Dying Fetus – “Into the Cesspool”
When Dying Fetus demand you join them in the cesspool, you’d best take the plunge.
The iconically brutal veterans dropped this absolute beast of a single just days ahead of their next round of U.S. concert dates — notably billed as the “Into the Cesspool Tour” — and, to paraphrase the world-weary gurgling vocalist-guitarist John Gallagher brings to the piece, it’s got us gasping for air.
Uproariously harmonized squeals. Blasts that break the sternum. Oppressively chromatic caveman riffs. This one’s got the sickness, and it’s going to kill live.
Guilt Trip – “Burn”
UK quintet Guilt Trip went pretty meta with their scorching debut single for Roadrunner Records.
They confessed up front that their “Burn” was somewhat inspired by vintage Machine Head, and sure enough, you can sense some Burn My Eyes influence through the way they hit those natural harmonics in the groove-intensified chorus.
While pulling from the past, it’s likewise an incendiary introduction to the rising group’s next phase.
Nine Inch Nails – “Shadow Over Me”
Look, we’re damned ecstatic over Nine Inch Nails dropping their first full-length project since 2020 — but we must admit, the vocal tracks on their TRON: Ares soundtrack might overshadow the instrumentals just a touch.
The soundtrack’s concluding “Shadow Over Me,” for instance, is a moody masterclass in digitally darkened melodicism. Above the hearty four-on-the-floors and immersive synth-layering, we’re faced with existentially poisoned thoughts from a vocoded, reality-questioning Trent Reznor.
Thornhill – “Mercia”
Thornhill had a massive week, having both kicked off a North American arena tour supporting Sleep Token and launched their latest enigmatic single, “Mercia.”
Vocalist-guitarist Jacob Charlton coos through lines about divebombing himself into an emotional abyss, while he and the rest of the band undertake an epic journey through iridescent post-hardcore melancholia, ghost-noted snare grooves and a foundations-rattling one-note breakdown.
The grip the song has on us is somehow both sensitive and merciless.
XCOMM – “Reasons”
There are plenty of reasons to salute teenage thrashers XCOMM’s absolutely manic, Ross Robinson-produced new single.
Take how vocalist Michael Gatto is max pissed with his screaming style, but also kind of funny with his lyrical cutdowns (“Get your head out your ass/Look, I found it”). He’s wearing a set of brass knuckles in the vid, but his performance already packs quite a punch.
“Reasons” rips into a fiendishly fast crossover beat — courtesy of Scott Ian’s son, Revel — and sports a brawny mid-section mosh, but it also works outside of the box through an atmospheric, in-miniature soundscape from tape-manipulator DJ Hunter Grogan.