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 nu-rock, deathcore, old school death-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.
Spiritbox – “Soft Spine”
“Soft Spine” is another cataclysmic reckoning from Spiritbox, with guitarist Mike Stringer unfurling a heavy round of melodically-bruising groove riffs before going full Pollock-splatter with an effects-hectic shred solo. Vocalist Courtney LaPlante, meanwhile, is all scorched-earth fury on the track, with her all-screams performance cryptically targeting an insidious figure and a crew of profits-minded yes men.
Long story short: Spiritbox have a hella rowdy new banger to bounce through when they start up their tour with Korn and Gojira next week.
Linkin Park – “The Emptiness Machine”
Following months of speculation on whether Linkin Park were gearing up to reunite with a new singer, the nu-metal faves formally ushered in their next chapter this week via the pop-punk-ish “The Emptiness Machine.”
Though a propulsive tempo and dramatic power chordage fuel the song, it’s clearly the dynamic between founding singer-guitarist Mike Shinoda and new co-vocalist Emily Armstrong that’s the focus here. For her part, Armstrong delivers a raspy, energized performance that conjures the vibe of the late Chester Bennington, while also literally pushing the band’s chorus hooks into a new, higher range.
Heavy//Hitter – “No Mercy, No Remorse”
Florida deathcore mainstays Heavy//Hitter basically hang hard on a dissonant, open chug mosh for the first third of their new single, which is also their first release via Blue Grape Music. That’s no slight on the arrangement — it’s a wickedly efficient intro to a revenge-driven beatdown anthem that ultimately ramps up towards a gnarly set of blasts and chromatic riff-shivving.
As a vehicle for the “grotesque, primal rage” vocalist Austin Hayes is infusing into the track, the music video’s gory set of torture scenes are likewise disturbing, but extremely fitting. Sure enough, no quarter is given, no mercy deserved.
Undeath – “Disputatious Malignancy”
Undeath have long dialed into the ruthless sonic aesthetic of old-school death metal, but with “Disputatious Malignancy,” an outright ripper from the Rochester group’s forthcoming More Insane, the lyrics are broaching another tradition of their chosen genre: It’s their first devoutly anti-religious anthem.
Above the ungodly barrage of horror-drilled guitar lines and psycho-thrashing beats, vocalist Alexander Jones starts howling of a bloody, religious baptism that crevasses a parasitic frenzy of wriggling things deep into his “mental domain.” No matter whether the worms are literal or a figurative condemnation of dogmatic brain rot, it’s a chilling thought.
Mammoth Grinder – “Undying Spectral Resonance”
Mammoth Grinder leader (and Power Trip drummer) Chris Ulsh explained that “Undying Spectral Resonance” — the title track to a forthcoming, OSDM-imbued EP — is “about the sinister ambience of a place where something morbid has happened, [and] how it can be a gateway between earth and the immaterial world.”
Sure enough, the band conjures that creepiness up front with an assuredly rotted-out, HM-2-dialled guitar aesthetic and dank-and-clanky rhythms. They don’t necessarily hang in that morbid place for long, though, ultimately propelling themselves into overdrive and on towards the next level of consciousness through a raging, squeal-solo-assisted D-beat pace.
Killing of a Sacred Deer – “25.4 mm from Death”
Steered by members of Calgary, Alberta, hardcore factions World of Pleasure, Mortality Rate, Serration and more, Killing of a Sacred Deer’s pedigree is primed to punish. And with their self-titled debut EP’s second track, “25.4 mm From Death,” they accordingly deliver an ever-pivoting wrecker full of mega-heavy micro moshes, pinch-squealed savagery and pinpoint thrash transitions. While primarily Canadian-made, Frazer Cassling of U.K. unit Cauldron helps the band out with a round of screams in a lightning-quick blast section.
As far as near-death experiences go, this is one we’re willing to put ourselves through again and again.