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 blackgaze, shanty-metal, melodeath 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.
Avatar – “Captain Goat”
First things first: All hats off for Avatar’s bonkers new video, which is a visual treasure to behold. Vocalist Johannes Eckerström’s madly Styx-ian journey alongside the titular ebon-furred boatsman — not to mention the musical mermen and underwater undead they encounter along the way — makes for one of the most amusingly immersive video experience this year thus far. Insanity was promised, and insanity we got.
As for the track itself, Avatar rock the boat with Eckerström’s mighty growls and a heavy shanty-metal arrangement. A swirling, saltwater-sick guitar slide solo matches the nautical theme quite nicely, too.
Fit for a King – “Lonely God”
Though Fit for a King vocalist Ryan Kirby warns that a “never-ending hatred” is coursing through the hearts of the people in power, at least there’s still a lot to love about his band’s new single “Lonely God,” which also happens to be the title track to their newly-announced eighth LP.
With the world burning around us, FFAK are kicking ass and taking the names of those still primed to profit off the rest of humanity’s misery (“You’ve got hell to pay and it’ll cost your soul”), and they’re bringing the pain with lean-but-battering riffage, explosive beats and big-time brees.
HANABIE. – “Spicy Queen”
The piquant, punishing and percussive nature of HANABIE.’s aptly titled new song, “Spicy Queen,” was written as a grand-form celebration of the band’s decade of bringing the heat together.
The Harajuku-core combo crafted the song as a companion piece to their early track “We love sweets,” and they pepper this latest one with their signature, anything-goes kind of flair. Think motor-mouthed raps, blood-pumping dance-metal beats, off-the-bone mosh sections and hard-pop-seasoned hooks.
It’s a tasty morsel. We’re just wondering if it’ll be another 10 years before they hit the umami-themed follow-up.
The Haunted – “Death to the Crown”
“I’m just a loud voice for the voiceless.”
The Haunted are noble yet ass-whipping melodeath royals. On the group’s latest Songs of Last Resort single, vocalist Marco Aro takes aim at abuses of power, and pledges to fight for the freedom of regular folks getting stifled by the ruthless few lording over us in their “castles of hate.”
The song, meanwhile, is a veritable “tower of power,” with the Haunted ripping into a classically raging, speed-forward arrangement of dueling solos and sweat-drenched drum beats. Heavy is their “Crown,” but we’re stoked they’re taking charge.
Holy Fawn – “Beneath a Lightless Star”
Following a two-year drought, ethereal blackgaze deities Holy Fawn have bled back into our dimension with a skin-flaying but beautiful new tune
On a certain level, the band continue to plumb the prettiest elements of Sigur Rós-informed post-metal — they also spice things up with some twitchy electronicism — but “Beneath a Lightless Star” shines brightest when Holy Fawn are maxing out their boost pedals and vocalist-guitarist Ryan Osterman starts going full goblin-mode on the mic.
VOWWS – “SHUDDER” Feat. Josh Freese, James “Munky” Shaffer
This is the latest chills-inducing taste of VOWWS next album, I’ll fill your house with an army, finds the death-pop duo charging into their “Shudder” flanked an impressive fleet of comrades in arms: Korn’s James “Munky” Shaffer and recently ousted Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese, plus A Perfect Circle’s Billy Howerdel in the co-producer’s chair.
Dark violet synth lines, impressionistic guitar effects and propulsive beat-making drive the single, but it’s the eerily harmonized vocal lilts from the core duo of Rizz and Matt James that have our hairs standing on end.