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 death metal, hardcore, metalcore 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.
Pallbearer - "Where the Light Fades"
Pallbearer are back, and they're just as emotionally affecting and musically tastful as ever. "Where the Light Fades" is the first single from their new LP, Mind Burns Alive, and it's a doozy.
It's dreary doom epic that takes its time unraveling into a storm of interlocking guitars and girthy fuzz, ending with a mighty guitar solo that could easily soundtrack the remains of a Viking funeral smoldering in the sunset. Powerful stuff.
The Ghost Inside - "Split"
The Ghost Inside know their way around a fists-up clean chorus, but there's none of that to be heard on "Split." Instead, the Cali metalcore crew unleash a typhoon of destructive djent waves that are dotted with a dizzing, spiraling guitar lead.
It's one of the heaviest and unrelentingly groovy tracks we've heard from TGI in a long time, and our heads haven't stopped banging since it dropped.
Billy Morrison - "Crack Cocaine" Feat. Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne's tumultuous health has continued to keep him off the road, but the metal icon is sounding strong as ever. The Great Ozz lends his signature, stormy croon to his old friend Billy Morrison's new song "Crack Cocaine" (which, FYI, has nothing to do with the titular drug).
Ozzy's always sounded in the pocket when the riffs below him are bluesy, and he sounds particularly fresh and sprightly on this old-school hard-rock cut, which could almost pass for a long-lost Ozzmosis cut.
Greyhaven - "The Welcome Party"
Progressive metalcore unit Greyhaven will never completely escape the Every Time I Die comparisons — which isn't a bad thing, especially with ETID sadly defunct — but they've long established their own adventurous identity.
"The Welcome Party" is the group's first release for their new label Solid State, and it's packed with knotty, noodly riffery and musical twists, turns, swells and waves, with singer Brent Mills delivering a powerhouse performance as he sings of life and death.
Bear McCreary - "Incinerator" Feat. Serj Tankian
Bear McCreary is an acclaimed composer best known for scoring Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. He's also a lifelong metalhead living out his dream of collaborating with his metallurgic heroes.
The aptly titled "Incinerator" features System of a Down's Serj Tankian who pulls out every trick he has in his vocal playbook. Less of a headline-maker but no less notable, the song also boasts drumming by "The Atomic Clock" himself, Gene Hoglan, of Death, Testament, Dethklok and more of your favorite bands.
The result? Fire.
Extortionist - "Dissociate"
Idaho's Extortionist are best known for a pummeling deathcore sound — as heard on their biggest song, "Circle of Serpents" — but the guttural roars and bone-crushing riffage doesn't really come in until the three-minute-plus mark on their new song "Dissociate."
A swirling, mostly clean-sung, heart-on-sleeve dirge, the single is likely to resonate with fans of TOOL and Sleep Token as much as with devotees of Lorna Shore. That said, it definitely resonates with us.
