6 Best New Songs Right Now: 1/31/20 | Revolver

6 Best New Songs Right Now: 1/31/20

Uniform, Testament, Volumes and more
uniform_press_2020_credit_ebruyildiz.jpg, Ebru Yildiz
Uniform, 2020
photograph by Ebru Yildiz

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 metal, hard rock and hardcore that have been on heavy rotation at Revolver HQ. For your listening pleasure, we've also compiled the songs in a Spotify playlist, which will grow each week.

Uniform - "Awakening"
New York powerhouse Uniform are back with another harsh, pointed single that begins, "I have no use for God/God has no use for me," before launching into an infectious assault of layered static and riffs that build in and around each other like soldiers marching through the circles of Hell. Eventually a single flute line cuts through like thin whispering magic, adding just the right touch when the top gets too serious. One of the best offerings yet from a band whose potential has only begun to be realized.

Irist - "Burning Sage"
Irist might cite bands like Melvins and Converge as major influences, but their sound on "Burning Sage" sounds as steeped in the tradition of Neurosis as a band can possibly get — in a great way. It's post-metal without the drawn-out pretense, it's hardcore without the corny bro-speak, and it worships at the foot of doom without the exhaustive passages that wear on the ear. A beautiful fusion of all those elements and more, the song is a good omen of things to come on their forthcoming Order of the Mind LP.

Saudade - "Lions" (Feat D. Randall Blythe and Lee "Scratch" Perry)
Melding dub, rock, metal and more, "Lions" flows from the expert pairing of Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe with Chuck Doom–helmed collective Saudade, and it shows just how in tune each seem with one another and the rest of the all-star lineup, which, here, includes one Lee "Scratch" Perry. While it may play out like a relaxing dream at first, the chorus quickly floods with the rage, giving Blythe the room to do what he does best like a lion: roar.

Volumes - "Holywater"
This weeks' entry in chaotic evil comes from Volumes with their blackened, djenty scorcher "Holywater." Wavering between terrifying and mathematically hypnotic, the single rides on a strong undercurrent of anxious suffocation that infects every last note, leading up to a chugging conclusion that sounds like a percussive axe blow to the skull, repeated until death.

Testament - "Night of the Witch"
The old 'heads can rejoice: Testament has, once again, proven their bite remains strong on the absolute ripper "Night of the Witch." Settle in for a wild ride and let the spell cast with each evil lick and pummeling drum beat while the longstanding thrash stalwarts get nasty on this expansive six-and-a-half-minute adventure. But heed their advice and always beware the witches in the sky.

Not My God - "Fiction"
Anything involving industrial mainstay Tim Skold is, by nature, going to be dark, mechanical and inherently scary. That remains true with his new two-man project (with Psyclon Nine's Nero Bellum) Not My God, as shown on abrasive dance-floor crusher "Fiction." You'll hear the Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson nods, but listen harder to find the sonic spellcaster's uniquely creepy touch between programed thumps and distorted whispers to pick up on the truly fear-inducing underbelly of the tune.