6 Best New Songs Right Now: 3/15/19 | Revolver

6 Best New Songs Right Now: 3/15/19

Baroness, Employed to Serve, Gaahl's WYRD and more
pam-strohm baroness press web 2019, Pam Strohm
Baroness
photograph by Pam Strohm

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.

Baroness - "Borderlines"
At long last, Baroness have finally announced their new album Gold & Grey and shared its first single: the psychedelic burner "Borderlines." The new cut features all the hallmarks that we've come to love from the band — sludgy hard rock with a progressive edge that creates a spacey Seventies-style rock-odyssey feel — plus some added color from new lead guitarist Gina Gleason, whose vocal harmonies perfectly complement front man John Baisley's soaring lines. It's an exciting track, and we can't wait to hear what else they have in store on the forthcoming album.

Saudade, ft. Chelsea Wolfe, Chino Moreno - "Shadows & Light"
Sacramento, California, is a strange city, and its innate weirdness has birthed a range of different musicians including Chelsea Wolfe and Deftones' Chino Moreno. Both artists are from different, distant sonic universes, but share a taste for the ethereal — which they indulge on Saudade's new song "Shadows & Light." A glitchy electronic beat plays out as Wolfe's words create a beautiful scene — until the introduction of Moreno's haunting voice along with swirling distorted guitar lines launch the track into the stratosphere. The pairing is powerful and unexpected and hopefully a sign of more gorgeous weirdness to come.

Employed to Serve - "Harsh Truth"
Rife with visceral aggression and tightly wound anxiety ready to explode by the song's apex, Employed to Serve's "Harsh Truth" is a menacing curse spit through gritted teeth and curved by warped, groaning riffs. With a video that focuses on various mental-health issues and a heartfelt message at the end encouraging people to reach out if you're in pain, the U.K. post-hardcore act have positioned themselves as one of the leaders in the new movement of socially conscious music that seeks to destroy eardrums and stigmas alike.

thoughtcrimes - "Punk Rock Guilt"
Thoughtcrimes' "Punk Rock Guilt" is an absolute rager of a track, showing how completely unhinged hardcore can get while still staying true to pure rock & roll. The band features former Dillinger Escape Plan drummer Billy Rymer, who creates an ever-changing pace for guitar work that toggles between hard-hitting chaos and sublime atmospherics. The heavy-and-soft moments go into overdrive by the end, flaming the song out in beautiful glory.

Marissa Nadler & Stephen Brodsky - "For the Sun"
Gloom, doom and a heaping dose of languor underlie Marissa Nadler's beautifully hazy voice on "For the Sun," the singer's new collaboration with Converge/Cave In's Stephen Brodsky (which appears on their forthcoming album Droneflower). The haunting track possesses a steady current and gorgeous restraint — each pulsating beat is anesthetizing and entrancing — which adds incredible tension and creates an utterly enchanting experience.

Gaahls WYRD - "From the Spear"
Gaahls Wyrd's latest offering "From the Spear" features black-metal overlord Gaahl's firmly intact scorching vocal attack, but sees the former Gorgoroth mainman and his new crew indulging in some angular, peculiar song-structure experimentation that challenges longstanding ideas about how black metal should sound. A cantering introductory pace gives way to sweeping passages of razor-edged guitar shredding and droning ritualistic breakdowns, the last bit delivered in a unified chant before bolting back into the initial breakneck pace before its unexpected halt.