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 extreme-metal, rap-core, alt-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.
Billy Howerdel - "Poison Flower"
It's been a long time since we've heard a solo song from Billy Howerdel. Way back in 2008, the A Perfect Circle guitarist released his one-man debut under the name Ashes Divide, but this year he's finally following that up with a long-waited album under his own name. "Poison Flower" is the first taste of the still-unannounced opus, but it's a promising sign. At once stark and loud, it features an eerie bassline that snakes beneath the atmospheric trails of reverb and Howerdel's distinct, breathy croons. Give us more.
Meshuggah - "Light the Shortening Fuse"
You almost always know what you're getting with a new Meshuggah song. The riffs are going to be tuned down to subterranean levels, Jens Kidman's vocals are bound to scorch your face off, and you're aware that you might snap a vertebrae in your neck while trying to imitate the groove. "Light the Shortening Fuse" has all of those features, but the thing about Meshuggah is that their ingenious formula never loses its luster. No band can launch into polyrhythmic assaults quite like them, and their venomous guitar tones are as scorching as ever.
Soul Glo - "Driponomics" Feat. Mother Maryrose
Soul Glo have never colored within the lines of what a punk record "should" sound like, sprinkling noisy interludes and full-on hip-hop songs in between their breakneck hardcore sprints. Vocalist Pierce Jordan raps his fucking ass off on "Driponomics," flinging scathing indictments of Reaganomics and calling for blood from the politicians who've doomed the working class to a life of serfdom. Each line is more of a mic-drop than the last, but the highlight has got to be rascally scam rapper Teejayx6 getting a shout-out during the hook.
Ghost - "Twenties"
Ghost mastermind Tobias Forge picked a great time in history to write about the rise and fall of empires. His upcoming album, Impera, follows his eerily prescient 2018 LP about the Bubonic Plague, and new single "Twenties" is the most expressly political preview we've gotten yet. It's got all the trappings of a wonderfully idiosyncratic Ghost track — chuggy guitars juxtaposed by giddy vocals, plenty of theatrical energy, and history buff lyrics about the rise of fascism in the 1920s. Definitely not relatable to the current moment whatsoever!
Whores. - "Imposter Syndrome"
Don't interpret the title of Whores.' new song, "Imposter Syndrome," as a metaphor for the way it sounds. This fucker has no insecurities about occupying the sonic space that it does. The Atlanta noise-rock savants pound their instruments the way the FBI knocks on someone's door to serve a subpoena notice. You can practically feel the air blowing out of the cranked-up monitors whenever they strike a sludgy note. The vocals are perfectly discernible within the mix, but you can tell that you're not going to be able to hear shit when this band rips it live at a disrespectfully high volume.
Banshee - "Fairy Metal"
Earlier this year, we named Banshee an Artist You Need to Know for her novel blend of deafening trap bass, witchy synths and piercing black-metal shrieks. While many of her previous songs fall more in the hip-hop pocket, some of Banshees favorite artists are Death and Septicflesh, and "Fairy Metal" sees her flexing her muscles as an extreme-metal lover. It's practically a straight-up black-metal song, with Cradle of Filth-ian pianos and choir-like harmonies that chime above the grinding guitars, and an emo-rap hook that melts into the pounding double-bass below.
