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, hardcore, whatever the hell Poppy is, 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.
Angel Du$t - "Love is the Greatest"
Angel Du$t continue to do whatever the fuck they want and it's glorious. The Baltimore crew, featuring members of Trapped Under Ice and Turnstile, drift even further from punk on "Love Is the Greatest," a dreamy, balmy, squinty psych-pop song that sounds more like Donovan and Neil Young than any band who's set foot in CBGB's.
Poppy - "CUE"
Poppy's new EAT EP makes last year's hyperactive I Disagree feel like a cool ocean breeze. Take "CUE," a wingnut's delight that sounds like standing in the middle of traffic while cars — or in this case, a dealership's lot of nu-metal, industrial, skronky metalcore and alt-rock — whiz by at top speeds. It seems metaphysical for a song to be this catchy and chaotic simultaneously.
Structures - "Planet of Garbage"
Toronto's Structures broke up in 2014 after a brief yet fruitful tenure that saw them fuse djent, proggy metalcore and melodic hardcore in a way that was quite ahead of their time. Now, they're back with an anti-pollution crusher called "Planet of Garbage" that would fit snugly on a playlist between After the Burial and Beartooth. It's like they've never left.
DARE - "Different Method"
"Proud. To Be. Straight Edge." It's a simple mantra, and a sentiment that hardcore bands have been yelling for decades, but DARE make it sound like a fresh slogan on their ripping new track, "Different Method." The first single from their debut full-length, out this summer via Revelation Records, sees the Fullerton, California, band channel the sweaty anthemicness of bands like Trash Talk and Rotting Out. The song is short, wild and proud, just how hardcore should be.
Machine Head - "Become the Firestorm"
Finding a new band that makes your ears perk up never loses its luster, but it's somehow even cooler when a veteran act manages to take you off guard. "Become the Firestorm," the first track on Machine Head's new EP, Arrows in Words From the Sky, is a flame-throwing death-metal jaunt that's way heavier than what these guys are typically known for. Pay extra close attention to the jaw-dropping drumwork by Navene Koperweiss, who you may recognize from Entheos, Animals as Leaders, Whitechapel and other virtuosic bands from outside the Machine Head neighborhood.
Times of Grace - "Medusa"
Times of Grace went the ballad route with their previous single, but "Medusa" is reassurance that they haven't gone soft during their decade-long hiatus. Killswitch Engage's Jesse Leach and Adam Dutkiewicz veer into trudging post-metal territory on the second offering from Songs of Loss and Separation, a wide-frame thunder strike of metalcore and melody.
