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 post-metal, metalcore, hardcore 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.
Holy Fawn - "Dimensional Bleed"
Holy Fawn essentially make the musical equivalent of seeing a movie in IMAX theaters. The Arizona band have honed an exceptional and unparalleled fusion of post-metal and shoegaze that's sometimes heavy, but always absolutely fucking epic. "Dimensional Bleed," the title-track from their long-awaited new album, is a concise introduction to their aggressive side, a throttling blackgaze blitz that overwhelms the senses and then leaves you wanting more. Don't worry, it's coming.
Architects - "tear gas"
On their last several albums, Architects blew their glassy, cathedral-sized metalcore up as big as it could possibly go. Now, they're starting from a new foundation. The U.K. band's new single, "tear gas," swaps 'core chugs for a throbbing industrial pulse, replete with buzz-saw blasts of staccato guitar à la Nine Inch Nails and a sandblasted sing-song from vocalist Sam Carter that lands somewhere between Trent Reznor and Linkin Park's Chester Bennington. It's still Architects, but different.
Russian Circles - "Betrayal"
Russian Circles' music has never been one-note, but for years, the instrumental trio made albums that were reliable to reach for when you needed some epic post-metal to throw on and let your thoughts wander. Instrumental metal to study and relax to, perhaps. Well, you're not getting any work done when "Betrayal" is playing. The band's latest Gnosis single is gobsmackingly heavy from the jump, like a giant ball of fire rolling down a mountain that never slows down before it reaches the city below. Who needs zone-out music in times like these anyway?
Show Me the Body - "Loose Talk"
Show Me the Body are enigmas. The New York group blend banjo-laced noise-rap and arty hardcore into a sound that turns live crowds into feral scrums, but can still be thrown on in the background of a party without completely killing the vibe. "Loose Talk" is emblematic of what they do best, a slow-burning sizzler with a smoky, country-fried intro that eventually lights up into a dirgy rap-core jaunt when the tattered guitars come in and vocalist Julian Cashwan Pratt starts spit-talkin'.
Orthodox - "Cave In"
On their 2019 album, Let It Take Its Course, the Nashville metalcore band Orthodox pulled their nu-metal influences into the fold in a cool and novel way. "Cave In" sounds like the next logical step. The intro lick has the squealy, pinched-nerve eeriness of Korn, and the main riff is a catchy spine-tingler akin to Vol. 3-era Slipknot. Beneath the atmosphere are pulverizing metalcore instrumentals that give way to pummeling breakdowns. Hail the nu-mosh.
Birds In Row - "Nympheas"
Birds in Row's 2012 debut, You, Me & the Violence, was absolutely essential to the self-proclaimed "wave" of screamo and post-hardcore that fellow bands like Touché Amoré and Defeater were igniting at the time. In the decade since, their sporadic yet consistently great output has opened up their sound to new, more dynamic ideas, and new song "Nympheas" continues down that road. It still has the French band's indelible stamp of hardcore emotionality, but there's a rockin' catchiness buried just beneath the chaos that offers something potent to cling to.
